Bunny's 13th Birthday Party

Bunny's birthday party is always a fun time!!!

She asks for the same menu each year: "dini" which is a nickname for spaghetti and meatballs.  The weather is always great (early September) and we usually have her party on a ND game day (perfect since she loves football).  I like to plan a treasure hunt for the guests, which keeps them active and entertained.  ;o)

Marcus frying up the meatballs in advance.

We set up the TV in the living room for the game watch.

Normally the TV is on the other side of this wall, in the TV
room...but we have a small pass-through for cables, and all we
have to do is move the TV to the other side and plug it in.

The kids ate their dini outside.

Bunny had to open her gifts in front of the TV.

Guests could still watch the game.  ;o)

The start of the Treasure Hunt!

The kids had to look in the auxiliary garden (it was a jungle!).

I like making them run all over the property.

Final stop: tea garden

Decadent Creation Macarons for all!

Inside for more Decadent Creations treats.

It wasn't all play...Bunny had to go to work putting the neighbors'
chickens to bed.

Another Really Fun Bunny birthday party!!!

September overview

September 2015 was a great month.  We really didn't have a lot going on until the end of the month (when we took a trip to Colorado/New Mexico...more on that later).  

The first 2/3 of the month seemed to be low-key.  We celebrated Bunny's 13th birthday early in the month, with a ND game watch.  Most of September was spent getting some serious schooling done, but we did find a few ways to sneak in small adventures:

A trip to the South Store Cafe for Bunny.

My good friend Fanny became a US citizen, and threw herself
an Italian/American party!  (the food was great!)

Bunny's birthday party

Oath consults (too early for James, but Bunny may get some work)

Hillsboro High School football game

playing around during one of Bunny's horse lessons

normal

homeschool

We found out we will have another new cousin!

cousin Emmett's birthday party

And then...a lot of logistical planning for our trip.  Different locations, different temperatures, vastly different activities.  My little brother was getting married!!!  So we had casual and more formal events to pack for (myself plus 6 kids...all coordinating of course...and giving Marcus some advice as well).  Then the plan was to drive through New Mexico which meant 2 more different hotels, and more types of outfits (hiking, sightseeing, etc.).  Whew!  So by mid-month I started the packing process.  It helped to take photos of outfits, like this one:

one of a few dozen outfit photos that I took to keep us
organized...it worked really well!!!

The month was great--we enjoyed every minute.  Stay tuned for more September posts!

Fun at the State Fair

This is a time of making year-end photo books for family and loved ones...

for me, THIS BLOG is my "photo book!"

So it is important to me, even though I am very far behind, to continue to chronicle 2015 with the goal of finishing before 2016.  :o)  We have had SO many adventures the last 4 months, that I can't ignore posting them.

We normally go to the Oregon State Fair on the first day of school (because we can!) but this year, we started school a week early.  It worked out really well because I felt like we accomplished 5 1/2 days of work, and had really earned our trip.  Here are the pics:

Bunny was so excited to see the Poultry Barn (first stop).

Grammae and Papa came with us this year.

 After enjoying the birds and then spending some time in the State Park section, I stocked up on some jelly scones (yes, scones at the fair, so good!!!) for all of us.  Then, off to FamilyVille with family-friendly exhibits and shows:

There was a nice little carousel in FamilyVille.

We made our way to the display gardens, near the 4-H building.
This was a great place to eat the dinner we brought.  Nearby was
a really cool band: Rock Bottom Boys.  It was fun listening to
their music--they were very funny and talented!

Marcus made fantastic sandwiches and brought
fresh garden tomatoes and New Seasons pasta.

We like the ag building where each county has a display area.

Our friend Ann Marie's quilt

brain-teaser puzzles

Marcus got suckered into buying some ShuNu
in the commercial building.  ;o)
It's actually pretty good stuff!!

Next stop, rides

Little Kids first

Sedric's favorite color is Pinky-Pink

We both had fun on this big slide.

At this point, I took the little kids back to FamilyVille while the big kids enjoyed the big rides.  This works out well since I am not that into crazy rides!  (Maybe because my life is crazy enough.)  We found this nice little Evangelical tent where teen volunteers did a Jesus craft with Gemma and Sedric while I sat with Celeste.  The "free babysitting" was greatly appreciated!  

We all met up for our traditional Elephant Ear.

Earlier in the evening, a Fair employee mentioned fireworks at 10pm.  I laughed--yeah, right, there was NO WAY we were staying out until 10pm!  Well, guess what...

...it was worth it.