Weekend with the Engmans

We have been so lucky to have so many visitors the past few months.  The Engmans just came to visit us this weekend.  We had a great time with them and we already miss them like crazy!

We went to the Chile Festival.  It made me so hungry walking by all the fire-roasted peppers.

We went shopping at some fantastic outlets.  I really want to go back and get a Coach purse.  The kids had fun even though it was mostly for the parents.

My dad and Coleen stopped by our house.  Coleen was on her way to Utah for a new teaching job and my dad drove her then flew home.  We only got to spend a few hours with them, but it's always fun to see them.

We played Phase 10 and Mexican train and Coley kicked our butts on both games.

Don't ever let Blake be the dealer...

We had a little early birthday party for Claire.  She loved all of her presents!

Coley and Seth bought Jayce some cool new Adidas soccer shorts.

Footis was really freaked out by Sharky.  He stayed downstairs or outside the whole time.  The girls loved Sharky!

We love you Engman family!

New Rocks

I've been a little too indulgent with Jayce's rock collection, mainly because I love them myself.  We found a really cool rock shop about 45 minutes from our house that sells rocks by the pound for really cheap.

Here are some of Jayce's rocks:

This one is my new favorite.  It is calcite from Mexico.

This is Brazilian quartz.  It looks really cool in real life- like glass or ice. It is Jayce's 2nd favorite rock.  Her favorite is the galena from Peru that I put in an older post.

This one is fluorite.  It is the most colorful mineral in the world, and it is fluorescent- it glows under black lights.  We found a really colorful one.  I've been quizzing Jayce on all of her rocks because she wants to be a geologist like her great-grandpa Sirrine when she grows up (or an astronaut).

Selenite from Utah

Coley bought Jayce some magnetized hematite.  Both girls love them.

Sami and Katie drove to South Carolina and they stopped at our house on the way.  It was nice to see them for a few hours!

End of Summer

Here are a few pictures from the end of summer.

Aren't these two girls adorable?

I forgot to take pictures on the first day of school, so here is about the 10th day of school.

Claire's bangs, that I butchered, are kind of growing back.

State Fair

Claire did not like putting her feet in the corn.  She was disgusted by it.

Playing at the splash park

Claire is such a little smartie pants.  She says new words every day and speaks in sentences a lot of the time.  When we are watching a show and the credits come on, she'll yell, "I get it! Here's the weemote (remote)!"  She likes to chew Jayce out and growl at our cat.  She loves singing Lady Gaga songs (yuck!).  She sings, "Tonight yeah baby tonight yeah baby."  She has me call Coley and Nanny (Granny) for her every day so she can talk to them.  She calls others too, but those two are her favorite to talk to on the phone.  She still loves to dance and she yells, "Watch dis Mom!" as she jumps off furniture.

Jayce has been back in school for a month and she is enjoying her new teacher and friends.  She is in gymnastics and goes for about 4 hours a week.  She still hates reading and it's hard to get her to even read her favorite books, Captain Underpants.  Lately she wants to sue every company.  She wants to sue McDonalds for asking if you want a boy or a girl toy.  She says, "Why don't they just ask you if you want a cool toy that does stuff or a dumb doll that you can stare at?"  She wants to sue Walmart for taking over the prairie dogs' home.  She has such a funny personality and loves to tell jokes that she makes up.  She has a friend that comes over to play sometimes, and I hear the two of them giggling the whole time.