our journeys: Losing Track of Time

August left me completely behind and I'm still bewildered as to where the time went. We've had the chance to do some fun things in the last few weeks so here are some photos to document our doings:

Monday I took Mallorie out for a date. She needed things for her upcoming dance class, a new outfit for preschool, and I had to hit Target for some other items. She chose Chick-fil-A for lunch and we got to eat outside. She's such a funny little person with big thoughts, fabulous facial expressions, and a smile that lights up the room. She wanted to do a funny face selfie and then one where we were angry. Side note: we picked up a black leotard with sparkling letters. She proudly shows off her "leotart" to guests in our home.

Spencer loves to help. And organize. And re-organize. He can hear the door to the dishwasher open from across the house and will coming running into the kitchen hollering "Uh! Uh!" to unload the plastic plates. On this particular evening, I had left him happily playing with the plastic plates to supervise pjs for the girls. This is what greeted me as I rounded the corner into the kitchen - he had unloaded pretty much every dish and most of the silverware on the bottom rack. As I watched, he would pick up an item and relocate it in a different spot on the floor, shuffling plates and knives and forks in an order known only to him. He was content to help me load the dishes back into their proper spot and then turned into a puddle when I shut the dishwasher door.

How could I not share this adorable-ness? I took the younger kids for a walk to get Morgan from the bus stop - Luna and Perry were at our house for a while. I wish I could tape the sounds of these two jabbering as we were walking. Brings a smile to my face!

The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic is a mini hot air balloon festival (think about 45 balloons) which began in 1991 as a part of the Boise River Festival. While by no means the spectacular spread of colors, people, vendors, and balloons of the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, I was so excited to have found out about the event before it took place! I spent several birthdays in my childhood attending fiesta events in October and want to make this part of the birthday weekend for Mallorie in the future. Chadwick got stuck at the clinic working on a dog who had ingested a foreign body so I loaded up the kids, hit the drive thru at Wendy's, and made my way to Ann Morrison park downtown Boise for the balloon glow. We got there early enough for a decent parking spot and had way too much time on our hands. Especially since I neglected to bring coloring books, balls, or any other form of entertainment for the littles to do while impatiently waiting for the sun to set. Despite the whining, the kids seemed to enjoy the time out and I was rewarded with a squeal of glee when the night sky was brightly lit with 25 balloons. The announcer would count down and the pilots would give a massive pull on their ignitor to set the balloon aglow with light. Pause. Countdown and glow. Repeat.

We did some dancing. And wrestling. Then some singing as Spencer was starting to melt down with exhaustion.

The girls started collecting...plant material....they called cricket eggs.

Getting darker! And a little colder. Morgan has her sweater on backward and is holding the hood in her hand to protect the "cricket eggs" from the storm.