The Crowl Family Adventures: September 2016

With Levi's 6 month birthday approaching, I decided to try a little solids and he was not very interested. In fact, we couldn't get any in his mouth. Maddie asked almost every day after if she could help feed him. She is such a doting big sister.

Dad finished school! Yipee! We decided to make a banner to celebrate his homecoming.

Sweet Saisha had a spa birthday party to celebrate turning 7! Maddie loved getting her nails done and eating fancy snack foods.

My dad came to visit us from Arizona. We walked to the park, he played with the kids, and we also went to St. Edwards Park.

One day, Colter bit into some food and said "ow! My tooth hurts!" I tested it out, and sure enough, it was pretty wiggly. He immediately started wiggling it non stop. I thought it would take a while for it to come out, but within a matter of hours, Colter came up to me on the stairs and said "I want to show you something." He then held out his hand and there was his tooth! I couldn't believe it! We didn't know how much teeth were going for these days, so we kind of set the bar high and gave him $5.

The kiddos started school! Maddie started first because the first day was a short day with a parent meeting, and because Colter had already been in teacher Kimi's class before, we decided to just start him on a regular day. Maddie had been looking forward to school for a long time. When I dropped her off, she looked at me like she was a little nervous, but she didn't have any tears. I know she will have such a great year.

Cold/virus season is back again. Colter got hit hard with a virus that really knocked him out for a few days and caused him to miss the first week of school. Poor guy!

Maddie and Harper started a gymnastics class. They both loved it, and really improved their skills. Maddie's favorite part was the rope swing. She was so brave to drop right into the foam pit mid swing!

We had a wonderful morning in Edmonds. No matter how many times we go to the beach, I never grow tired of these views. The kids love the new play ground. Maddie was being so brave, climbing all the way to the top of the rock!

Still doing our afternoon bike rides to the park. Maddie conquered the fire pole. Here's what happens when one child does not want to bike home..

Ben got the chance to take my mom, Colter, Travis and Gideon out for a sail on the wooden schooner, Adventuress. They all had such a good time.

Never caught up on laundry..

Within a week of losing his first tooth, Colter's 2nd tooth came out! We didn't have any cash, so we gave him a starbucks gift card. hahaha

We got a new fence! yayyyyy. We hired our neighbor Tam to put in a new back fence. He did such an amazing job. I couldn't believe how hard he worked all by himself. Having a new fence makes such a big difference.

Colter rarely plays trains any more. Sad day. When he does, he likes to make a crazy tall monorail track off the stairs.

We started to get into the groove of school drop offs. It's been an adjustment getting the kids to and from school four days a week, but it's also been really nice to have some alone time.

Colter jumped right into school and has been doing so well. Knowing his teacher and room has made such a big difference. Last year it would take 20-30 minutes before he would even go into the room. Lately he's been walking right in and starting right to work at the tables. I'm so proud of him.

Maddie and I had the sand pit at Anthony's all to ourselves.

My brother and Kelsey welcomed their second boy into the world! Elliot Jordan was born on September 17th. Kelsey was absolutely amazing and was so generous in letting my mom, sister, and I be in the room when Elliot was born. It is such a miracle to watch a little baby come into the world. We were shocked when we found out he was over 8 lb!

Kelsey was just so thoughtful in choosing a perfect time to deliver. Ha! I was able to meet up with Ben and the kids at the children's museum right after leaving the museum.

I love getting updates from school. Maddie and Colter occasionally overlap on the playground. At first they would just see each other, but wouldn't play, but lately they've been playing tag and playing stories together. One day Colter ran up to Maddie and said "Maddie! It's me! The real Colter!"

My sister emailed me and asked to get together to celebrate my birthday early since she was going to be out of town on my actual birthday. She wouldn't tell me what we were doing, or where we were going. When we got close, she had me blindfold myself, and then walked me to our destination. When I lifted off the blindfold, I was shocked to see some of my closest friends standing right in front of me. Even better, we were at the electric boat company rental!! We had such a fun time laughing, eating, and taking in the beautiful sights of Seattle. Steering the boat was totally stressful and it took a few changes in the captain before we got cruising. My sister started us off, but soon passed off the wheel once we started spinning 360's and got a little bit too close to some large yachts.

We had one of the most intense, short term rain storms I've ever experienced in Seattle. Even crazier, it was clear at Ben's work!

Maddie and Colter both go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which leaves just Levi and I. It's so nice to have some special time with my little man. Most of the time, we go home and Levi takes a nap and I rest or clean . Its seriously such an amazing time. This day we met Adelle and her younger kiddos in Edmonds and had a special time together.

We had some beautiful Seattle weather in September! Most afternoons we get outside and ride bikes. I love our long line of bikes.

Sometimes I make my kids do hilarious things. This time it paid off. Look at these cuties!

Kelsey and her two little kiddos came over for a play date. Look at this little sweetie!

Levi's first swim! We mostly hung out in the family hot tub, but he loved being in the water!

That evening we picked up some fish and chips to go and spent some time at the Edmonds marina, throwing rocks and taking in the beautiful scene.

Ben took the two older kids on an incredible hike up in Mt. Baker with the McIntires.

This guy turned 6 months!

We kept the fall tradition and went to the farm. I had us all decked out in our farm flannel, and I soon realized it was a major mistake when I started sweating like crazy. By the end, Levi was only wearing a shirt, and I was wearing my undershirt. The kids had a blast, and they especially loved the new slides.

Ben and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. We went out to dinner at Epulo. Man is that good food!! We had an appetizer with burrata cheese, grilled bread, and tomatoes. Oh man. I'm drooling even thinking about it. I love our date nights. It was such a perfect night out to celebrate.