Soccer Season

This year Connor got really serious about Soccer! There was so much improvement seen since past years on the field, that his coach nicknamed him "beast!"

 

And just like all the other second graders, Connor got to try out his skills as goalie. No one scored on while he was in the goal all year! (Note: Hardly anyone scores at all with second grade goalies. They are a tough bunch to get a ball past, apparently.)

 

What I love about soccer, is that they keep the same boys on the same teams every year. We have been with basically the same group for 3 years now since our littlest fans (Kaia & Ashlyn) were just two years old. All the little sisters sit on a tarp, or run around in the background, or huddle under the same umbrella. For the second grade boys its hard work, for the rest of us its basically social hour :)

Thanksgiving Vacation!

Our new bi-annual tradition is to spend Thanksgiving in Sunriver with the Cunninghams!

 This year we had an extra special treat: lots and lots of snow. So much snow, in fact, that Connor managed to find the world's largest snowball & toss it right at me. He regretted that, of course, when he found out that my aim is also quite good. 

Part of every Cunningham vacation involves building Legos. This trip, Connor had an awesome set that doubled as a hot tub boat. It really floats!

The girls were old enough this year to hit up the big sledding hill with all of us. But apparently not old enough to actually walk up the entire hill. Daddy is a sucker for helping cold pathetic cute little girls, I guess.

In approximately 20 degree weather we trekked about 1/2 mile to watch the Santa Parade. Clearly, the walking was not a highlight for the kids. Or for their dad. Only a dad of twins can pull this off. Please note the super miserable faces on the tiny people who ARE NOT EVEN WALKING. Clearly, we need to toughen up a smidge around here.

And a picture of the three that we loving call "The Triplets." These three are basically the exact same size, have the same hair color, and can play pretend pirate treasure hunters or Paw Patrol for hours like their lives depend on it.

All the kids really loved getting up early with Grandma & Grandpa. Connor usually arises between 5:30 & 6:30 am (on a normal day like only a crazy person would). On vacation he got into a habit of getting up BEFORE 5:30, so he could watch cartoons with the early birds. One night I suggested that he try to sleep in a bit, just close his eyes a smidge longer, get some more rest in the AM. His reply, "No mom - this is VACATION! I can't wait to get up. That's what I like to do on my vacation. Sleeping in is not really my sport." Ok, Connor. Noted. Its basically like this child was not made from my DNA. At times like these, Connor's parents were very thankful for the other early risers in the house! Good food, good company, good memories!

Our New Ballet Studio

Good News! We have moved back into our house. Bad news! We are still unpacking boxes. However, our little ballet dancers don't seem to care. They have taken over the living room for their dance studio. Maybe we will just forget about getting new furniture in there, because tiny dancers and nutcracker music is #justthebest

Also, I should mention that our girls made the cut to be on the cover of their dance studio flyer. I saw it in Starbucks! They are basically "famous" now, just like their movie star Mom & Uncle Will. #kindergartencopextras

Newest Cousin!

Meet our newest cousin, Raelynn! 

Our four-year olds are old enough to hold her on their lap & are just so excited about it!

Raelynn's big sister, Madisyn, loves to hold her too.

Trick or Treat

We had two Halloween functions this year....so obviously, Kaia & Ashlyn had to make good use of BOTH sets of costumes! This year Trick-or-Treating was done for about 20 minutes in the pouring rain in between moving boxes and unpacking into our new (old) house. It was a Halloween to remember for sure!

The Cunningham's First Sleepover

While Mom & Dad attended some work awards & after party, the kids had their first ever sleepover with their cousins Hudson & Maddox. We weren't 100% sure that they would all actually be able to STAY THE NIGHT (ya know, emotionally). Boy were we wrong! Apparently Connor said it was "the funnest day of his life," no one even asked to call us, and everyone went to bed and apparently slept well. I'm not sure if we should be happy or offended, but we decided to go with "ecstatic" on that one.

Aunt Erica & Uncle Troy showed everyone a great time! They took FIVE children to the pumpkin patch, bought elephant ears, rode the "muddy cow train", let everyone pick out THEIR OWN fun craft at the craft store, and generally wore everyone out. Its no wonder it was Connor's best day ever!! Plus we got these cute pics while we were away:

Thanks guys! We all felt pretty spoiled!

First day of 4's Preschool

At last, it was Kaia & Ashlyn's turn to head off to preschool. After seeing their older brother "get" to go to school for an entire week, they were so happy that it was finally their turn. These two love school & wish there was no summer break. It makes absolutely no sense to them why they can't just go to school all year. Such a weird thing. 

 

I'm over-publishing these pictures because their attempts at smiles are just so so funny. Smiling is hard. Please be kind.

 Their preschool is mostly free-play based with a few arts, crafts, & songs thrown in. This year Ashlyn's favorite job is the bell ringer because "she likes to ring that bell REALLY loud!" Kaia prefers the job of line leader. Connor constantly tells them how lucky they are to go to such an "easy" school. He wishes 2nd grade was 100% free-play based too where you only do the things you actually WANT to do. (Touche, my dear.) 

Ballet!

You can not imagine how excited these two were for their very first (real) ballet class!!!

Kaia is on the left & Ashlyn is on the right. Please note that the strict dress code and hair requirement is not very conducive for telling apart identical twins. I asked their teacher if tying a different colored ribbon in each of their buns was allowed, and she replied "Oh YES PLEASE, could you do that every day??!!"

One Last Road Trip!

Right before all the kids headed back to school & I headed back to work, we squeezed in One. Last. Road. Trip. Ya know...a 1 hour away day trip. When you are 4 & 7 this still counts as one of those exciting adventures.

 We toured what the kids decided was "The Biggest Waterfall in the Entire World." Bless. To them the world is still so small.

 We had a picnic lunch on the trail & did a little off-trail exploring.

 Then we had some ice cream. Which is obviously required on the VERY LAST TRIP OF THE SUMMER. It's basically an autumn trip if you don't. Just saying.

2nd Grade!!!

Since Connor gets a little nervous about the first day of school (who doesn't?) he picked out a nice calm neutral outfit, so he would really blend into the woodwork. 

 The girls and I just HAD to walk him inside and snap a few photos of his new class:)

 This year, he was ready and got right to work. He really likes his new teacher and says she is the "nicest teacher he has ever had" (which he says every year so far...I guess they keep getting better!!??)

 Even though we are still displaced from our home, Connor insists on riding the bus. So, we drive him to our regular bus stop (even on the first day) and meet him there after school. Basically school wouldn't be fun if there was no bus involved and he missed out on hanging with all his bus-friends!

Cheers to a good year in the 2nd Grade, Connor Ray!