More Puppy Photos

We've decided to name our puppy Sandy. Here are some photos from our visit this week.

Here she is running after her mom. She always goes right for her when her mom comes.

Our first visit with our new puppy!

Did you hear? We've gone a bit insane and decided to get a puppy! It took a while, but we finally found what we wanted. We are getting a Labradoodle. Yup, one of the mutt/designer breeds. But, it seems to have all the things we are looking for in a dog (except a bit larger than I wanted) and so I think it will work out great for our family. The Labradoodles are a bit varied in their coat type, so that will be better determined as she gets older. But, from the photo you can tell she will definitely have a curly coat. Isn't she adorable?

She is 4 1/2 weeks in this photo. We'll get to take her home October 5th. Until then, we were told to come visit her as much as we like. The girls are begging to go see her again already!

These are photos of past puppies from the same parents as our puppy. Ours will look something like one of these. Thankfully, these dogs don't shed. Can you imagine with all that hair?

One last camping trip for the year.

This time we went up to the mountains where the Palomar Observatory is located. The weather at our house was hot, humid, and Thunderstormy (is that a word?). But, looking at our schedule coming up we knew it was one of the last opportunities we would have to go. The weather down south looked better, so we thought we'd give it a chance. It turned out perfect. Highs were in the 70's and lows in the low 60's or so. Perfect for sitting by the campfire or snuggling in your sleeping bag. The stars were amazing and we just had a great time singing camp songs and telling stories around the campfire.

We loved our campsite. The first campground we drove in to was a state park and there was a sign saying it was full. We drove around and saw the place just packed with people and cars. It actually looked like a miserable place to camp anyway. After an hour and half drive and all the work to pack our stuff we were all very disappointed. But, a park ranger let us know that we were not in the campground we were looking for. We drove up the road a short distance and found the Observatory Campground. It was not crowded at all and the campsites were well spaced apart. There was no one near us. Perfect!

We tried to go hiking the next day, but the threat of ticks the kids read on the bulletin board scared them so much it turned into torture. Believe me, we were well prepared (dressed and bug sprayed) for ticks, but they still were concerned. Then Brianna got a bloody nose, so we forgot the hike and just went back and enjoyed our camp.

First Day of School

Courtney is in 1st grade! I can't believe my little girl is so big! At first, the long day was hard for her, but she is quickly adjusting and doing very well. Her reading is just amazing. She really enjoy reading The Magic Tree House series. She seems to like first grade and there has been no tears. She happily hops out of the car and walks in with her sisters. YAY!

McKayla is my 3rd grader. She got into GATE for this year (the gifted and talented program at our school) and is very excited. She loves school and being with her friends. Her favorite subject is math, but lately she has really gotten in to reading. It took her longer to catch the reading bug than it took Brianna and Courtney, but now we have to get after her for staying up too late reading her books!

Brianna is on her last year of grade school, 5th grade. It makes me sad to think she'll be a big Middle Schooler next year. I hope she really enjoys this last year of grade school. Her teacher has her doing 6th grade math and she tested at a 12th grade reading level. We still haven't figured out age appropriate material for her at the higher reading levels. She's already read all the Harry Potter books twice.