September 2016 (part 1)

On the first day of September I went with my friend Vanessa and her little boy Miles to pick peaches. It was near the end of the season but we were still able to get big boxes full. They were so good and I used them for jam and pies and fruit leather and just eating as many as I could. Peaches are my favorite! These two were pretty cute:

 And my favorite Olive face:

That morning I took a picture of Olive with one of my new boy outfits and I was going to use it as an "announcement", but then I decided to wait a while longer. I still love this picture! She liked to lay out all the new clothes and talk about how she's going to help with the baby.

I had to document what I did most days. I'd try to do a short workout in the morning and then after Alta and Ellie went to school I would be so tired. Olive sometimes read me stories and "tucked me in" on Ellie's bed where I would actually fall asleep. Seriously, pregnancy is exhausting.

 But Olive is pretty good at keeping herself entertained. She's definitely a stuffed animal girl. She used a bunch of packing trash to make a home for her animals (notice unicorn's "hat") -

We watched Penny and Beck one night and the girls came up with this game:

Actually they copied that game from Sierra and Katelyn, but Penny loved it! And then as it got later we all crammed on the couch and watched monster truck you tube videos per Beck's request:

Olive had a short-lived fascination with tape. She would cover walls and railings and even her body:

 And then I decided I probably should make my pregnancy instagram-official since the girls could barely keep their mouths closed about it, so I snapped this picture of all three of them. I was about 15 weeks along. They are so excited for a brother!

I went to farm country with a few friends one morning. Olive and our former neighbor Will, who months later still talk about each other:

 Olive is getting big enough to hold on to the pony all by herself and she is pretty pleased about it:

Kevin bought a dirt bike years ago and every once in a while Dan would casually mention it but I didn't think he'd ever buy one. Then during the first week of September he texted me that he was thinking about it and then showed up that afternoon with a bike!

A few weeks later decked out in all his new gear:

He, Kevin, and Patrick all went as often as they could during September and October. If nothing else, it has helped the girls get over their fear of motorcycles! They each wanted to ride with Dan but were terrified at the same time. But once they were each convinced to try it they loved it. They would take turns cruising around the neighborhood every time Dan got home from a ride.

The second Sunday in September we drove the Alpine Loop and walked around Cascade Springs. I actually thought it'd be too early for fall colors but everything was just starting to change and it was gorgeous. The girls loved this bright red maple at Cascade Springs:

 Collecting leaves:

Right after we took this picture, which is as far from the parking lot as you can get, Olive had to go to the bathroom. She had a little bit of a stomach bug and was in the early stages of potty training so there was nothing to be done but to have Dan run her back to the outhouse! The girls and I walked back at our own pace and enjoyed the mountain air.

The next weekend we went on a hike with some of our book club friends. It's hard to find a weekend that works for even the majority of us so I was happy this happened! Lorna watched the girls all afternoon while we hiked the seven mile Lake Blanche trail up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

I had never hiked this one and it had some amazing views at the top, especially with the changing leaves.

It was fairly steep and I was worried since I get breathless so easily when I'm pregnant, but I handled it much better than I thought I would. And it's always fun to hike with our friends! We all get chatting and the time goes by so fast that I don't notice the climb.

Dan and I also realized that besides all the hiking we did together in Kauai, we couldn't remember the last time we'd been on a hike without the girls! While I (mostly) love hiking with our kids, it's refreshing to go at our own pace and be able to do longer trails.

We sat by the lake to eat and rest and then got a picture:

 While everyone was talking Dan and I ran over one more hill to explore and had the most amazing view of the canyon and lakes. This is the best I could get:

The whole hike was just what I needed! (Despite being in some pain after the steep descent.)

And I have just a few more pictures from the rest of the month. We decided to stop by the Sprucewood spirit night at Chick-fil-A. Alta and Olive got their faces painted and Olive was thrilled to see Falco the falcon and the cow. And Ruby and Ellie were there too!

Ellie was at tumbling for this and I hadn't told her we were going, but she was pretty bugged when she found out. Now she has a little bit of anxiety that we're always doing fun things without her during gymnastics!

Olive discovered play dough. She loves to get all the colors out and make a huge mess:

September was pretty low-key while we got back in the swing of school and homework and I have very few pictures from the whole month, so that's it! I'll do a separate post on our St. George trip and hike.