Shepherd Family News: October 2010

For Fall Break we went with our good friends the Lindemanns to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Florida. It is an awesome campground on the beach. I've never combined a camping trip with a beach trip, and I was a little apprehensive about it. But it was terrific! The weather was perfect, the beach was beautiful and deserted since it was off-season, and the campground was great also, among palm trees and long leaf pine trees. We'd take a short boardwalk to the beach, spend several hours there, then head back for the fun of camping. The only downside was the abundance of mosquitoes in the morning and evening, but nothing a little bug spray couldn't handle.

The Lindemanns brought our kids' bikes as well as theirs, so they got some good bike rides in also. On one bike ride, one of Colby's training wheels fell off and he didn't even notice. So after a couple practice loops around the campground with Dad, he's now training wheel free. Woo-hoo!

I love the way my friend Nathalie put it, "The beach is everybody's babysitter." So true!

Excuse the pink hat. We've lost Dallin's.

Dallin's first touch of the ocean. Not too thrilled about it.

Hooray for Fall! We’ve finally moved from the hot and humid days to beautiful, sunny, warm days, cool nights, leaf-crunching weather. We spent Saturday during and between sessions of General Conference painting the front door and filling cracks in our driveway with tar… projects that are just too miserable to do in the summer.

Saturdays this month have been busy with soccer games for Sienna and Colby. But we’ve found some time for other fun activities as well. On Labor Day weekend we got free tickets to a Vanderbilt football game. We went with our friends, the Edgertons, so the kids had much more fun playing with friends than watching football. We also went to Kentucky to tour the Mammoth Caves with the Lindemanns. It was fun to do that again. Colby and Bryan went to a Father-Son campout one weekend, while the girls (and Dallin) had a girl party at home: painting nails and making treats with the Easy Bake Oven.

Bryan is keeping his figure trim with his running, biking, and tennis. He ran with some young men from church in a 5K race on Labor Day, taking first place in his age group, followed by a leisurely 10K. Another weekend he did an adventure duo triathlon: canoeing, mountain biking, and trail running. He placed 11^th overall by himself, and his team placed 7^th in their division.

We’ve started a babysitting rotation with some friends so we’re able to go on dates more often. There are nine kids total (including two babies), so it can be kind of crazy when it’s our turn to babysit. This weekend we went to dinner then a high school play of one of the young men from church. For another date we went minivan shopping. Our current one is on its last “wheel” and we’d like to get a “new” one before it completely bites the dust. Another date was going to the temple with a friend from Uganda who went for the first time. That was neat.

Sienna is doing well in school. I had a parent-teacher conference this month. She was praised for her excellent behavior and academic standing (she’s already almost where she needs to be with her reading by the end of the year). But her teacher said she needs to practice listening to instructions. That came as no surprise since I sound like a broken record at home (pick up your toys, pick up your toys, are you listening??? pick up your toys… put your pajamas on, put your pajamas on, are you listening??? put your pajamas on). Sienna had spirit week this month where she got to wear something special every day: favorite team day, crazy hat day, pajama day, mismatch day, and Lipscomb day. She’s been talking about mismatch day since last year. This time she had me put curlers in one half of her hair and leave the other straight. Different socks, different shoes, flowers and stripes…. you get the picture. She and Bryan have enjoyed riding their bikes to and from school a few times when Bryan has worked from the public library next door. It’s about a two mile bike ride.

(I was trying to take her picture when the bus showed up and she started running.)

Colby is also enjoying preschool, especially show and tell days where he gets to bring something that starts with the letter they are focusing on. At home he is crazy about Legos. He (and Sienna) love building things with them and they are always scattered all over the family room floor. Bryan substituted for Colby’s soccer coach for a practice and a game. Colby was quite upset when he had to take a turn resting on the side, and especially offended that it was his own father who chose him to sub out! Of all the nerve…

Ashley got a cute haircut. At first I tried cutting it but wasn’t that successful. So I had my friend and hairdresser come fix it. Ashley screamed and cried the whole time. She sat on my lap and I had to brace her head while Conny worked around us, trying to trim it up. In the end it looks cute, but she sure was a pill.

Dallin is hungry. That’s a very good adjective to describe him right now. I’ve started giving him solid food, as well as supplementing with formula bottles, which I’ve never really used before. He’s also very smiley, cute, and cuddly, and has recently found his toes to suck on.