The first day of school and Mitchell Family Fun Day

I have no idea why these pictures are in reverse order, but I'm too lazy to fix it.....So we'll just start from the most recent, shall we?

Ian started first grade on September 6th, and I don't know if ever there was a happier boy on the first day of first grade. We are THRILLED about his teacher and so excited that so many of his friends are in his class!

I thought it was nice that his cubby was the first one after the classroom door.

You can see Ian's lime-green backpack in line with the rest of his class.
Have I mentioned he was excited?

Blake had an awkward moment with the stroller, though.

This is Ian's first experience with his very own desk and special pencil just for him.

Day 1 of 181 walking to school with Dad, Blake,  Mr. Adam, and Jacob.
On the first day, the moms and sister, Catherine, joined along.

Oh, how we love neighbor Jacob!!
(Have I mentioned we won the neighbor lottery? Cause we did.)

New this year: The Back To School Fairy!
She came and left some fun treats for the WHOLE family to celebrate!

For the past decade+, we have been gathering each summer for Mitchell Family Fun Day! This mostly consists of eating grilled food and playing outdoor games. This year, we missed Aunt Becky's family by a couple of days

New this year: Ian spear-headed a family bike race. Notice he's barefoot. We changed that quickly.

The three-legged race was great--especially after Kelsey just picked up Ian and RAN. =)

Also? There were potato sacks.

Blake liked the Ride-On-Dad's-Ankle event post-badminton.

Ian and cousin Andrea are best buds.

Ian was.....addicted....to this whistle.

Blake wanted to play badminton....but only on Dad's hip.

Joe had a BLAST splitting wood for Grammy. I think he was feeling especially manly.
I mean, really. Splitting wood in MAINE? Hello, lumberjack!!

Blake loves Mom's chickens. He was so excited that he got to let them out of their coop and run. 

Ian and Papa had to dig the potatoes for that day's potato salad.
(Notice the chicken coming over for a peek.)

Ian's Half-Birthday, Blueberries, and Newport Polo

The catching up continues!

Last winter, we sat down with Ian to talk about his sixth birthday party....and we all lamented the fact that all of us winter-born folks know to be true: being a kid with a winter birthday means that you can't do all of the fun outside things that all of the summer-born kids can do. The solution? We'd have a HALF-birthday party for him in August.

But what was so much MORE exciting was that--thanks to co-scheduling with my cousin, Isaac's, temple endowment--we were able to have our favorite friends AND family (31 people!!) to celebrate! Ian's request was to play at a playground (we chose the AWESOME playground at the new elementary school in the neighborhood), and eat hot dogs and chips. (Two foods that we rarely--if ever--have). 

Again, as is our late-summer routine, I took the boys to pick blueberries (and picked up some peach seconds at the same time....mmmmmm). Ian was THRILLED to get his very own container this year, and Blake was less-than thrilled to NOT have his own. 

For the sixth year running, we made the summer trek down to Newport, Rhode Island to see the US Polo Team play. We usually go in June to the match against Scotland...but this year we wanted to go see the English team play--which happened to be the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Oh, boy--what a difference a weekend makes. It was SOOOOOO crowded--more than 4,000 people were there. (Four-thousand people!!) We had a GREAT time, but we might go back to the June schedule next year. =)

Ian wanted me to make a "giant sandwich," and since sandwiches are basically my favorite thing in the world right now, I was happy to oblige. Blake couldn't get enough of his portion--it was hilarious watching him eat it.

One thing I love about polo is how it's sort of "yuppy tail-gating." The people next to us had a tablecloth, candles, and a cheese platter that they nursed during the whole match. My mouth was watering.

Ponies. Not horses. Ponies. Being a Non-Horse-Person, I didn't realize that these were the SMALL ones.

No one loves a halftime divot-stomp more than Ian...

...except maybe Blake.

Polo is fun for all ages!!!

See? TONS of people!

I love me some English polo post-game high-fives!

Pratt Camp and Minnesota

Long time, no see, right? Tonight is our big catch up on the blog...hopefully you won't get too bored. =) 

During the first week of August, Joe took the week off so we could go to Pratt Camp---a week reserved every year on Scott's side of the family. This year we had the aunts/uncles/cousins from both Colorado and Mississippi and it was DEFINITELY a great, relaxing time. 

Joe was SO excited to get the sailboat out. (Ian was equally as excited.)

Joe got MANY hours in the boat--and he's really become quite an impressive sailor!

Blake spent a lot of time on the dock. Sometimes this was more exciting than others.

...one minute Blake is on the dock, the next he's riding point-man in the canoe. After a brief heart attack, I had the wherewithal to grab the camera and take a picture.

LOTS of fishing happened this week--including with sticks. 

Also? Mini Golf! Blake thought his putter was fun for about a minute...then he realized that he needed to feel dejected because he didn't have a taller one. Regardless, he was very serious about his putting.

Hole in one! (No, really! A hole in one!) He was VERY excited to share this news with Great Papa Pratt, who is our family's resident daily golfer.

Mmmmmm. Chowder on lobster night at camp.

I love Maine. With all my heart.

Blake is spotted on the dock once again!

Joe took the boys geocaching one afternoon and they came back telling tales of all the blackberries they found...

....so Joe and I went back and got a whole bucket-full. Mmmmmm. Antioxidants.

Blake REALLY enjoyed the spoils.

I dare you to tell me this is not adorable.

On the last day of camp, Ian got to learn to row by himself--and he did a GREAT job.
He can steer, he can go forward and backward...he's a natural New Englander!

Fishing with Uncle Andrew was a special treat.
(Thanks, Uncle Andrew, for being the point-man on the fishing!)

Not more than a week after we got home from Pratt Camp, it was time to head to Minneapolis. Joe had a paper accepted at and was presenting at a conference there, so we took the bait and tagged along to see his sister, Shara, and her family.

Who loves airplanes? MY boys love airplanes.

Thank goodness for boys-who-love-airports when a layover is 3 hours long.

One of our first stops was to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden--it was beautiful!

Ian was especially captivated by these HUGE boulders that were covered in metal.
(It reminded me of fillings...) =)

But more exciting than sight-seeing was spending time with cousins Jackson, Nathan, and Noelle.

Blake really WAS enthused about Minnehaha Falls, I promise.

Did I mention Uncle Ben flew in, too? UNCLE BEN FLEW IN! Oh, how we love Uncle Ben.
My boys could NOT have been happier to have him around that week!

Just over the river from where we were in Minnesota was the lovely town of Hudson, Wisconsin.
Joe grabbed a geocache there (to add in another state to his belt), and I hoped to get some fried cheese curds.
We were 1-for-2. My belly betrayed me and I got sick.....DARN BELLY!

Guess who else came!! Grandmama and Grandaddy and Uncle Spencer!
And we celebrated with a LOVELY trip to the St. Paul Cathedral. Blake only injured himself a LITTLE bit.