After two months, it was finally time to say goodbye to Cheyenne and Lane, sending them back to Oklahoma to reunite with their parents. The time went fast, and we stayed very busy!! We had something going on almost every night, and certainly on the weekends. From hiking Tiger Mountain, to Northwest Trek, to evening concerts, to bike rides, to entering a parade, to making ice cream, and countless trips to the lake, we spent a lot of time together and had a great summer.

Most of all, though, the four kids grew as close as siblings. Lane and Kenzie, being only three years apart, sparred occasionally as they sorted out their place in the new dynamic, but found common ground when they could run free. Mason and Cheyenne continued their tight bond that started when he was only a few months old and we all went camping in Montana. He snuggles up in the crook of her neck and she just carries him around. Cheyenne and Kenzie did lots of things together, even though they're very different girls, they find common ground in art, stories, nail polish, and their late night talks in their shared bedroom. Mason and Lane are both dudes that love to play rough, ride bikes and fix their hair in Mohawks. The four of them together engaged in endless hours of fantasy play, setting up their own shops with special currencies and individualized roles. It was a world that nobody else entered, but they hated to leave.