Hooray for the first snow!

The kids enjoyed the first snow of the season by making snow angles and having a snow ball fight. They haven't mastered the concept of not throwing in a person's face, so there were some tears but overall it was a lot of fun.

Border Clash

My best friend Jean is the Cross Country Coach at our school and two of her athletes, Meron and Jasmine, were invited to run in the Border Clash (WA vs OR) in Beaverton. It is quite cool to be invited as it means that you are one of 70 or so top runners in your state. So that fact that two were selected from our school was really cool. Jean and I went down the night before and spent time in Portland shopping and eating. It was fun, even though it was a little cold! The kids did really well. Meron got 14th and Jasmine got 32nd and both were very excited. Nike treated them to dinner, speakers, a tour of the headquarters, it was a great experience for them.

Happy Halloween!

This year Emma was Tiana from the Princess and the Frog and Owen was Ben from a cartoon called Ben 10 Alien Force, Scott was Caesar and I was Cleopatra. As always, we went to a billion parties and had our own. We had a nice crowd and after passing out some candy (which seems to be almost as exciting as trick-or-treating!), we went out and hit the neighborhood. There was a lot of people out and the kids came back with a lot of candy. Scott and I had fun dressing up also.

The doctors are in!

We went to Michael's today and picked up these great doctor mask and cap for only $0.30! So, once daddy got home tonight they had to try them out and check him to diagnose his illnesses which took a long time. Owen commented that he actually wasn't a doctor yet but one in training...just for clarification!

Toothless

To hopefully avoid some orthodontic work later on, it was recommended that Emma have her canines pulled. They were quite large and difficult to get out but she was a trooper and she earned a gift afterward. She wasn't really bothered by what she looked like, however she did look in the mirror and say that she looked like a beaver! Hopefully, this will save us some money down the line!

10th Anniversary

We celebrated our 10th anniversary up in Seattle. We dropped the kids off at my dad's on the way to a shopping and kid-free day in downtown Seattle. It was a rainy day but overall we didn't get too wet and had a lot of fun. We got a lot of fun goodies and enjoyed just spending time with each other. We found ourselves a couple times just sitting quietly and enjoying the fact that we didn't have to tell Owen no or stop the kids from fighting!

We ended with a wonderful dinner at Anthony's at Pier 66. We had a beautiful view even though it was rainy and they gave us a super yummy dessert (warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream on top!)

Before and...

After!

The babies were out!

Having a membership to the zoo allows us to visit anytime we want. We sometimes go to just play or to merely look at an animal we have been talking about. It is a great learning experience. Well, a while back to zoo acquired two clouded leopards and we have had fun visiting them; they are sooo cute. Then about 8 weeks ago the Sumatran tiger had two cubs and they are finally ready to see all their visitors. With Owen on my shoulders proclaiming quite loudly that they were soooo adorable I snapped these shots and a couple others. The babies are very cute, Owen had it right!!

Buddies

How cute is this? They didn't want out, but it may have been a little cooler at the door and clearly a lot more interesting to watch what was happening outside than inside.

Summer Time is Flying By!!

My genius idea to paint rocks. There all over the yard, we can get out doors, we can paint! Fun, right? Well, until you see a bug or mess up your paint job or drop a rock on some one's toe.

One field trip this summer was to Kid Quest at Factoria Mall. We had never been before but had a great time. Owen played with this scarf shooter most of the time we were there. They had a tree house and an 18 wheeler to climb on. Fun times!

Our friends, Katelyn and Kamryn, from Idaho came by to play and visit. It was great to see them!

On the komodo dragon at Woodland Park Zoo.

Owen giving a high 5 to the orangutan!

We had a slow start to our summer field trips due to vacations and camps, but today we went to Northwest Trek. It was a cold and cloudy day which was perfect for Trek. The animals usually are more visible when it isn't so hot and we saw every animal the park had to offer! There was one, the lynx, that we saw sleeping in the back corner (which really could have just been a rug) but everything else was either close to the front of the enclosure or walking around. The kids even had an opportunity to do some crafts. They made beaver masks and Emma made a flower head band. It was a very fun trip and the traffic wasn't too bad either. Here are some of our pictures.

Summer Fun!

At the Freedom Fair Owen got this great pirate hat and sword. He pretty much hasn't stopped wearing either and thanks to the heat, he was also wearing this lovely outfit! Most of you know that Owen talks A LOT, however he has the great ability of making up words or misusing them. For example, at Disneyland Indiana Jones was Jiminy Jones and he says exciting instead of excited. So he says a lot that he is so exciting to wear these pirates accessories.

On July 5 we went to Green Lake for a picnic to remember my Grandma Mimi who recently passed away. She loved Green Lake and one of the ways to remember her was to help purchase a cherry blossom tree to be planted at Green Lake and we had a picnic and visited the tree. It was nice to see some family we haven't seen in a while, even though it was pretty cold that day and we were dressed for warmer weather. This is a picture of the four daughters!

Taking a rest at the Freedom Fair. Owen doesn't really smile anymore, he uses the opportunity of a picture to make a funny or annoying face. Pictures would be more fun to look at if we all did that, don't you think?

Pictures of Disney!

So, I always forget that I have to post the writing last if I am doing two posts...sorry. The pictures precede the writing so scroll down!

Aladdin production. Owen cried the whole way there because he didn't want to go to Aladdin and then loved it when we were leaving...


Getting ready for the crazy Pooh ride!

Disneyland actually had summer so we had to get some ice cream to cool down...something I haven't had the opportunity to do here.

Disneyland!

Our second trip to Disney was great! We were in the park for 5 days and in CA for 7. The flights were good (a lot better than when we went last time and Owen didn't want to sit in his seats, much to the dismay of the stewardess). Our days pretty much looked like this: ready by 7:30 and either getting breakfast or into the park for early entry, ride lots of rides and have fun, get lunch outside the park on our way back to the hotel, take a nap, go swimming, eat dinner, and back to the park until 9:30 or 10. The kids loved Thunder Mountain and we did just about every ride in the park except for Dumbo and a couple others we did over and over again last time we went. We went to California Adventure one day and Emma and Scott went on the big, upside down roller coaster California Screamin'. We also got soaked right away on Grizzly Bear River Ride. It was fun but we all felt a little stupid when we got off the ride as an old grandma with oxygen was getting on. We didn't hear about any medical emergencies that day do we think she did well. There are plenty of stories like that but I want to share some pictures of the fun we had. Enjoy!

Sad moment in our lives

I only write about this because this event has really shaped our lives over the last couple of weeks. On June 10th, my friend and the day care provider for our kids, lost her son suddenly when a drunk driver crashed into her car and killed her son. Nick was due to graduate that same weekend and attend Highline. He was a funny happy boy who struggled quietly most of his short life with Crones disease. So, as a family we definitely morned the lost of this boy as we have known him for the last 7 years. So, if you pray or even if you don't please keep my friend and her family in your thoughts as they struggle day by day to survive this life changing event. And honor Nick's life by NOT driving drunk or buzzed.

This is the second half of the 3 minutes!

For Mother's Day one of the fun parts of the day was to have a picnic at Owen Beach by Point Defiance. The kids threw rocks in the water (and I include Scott in that) and Kylie swam like she was a puppy (and she paid for that later in the evening with sore hips) and I relaxed. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

So cute!

Scott and I volunteered to chaperone a field trip for Emma's class to Woodland Park Zoo and it was a great sunny day. We have fun playing with the kids and helping the girls do research on the animals of their choice (Emma chose a grey wolf and now is doing a project on it). The silverback was one of my favorites as he was very animated.

3 months in 3 minutes!

The first weekend was beautiful and the second was crazy rainy.

Emma did track for the first time this year and did well, although I don't think this sport will be the one she excells at. She did softball throw, long jump, and 50 yard dash. We celebrated crossing the finish line and finishing her events. The long jump was more like a princess leap and the all the girls were smiling and laughing as they crossed the finish line. I don't know about you, but I don't smile and laugh like that when I run!

Emma earned a superior on her project which was actually better than some of the 5th graders for whom this is a requirement. She did awesome and we are so proud of her. This project doesn't quite fit into my keepsake box!

Easter and decorating eggs. We only cracked one this year! And didn't leave stains on the table! I think we are getting older!