Big Day in downtown Seattle

Well Cassie and Leah hung out at their daycare, we took the kids to visit downtown Seattle. Of course we had to visit Pike's Market and watch the fish throwing (always entertaining). Makaila and Jamie had a prime spot as they actually got "fish juice" on them during one of the throws. We made sure to get lunch at a yummy cheese factory and some drinks from the first Starbucks. I usually buy Cole the juice box type chocolate milk, but this Starbucks didn't sell those and the kids got a freshly made chocolate milk (way more chocolate syrup that way). As he was finishing the chocolate goo at the bottom (face is covered in chocolate) he looks at me with a look of pure bliss and simply says, "It's yummy."

The next adventure was the Duck. It is a tour that goes on land and then in the water. The kids had their quackers ready for this adventure. Makaila got into watching the tour guide put on different hats and wigs. We had a great time seeing many well-known parts of Seattle. We finished our day by visiting the troll under the bridge. Cole heard about it on the tour and he wanted to see the "Grumpy Old Troll" (the name for the troll in Dora books).

Upcoming b-day

Cole is so excited for his upcoming birthday. He is turning 3 and having his first REAL party. We are going to the local fire station. Last night when I was getting him ready for bed, he says to me, "Can we go to my fire fighter birthday now?" I said, "No, we can go in 3 days". His answer was, "but I want to go now".

Cole's Spanish

Yesterday Cole tried to throw something away and he missed. He said, "Otchie". Then he turns to me and says, "that's English-Spanish for 'ut-oh'".

Seattle Traveling

This past week we took a trip to Seattle, WA to see my sister and her fam. The trip itself was great. But the traveling was not. The day before the flight I go to check in for our plane (I used not NOT do this, but then we got stuck in Phoenix an extra day and so now this is a must) and it wouldn't let me check in. After being confused and searching around, I discovered the tickets we thought we bought for 9:30 a.m. were really for 9:30 p.m. This meant arriving in Seattle at 11:45 pm which is of course 1:45 am our time. I was not happy. After dropping the bomb on my husband via voicemail I tried calling the airlines. No chance for going standby for a family of 4.

So the day we were leaving we ended up having a great day. We had this unexpected free day. The suitcases were packed. I didn't want to clean anything. Chad didn't have to work and wasn't planning to do school stuff. It was great. I went for a walk. We went to the museum of art on a free day I've never been able to attend before. Chad went for a bike ride and I did pilates and yoga while the kids both took long naps. We got pizza for dinner since we didn't have much food.

Then came time to leave for the airport. That's when our day went down hill. Makaila had come down with a cold the day before (which is why she took a nap) and I forgot to give her more cold medicine or pack it. I had given Cole a new Hot Wheel to take and it also had been left at home. Our park and ride place had closed down. We get to the airport and our plane is delayed 70 minutes. Yes, now we're leaving at 10:40 (90% of the time my kids are in bed by 8:00!) which means in the end we arrived at 12:30 am (2:30 am Central time). Makaila is constantly asking me for tissues. The second he's buckled on the plane Cole asks me for his new truck. Not too happy at that time of night to hear it got left at home. They did great the first 1 1/2 hrs of the flight. But then came time to try to sleep. Neither child could get comfortable and Makaila was grumpy because of her runny nose. Chad was sitting across the isle with Chatty Cathy and at one point I totally grouched at him to come turn off the air vent because I had one child on me and the other asking for another tissue. We arrived fine, got to Jamie's fine, and the kids at least slept until 7:15-7:30 Pacific time, when their cousins were up and playing - which was as good as I could have hoped for!

Boys will be boys. Again

My son is SUCH a BOY. Seriously! Boy humor must be intertwined in even pint-sized testosterone of a 2-almost-3 year old boy. Yesterday I had to tell him not to compair a certain submarine pool toy to male gentalia. YES, I DID! Then today after he got off the toliet from doing his business, he says to me, "while I was going poo-poo, I said 'poo-poo, pee-pee, and butt!'". Of course he was proud of this. I told him that was okay to say those words while he was on the potty, but let's not keep saying it other times.

Makaila's play list

I recently made a playlist for my daughter on my iPOD. My CD player is broken in my car (I have always been suspecious when she was 2 she put change in it to break it) and she has been asking me to be able to play her vacation Bible school CD in the car. So we made the play list and included it in so she is extremely happy. She LOVES her vacation Bible school songs and can sing pretty much every word. This was good timing after her getting her own CD player for her birthday.

We went to run an errand the other night as a family and on came a newer song we've added to our listening called, "Take It All". The first time I heard it at church some people did a few motions. The song goes Oh-oh-oh-oh and people put their arms into a big "O" over their head. Also in the chorus it says "Take, take, take it all. Take, take, take it all". For that part you pump your first in the air to the takes. Of course I had to teach the kids these motions the other day while I was making dinner. So the song comes on in the car and the kids are fist pumping away and Chad hadn't seen them in action. Cole hasn't exactly grasped that his fist needs to be firm when doing this so it is both cute and funny when he tries. Shortly the whole car was singing away with the motions. Good times.

The copycat

Cole has this funny habbit currently. He wants to know whatever Makaila wants to know and he wants a direct answer too. Makaila will ask me, "What are we having for dinner?" and I will give her an answer. Cole will be riding in the car right beside her and he will immediately has the same question, "Mommy, what are we having for dinner?" I will answer him too and he will say, "Yum!" just like his sister said yum.

Sneaky Peaky

The kids were happily playing this morning, so I set to work cleaning the 3 bathrooms. I kept hearing strange noises and much running away. Turns out the kids were being "sneaky peaky" as Makaila's favorite character Junie B. Jones likes to say and spying on me throughout the house. As you can see they had on dark clothes to be more in disguise.

Looking forward

Last night I was coming out Makaila's hair before bed. We were too tired to do baths. I told Makaila that she would need to have a shower in the morning and she responded, "I'll be looking foward to it!" Don't know what that is about. Maybe I've read her a little too much Junie B. Jones.

Day at the Lake

Yesterday we surprised the kids with a trip to our friend's lake house. We finally were able to take our friend's up on their invitation. We didn't tell the kids where we were going, they just saw the towels and swim suits were packed. We enjoyed nice cloud cover and warm water too. Makaila really did great with her first time doing anything behind a boat. She did the sled, starting on her tummy and then making it all the way to standing up. Chad and I took a turn at wake boarding (why are there no pics of me? Hmmm. . . go ahead, ASK MY HUSBAND). Makaila and Chad even got to have a turn on a sea do too. It was a great day!

Understanding

The other night we were having dinner and Cole was asking a question that we weren't understanding. We were making guesses, but not getting it right. Finally I somehow realized what he was asking. It was such a great moment for me to see his face change from frustrated to happy when I got it right at last. I pray God will help me see what's in my son's heart and how best to understand him.

Knights and Princesses

Missed a great camera moment, but here's the blog anyways. Today the kids went to turn in their library books as they had completed reading 20 books for the children's library summer reading program. This year they earn bricks for the castle with every book they read. When they get to 20 they become a Knight or a Princess. Mommy didn't realize what a big deal this was this year. Mrs. K (our awesome children's librarian who does this out of her home because she is awesome) did a mini-crowning ceremony for the kids. She came out as a queen in a great robe and crown and said some special words as she crowned Makaila to a princess and Cole to a knight. (the sword we already had at home, but it looked good with the helmet). Neither child took them off all night. If this doesn't make your child want to read, I don't know WHAT will!

Hands

In the bathroom (again, I know) when Cole lowers the seat and lid he usally bangs it down. The other day I was trying to get him to lower them a little quieter. His response was, "You have quiet hands and I have loud hands." Well, if that doesn't say it all.

Gross, I know

(Just for the record, I'm only putting this quote down because my husband said I had to. I would rather forget it)

Driving in the car the other evening Makaila says, "I burped and it smelled like the meat"
(referring to what we had for dinner)

The pit

On my nephew's birthday we went to pop in to play time at a gymnastics place. This lovely blue foam is part of the pit. It is just the coolest thing to jump into. Almost makes me wish I was a kid for a minute so I could do it too. This is my absolute favorite picture I took of my kids. It's going on the wall (for my wannabe Pottery Barnesque wall arrangement).

AZ Trip 2009 Part 3

More pictures of good times in AZ for you. We visted Gramps (just turned 94) and Olive in Sun City, went to Pump It Up, and hit Trader Joes so I could buy my trail mix, nuts and brown rice. It's nice the the girls have become good posers since all the pictures we take!

Road Trip : AZ part2

Will have to say that the Road Trip was the highlight of the week. Keith was up at Lost Canyon Young Life camp in Williams, AZ and we went up to visit him and get out of the heat. Having 2 DVD players made the drives a snap. The kids just thought the hotel room was the best thing ever (maybe that's because jumping on the bed or couch to bed to bed was totally allowed). The girls LOVED sleeping together in the couch bed. The kids loved getting donuts twice for breakfast. All four kids did the large water slide, but prefered the warmth of the hot tub. Rachelle is set up at the portable DVD movie watching station where we hung out while the kids went to bed.

Buca de Beppo repeat

So now I'm in AZ and we went out to dine at Buca de Beppo again. So I went search for the PLNU soccer picture of Chad. And what do you know? Yep, found it there too. Amazing. Had to take another pic to prove it.

Arizona trip Part 1

The kids and I went out to Arizona to visit the cousins and Aunt Rachelle while their daddy was at Young Life camp. Lots of fun was had by all. We swam pretty much every day (what do you expect with 113 deg weather and a beautiful pool out back?). We went to the $1 kids Veggie Tale movie (as you can see, the girls tried their best to have matching hair every day). The boys in their plaid shorts and blue polos was a total coincidence. We didn't know they had the same shorts until Ryan got dressed for Sunday and I had brought the same ones for Cole!

Swimming lessons 09

This was the first year of swimming lessons for Cole. We weren't going to do them yet for Cole, but it worked out for them to take them at the same time. He's got a long way to go, but it was fun for them both.

Potty talk

"It just sprayed out. Sometimes it do that." That's a quote from my son as we were in the bathroom the other day. I'll let you use your imagination.

July 4th

The town we live in has the greatest 4th of July celebration. It is one of those little parades that everyone who puts a streamer on their bike or wagon can ride. There's face painting, games, give-a-ways, bounce houses, etc. Makaila got Cole all excited for the parade because she told him they throw candy. It was hot, as usual. But a good time was had by all.

Happy Lady Bug Day

Last Friday we decided to make it Happy Ladybug Day. We went all out. Makaila made Happy Ladybug Day signs for EVERY room of the house. The kids made spotting scopes to go out back and look for ladybugs. We made our breakfast look like ladybugs (English muffins with strawberry jelly and raisins) and our lunch like ladybugs on a log (toast slices with cream cheese topped with Craisins). We checked out 2 non-fiction books that we read with our 10 Little Ladybugs and The Grouchy Ladybug. We did several ladybug crafts. The kids are painting rocks to look like ladybugs. Overall I'd say we had a great Ladybug day.

Summer fun!

The weather has been really hot and we finally got around to going to the spray park. As you can see the kids really had a great time!

Felix the Fish

We are currently fish-sitting. Excuse me, Makaila is a fish babysitter for some friends of ours. They are off enjoying cooler weather in the beautiful Colorado mountains while we get fighting about who gets to feed Felix. Makaila did have a good solution to how they could "take turns". Her solution was, "Makaila, Makaila, Cole. Makaila, Makaila, Cole." Then she said, "OR Cole, Makaila, Makaila. Cole, Makaila, Makaila." She's quite good at patterns, isn't she? Actually, there was only fighting the first few days. And when the third day came and Cole finally got a turn, he goes, "today I'm the fish babysitter." Makaila was quick to squash that idea. Now, after they both have had some turns, they just enjoy watching him eat his breakfast. And turning his light on and off all day. Well, I mean they keep turning it on and I keep turning it off.

Pets

We've had some pooping/peeing issues in this house lately. They are ones I don't feel comfortable blogging. I just feel it may somehow effect someone's chance of getting some job somewhere at sometime.

Lately Makaila has been asking for a pet. She really wants a cat, but Chad is allergic so she knows that is out of the question. Next she is trying for a dog. Don't you think I deal with enough poop already? Somehow a 6-year old can't understand why mommy doesn't want to clean up after yet another living thing.