First Annual Family Fun Weekend

Some time in July I looked at my calendar trying to figure out when to schedule something and realized that every weekend until the last weekend of August was spoken for. Out of no where I decided to coin that one last available weekend our Family Fun Weekend (FFW). As the days got closer Kenny and I started to toss out ideas of what we could fill our FFW with. Should we ride the ducks, take the monorail, go to an Aqua Sox's game, hang out at a new beach, go for a hike...the options for endless. The only rule we had to follow was there was no working. We weren't suppose to do any projects (old or new) and we had to hang out and have fun as a family.

We finally decided to spend Saturday at the Evergreen State Fair. None of us had been there before and with Shane's new found love for rides we thought it sounded like a good place hang out. After taking way to long to get there (traffic and more traffic) and dropping way to much money for admission and ride tickets, we ended up having a fun time. But we didn't spend much time together as a family since Kenny and Shane went off to ride on the rides, leaving Adalyn and I to visit animals and walk around. 

Shane had a blast on the rides and seems to have no fear on any of them that he could go on. Adalyn thought she wanted to go on the carousel, but then decided, nope, she really didn't want to. Later I was able to get her to ride it with us sitting on the bench (NOT on a horse). We did that 3 times in a row. She finished the day off with riding a bear twirling ride and loved that. 

Shane and Kenny getting ready to ride "The Worm". 

The kids were beat after our 4 hours at the fair! Kenny and I finished Saturday night off by watching Hangover II.

Sunday morning of our FFW, we took the dogs to a dog park. Then after Adalyn's nap we packed a picnic and headed up to Everett to check out a park called "Forest". It has a petting zoo, huge play area, trails and a water splash area (which we didn't know about or were prepared for).

After spending the day divided 2x2 we thought we needed an activity that kept us all together. Orignially we were going to go to an Aqua Sox's baseball game, but knew that wouldn't be much fun for Adalyn. It has a petting zoo, huge play area, trails and a water splash area (which we didn't know about or were prepared for).

We saved the splash portion of the park for last. It was a hit! 

We ended our FFW with a fire in the backyard where we roasted hotdogs and made s'mores, followed by root beer floats.

I'm looking forward to continuing this tradition....one full weekend of fun and play every summer!

Craft Club -- April 2012

Wow...am I behind posting this awesome craft club project or what!?! Julie hosted this felt flower wreath craft, which I had been dying to make before summer arrived. We hadn't painted our house yet, but I knew that I wanted it to hang on my soon to be painted black door, so I picked colors around the new house colors. The felt flowers ended up being way easier to make then I thought they were going to be. It took me about an hour to wrap the styrofoam wreath in yarn (I did that before craft club). 

I am quite happy with the way it turned out and I just love it hanging on my awesome black front door. 

Energy

There is boundless amounts of energy in our household. Between two kids and two dogs there is always someone that is raring to go. My first thoughts of the day revolve around how can I keep all this energy under control and how can I get all 4 of them worn out.

Monday morning I woke up determined to bet the energy monsters. After eating breakfast and getting us all dressed, I loaded Sadie (our 8 year old Golden Retriever) into the car and off to the dog park we went. We have a awesome new fenced in dog park near our house that has a forest like area to it with trails. I can take the kids and Sadie there and get them all played out very quickly. We can't take Dodger (our 11 year old Golden Retriever) there because he isn't very dog social.

Dog #1 knocked out after this event.

After lunch and a nap for Adalyn, I piled Dodger, Shane's bike, Adalyn's trike and the kids into the car. We drove to Kenmore and hopped onto Burke Gilman trail for some walking/bike riding. We walked about 15 minutes then turned around and headed back to Logboom park to play. After playing at the park, we then walked back to the car. A good 90 minute adventure.

Dog #2 passed out after this trip.

Kid #1 and #2 were manageable until bed time.

Mom was beat at the end of the day, but happy to have kept the energy monster at bay.

Summer in Sequim

The kids and I took our annual summer trip to Sequim this past week. I had hoped to spend a lot of our time hanging out at various beaches, but the weather didn't really cooperate with that plan. Summer left us two days into our trip.

We did get some sunny play time outside before the sun disappeared. Shane had a fun with the stomp rocket. Plenty of room to set it off with out worrying that it will get lost over a fence or up on a roof top. Yes, he is missing his pants. That kid would live in just his underwear if he could. 

We also spent an afternoon at the Clallam County Fair. The kids loved seeing and touching all the animals. Well, Adalyn was happy until we got to the goats that were to loud for her. Then she decided she was over the animals. But Shane and I had a blast saying hi to the dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, sheep and chickens.

Shane even went on his first carnival rides!! He would only ride with me, so he couldn't go on the little kid rides because adults can't go on those. We started out on the carousel, then went on the roller coaster and finished it off with a ride on the "Whirly Twirly". We giggled the whole time on the roller coaster and laughed hysterically on the Whirly Twirly ride. I couldn't believe how fast the last one went. Shane said half way though it that his neck was going to break because he couldn't hold it up. He begged all weekend to go back and ride more rides. This is huge for a kid who not all that long ago didn't want to even play on a playground. Though he still didn't want to ride by himself, I'll take the steps we've made in a positive direction with him.

Thanks Mema and Papa for putting up with the circus. Shane said this morning he can't wait to go back and see you guys. He may have drove me crazy on our visit, but he only has fond memories.

Wordless Wednesday -- Comfortable?

Another Kid Free Weekend

Kenny and I were blessed with another kid free weekend! We had the opportunity to use a friends cabin near Leavenworth, WA and my Mom was up for watching the kiddos. Friday afternoon we headed out and arrived at Fish Lake around 3pm. We unpacked and got right into exploring the area, relaxing, reading and even started putting a puzzle together.

Fish Lake

(We dipped our toys in it, 

but didn't partake in any swimming, 

though we could of because 

it was in the 90's the whole weekend there.)

We ate a great burger for dinner at the 59er Diner just a few miles from the cabin we were staying at. Saturday morning we got to sleep in!! Okay, sleeping in these days means we got up around 8am. That is late folks....sadly that is late in our current lives. We had made reservations the day before to go horseback riding in Wenatchee State Park which was just a few miles away from Fish Lake also. We enjoyed a 2 mile ride on Bo and Tory, then headed back to the cabin to get ready for our afternoon shopping in Leavenworth.

On the trails.

Tory and I. She was a good horse.

I really loved being back up on a horse. 

It had been years and years since I had been on one.

Kenny and handsome Bo. Bo wanted to go fast the whole time. 

Even passing the horse in front of him at one point 

because that horse was not going fast enough for Bo. 

Kenny said he "rode the brakes the whole time."

Taking a rest in Leavenworth.

Shop we did! Then we had delicious dinner at Fresh Burger Cafe. I had the BEST asian chicken salad ever. It was SO, SO good. I would love one right now. After shopping and dinner we headed back to the cabin for an evening of more relaxing and meteorite watching. We saw about 15+ meteorites while we sat on the deck for about 45minutes. Our favorite was this huge "fireball" one, and the couple we saw that left a trail behind them.

Sunday morning we got up relaxed some more, then packed up for our drive back home. We truly had a perfect weekend. A combination of hanging out, exploring, sleeping, shopping and eating. 

A big thanks to our "sponsors" who made this weekend possible. You know who you are. :)

Juanita Beach

How do my kids want to spend a summer day? At the beach!!! Well, I doubt they are any different then most kids, but I'm happy when they are happy and playing for 3 hours at the beach on a sunny summer days makes them happy, dirty and tired kiddos.

Shane told me he was NOT going to swim today....

hmmm...guess he didn't really mean that. 

Easton checking out Shane and his swimming skills. 

Corbin watching all the action on the beach.

Adalyn taking one of her many snack breaks

and "smiling" for the camera.

Shane and Easton hanging out in the water.

Corbin checking out the turtle.

You gotta get in the beach action even if 

you are only 6 months old.

Adalyn deciding if the water was okay to get into.

Shane swam back and forth with the turtle for a long time

 and Easton would swim next to him.
They were really cute to watch together.

Sand is fun to swim in, too.

Adalyn, watermelon, the turtle and "cheese".

Easton didn't want to give me any camera love. 

This is the best I could do. There was just to much fun to be had.

We finished the afternoon off with some time on the playground. 

I just had to get a picture off all the kids swinging, 

but it didn't quite turn out how I had hoped.

(Corbin, Shane, Easton and Adalyn)

Corbin checking out the swing.

When we got home I gave the kids otter pops and water.

Adalyn went outside and sat in this chair. 

I found her still sitting here 20 minutes later, 

to tired to move, eat her otter pop or drink any water. 

This was the longest I've seen this girl sit still her whole life!

Who knew summer time and playing could be so rough?!

Camping Trip 2012 -- Lake Easton

A camping we will go! Shane has been asking for weeks "when are we going camping?!?" Finally the camping weekend arrived for our annual camping trip with three other families. We weren't able to join them last year, so we were super excited to get out there and camp with the gang.

The trip this year landed us up I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass at Lake Easton State Park.

As we got ourselves settled in the kiddos got acquainted with their surroundings. This little girl was filthy the whole weekend. Even after taking a bath at home, she still has dirt that refuses to leave her head.

Our new tent, the "green monster". 

Oh, how I love our new tent. 

More then I could even imagine possible. 

The space was awesome!!!

Playing in the dirt.

Eric and Lynette in their matching camping sweatshirts. 

More of the gang preparing breakfast. Eight adults and eight kiddos equals non stop fun. Our two children are the youngest which makes camping just a little bit more interesting. We long for the days of what seems like "childless" camping because they are off biking, running around and entertaining themselves.

Checking out the water at Lake Easton. It was COLD.
But that didn't keep the kids from having fun.

Making friends. Adalyn thinks that anyone playing near her means that they want to play with her too. She joined in and "helped" them with their sand project. The two girls soon got up and vacated the area. I guess they didn't like Adalyn's help.

Good thing there are always brothers willing to play with you.

It was pretty darn hot on Saturday...85+ degrees is hot when you are camping in the northwest. Baby girl taking a nap in the smouldering tent.

Kenny needed a nap as well.

Saturday afternoon we took a walk up to see the lake from above.

Fun times camping. This will be our only camping trip this summer. But I hope to get out at least twice next year. The kids really love it and even though it takes a lot of prep work and we all come home filthy and sleep deprived, the smiles and memories are all worth it.