Father's Day Weekend 2010

What a weekend...full of fun, play, a little sun, yummy dinners and too much rain. Friday evening gave us some sunshine and the perfect excuse to head down to Kirkland for dinner and some park playing. Kenny wanted to go out to celebrate the Lakers winning the championship and who am I to argue with that. A first time visit to Wing Dome seem to make sense for such an event.

Saturday morning brought us gray skies, but still a little bit of warmth in the air. We headed out to Flower World in Maltby to get some new plants for the front of the house. I had heard it was a great kid place too, with animals and all. Kenny and Shane spent most of the time exploring the ponds, waterfalls, ducks, and various other larger animals while I tried to figure out what to plant. With some help from my parents I made some decisions. We hope to have our 3 new plants in the ground soon. Look for before and after pictures of that project in a couple weeks.

Saturday evening was a Date Night for Kenny and I. Thanks to some friends for swapping kid duties with us, Shane had fun playing with Katie and Tavis, while Mom and Dad had a quiet dinner where we hammered out the long to do list. We finished up the evening with a stop at a local ceramic painting shop. We decided to paint a 8x8 tile hot plate for the kitchen in a "San Diego/sun/palm tree" theme. Trying to get some sunshine in our life some how!!

Sunday morning we jetted off to the Museum of Flight. First time for all of us there and Kenny got in free for Father's Day. Shane was jumping off the walls when we first got there and wanted to play in every single airplane we saw. Unfortunately, you can't play in all of them so the day got a little long with the constant asking to "play in airplanes." We did get to go into a Concorde and Air Force one which was probably the highlight for myself. Kenny got some quiet time to explore other parts of the museum while Shane and I played in the Kid Area. Sadly we had to have our picnic lunch in the car because it was pouring down rain out.

Father's Day came to an end with yummy BBQ steaks, corn, baked beans and strawberry shortcake. We all thought it turned out fabulous!!

Happy Father's Day to our two Papa's and to Kenny! Thanks for all you do and we love you lots!!

Inside Air Force One
Flying a helicopter in the Kid Area.
This was a small flight simulator. Shane wasn't so sure while flying it, but afterward said he liked it "really bad".

Wordless Wednesday

ABC Birthday Party

Months ago Shane decided he wanted to have an "ABC" themed 3rd birthday party and of course I wanted my little man to be happy, so "ABC" birthday party is what we had. The weather was perfect yesterday, the sun decided to join us after almost of month of being away!! Mema came over on Thursday to help with preparations and she also turned out to be the special guest of the party. Every time someone would show up, Shane made sure to introduce them to "his Mema".

There was "ABC" coloring sheets and name bracelets/necklaces to make for all the little guests. A simple spread of "ABC" cut out PB&J sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit, veggies, pretzels and dip to snack on for all. Shane picked rainbow chip cupcakes to end the party off with. Many found themselves outside enjoying the water table, sand box and just running around in the sunshine.

There was a close call during the Happy Birthday song when Shane just wasn't sure that having all those people look at him and sing loudly was the best thing. He held back tears the whole time, but recovered nicely. At the end of the day he told he that next time he wants only one person to sing.

A big thank you to all of our friends and family that made Shane's 3rd birthday so very special.

Courtney enjoying some sun and snacks.

Graham and his Dad playing with the water table.

Dahlia and her Mom making a bracelet.

Ellie and Karma coloring.

Mema and Shane watching the party happenings.

Shane with his blanket during the happy birthday song.

Shane and his Dad getting a yummy cupcake ready.

Xayla...isn't she the cutest thing in the world!!

Josh and Dahlia eating cupcakes.

Josh really really really loved his cupcake.

Lucas and Shane eating together. They had lots of fun playing baseball together.

Graham hanging out in the living room.

Emmett cheesing it up.

Opening presents with some help from Courtney and Stella.

Shane and Cole checking out some new cars and sharing so very nicely.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Shane!!

Shane turned 3 yesterday!! We think he had a pretty fun day. Lots of fun surprises to open in the morning, playing at Toddler Group (where he gave all his friends a lollipop at the end of class), lunch at McDonald's where Dad surprised him with a lunch visit (I'm not sure I've ever seen him so excited before), picking Mema up from the ferry and more surprises to open in the evening.

He is a big preschooler now.

Wordless Wednesday

Menu Monday

Monday -- Chicken Rice Casserole (recipe below)

Tuesday -- leftovers

Wednesday -- Gooey Enchiladas (new recipe)

Thursday -- leftovers

Friday -- Handmade Pizza

Saturday -- Goulash

Sunday -- leftovers


The following recipe by no means do I endorse as healthy, BUT it is yummy. The rice comes out crunchy and sweet and the chicken is so moist. This comes from my SIL's MIL.

Chicken Rice Casserole

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 soup can of Milk
1 stick of butter/margarine
2 cups Instant Rice
Chicken Pieces (I use 2 or more chicken breasts)
paprika

Melt butter/margarine and combine with soups and milk. Spread rice on bottom of 9x13 pan (spray with Pam). Pour 3/4 mixture over rice and mix. Place chicken on rice, spread remaining mixture on top of chicken. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 1.5 hours.

Neighborhood Ducks

The neighborhood ducks have made a few evening visits lately. Or as Shane still refers to them as "My Ducks". One night Kenny gave them some bread, but I just didn't feel so good about feeding "wild" ducks bread. So last night I had Shane feed them some granola. The oats seems more like a duck friendly food. Before making their way up to the door to quack for dinner, they took a long nap in the front yard, driving Sadie absolutely bonkers!!


Here Sadie is salivating at the ducks, wishing she could eat them for her dinner.

An Early Birthday Present

Shane was blessed with an early birthday present from Mema and Papa yesterday while there was a small amount of sunshine out. Little man is obsessed with water, so I'm hoping and thinking this will bring many hours of fun as the weather gets warmer. And it gets him out of his bathroom sink which he plays in every day at least twice a day. I have plans of using the Water Table as a Sensory Table downstairs during the winter months.

Wordless Wednesday

Toddler Group Graduation

Shane graduated from Toddler Group today. Of course, he really doesn't know what that means. He is starting to get that soon he'll go to a new school (preschool), but still not sure about Mommy not going with him. Toddler Group has been a wonderful experience for both of us over the last two years. There is now a gap between Shane and Baby #2, so we won't be going next year, but I hope when Baby #2 is close to a year old I'll be able to take that one to Toddler Group as well. Shane learned so many great skills that will prepare him for preschool and beyond.

Shane going down the big slide with some friends. He usually only likes to go down this when no one else is on it.

Scissors were part of art last week. He LOVES cutting with scissors and worked really hard that morning cutting for a long time.

Making a giraffe at one of the art tables. He enjoys the art every week and loves painting!

Playdough is another favorite thing to do every week. This year he doesn't eat it any more which is wonderful.

Getting ready for circle time.

Here the kids are down small for the song Jack In The Box. A class favorite. Shane is the only one that gets into a "downward dog" pose though.

Snack time, also a big hit of the day.

Bubbles come after snack time.

Playing with Thomas in the car area. Or I should say more like allowing Thomas to be near him as Shane plays.

3 Day Weekend.

We headed over to the Olympic Peninsula for the long weekend, hoping that we'd see more sun. That didn't happen, but we did have a good time. Saturday morning we had to wait in the ferry line and while waiting Shane had to go "poop really bad". We plopped him on the potty and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

We had intended on camping Saturday night but with the weather being not all that great we decided that Mema and Papa's warm bed and house sounded like a better idea. We still got a chance to hang out by the camp fire and roast hot dogs and catch up with some friends from my high school days.

On Sunday the rain passed for a few hours and we were able to hang out by the barn and have another fun fire and BBQ steaks. Shane had fun running around Mema and Papa's "yard" and sitting on the "tractor" (aka lawn mower). He was truly in love with that thing, cleaning it off, "fixing" it and even riding on it twice around the pond!!


All and all, a good time was had. We even got breaks of sunshine on the way home in the car and a couple hours of sun after we got home.