Law Enforcement Night Out 2009

This year they brought in all of the big guns for our neighborhood Night Out with local law enforcement. Police officers, the SWAT team, city officials, and even one of the County's helicopter crews mingled with us common folk. We were the only neighborhood where the chopper landed...having the Police Chief live here has some cool benefits. :)

The Table of Life

After Cub Scouts Day Camp Jordan was even more excited about Scouts than usual. One day he set up this display in the living room:

LDS Night 2009 - Mariners

This year Kerry and Eric stayed home, and Aaron took Jordan and Maya, along with two of our neighbors, Elijah and Josiah. They all had a fun night!

The Boys After Church

How to blackmail Jordan in the future....

Patty cake! One of the last shots of both boys in diapers...

I loved this picture, so had to share...

Glenn Beck's story

Whether you agree with his politics or not... his story is powerful...

Heat Wave 2009!!!

Seattle just went through the longest heat wave in years, even reaching the highest temperature on record. (Seattle started recording temperatures in 1894.) Most people in this area don't have central air, so some home temps were in the 90's. Fortunately we have some portable A/C and window units, so we were able to keep it fairly cool in certain rooms. I would love to say that we spent our time inside doing workbooks, making crafts, or doing something productive, but in reality we watched a lot of TV, played video games, and ate tons of popsicles. Ryan is actually quite good at this one marble game on the XBox 360.

Moses Lake Water Park 2009

The Moses Lake water park was our third water park in three weekends! It was a super hot day, and we really enjoyed the set-up and activities at this recreation center. The price of admission and concession stand items were also very reasonable. Ryan enjoyed the spray part of the water area, but he spent most of his time at the playground in the sandy area.





Jordan went off of a diving board for the first time, and he was immediately addicted! The kid LOVES to play in the water and has no fear (good or bad?).



This video of him diving off of the low dive CRACKS me up!



Maya had a blast as well! She finally got the courage to go down the waterslides and she was hooked! She also did really well with the surfing:



We all had a fantastic time!

Farmers Market Moses Lake 2009

We were able to help my Uncle Charlie and my mom at Farmers Market for a couple of hours. It was a hot day, but fortunately we were in the shade. The kids had a great time helping! They even got to help with the money, which they loved.







That evening we were able to go to "the farm" (Uncle Charlie's property) and pick produce to take back with us. The volcanic soil is wonderful for growing crops! We wish we had more land so we could grow an amazing garden and have animals that the children would need to help take care of--kind of get back to our roots and move away from so much convenience and modern "stuff". :)

Silverwood 2009!

So the weekend after we went to Wild Waves we spent 2 days at Silverwood Theme Park, near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. We really enjoyed visiting that side of Washington for the first time. It's really pretty and reminded us of Southern Colorado. It was VERY hot while we were there, so we spent quite a bit of time on the water park side. It was a lot of fun!

Aaron and Jordan went on this one together:



Aaron just sat there for a little bit to collect himself after they came back down. The body doesn't take the fast drops quite the way it used to! :)



This was our favorite roller coaster. The wooden coaster drops several times into tunnels and is super fast!



The kids slept very well each night when we got back to the hotel:



That last picture of the kids all conked out together reminded me of another picture we took of them several months ago:

100th POST!!! Fitting that it's about Wild Waves and Enchanted Village...

I LOVE amusement parks! I've loved going to them since I was a kid, and I hope to be going on the huge scary rides when I'm in my 90's! Anyway, we have a fairly small but really great (in my opinion) amusement/water park really close to us, and we go there each summer.

Every year we are creeped out by these disgusting fish that live in the pond at the park. I think that they should make people stay in the water with them on an episode of "Fear Factor".



This picture was taken before the ride started; hence, the look of ease on Ryan's face:



If you click on this picture you can see Jordan riding with Ryan in the front car. Apparently Ryan wasn't that thrilled about this ride and didn't go on it again. Don't worry, he'll be receiving some fear/nausea therapy from me so that he WILL go on big scary rides in the future! ;)



Jordan and Maya have been going on this ride by themselves for a couple of years now:



See if you can find Jordan in this photo. Hint: he's wearing blue shorts and an orange shirt and his eyes are WIDE open! Seriously, it's almost a letdown to go on big rides with him because nothing scares him. He doesn't close his eyes or scream. I, on the otherhand, love to scream until I'm hoarse and my eyes are closed half of the time. Maya wouldn't go on this ride this year, but she too will be in therapy for next year. ;)



This ride was more Ryan's speed:



I was laughing so hard watching Aaron on the pirate ship. Every time the ship would come down he would turn his head and shut his eyes super tight like he was about to lose it.



Eric was fantastic all day! He just sat in his stroller and was happy about it. He loved the sights and sounds and the occasional treat.

Little Boys' Birthdays

Ryan turned 3 last month and Eric turned 1 this month. We had low-key celebrations with homemade birthday cakes and just a few gifts. We bought a small metal swingset for the backyard so they can play in an enclosed area.

Ryan is our child who has been the most verbal from the youngest age. He loves to play with Jordan and Maya, and is starting to play with Eric as well. He recently learned how to play a marble game on the XBox 360, which Aaron is convinced is developing his eye-hand coordination and problem-solving skills because he has to keep a marble balanced as it rolls through mazes. He enjoys riding his tricycle and scooter. He loves to be outside and play with other kids. He still hasn't shown much interest in potty training, although he did pee in the toilet the other night and was rewarded with a tootsie roll, much to his delight. He absolutely adores his dad, and when I cuddle him he still loves to play with my hair--something that began when he was a baby.



Eric is a sweet baby who loves to smile, babble, and get attention from everyone around him. He is an absolute delight because he is so happy. He has 4 teeth on top and 4 on the bottom. He crawls around super fast, and is starting to stand and take steps. He enjoys pulling everything out of the drawers in the kitchen and he's at a very curious stage--always wanting to know what's happening with everyone and everything around him. He says "uh-oh", "dadda", and "mama". "Dadda" was his first word. He is following the trend of his older brothers to be a very active boy!

Testy Chef

We recently tried out a local restaurant located right next to the Cedar River. We sat outside and the view of the river was great.

Cub Scout Day Camp 2009

Jordan had a great time at Cub Scout Day Camp! Each half an hour there was a different station to go to for activities, from archery to cooking, to art to science--they were all fun. Aaron spent one day at the camp walking from station to station with the Webelos in our ward. The next day I was able be a "walking leader" with our Wolves and Bears. The Scouting program is so great for boys! :)