Lake Meridian!

I was looking through my pictures the other day I realized I never blogged about our first trip to Lake Meridian. It was actually Owen's first official day of summer vacation since The Summer Learning Program got out. 

Side Note: He did fabulously at the SLP! I think it really was perfect for him to have some sort of structure for a good chunk of his vacation. He thrives on structure. My only disappointment was from what I understood his teacher was wanting him to attend due to his poor handwriting and spelling skills. They were supposed to focus on literacy and all that entails and instead it seems like they just focused on the reading aspect. Owen is a fabulous reader...I mean this kid will sit for hours and read and read and read. It's funny that his spelling is so off since he can read so well. Anyways it was great for him, but I was a little bummed that they didn't really help him in an area I think he truly needs it. 

For some reason on this Friday we were all in a funk! Grumpy and tired I guess...plus the weather was gray so that probably didn't help either. In an attempt to lighten our moods I decided to take the kids to Lake Meridian for the first time. I don't remember ever going there before, but I do know it's a pretty busy park so it must be good. We loaded up the scooters and headed out that afternoon. 

There was a fantastic playarea for the kids. 

Things to make music on...

Things to climb...

Things to conquer!!! 

A while after we got there I heard the all too familiar music of the ice cream man and decided to go take a look. This ice cream man had one of those little carts that rides on 3 wheels so he drove all the way down to the playarea on the sidewalk....later the parks & recreation people told him he couldn't do that. Anyways I told the kids we would see how expensive it was. We've already had this chat about how much a rip off the ice cream man is and they do understand, but I also need to be the fun mom ever now and again. This ice cream was awesome! He had 4 options that were only one dollar! I got the three older kids cotton candy Popsicles and I got a fudge pop to share with Zeke. Thank you not a rip off ice cream man!!! 

As I'm sure you noticed in the above park pictures Zeke was no where to be seen on the playground. That's because he was crying his head off most of the time because he wanted to go back to the big sidewalk to ride scooters. This kid loves his scooter! Well...it's not really his scooter it's Jack's and later on in the summer the dilemma of us only have 3 scooters and 4 kids was solved by Ga-Ga. She actually ordered a new scooter and had it sent to my Aunt Linda's house so it would be waiting for us when we got there. That way all 4 kiddos could have their own scooters! 

This little area was quite fun....it was in the shape of a triangle and the kids would go round and round.

Of course the fun part was coming down from the hill! 

That was a bit too scary for Zeke though so he would just go back and forth up at the top. Also for a time there were some people sitting down and they had a dog with them so there was no way he was going to ride pass that dog! Thankfully there were two dogs at Aunt Linda's house and he actually really got quite comfortable with Nala and he loved to play fetch with her. We are pet-free house, but honestly if I could clone Nala I'd might reconsider that stance! 

I wanted to go explore more of the park so we headed over to the beach area. Like I said it was gray and not really warm at all so I didn't bring their swimsuits. 

The beach area is nice looking, but the sand isn't really sand it's more like tons of tiny rocks. I definitely still think that Coulon in Renton is better. 

Of course the kids wanted to throw rocks in the water. I explained that I didn't bring a change of clothes for them and if they got wet they were going to have to live with it. 

Of course that went in one ear and out of the other. Live in the moment right! 

They were having so much fun! 

At one point Zeke was laying on his stomach and crawling around. This kid! Of course packing up and walking back to the van was an adventure. First I had to deal with wet kids that can't put their shoes on and don't want to go, they have scooters and helmets to deal with and walking across the grass to get to the sidewalk was a total landmine riddled with tons of goose poop. Ewww! We were grumpy when we got there and we were grumpy AND tired when we left, but the in-between fun time made up for all that. Plus Michael went and got Red Robin that night for dinner so I didn't have to cook! YAHOO! 

First Day Of Kindergarten Camp Is A Great Time To Defrost Your Freezer!

Today was the first day of Kindergarten Camp for Ella! We never did this with either of the boys....Owen was homeschooled for Kindergarten and Jack started Kindergarten late since I didn't know it was full day. 

It was good for Ella and I to get an idea of what it's going to be like on school days. For example she is going to have to pick out her clothes the night before. I am not going to deal with her making a big deal about her clothes in the morning. I knew this was going to be a struggle so I've already done some prep work in regards to this. A week ago I laid out outfits for Ella and took pictures of each one. She has a princess photo book so I'm going to put the pictures in that and then she can browse her book and pick out her clothes from that. This girl can drive me crazy with her clothes! 

I can't believe this is happening though! Thankfully Kindergarten doesn't actually start at the same time the older grades do so I'll get an extra week with her before reality kicks in! 

As for the title of this post....when I walked out into the garage to get the kids in the van to head to school I noticed that the freezer was open about 3-4 inches. Yes...some child left the door open all night long! I was a mess! A week ago I had gone to Costco and stocked up on freezer stuff so there was roughly $300 worth of food in there. I was beyond angry and freaking out because we don't have the money to replace the food. I shut the door and got the kids in the van so Ella wouldn't be late. Then I called Michael and he talked me down off the ledge. He said it's just food and it's just money and we have an emergency fund for a reason. It's not like the kids did it on purpose. He's so wise!!! 

After dropping Ella off at school we came home and I got a closer look at the freezer. Actually most of the stuff wasn't thawed that much at all. I called my mom and asked her what I could keep. We agreed that if it was fully cooked I could keep it. Like chicken patties, chicken nuggets and meatballs. But the uncooked meat would have to go. A whole thing of Costco hamburger patties had to be thrown out! The chicken breasts were actually still rock hard. A few had started to thaw out so I threw those in the crockpot to cook. Some of the shrimp had thawed so I put that in the frig to cook in the next day or two. 

Of course the freezer was covered in frost so it would have to be defrosted. 

I put the food we could save in coolers. 

Then I threw the stuff we couldn't save away. In all I think it was under $50 worth of food. Thankfully it was garbage day so we didn't have to have that stuff sitting in our garbage for a week....bright side! Instead of sitting around watching the freezer thaw out the boys and I went to the track and I ran a bit. By the time we got back the freezer was almost completely thawed. After picking up Ella and her friend Kendra from school I was able to wipe down the freezer and get everything back in it's place. I

'm thankful that it wasn't worse...I'm thankful that Ella and Kendra had a great time at school, I'm thankful for my wonderful, understanding husband, I'm thankful for my mom and I'm thankful that my kids are so forgiving of me! 

My Goal & Football Season Is Here!

On Friday August 14th I met...no exceeded my goal of running for 35 minutes straight before my 35th birthday. First I ran for 37 minutes, second I ran the furthest I've ever ran....3 miles straight and third I don't turn 35 for more than a month! This was definitely something I NEVER ever thought I would do. It's so exciting to see how hard work really pays off and mentally overcoming that voice in my head that says you can stop running now. Nope...not listening! 

One of the things I thought about when I first posted my goal in regards to running is that I've read there's a statistic that says only a certain amount of people actually make it to their goal if they speak it out loud to people. I guess because you've spoken it now your brain thinks you've done it...not sure. Anyways I knew that I would not be that statistic...I was going to make it to my goal! 

After telling the kids I made my goal Owen was all excited and said..."Now we don't have to come to the track anymore!" Nope...sorry Mama's still going to run buddy! 

After getting all showered and ready the kids and I took a group shot wearing our Seahawks shirts. They all got Seahawk tattoos as well! I'm SO SO SO excited football season is finally here! 6 months is way too long! 

I had the kids hold up 5 fingers on one hand and make a 0 with the other. That's because we're headed to Superbowl 50 baby!!! 

Months and months ago my cousin Bill had asked me if I would be interested in going to the first preseason game against the Broncos. I told him yeah!!! Money ended up being a little tight and we weren't going to be able to go, but Bill blessed us by paying for our tickets! Such a blessing. So I dropped the kids off at Ga-Ga & Pa's for the night, picked up Michael and we headed for the stadium. We were actually at our hotel in Missoula when I got the news that Bill had purchased the tickets. I wrote on a piece of paper...Section 307 - Row MM - Seats 6-8. I showed Michael the paper and asked him what he thought that was. He looked at the paper and said, "It looks like seats for the Seahawks!"...that's when I told him we were going to the game. I had kept it a secret for months. It was so much fun! 

Walking towards the gate! 

We met Bill outside the Northwest entrance and then headed into the stadium. 

Of course we have had one of the hottest summers on record....so many days over 90 degrees and on the first day of football it POURS rain. I was all for it after all football is meant to be played in bad weather! Michael thought it was funny because here Seattle is going to be on National TV and of course it's raining. People always think that Seattle is under constant rain and we really aren't. 

We found our section! Since it was raining I broke out a poncho that I had bought for our trip to Disneyland and it came in handy for sure. I would have been a drown rat if I hadn't had that thing! 

We were literally 3 rows from the furthest seats, but that was fine by me. We were under the covered area so we weren't getting rained on and seriously the view was amazing. Plus it seemed like the whole time the action was right in front of us. They would switch sides after each quarter and that would bring the action back to the side of the field we were on. It was terrific! 

We were there 90 minutes prior to game time so we got to watch some of the guys practicing on both teams. 

It was fun looking across the stadium at all the titles the Seahawks have achieved over the years. 

There's our boys!!! 

Seahawks selfie!!! 

Blue Thunder performed quite a few times for the crowd. The funniest thing about the game is that when there is a commercial break on TV the plays stop. It's like they get all these mini timeouts because of it. They've got to make that money from all those commercials! 

My favorite part was when our guys came out onto the field! I had so much fun yelling and cheering at the game. It was really a great game even though we did lose! We got to see some of the new guys step up...it will be interesting to see who gets cut in the next few weeks. I'm so excited for this season! 

Thank you Bill for making this possible!!! 

Wyoming Trip - Day 6 & 7

Our last day at Aunt Linda and Uncle Lee's we just spent hanging around the house and relaxing. My cousin Marshall had showed up on Tuesday night with two of his kids...Lane and Peyton. Tiffy had already been at Aunt Linda's for a week. On Wednesday morning Marshall left with Tiffy and Lane and Peyton got to have special time with their Grandparents. 

Just like Ella and Alli...Ella and Peyton got along wonderfully. 

Peyton had fun braiding Ella's hair for her! If you know Ella getting her to let you do her hair is a miracle sometimes. She loves to just let her hair flow freely! 

Since Peyton wasn't here when we did "party" nails I promised her I would do hers. 

I also repainted Ella's since one of her Jam's had already fallen off. She wouldn't really let me apply much heat from the hairdryer when I was putting them on because it was "too hot"...so that's why they didn't stay on very well. 

The rest of the day was spent getting ready to leave...I went to Wal-Mart and bought a couple things for the kids to play with and a couple more movies for the trip. I also cleaned and organized the van and did laundry so most of it would be taken care of when we got home. This day was a serious free for all with the kids. They were over the moon with how much electronic time they got! 

The next morning we head out for Missoula! We made really good time and ended up getting there before our room was even ready. We ended up killing some time by going to a park. 

For dinner we thought it would be fun to introduce the kids to Cracker Barrel. They loved the big checkers board outside. 

Zeke and I had so much fun rocking in the rocking chairs. The food was awesome and super cheap! Love that! Each of the kids got to spend their money they brought plus the money they made for being good during the drive. Owen got a bag of pirates to use with his set up, Jack got a motorized monster truck with extra tires so it can drive on different terrain, Ella got a princess wand...she had already spent some of her money earlier on gum and Zeke got a cool blue sports car. 

After dinner we all went in the pool...hence no pictures since I was in the pool too! Then it was up to the room for another bath. I absolutely love that they all can fit so nicely and they actually were having a great time playing together. There is a saying that's so true....I'm gonna miss this! 

The next day we were up and ready to hit the road. I actually got up at 6am because I wanted to make it to the water park when it opened in Ritzville. The kids had already asked us if we could go again. The only thing I forgot was that on the way home we would actually gain an hour. So I really woke up at 5am Washington time. Sheesh! I ended up getting all ready and then browsing my phone for about an hour before waking up the kids. 

We did go to the water park again...Michael decided to stay out of the pool this time since his burn was healing up. The kids and I had a blast though. It was a touch cooler this time around, but we were still practically the only people there. 

On the way home from Ritzville I drove and when we got to Snoqualmie Pass we saw the strangest thing...

A whole group of DeLoreans! I think we ended up counting 9 in all. Michael was thinking it might be some of the Seahawks players, but it ended up being a bunch of middle aged white guys. It was super odd! 

We didn't end up going straight home we had to make a couple stops for milk, pizza and Chinese food. It was so nice to be home that I didn't even remember to take a picture!!!  

Wyoming Trip 2015 - Day 4 & Day 5

Tuesday was another hang out at Aunt Linda's house day. While we were there we did things like, played outside, go on the slip and slide, rode scooters, played fetch with Nala, played on the Kindles, watched movies, talked, drank Mike's Hard Lemonade, read magazine, shopped for jewerly from Grandma and Aunt Linda's stash, went to the school and played on the playground, ran, ate yummy food, did our nails and played board games. 

Of course we also ate yummy food and this was the yumminess that Owen was going after...he didn't actually end up eating it all! 

Two more family members showed up on Tuesday...Uncle Myrle and his daughter Lori. I had promised the girls we would do "party" nails....AKA paint all of their nails except two and put Jamberry nails on the two I didn't paint. Tiffy...on the right in the picture above was the only other one to get a full set of Jam's besides me. 

This was also the first day of the departures. Ga-Ga & Pa were leaving to go to Gillette to see Grandpa. This is our attempt at a group shot...I'm thinking Owen and Jack were downstairs, Zeke was taking a nap, Uncle Lee was at work and Aunt Stephie is taking the picture. 

What a bunch of weirdos...yeah I'm talking about your Aunt Linda, Michael and Colton!!!! ;) 

Ga-Ga & Aunt Linda! It's always hard to say goodbye! 

On Wednesday we left bright and early heading for Yellowstone. We've taken the kids before back in 2012 when Zeke was a little baby, but we couldn't come all this way and be only an hour away and not go into the park for at least a day! 

Our first stop was Old Faithful. Of course we got there right after she blew. So we hung out at the Visitor Center, went potty and watching a movie that talking about billions and billions of years...BLAH!!!! Then we headed over to watch the geyser erupt. It was funny Tiffy had gone into the park earlier in the week and she said..."It's the only place in the world where people gather to watch water squirt out of the ground!" So true! It is amazing of course, but it's also funny if you think about it. The eruption seemed longer than I remember and even the kids were saying things like...is it going to stop! 

Michael went back to the van to get our lunch and then we walked over to Old Faithful Inn to eat. 

These nice people were sitting at a table on the 3rd floor and they asked us to join them since they were only taking up half of the table. It was nice to get to visit with other tourists! 

We did make a short trip into the gift shop which I'm sure you know with children is asking for disaster so we got out of there pretty quickly. I mainly wanted to see if they still had the earrings I bought there back in 2012 since I'd like to get another pair, but unfortunately they did not! 

The weather wasn't all that great the day we were there and I accidentally left the stroller in Aunt Linda's garage so we didn't get out and explore very much. We did drive by sight-seeing and that's okay. It was a fun little trip to the park. I think the next time we go will be when the kids are old enough to really enjoy the sights and walk on their own for long distances!