Thanksgiving 2010

We have so much to be thankful for! Thanksgiving week started with quite the snowstorm for Western Washington. Enough snow to cancel school on Tuesday and Wednesday so we were able to start our Thanksgiving weekend early this year. On Tuesday the boys and I made coffee filter snowflakes and baked sugar cookies. By Wednesday everyone was a little stir-crazy but we kept busy by cleaning the house! I'm happy to say Mom and Dad safely made it over the pass which I was especially thankful for since they haven't been in town the past couple years. Plus, they had the ingredients for most of the feast fixings!

On Thursday morning Mom and I kept busy baking pumpkin and apple pies while all the boys headed to the park for some serious sledding! Once the pies were in to bake, Mom and I went down to watch the fun.

Later in the day, Lisa, Guy, Amanda and Ryan (Guy's son) joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. What a glorious feast of food!!
After dinner, the 2nd Annual Connect Four Tournament began in full force! After some fierce ten team double-elimination bracket play, Troy was once again crowned the Connect Four Champion!
It was a wonderful holiday spent with family. Hope everyone else had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Fourth of July Fun

We had a great 4th of July weekend at my parents' house in Crescent Bar! The fun began with a rousing squirt gun war between Gabe, Daniel, Troy and my dad. Water gun sizes vary by age and seniority with my dad having the Super-duper super soaker and going down from there. At one point the boys had two guns each just to try to keep up with Grampa!!

Saturday night was the big Crescent Bar fireworks show. It's so great to be able to cross the street to the golf course, enjoy the show, and then walk back to Mom and Dad's trailer! We watched bats fly around before the show which is definitely not my favorite part. I tried to convince myself they're birds instead. :-)

On the morning of the fourth we all got up and got ready for the parade. This year we decided to decorate the golf cart and join the parade. The theme this year was Aloha so we put on our Hawaiian digs and got the golf cart ready for a luau and hit the streets of Crescent Bar. There were over 60 entries this year and it seemed like a bigger crowd on the streets than usual. Being in a parade was a first for all of us and it was fun. The boys are already dreaming big for next years' parade!

After the parade we hung out at the lagoon for a little bit but the water was pretty chilly and the wind was blowing making it a darn cold swimming hole. Since the grown ups weren't too crazy about swimming, the beach didn't last long. When we got back to the trailer the boys decided to try out Grammy and Grampa's slip-n-slide. Troy got some great action shots of all the slippin' and slidin'.

Unfortunately the action stopped when Gabe stepped into an under ground water-shut-off tube. He cut his leg pretty badly and since it was so deep, we decided it was best to take have it checked out. So off to the Quincy ER Gabe, Troy and I went while Daniel and Charlie stayed with Mom and Dad. The good news is that the ER wasn't busy and we got right into a room. The bad new is the cut on Gabe's leg warranted 5 stitches. He was pretty shaken up and not happy about having to get shots to numb the area but was fascinated with the process of getting stitches and watched most of the time. What a brave guy!!

There was a big fire in the area that had started before we left for the hospital. While we were gone the fire jumped the road and balled up traffic headed toward Wenatchee. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but traffic was stopped right at the turn off to Crescent Bar and we had to wait about an hour to go 3 blocks to turn down the hill. It was long and hot and frustrating not knowing how long it would be. We were so, so glad to finally get back to Mom and Dad's!

Since swimming was our plan for our last morning at Crescent Bar but no longer a possibility for Gabe for a while, we decided to go putt putt golfing at Tower Plaza instead. It's a really hilly course with no bumpers on the sides so it took some getting used to. But we had a great time and after playing we cooled off with sno-cones from Elke's Ice Cream Shop--yummy!

Overall it was a great weekend!!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Earlier this year both boys completed their Aquasox "Hit a Homerun in Reading" program and earned tickets to the season opening game last night!! We had a great time not only watching the game but also watching for the boys' classmates--we knew lots of kindergarten and first graders there! After a tough ralley in the ninth inning, the Aquasox won the game! To kick off the season in style, the Aquasox shot off fireworks after the game, and even though it was well past everyone's bedtime, we stayed and watch--they were great! Since today was the boys' last day of school, it made for a perfect kickoff to summer!!

Our Little Rock Stars

Friday night was was a Rock Star Pizza Party at our church. Troy was pretty excited about this and spent the night before the the big event creating cardboard guitars for the boys to decorate. After making their masterpieces they got on their "cool" clothes, crazy hair and awesome shades and headed to the party! Looks like all 3 boys had a great time!!

Charlie Got a Haircut

A couple weeks ago we took Charlie in to be groomed. When Troy and Daniel went to pick him up, they almost didn't bring him home because they thought they had the wrong dog!! Here are the before and after pictures:

When he got home, I laughed every time I saw him. He just looked so different than the Charlie we sent to the groomer. Now I laugh when I see pictures of him before his big haircut! I guess it's all what you're used to seeing. :-)

It's the pop, pop, popcorn parade!

Last week was a busy week at the boys' school. Monday night was McTeacher Night at McDonald's. We stood in line for 45 minutes for ice cream cones! Thankfully it was for a good cause and the boys really enjoyed seeing their teachers and friends.

Thursday night was the PTA Book Exchange. The boys had fun trading in some of our old books for some new ones. And have been reading voraciously ever since!!

We ended our week with the 1st grade music program--The Popcorn Parade! Gabe and the rest of the first graders entertained us dressed as chefs as they sang popcorn songs. So cute!! The whole menu of songs only took about 10 minutes and then all the kids got to enjoy a bag of popcorn. It's great to be a part of such a busy school but I'm sure glad we're done with that week!!

Life's a Zoo!

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted on our Blog!! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. :-)

Last weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to Woodland Park Zoo. Apparently, many other people had the same idea, and after walking from one closed gate to an open one and standing in line for a little bit we were finally allowed in and had a great time.

It seems like the animals were more visible and active than they usually are which was great! Some of our favorites were the jaguar that was right up by the viewing area and the otters that were having a great ol' time swimming around. We also saw two little arctic foxes running around near the otter pond--they were so cute!

It was a great day!!