more fun with grammie and papa

After our trip to the olympic game farm, our car was covered in bison and llama slobber. In the heat of the day, we all jumped in to wash the car and then play in the sprinklers.

One night, after dinner, we pulled out chocolate pudding for some fingerpainting fun.

It's funny, I did this as a sensory activity with Perry in mind. He wouldn't touch it with his fingers though. He actually used his spoon and focused on eating it.

I like the chocolate here on Kyler's lip.

My parents also spent time with all of the kids. My kids love the attention and time with grammie and papa. My parents even let Eric and I spend a long day together. We did some shopping, eating, and then spent the rest of the day at Green Lake. We walked around the entire lake and then rented a kayak to take out on the water. It was such a good day for us! We really, really appreciate my parents babysitting for us.

man night in the camping trailer

Many months ago, I got the idea in my head that we should buy a motor home for our little family to make vacations and travel easier, particularly for our Perry man. We did a lot of research. And we went back and forth about it. As soon as Eric was on board with the idea, I became super hesitant. When I decided we should go ahead and do it, Eric had changed his mind. We went back and forth like this for awhile. Then we tossed out the idea of motor home because the initial cost and upkeep of the "motor" would be more than we wanted to spend at this time.

We dropped the idea for awhile. And then Eric suggested a travel trailer. He gave me his reasons, which were all good ones. I agreed we should just do it and see how it went.

Then there was more research and looking at trailers. We found one we really liked. Then realized we couldn't tow it with our truck. Once we found the right chart that showed what we really could tow, we discovered our options for trailers was quite limited. We need light weight, but that could sleep all 6 of us without the kids sharing beds.

We scoured craigslist, but with only a few weeks before our big camping trip we were pretty anxious to find one. And sure enough, we did. We bought it from a nice big family with 6 kids. It is not fancy. Once we brought it home, we discovered a weird smell. But after taking it out a few times, we are happy to say it serves it's purpose well.

While my parents were here, it served as a man night party house. My dad took all 4 of the kids out to sleep in it one night. Layla didn't last long in there because she sat on her bed making noises and doing this and keeping Perry up: 

He didn't seem to mind too much.

But she eventually had to be brought back into the house. Perry followed, by his own choice, soon after.

The "men" stayed up late playing Hearts and eating chips and salsa. Eric wouldn't join them, but they slept out there for the night, too.

My older boys love Papa's "man" nights.

the blog remembers (with help from my iphone)

We were climbing over driftwood at Kalaloch beach last week when Kacin asked a question about something we had done. He couldn't remember if we had done it or not. Part of Kyler's response to his question was "The blog book remembers for me."


I laughed at that answer, probably because it's true! And it made me pleased that writing on this blog is doing some good for our little family. Our kids devour our yearly blog books over and over again.

I have been so busy these last few weeks, but I know it's important that I sit down here and play catch up. Because apparently this blog serves as Kyler's memory. :)

We will start with an exciting friday when my dad flew into Seattle! We found out he was coming just a few days before and we were thrilled. His plane was a bit delayed so we waited for awhile at the airport cell phone lot until he arrived.

We took him for a walk through the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Kyler's head got a bit off of the trail . . .

The next day we went on a hike that leads to the beach. We had to wade through cold water to get to the beach.Nobody minded too much.

This was our first hike without a stroller! We only had to carry little bodies for part of the way back. Thank goodness for Papa who kindly volunteered his shoulders for Perry to ride.

My mom joined us on Sunday, but then my parents went to a hotel to be closer to my dad's conference. We drove down to see them twice and we took advantage of the warm weather and the hotel pool.

This is also the week Layla and Perry had their first swim lessons. They both loved it. It was only on the last day that Perry kept running away from his teacher and then dropped himself on the ground and refused to move. I was glad it was the last day!

Grammie Time

We selfishly brought my mom here as her birthday present. It was a present to us to have Grammie here to share a week of our lives and be here for the science fair, the school play, and to have some special one on one time. 

We spent a morning in downtown Snohomish, which of course means eating at the Snohomish Pie Co.

We waited in the bright sun while my mom finished looking around an antique shop. My washington girl doesn't know what to do in the sun.

We drove to Edmonds beach all together.

 We played at the Children's museum.

Layla and Perry were thrilled about the new pajamas Grammie gave them--Mickey and Princess.

My mom was a part of Kacin's surprise for his 10 year old trip (more on that later).

She also made sure she took each child on a date. This is such a highlight for them--they love this time. I even got to go eat and shop with her, too.

On her last day here, we stopped at Kerry Park in Seattle to take in the view and to play before heading to the airport. I was happy to see my kids take care of each other as they played.

I was disappointed that Kyler pushed my mom on the spinning toy and I missed it! :) I heard it was quite fun and dizzying.

Thanks for a fun week, Grammie!