i'm a terrible blogger - here's june 2008

I'm only a little depressed that summer is officially over. We're making the most of the warm weather by going camping, swimming, and having a few final BBQs before school starts. We've been so busy all summer doing all sorts of fun things, but I've been terrible at posting, and now I'm so far behind! Plus I've put my posts at Little Birdie Secrets before this blog, which is paying off (thanks so much to everyone who has supported the new blog!). But I still feel bad I've missed all these fun memories. To play catch up, I thought I'd do a post for each month of the summer. So here goes. . .

June. . .

June started out COLD, so one day we went with some friends to the Children's Museum in Everett.

The boys climbed walls,

got wet,

played hide-and-seek,

dressed up,

(can you tell which profession James would be more comfortable in?)and used scissors. Okay, sounds like a typical day at home, but it was way more exciting! Thanks Jenny & Ashley!*
For our girls' night we had a "wrap and roll" party at Stacy's.
She taught us how to make lettuce wraps, spring rolls, and egg rolls. YUM! (Okay, she and her mom did all of the cooking and the rest of us did all the eating. Sorry Stace! But we love you!)Even better than the food, though, was the conversation. I stayed way too late talking, which Christian probably didn't appreciate. He even took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's with Ryan and his kids. We have amazing husbands.
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James started swimming lessons!
This was such a good thing for him. He (like me) is not a huge fan of water. At least not of going under it. He used to freak out when we washed his hair in the bath, which is how we knew it was time. Here's a video of the first day when he teacher asked him to put his face in the water. He was so brave--you can see
it was pretty scary for him!


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Then Uncle Boy came to visit! Sorry all you other uncles, Uncle Boy is still the reigning "favorite uncle" in our house. He wrestled with the boys, read them stories, and took them out to McDonald's and to see WALL*E. And don't forget the movie meals that mom and dad will never buy. No wonder he's the favorite! He's my favorite, too--he took us out for sushi!

Man it was good! This is our new favorite sushi joint (thanks for the recommendation, Dr. Weisstein)!Then Uncle Boy came to visit swimming lessons! He bought Addy some M&Ms. Another reason he's the favorite.

Here's a video from the last day of swimming lessons. Look at the improvement! He's reaching down in the water to grab a diving ring. It took him a few tries and a lot of encouragement before this, but he got it, and he was SO proud of himself!

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We spent a lot of time at the spray pad near our house, too. It just opened this summer and it's the perfect way to stay cool! I don't have to get in my swimming suit and they can go from the water to the sandbox to the playground in one trip! Does it get any better? I mean especially about not getting in a swim suit. . .


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This was definitely one of the highlights of the summer. Jelly-filled-doughnut-making. We got together with some friends to learn how to make them and combined it with FHE. That way the husbands could watch the kids while we dealt with hot oil and ooey-gooey fillings. They were so good--lemon, raspberry, and Boston creme.

Stacy was the doughnut baker, Jess was the glazer,

and Emily and I filled and frosted. Don't ask me how many I ate.
I'll never tell.This Emily was a fan of the chocolate and creme,

and so was James, mostly because it had sprinkles.

So there you have it--the lost days of June 2008. Now you're all caught up. That wasn't so bad, was it? Look for July and August, coming soon! (Think kangaroos and floating lanterns. . .)

what i did on my summer vacation

A couple of weeks ago the boys and I made the trek out to Utah for my girls' trip (which almost didn't happen--thanks for pulling things together, Cort!). It was a great trip, even in 100-degree weather (the dry heat really is easier to take). I found fabulous running shoes that fixed all my pains (thanks, Heidi!), jeans ON SALE at Nordie's, and $4 shoes at Target. Seriously, can you get any better than that? Oh yeah, and it was really great to see our families, too! Thanks so much for all the nice meals, transportation, and just hanging out. We love you guys and are so thankful for every minute we have to spend with you. My kids had a hangover for about a week after thanks to all the spoiling, but it's like my mom told Christian, "If you wouldn't take the grandkids so far away from us, we wouldn't have to cram six months of spoiling into one week!" Touche.

Maybe it was the spoiling, but for some reason my kids were really on one that week. For example, James peeing in the wicker garbage can because he "thought it would be funny," and two seconds after cleaning that up, a puddle on the floor next to the garbage can from Addy. And after following them from the basement to the backyard to the exercise room in an effort to keep them out of trouble (even though I was trying to dry my hair), hearing James say, "Mom, how come you keep going everywhere we go?" Grrr. There were several other incredible moments, but I think I've blocked them all from my memory. Mom and Jode, leave a comment if you can remember any other good ones. I know there was a long list. . .

I should have just done a slideshow, but I'm too lazy. So you're going to have to scroll down for a while to see all the pictures. As Cree would say, I'm not sorry.

The boys were pretty much the best kids ever on the plane. A little silly, but that's better than screaming in my book.

Whoa, this one really should be censored, but it's too funny! The kids went nuts in my parents' backyard. All that room to run!

Water Gun Warrior with Saggy Britches

We wuv Wewis!

I could not keep this kid out of the pond. Here he's seen picking the fish food off the lily pads and throwing it back in the water so the fish can reach it.

Grandpa couldn't resist breaking out the fireworks, even though it was August. But in Utah, that's close enough.

We need a dog. . .

The infamous "Sugar Sleepover" at Grandma Jode and Grandpa Layne's house. Let's just say the festivities caused more than one case of "the runs" the next day. But holy cow, what a fun party! When I stopped by to bring the boys their toothbrushes that I'd forgotten to pack, James started screaming at me to leave. I told him I wasn't coming to take him home and he smiled and said, "Oh, hi Mom."

Eddie is so big!

"He looks just like that dang T," said Cree.

Finally I was able to sneak away to see the girls, the entire reason for the trip. We missed the rest of you slackers! Thanks for staying up all night with me, Cort. I needed it. I will not forget those avocado egg rolls, crawling around on my hands and knees in Target for the love of a shoe on sale, or that fabulous green coat. Flashdancers forever!

My parents very generously took us all to Lagoon. The first ride we went on, at James' request of course, was the Terror Ride. And yes, the little terror-junkie loved it. He recently told me, "There's one ride at Lagoon that was a little scary. Dracula's Castle. But not too scary. I might want to live there some day."

I screamed like a girl every time the egg dropped. (I know, it's a kiddie ride--leave me alone.)

Since this was the boys' first time at a real amusement park, I took pictures of them on practically every ride. Sorry. But look how cute they are! I remember going on this ride when I was James' age!

Addy told everyone the next day about how he was shooting in the airplane. Here's the visual for those of you who heard the story a thousand times.

You really do feel like you're driving the car when you're this age. I couldn't get James to look at me because he was seriously concentrating on the road.

They still have Bulgy the Whale! (Cree, insert that word you always say in Japanese that means you feel nostalgic. I can't remember it, but that's what this was.)

I was afraid he wouldn't enjoy this ride because he was so worried about his flip flops falling off (say that five times fast). They didn't.

Addy was too scared for this one, but he probably had more fun watching Grandpa try to get him every time he flew past!

According to Addy, this was his favorite ride. I was amazed I got him to go on it without James (who was on another scarier ride).

We told him this one was fun, but after the ride he said, "That scared me!" It's true, it was probably the fastest and longest anyone has ever spun on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Sorry buddy!

Yeah, so the ride wasn't really going that fast. What a ham.

Addy's second favorite ride. A little calmer. I was so surprised he was too scared to go on most of the rides. He's my little daredevil!

We didn't even go in the Fun House, but for some reason Addy starting picking up his brother's bad habits that day. I hope it's just a phase. I am currently unable to get a good picture of this kid.

But he's still dang cute!

The night before we left we got to have dinner with the Sybrowskys, where they taught Addy to use chopsticks. He ate the whole bowl with those things! Christian was pretty impressed.

Thanks for a great trip, everyone!