Ticket To Ride

McKenzie and Ben are lucky to have someone as special as their Great Aunt Renee in their lifes.  She is always up for an adventure with the kids and this summer she made one of Kenzie's wishes come true for her birthday.  Aunt Renee took McKenzie for a ride on a bus which is something McKenzie has always wanted to do.  They rode the bus to a bookstore where McKenzie was suppose to pick out a birthday present.  After getting Aunt Renee to agree to buy not only her present but a present for Ben, Kayla and Nathan too they left and rode another bus to lunch of McKenzie's choice.  She picked McDonald's and could not believe Aunt Renee let her have her very own ice cream cone!  It was an amazing day for our sweet girl and one she talks about frequently.

Buying the tickets, not sure why her hood is up she never wears it that way but I guess she was feeling she needed to look tough on the bus.

In her seat - ready to ride!

Enjoying her very own ice cream cone - that Aunt Renee sure does spoil her!

I was lucky enough to be a little girl with a very fun Aunt Renee and I'm twice as thankful that my little girl gets to have her as part of her life too!

Practice Makes Perfect

As we geared up for our yearly trip to Entiat to camp we decided to do a practice run in the tent in our own backyard.  Let's just say we need a lot of practice to get this whole sleeping in a tent thing down.  We made a whole day of getting ready, the kids loved having the tent and airbed out in the backyard to play in all afternoon.

After dinner we got our pajamas on and started a campfire in our fire pit.  This was the first time the kids have been up for a fire at our house.  We ended the evening with 'smores and promptly added eating 'smores neatly on our list of things to practice.

We even found some exciting wildlife in our yard that we hadn't see before.  I spotted this giant crawdad in the creek when I went to cool off my 'smore roasting stick.  We had no idea there were even crawdads living in our creek let alone one of this size!  He's right in the middle of the picture and to give prospective to his size that is an alder leaf in the lower right hand corner.  Those pinches could get a little toe no problem.  

After the fire died down we decided it was time to attempt to sleep in the tent together.  Everyone had their spot and we laid down but Ben would not simmer down and finally Daddy had to take him inside to his room to sleep.  That left McKenzie, me and the dogs out in the tent so we all snuggled up together and had a great night camping in the yard.  

Looking forward to scheduling our next practice session of sleeping in the yard.  That was one of my favorite things to do in the summer with my sister when I was growing up.  Wonder if that orange pup tent we had is still around?  

More Boom Please

This year was the first 4th of July that Ben will probably remember and what he will remember is his Daddy made things "boom" for him.  We had our usual gathering of friends over at our house to celebrate and blow up the neighborhood.  The weather cooperated and the kids were able to run wild in the backyard while the adults had a chance to kick back and relax a little.

We even broke out the kiddie pool for the first time this year!  Here is McKenzie, Ben and Atticus playing in the pool.

Patriotic Atti waving his flags!  I have a whole list of things to do differently next year and one of them is to buy the kiddie favor type stuff when I first see it out after Easter instead of waiting until July to try to find Red, White & Blue stuff for the kids.  I need to have a secret storage place where I can hide all my seasonal things from the kids.  

Ben and his flag, he spent most of the afternoon sitting on this little picnic table that he shoved off of the patio so he could sit next to Matt who was lighting off fireworks. After each one he said, "more boom please" and how can you say no to this face and those manners?

While Ben did experience more of the 4th of July than usual, he did not get to stay up for the big fireworks.  Next year might be his big year to stay out after dark and really experience a show.  He was so happy just watching sparklers and roman candles during the day that we called it good and send him off to dreamland.

Once the sun went down the temperature cooled down significantly and the girls felt the need to bundle up for the big show.  Cousin Claire and McKenzie ready to watch the show.

The girls wanted to get into the action this year and asked see some of the fireworks being lit.  The best part was watching them race back to the driveway when Matt told them to run as he lit the fireworks.  They were fast!

Another goal on my list of things for next year is to learn how to take the perfect sparkler picture.  I know it can be done and I will capture it next year!

The house all decked out for the holiday!  Love seeing the front yard project from last year continue to evolve and grow with the seasons.

I'll Follow The Sun

"One day you'll look to see I've gone.

For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun."

 -Lyrics by Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Based on the weather forecast that pretty much guaranteed that it would rain the weekend before the 4th of July so the kids and I did follow the sun.  Our path led us across the Cascade mountains to Grandma and  Grandpa C's house in Chelan where we spent a fun filled sunny weekend.

We made it over on Friday night in time for First Friday, which in Chelan means everyone heads downtown for family friendly activities.  The theme was "Celebrating the Red, White and Blue with Rodeo Round-Up" so I dressed the kids up in their 4th of July outfits and we headed out to have some fun.  The first activity we came to was lassoing.  


Ben was more into trying to drag off the steer head and bale of hay that he caught with his rope.  

McKenzie listen very patiently and got a lesson from a cowboy on how to work the lasso.  She was able loop the rope around those cow horns.

The second activity was making sock horses.  Ben's horse was half finished when he jumped on and rode away.  His horse reminded me a lot of him... it just kept going and going.

Saturday we spent the day down at the beach where the kids played in the water, built sand castles and just enjoyed the sun!  Kenzie and cousin Kayla building sand castles.  

Friend Claire, Kenzie, and cousin Kayla having a group hug.  Too cute!

Grandpa and Uncle Eric also dug a giant piece of driftwood out of the beach area and everyone had fun floating on it.  I would have loved to see the tree that this piece of wood came from.  

My two little monkeys in the tree before dinner at the Lakeview Drive In.  

After dinner we went up to Tsillan Cellars Winery to hear one of my favorite bands, The Paperboys, as they put on a fantastic concert.  They always have a great family friendly show and the kids love to dance to their music.  The winery has an amazing setting with outdoor waterfalls and a small river around their stage area.  The kids were amazed by the koi fish that they had swimming in the water.  They were so cute looking over the edge of the bridges at the fish swimming by.  I love in the first picture how Ben has is leg over Kenzie's like it's keeping him from falling in.  Lucky for the fish the owner of the winery made an announcement about how there were three piranhas in with the koi so the kids kept their fingers and toes out of the water for the most part.  

Once the show started Ben was up and dancing after the first three beats of the music.  He desperately wanted to dance with the crowd right in front of the stage but every time we danced our way up there he would say "Too loud" and hold his ears then he'd crash down on the blanket once we got back to our spot and take small break and then be up again ready to go.  We also got to see a firework show after the concert so it was a day to remember for these kiddos!

Life must be nice when you have a Grandpa who will cart you around on his shoulders when you get tired!

Sunday was another sunny day and we got out the new slip-n-slide that Kenzie got for her birthday.  The kids loved it and had no problem posing for action shots for my camera!  It's so funny to see how small the slip-n-slide is.  Thinking back to my childhood it was twice as wide and maybe three times as long.  

Extreme sports seem to be in this groups future!  McKenzie diving in for a long run, cousin Nathan blasting his way down the slide, friend Micah fighting to stay on the track and Ben most likely just slipped on the slide and fell into this position.  

Overall, it was a great weekend and one I look forward to repeating throughout the summer.  And yes, the song lyrics at the start of this entry were a threat to the Northwest, let's get the sun shining around here or else we know where we can find it!

A Summer {Day} To Remember

Someday looking back at this years entries I hope I question how every entry seems to include some reference to the poor weather and think that it can't have been as bad as I am describing.  So far this summer has consisted of a handful of decent days and too few of those golden perfect summer days we remember to tide us over through the gray and rainy Winter and Spring.

We did have one perfect summer day not too long ago and lucky for us it was also cousin Claire's third birthday party at Magnuson Park in Seattle.  This was our first trip to Magnuson and we figured there would at least be a playground to play on but it was ten times better than we imagined.  The picnic shelter that Aunt Jennifer & Uncle Chris were hosting Claire's party in was right on the shore of Lake Washington and there was a kiddie pool right next to it.  It couldn't have been more perfect for a summer party.  

Being unfamiliar with the park we didn't plan for water activities and didn't bring our suits and that is how in three minutes of our arrival at the party Ben went from being dressed for a birthday party as shown below to being the baby who was running through the park wearing only a saggy diaper.

After his first dip in the lake we were forced to remove his clothes and let him run wild.  He was so interested in the baby pool before they filled it up.  Seemed like he just knew that spout had to do something!  He was one happy boy when they finished filling it up.  

The birthday girl, Claire, enjoying the pool so much she ate her lunch while playing in the water. 

There were so many fun activities for the kids to do. It really was a perfect party to enjoy the sunny day.  Auntie Anne was painting faces and McKenzie got two of her favorite things, a rainbow and an ice cream cone.  

Kenzie also gave hula-hooping a try and what she lacked in skill she made up for in effort!  She was determined to figure it out.  

This is one summer day we will remember no matter how many more we get!

It's A Classic

Who doesn't have a childhood memory of a sunny day spend playing with a red radio flyer wagon?  The wagons of today have more features like seats, buckles and cup holders but in the end it serves the same purpose of fun for all who are riding or pulling.

Notice that in all that fun the wagon never even moved but the kids never stopped moving.  I love that the pictures include their shadows moving with them.  I hope that they will remember days like this spent together having fun as they grow up.  I know I will remember!

Rub A Dub Dub...

Two kids in a bucket... this is a backyard "pool" Northwest style.  The weather has been too cold to break out even the kiddie pool but the kids didn't let that stop them from having some fun with water in the backyard.

The only thing that McKenzie wanted to give Matt for Father's day this year was a "water squirter."  I found these fun water tubes that did the trick and also weren't too hard for the kids to figure out how to use. Here they are loading up on water before watering the plants.  Luckily they aren't too much into squirting each other yet.

The View From Here

It's amazing how fast life changes and how the things that are important to you change along with life.  Having kids really makes you step back and appreciate the little things in life like finding the perfect bubble gun.  I cannot tell you how many different types of bubbles, bubble wands and guns we have tried out in the last four years but I think we have finally found our winner!

McKenzie got the Turbo Bubble Blower for her birthday and it has out performed all our previous bubble contraptions.  It's simple enough that the kids can use it themselves and it puts out an amazing amount of bubbles using normal bubble liquid.  Now we just need to find one more so we don't fight over the one we have!

Two happy kids chasing bubbles in the backyard!

Ben attempting to catch a bubble.

Dancing With The Stars!

We have been practicing for McKenzie's big dance recital since last September so we were very ready for the recital when it finally rolled around.  We had a dress rehearsal on the Wednesday before the show and McKenzie did great getting up on the big stage and dancing.  I was a little worried since she told me on the way there that she didn't want a rat to bite her.  Seeing the Mouse King bite the girl in the opening of the Nutcracker really stuck with her and she was sure a mouse would bite her on the stage.  Once we over came that issue she was ready to shine!

I couldn't believe the number of kids and acts that were in the performance, it was really impressive. McKenzie's class was act 32 out of 38 which is a long time to wait for little girls but they all did fantastic.  The rehearsal really made the actual recital seem even more exciting since it meant that more people would get to see her perform what she'd been working so hard on.

Here's her costume that I was waiting to reveal.  I was hoping it would be very fun and frilly for these little dancers and boy did I get my wish.  Here's our beautiful dancer in her full costume!

McKenzie looking serious before the show.  The girls had to wait patiently backstage while all the other acts went which can be hard for little girls who are missing their nap times but the girls did amazing.  I was just hoping that there were no tears or nose picking.

This was taken during the rehearsal when we were allowed to take pictures / video.  This is the end of their routine to Old McDonald.  

McKenzie with her flowers from her adoring fans.  Grandma Z and Aunt Jennifer were so supportive to come spend an afternoon watching her performance.

Within minutes of getting into the car she fell asleep in full costume still clutching the flowers from her fans.

Grandma Z has always had a picture of Aunt Jennifer with her ballet class from when she was 3 or 4 in her bathroom and for years I have admired that picture and how cute it is as an accent to the room.  I was really hoping that I might create my own version of that for one of my bathrooms but I'm not sure the color of McKenzie's costume would work in my house so perhaps I'll try the black and white version! 

Here's the full routine that I taped during the dress rehearsal.  Love seeing that little girl dancing her heart out on that stage!  McKenzie is in the back row on the far right.