Life's Not Fair

That's what we found out this year at the Fair.  Some of us were tall enough to go on the big rides and some of us were not.

The good news is Ben was tall enough to go on all the little rides if I went with him.  He is 36 inches just at the cut off for going on rides with adults.  Kenzie is 42 inches which meant she could do all of the little rides by herself AND she could go on some of the really big rides with me.

As always we have a fantastic time at during our yearly visit to the Evergreen State Fair.  There are lots of fun rides, animals and of course the fair food to enjoy!

Ben and me on our first ride of the night, boy was he excited!  He kept yelling, "Mommy, we're flying!"  He even did no hands for a few loops.  Ben's favorite ride of the evening turned out to be the House of Mirrors.  He thought it was so funny to run through there, even though he hit his head several times.  He did not like Mommy to go on the big rides with Kenzie and was quite sad each time he saw us pass by him on the big rides.

Sweet Kenzie on the Merry Go Round, which is one of her favorites!  She loved all the rides but especially loved the two big kid rides she got to go on with me.  They were the Ferris Wheel and then a really fast crazy ride that was almost more than I could handle.

Kenzie, cousin Claire, and Uncle Chris enjoying the Bouncy Buggy ride.  Uncle Chris gets another vote for Father of the Year for getting on that wild ride!

A visit to the fair isn't complete without some face paint.  Claire and Kenzie were thrilled with their choices of a unicorn and a heart with a rainbow.

Looking forward to next year already but I need to come up with a new plan beside me going on the big wild rides with Kenzie.  Maybe it will be Matt's turn!

Super Sliders

As Labor Day was fast approaching at the end of August the fact that we had not made our annual trip to Slide Waters in Chelan kept nagging at me.  With Matt occupied at the PAX convention in Seattle the kids and I made a quick trip over to Chelan to visit Grandma and Grandpa C and check the waterslides off our summer ‘Must Do’ list.  We headed over after McKenzie’s soccer game on Saturday morning and headed straight to the lake for the afternoon. 

McKenzie continues to amaze me with her confidence in the water and her never ending energy.  She wanted to swim out to the dock in the swim area so I headed out with her and she swam the entire way right next to me with her floaties on.  We then swam over to the other dock, back to shore and then repeated the entire journey in reverse.  People on the dock were amazed at how well she was swimming and asked her how old she was.  She said "I’m four and I’m a swimmer."  Too cute!

The next morning Grandpa C and the kids washed my car – win, win, win – Grandpa likes the car clean, I like the car clean and the kids love helping!  Grandpa was being brave giving the kids control of the hose.  McKenzie did pretty good but Ben mainly just hosed down Grandpa and then laughed and laughed. 

Then we were on to the main event – Slide Waters!  Each year taking the kids is more fun than the last.  This year McKenzie was able to go on almost all the rides by herself and Ben loved sliding on the big slides with Grandma. 

Rare shot of Ben sitting on the slide correctly, when he went down the littler slides by himself we’d catch him at the bottom coming headfirst on his tummy, lying sideways on his back, every way except sitting up like he was suppose to. 

Totally Unprepared Were We...

to face the cold and snow that we experienced on Mount Baker during our visit to our neighbors cabin.  We were also unprepared to capture the beautiful sites since I forgot both our cameras at home.  We made do by picking up a disposable camera at the gas station but in my heart I know it cost us many beautiful shots.

Me in my shorts and my flip flops in the snow!

This summer we have been exploring the vast state of Washington as much as possible.  When our neighbors offered to let us borrow their cabin near Glacier we jumped at the chance to explore.  What we didn't do is research the weather conditions which resulted in us vacationing in rather cold weather without warm clothes.  We each had one sweatshirt, Ben was the lucky one who had long pants and I only had packed my flip flops - not even any real shoes.  Despite our poor clothing choices we managed to have a great time and saw some amazing sites.

The cabin was fantastic. It had a great loft where the kids could play.  It is decorated year round for Christmas which was actually very fun in August.  The kids loved seeing Santa all over.  There was a fantastic pool that we swam in and a big playground right below the cabin next to the river.  The real fun though was getting to see and play in snow in August.

Matt and the kids above Mount Baker ski area.  It was, "Brrrrr!"

Trying to sled in their shorts - too cold!

Due to the cold conditions and our lack of warm clothes we spent a lot of the time exploring in the car.  Below you can see the kids and me on the side of a hill above a big land slide.  We drove deep into the mountains on a service road until we came to this slide and then we decided to turn around and head for paved roads and cell service.

 It was a great trip and we will definitely try to get back out that direction to continue our adventures, next time with the right clothes!

No Fear

To say our kids are adventurous is a serious understatement, a better statement is "they have no fear."  At least not when it comes to physical things.  They will climb to the highest heights, jump into deep water without anyone near by, yell to go faster on the fastest ride and just generally test any boundary they come across.  Luckily for them (and me), they are as nimble as they are wild so they don't often cause much harm to themselves.

Here are just a few of their recent adventures that left them wanting more and left me begging them to slow down and keep their feet on the ground.  

Ben at a recent trip to Silver Lake near our house, I thought the kids would just wade in the water so I didn't pack my suit or their life jackets.  I realized my mistake when a little five year old girl said, "Wow... your baby can swim!"  He's touching in this picture but was not the least bit concerned about continuing to do so.

McKenzie at the playground at Silver Lake park, with her you never know where you'll find her on the playground but she always finds her way down again.

This picture is taken at the kids' school.  The teachers said they couldn't believe it when she climbed up this giant umbrella.  She had told them she could so they said let's see and sure enough she did.  To give you some perspective on the height, Matt is in the side of the picture and she's up higher than his head which is about 6' 4".

Ben during our August trip to Chelan on a jet ski with Uncle Eric. Ben just wanted to go faster and then he became the only person on earth to ever fall asleep on a moving jet ski.  These kids just run until they drop.

 

Good thing Matt and I don't have any known heart conditions with these two around.  If they are this extreme at four and two, I hate to imagine the things we'll witness as they get older.  Let the good times roll!

Kicking It

With summer drawing to a close McKenzie has started her first soccer season and is enjoying the active pace of the game.  Soccer wins over t-ball at this point since you're not always waiting for it to be your turn to bat or for someone to hit the ball near you.  In soccer you can always be moving to the ball and working to take it away from the other team.  For Kenzie it is much better than standing around.

McKenzie's team's name is the Sharks because they are blue and fast.  She has the same coach as she did for t-ball.  We really appreciate that coach Julia works on the kids staying focused and learning rather than just on winning.  We are looking forward to spending Saturday mornings on the sidelines cheering her team on.  She scored her first goal during the first game of the season and we can't wait to see more!

Warming up for the game.  She has her hand on her head like a shark fin, which also helps her to remember not to touch the ball with her hands.

McKenzie is number 11.  I need to work on getting a good picture of her standing still and also on improving my action pictures.  Good thing I can get my practice in while the kids are young.

Ben of course is insanely jealous and wants so badly to play soccer with his sister.  When the coach asked at the last game for a volunteer for goalie, Ben was right there in the crowd waving his arms and shouting, "Pick me! Pick me!"  Next year little buddy... next year... .

All Because Two People Fell In Love

In August we helped Grandma and Grandpa Z celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with a family dinner at our house.  We had a fantastic dinner, some good laughs and the kids loved having cousin Claire over to play.  Looking forward to many more fun adventures with the family as Grandma and Grandpa Z get to watch the grandkids grow up. I can't wait to compare this picture with one from their 50th anniversary.  Places everyone!

Leader of the Pack

This summer we have been spending most Wednesday evenings down at the Mill Creek Town Center enjoying a leisurely dinner at one of the great restaurants and then hitting up The Forum for some live music and dancing.  They have had quite a good selection of music, we have heard everything from an 80's tribute band to swing & big band to funk blues.  The kids love dancing so this is a great way to get some energy out while enjoying some great music.

One of the evenings Ben just wanted to run instead of dance so Matt took him off on an adventure and McKenzie and I stayed to dance.  I enjoy dancing as much as the next person but McKenzie's dance style right now is a lot of spinning wildly in circles which makes me quite dizzy so I was thrilled when this gaggle of little girls showed up and let McKenzie take charge.  They just hung on and enjoyed the wild ride that McKenzie took them on.  She absolutely loved having all those girls to swing around and I loved sitting calmly in a chair enjoying the music.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

At our house you never know who will show up, especially when we're playing in the backyard before dinner.  We have found that frogs and crawdads make lovely centerpieces at our dinner table and are welcome guests.

For her birthday McKenzie received a bug catching net, a critter box, a magnifying class and some binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa C and we have been putting them to good use.  We always practice catch and release with anything we catch since the last thing I need is a frog escaping inside the house.

McKenzie admiring the Mama and Baby frogs we caught

Mama frog!

Ben trying to figure out what the heck we've caught!  Crawdads sure are strange looking creatures.

It's such a great experience to be able to find this much nature in our own backyard!  Makes us appreciate the stream even more.