Impulsive?!?

We've been talking about going to the zoo all summer but haven't made it there yet. With summer winding down, the weather perfect and Eric gone for the evening, I decided today was the day. We had a ball and took our time meandering through the different exhibits. I think it will be one of our last outings with our "Cadillac" of strollers! Hurray!! I think Mia is the most excited about this. She wasn't quite sure why someone was taking a picture of our empty stroller (although we're not complaining) We decided instead of sitting in traffic we'd stop at The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I was mentally prepared to be stared at so we headed in. Thankfully everyone did great and server was awesome and we got a few compliments on our way out. :)

Got Salmon?

Eric and Lee headed to the Frasier River this afternoon in search of some King Salmon. Mission accomplished? Funny thing is, they didn't have a "fish" scale so they used our house scale and Eric held it while he weighed himself. The larger fish weighed in at 28# (although Eric thinks it's at least 30#....he says our scale is off!) :)

Entrepreneurs

Mia and Holly have come up with a rather creative way of making money. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac so it's not very high traffic. Instead of a classic lemonade stand Mia started making jewelry and selling it to neighbors and friends who stopped by. Holly of course wanted to get in on the action and sorted through all our board books and was selling those. By day two they were selling stuffed animals, coloring books and other toys they were ready to part with. After 3 days they still keep making money somehow. They have different sales techniques. Holly is definitely high pressure sales. Mia takes a more low key approach. Somehow they've ended up about even. :) The neighbor kids keep coming over with quarters and leave with some great treasures.

Fun with our visitors.

Grandpa and Grandma were out for a visit and some babysitting. They took care of the kids while Eric and I escaped to Las Vegas for the weekend.

As usual, the kids found time to slow down and read books with Grandpa. On Saturday, Grandpa, Eric, Lucas, Tyler and Joey headed out to do some crabbing.

After they got home from crabbing, Eric, Mia, Holly and I headed to Seattle to the Mariner's game. They beat the Detroit Tigers that night!

While we were gone, Grandpa and Grandma braved the mall with the crew and went to Build-A-Bear.

Grandma somehow dodged the camera during this visit, she kept herself rather busy. Grandpa said it the best after we arrived home. He said they had a great time but he was ready for a shift change! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
As the boys were picking out their pirate costumes for their Build-A-Bears, I was finding them their own costumes. Argggg!

Viva Las Vegas

Eric and Jason had a trade show to go to in Vegas this past weekend. Mandy and I were not about to let them go alone! Our friends, Tom and Deb, from MI (one of Eric's roommates from college who also have triplets) also met us there. It was great fun catching up with them, also! I think the highlight for all the fellas were the number of professional athletes they saw and even met. Eric was just a little thrilled to have Shaun Alexander (from the Seattle Seahawks) autograph the book he had finished the day before, entitled "Touchdown Alexander".

Summer Fun

Who doesn't love a good outdoor summer concert. It wasn't quite a Jimmy Buffet concert but it is the next best thing.... it's Hot Wally !

A Family Fourth

Good Clean Fun

I never seem to have bubbles in the house when the kids want to play with them. Today was one of those days but I found a great recipe for homemade bubbles and they worked great. It even came with an idea for homemade bubble blowers as well. Gotta love familyfun.com.

I ended up using Joy "Ultra Concentrated" dishsoap and it got a little soapy.

Yummy!

We went strawberry picking last week with Kathy and her kids.It was lots of fun and I think the majority of the kids ate more than they picked.

Me and my 5 picked a total of 10 lbs that morning but Mia wanted to do more serious picking without the boys. So we dropped them off at Grandma's in the afternoon and within an hour Mia, Holly and I picked 35 lbs. of berries (Mia won with a bucket full at 12 1/2) So, 2 strawberry pies, a couple batches of shortcake, 6 batches of jam, 3 bags of sliced frozen berries and plenty left to "just eat" they are now almost gone!

Oh so addicting!

I've been scrapbooking for a long time now but have recently wanted to start digital scrapbooking. I have finally taken the time to try to figure it out. They were fun to put together and way quicker (with no clean up and scraps laying around!) They need a little tweaking before they are printed, but it's a start. This will definitely keep me away from laundry that needs to be folded and dishes that need washing!

It's that time of year again

Holly waiting her turn to dive in. She is the only girl in the class with 5 boys. I have to say, she's holding her own just fine....which is not surprising!

Mia attempting the "breaststroke" the length of the pool.

"You go girl!"

"I look like a Rockstar"

are the exact words that came out of Joey's mouth today as we got in the car and he settled into his carseat with his new shades on.

Tyler had fun watching Holly's class.

Father's Day Fun

We headed out for a weekend of camping at Fort Worden (the site of the '03 VH reunion for all the VH fans out there) We had a ball exploring the beach and the hills and just hanging out by the campsite.

Eric and Joey enjoying the view on the ferry to Port Townsend.

(we even saw some seals and dolphins along the way)

The kids had a fun on the beach, throwing rocks in the water and collecting shells.

They did stop long enough for a picture for me.

We had fun hiking through all the old military gun batteries.

Perfect weather for flying a kite.

Father's Day lunch on our way home. We found a great spot by the ferry terminal to watch the boats come and go.

Do you see a problem?

This was supposed to be naptime!?!

A lesson learned

About a month ago I decided to buy some new silverware and found a great set for a reasonable price at Costco (where else?) We were always low on forks and spoons and I didn't feel like "forking" out the extra money to buy more to match what we got for our wedding so I was rather satisfied with my Costco purchase. That evening I was rather excited to open it up only to find about 50 zip ties holding all these utensils in the cardboard box. I got out my trusty, rather sharp Fiskars scissors and begun snipping away. As I neared the end a couple of them were REALLY tied on good and required a little more effort. One a little to much effort on my part and the scissors missed the zip tie and went straight into my other hand right at the base of my thumb (notice....no photos attached!) Eric was about ready to leave for a full council meeting at church when I let him know he now had other plans. The boys thought the blood was cool (especially, Joey) and the girls were traumatized once again! We called our great neighbor, Bill, to come sit with the kids until Eric's mom and dad could arrive. Off to the ER we went! Well, now that it is nicely healed the bill has arrived from the hospital...a $600.00 bill! :P Now I'm thinking to myself that I should have ordered the Oneida silverware in the first place. I'm sure it would have come in a nice little box with no zip ties and I would have saved some money. Oh well, lesson learned, right?

A Different Perspective

Eric, Mia and Holly went fishing over Memorial Day weekend. I wasn't to sure about sending my camera along with them..you never know when you're going to need it...so I bought the girls each a disposable camera and told them to take pictures of their trip so I could see what they did. Here is just a random mix of some of their pictures from the weekend.

Who's Who?

Now can you tell? The Otter Pops should be a dead give away.