Summer Fun Photos

We have been having a great fun filled Summer. Here are a bunch of pictures of what we've been up to.  

Both kids were in swim class everyday for 2 weeks. They both did great and we signed them up for one more session starting in another week. The class is in a private pool and parents do not watch, so we don't really know how it's going until parents day on the last Friday.  It was very impressive seeing how they were doing.

Nolan is holding the pole and swimming in the deep end. Sophie is waiting her turn.

Sophie swimming in the deep end. She is super comfortable with her water wings on.

Parents join in and swim with the kids on parents day. Nolan loves dropping the rings in and going after them.

Sophie playing with a ring.

The kids playing

Nolan

Sophie swimming for a ring.

One sunny day we decided to find some free fun. We visited a park in Portland and fed the ducks. The kids loved it! I've never seen  a loaf of bread disappear so quickly :)

Sophie and the ducks

The kids running around.

Happy girl!

They even posed a for a couple brother/sister shots

Teeter totter!

Climbing trees

Poy had to work on 4th of July this year, so the kids and I went to my parents house.  My dad put on a great fireworks display for us. We had a lot of fun. Here are just a couple kid shots.

Nolan hanging out watching Papa and the fireworks.

Sophie watching fireworks and smiling pretty.

Anne-Elissa's husband Chris celebrated his 30th birthday mid July and we were invited up to his parents house in Bremerton. His parents live on the Puget Sound and it is just beautiful. We went up to Bremerton on Saturday and when we got there at noon, it was already blazing hot. Nolan was really excited to get out on the wave runner. We had many different trips out onto the water and we had SO MUCH FUN! We camped out in the yard for the night and went home Sunday morning. Chris and Anne-Elissa, thanks for having us come up. We can't wait to celebrate your 31st :)

This is the view from the house. It was beautiful!

Trish and I on our first wave runner outing.

Poy and Nolan on the wave runner. 

Aren't they cute :)

Nolan and I on one of our last trips out. I think we got caught in a little rain storm. We were out and having so much fun it didn't matter that it was raining... then I saw lightning and thought we should probably come in.  Nolan was a little speed demon with me! He and I would go max speed and he didn't even care when the water was spraying in his eyes. 

My Garden

I have never gardened in my life and I'm pretty proud of how well it is doing.  My bok choy (asian veggie-top right corner) is doing particularly well.  I am really excited about the corn although we've had some squirrel trouble and lost some corn. I replanted though and I am back up to my original corn count and it looks good. Today the broccoli looks larger as well. I can't believe how much I enjoy seeing my veggies grow.  Other than those I've mentioned, I also have green beans, edamame (soy beans), lettuce, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and a watermelon. Outside my box I have strawberries, raspberries and blackberries as well.

 

This first photo is of the garden the day I got everything planted.

May 27th

This is how it looks today.

June 20th

 

Check out that Bok Choy!

 

Watermelon, Beans, Tomatoes and Broccoli

White Belt Represents Innocence

Nolan started Taekwondo about 2 months ago with his friend Benjamin. When his instructor told us the boys would be testing for their white belt on June 20th, both his mom and I were a little leery that the boys would be ready by then. The instructor was encouraging though and let us know that he is lenient on the White belt test because it is their first time.  We have been practicing at home and today was the day.  The test lasted over 2 hours because many different kids and adults test at different levels at the same time.  Part of the test is sitting still and watching others. Also, not getting frustrated or upset if you struggle. 

Nolan did very well today. During one part of testing he was asked what are the five tenets of Taekwondo. Nolan answered Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control and Indomitable Spirit. He was then asked which one is your favorite and why. His answer was "self control, cause you always need to be calm and quiet and the usual stuff" It was pretty cute and had the spectators giggling. 

Nolan did great with the board breaking. It is amazing how great the energy is in the room when the board breaking happens.  Nolan had never even tried to break a real board before. They use practice boards in class.  After they successfully break a board in testing they get to keep it!  After the test one of the more experienced kids told Nolan & Benjamin to ask the instructor to sign his board.  He wrote "Nice work Nolan, You are off to a dynamic start!"  It was really cool.

When they gave out the belts it was very thrilling. Of coarse I teared up a bit. I am so very proud of my son.

To watch some of the highlights of the testing Click Here

To watch a longer version of the test Click Here

In case you are wondering, the students get their dobok (uniform) once they  

have received a belt.

Great Wolf Lodge Trip

We made a trip up to the Great Wolf Lodge for spring break Sunday-Tuesday.  We had a great time playing at the waterpark and exploring the interactive scavenger hunt throughout the lodge. Here are some of our photos and videos.  We didn't get a ton cause we were playing in the water a lot, but here are the better ones. For those of you that are wondering... it is quite expensive, but considering it was within driving distance it was much less money than we would have spent going somewhere like Disneyland.  Food was the biggest issue for us... I don't do buffets cause it costs way more than I'd ever eat, so food was limited and expensive. Other than that the room and MagiQuest wand/game were our only other expenses.

Poy helping Nolan wave the wand to get the clue in MagiQuest.

MagiQuest was truly one of the highlights of our trip. It was just a very fun way to interact with the kids and explore the Lodge. We had such a great time.

Sophie waving the wand.

This was during a little show that happens in the lobby 3 times a day.

This was the screen we would see when we started a new quest. As you can see our team name was Wonginators!

We did well enough to be 14th in Top Gold for the Week and got our team name on the big screens throughout the lodge :)

This was the GIANT bucket of water than spills every few minutes. It is seriously a lot of water. One time I was in the wrong place when it dumped and it about took my swimsuit bottoms off :)

Nolan and Poy after coming off of the innertube waterslide.

 Sophie on the red slide. The first time we did these I assumed she could go on my lap, but they don't allow that. I was surprised at how easily she did these slides and wasn't afraid at all.

Nolan going across the lilypads. This kind of stuff is so good for him because it doesn't come naturally to him. 

Sophie on the little slide.  This was very fun for her and there was no line :)

New Feature!

I found a new feature on blogger called Reactions. At the bottom of the post you will see it and it is just a fun way to get your quick reaction. Of coarse I'd love personal comments, but this is a super easy way for you to give a reaction if you don't want to leave a comment. Give it a try, I hope you like it!

Minivan Mama!!

We have been thinking about buying a minivan sometime this year, but weren't in any hurry. Last weekend my parents were going to the auto show, so I decided to take the kids and join them. One of the dealerships let me know they had some really great deals on used '08 vans so Poy and I decided to check them out the next day.  That particular dealer didn't have what I was looking for, but after doing a lot of internet shopping we found what we were looking for.

We ended up with a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country in Dark Blue.  It has "Quad seating" which means the mid section of seats is two bucket seats instead of one bench. This was a must for me. I just really like the quad seating better than a bench.  It also has a DVD player which was a total plus.  It wasn't a must, but it was definitely on our wants list. The radio is touchscreen and you can also watch a DVD on it when the car is in Park or off.  It looks like a navigation system, but it doesn't actually have navigation.  It also has a camera for when the car is in reverse, so that pops up on the screen.  It also has the Stow-n-go seating, so you can put all the seats flat into the ground.  Even better though is that when the seats are upright you have tons of storage in the floor.  My car has always been so messy and now I can just throw coats, blankets, toys and whatever else into those bins.  

The other day I took my kids and Carter & Callie out to stay the night at Grandmas. This was our first outing with extra kids and they had a blast.  The girls were in the front carseats and the boys were in the back booster seats.  They watched a movie and giggled the whole way. 

Here are some pics.  Most are dealer pictures, then I have some from our ride with all 4 kids.

Sophie watching a DVD with her Minnie ears on :)

Nolan watching a movie

Cousins enjoying the ride. 

Big Boys in the back seat

Miss Callie

Brother/Sister

We are Skiers!!

At the end of January, Poy and I took the kids up to Mt. Hood to go skiing.  We had taken Nolan 2 years ago, but he hasn't been since then and Sophie had never been before.  Nolan did a great job right from the start.  He needed help the first day on the rope tow, but he figured it out on day 2 and was confidently going up and down on his own. 

We have a harness that is made for teaching children to ski.  With both my kids, when they used it, they tend to rely on me to hold them in the upright position instead of holding up their own bodies.  It was very difficult for me to hold Sophie up and attempt to teach her to ski on the first day.  Although it wasn't raining, it had rained earlier, so it was very wet the first day.   By the time we went home I wasn't even sure I wanted to go back for day 2.  We were soaked through multiple layers of clothing and I was sore and exhausted.

We stayed at a resort that had recently been remodeled and it was very nice.  It had separate units with about 20 rooms per unit.  We were the only family in our entire unit. It was really nice to not have to worry about if the kids were bothering anyone else around us. When we got to our room after skiing, we all needed a very hot shower.  I was amazed at how long Nolan stayed in.

On day 2 we decided to have the harness on Sophie, but not to use it the way it is intended. We only used the handle on the back so that we could easily lift her up, but she was on her own.  This worked out much better.  We pretty much pointed her skis down the hill and told her "bend your knees and lean forward". Away she went and she did awesome!! It was so exciting to watch her cruise on down the mountain with a big huge smile on her face.  I just kept saying to the kids "You are a skier!!"  It was so fun.  I can't wait to go back.

Here are our pics. I only had a couple from day one because I had my phone in my pants pocket and it got wet. Lots of photos of day 2 though.  Enjoy!

This was the end of day 1... we were all exhausted.  They were begging to just go back to the resort.

Sophie was eating snow... she just couldn't resist :)

After her first independent trip down the mountain at the very beginning of day 2.  

We were both so thrilled!

Nolan and Poy waiting at the rope tow.

Although he did great, there were still plenty of tumbles :)

Daddy and Soph on the rope tow.

Smiley girl!

A great photo of my family!

Skiing down the mountain!

Sophie at the bottom.  She did run into that net a time or two!

I believe Nolan was attempting to taste the snow.

Daddy and Sophie skiing.

Poy and Fifi

Me and the kiddos

Can you tell who was taking the pics?  More Daddy and Sophie.

Nolan on the rope tow.

I can't tell if he's waiting for the right time to grab on, or if he dropped it half way up.

Waiting for the rope tow.