just a few shots...

Tuesday's Time

Tuesday we had a ton of running around to do, but it was my first Tuesday of the summer with the girls (we have field trips planned for almost every Tuesday). In the midst of all the to-do lists I decided to tell the girls to get their suits on and get in the car. So, they did (joyfully) and I took them down to one of the local "water parks". It wasn't the nicest of days, so it was a bit cold, but the girls had fun while there were there.

Father's Day weekend

We had a great Father's Day weekend and hopefully all the father's and grandfather's out there felt honored on their day!

Saturday morning our church held a father/child breakfast and so the girls went with their daddy and meet up with the Caceres (minus their mama). The breakfast sounded wonderful, lots of good food and fellowship. They had a cowboy theme and I loved how they used old boots and hats as decorations on the tables!

Sadie sure makes a cute cowgirl!

Saturday afternoon we were able to hang out with the Caceres for a bit. The kids had a great time riding bikes and playing together! I love every time we get together with them!! It is so fun to know that our kids will have memories of growing up together for years and years to come!


I did not capture any pictures of Billy and the girls, but I did capture this candid shot of Billy & Syrah.

Syrah held a bumble bee while we were at the Caceres!

Sunday we went to church and then came home for a quite afternoon. Then we went to celebrate Father's Day at my grandparents house (my dad was out of town, but we look forward to celebrating him soon!).

Syrah and her Great-Grandpa Hopper the red glow was the fire we were sitting around; it was fun to have some good talks and be cozy together by the fire!

Sadie and Great-Grandpa Hopper

Field Day(s) & other things...

The last two days the kids have had field day at school. On Tuesday, for Syrah's field day I was able to be there for all the morning activities and it was so fun. Wednesday I came for a bit to watch Sadie run as this is one of (if not the only) time Sadie has participated in field day and been excited to RUN (this had to tell you something about how well she is doing right now).

Each field day consists of most of the same activities, races (50 meter, 100 meter, three legged, marathon, sack, relay, etc). The in the afternoon they rotate through stations of other activities where they play group games like shark and lifeguard, hula hoops, etc... super fun stuff.

Here is Syrah lined up to start the sack race. The smile on her face continued all the way through the finish line.

Syrah running in the relay race!

Sadie at the line up for one of her races! In practices she has been coming within the first three to cross the line... this is pretty amazing!!!

Sadie at the end of the 100 meter!

What I really liked best about field day is that they do not hand out ribbons for 1st, 2nd or 3rd... there isn't even any announcing who placed what. The event is to be fun and for everyone to participate to the level they were at! I was so impressed to see lines of kids cheering each other on both in their own classes and the classes below and above them. It really reminded me how blessed we are to be at this school.

In other things - Sadie has her last art day in class last week and they made these clocks from old records! I thought it was such a fun idea and Sadie used the theme of frogs. Unfortunately, the ticking is a little loud and this clock thought it had a good home over her door, but it may have to find a place that is less disruptive.


Syrah had her first tooth pulled! She had a stubborn baby tooth that she has been wiggling for what feels like forever (at least 3 months) and it just wasn't budging so, yesterday within just moments, the dentist pulled it right out. The first thing Syrah said "can I go back to school, I don't want to miss science".

What is it?????

Monday after the kids got out of school we got home and Syrah and I were going to take the dog for a quick walk. On our way out we found this in our driveway. It was obviously injured, unable to fly, but was moving around quite a bit. I have NO idea what it is, but it had the markings of a bee (more like a wasp) and the stinger of a sting ray. Anyone want to help me out with this, what is it???

When Bill got home I took him out to show him and he as gone. My first thought was that maybe a bird got him, but honestly, with that "tail/stinger" thing... not sure why any bird would want to eat that!

Looking forward to comments that give me some information on this very "interesting" insect!

5...4...3...2...1

Yesterday Sadie and all the other kids in her class got to launch the rockets that they had made in class. This was quite the event. I had no clue when I arrived to watch that a good 1/2 of the school came out to watch this event. I also had no clue that these rockets really took off!!! Many times once in the air I couldn't see them until they released their parachutes!

Sadie having the final touches prepped before her launch.

Three kids prepped for launch together, but only one "hit the button" at a time. This was to avoid any in air collisions!

This is the video of Sadie's launch. I have to apologize; I have this habit of turning the camera to a different angle thinking it will correct itself. I am not sure how many times it will take me before I learn. However, I did realize what I had done and I corrected it... just be ready to turn your neck!

You can't see the rocket... I couldn't find it in the sky, but I did love that Syrah was there to watch her and that once Sadie caught her rocket she went right over to hug her little sister!

Sadie and her rocket. One thing I really liked about this was that every kid clapped and cheered for every rocket! Some kids were able to catch theirs, others were not. Some of the parachutes deployed (which they packed themselves) and some did not, but regardless, there was always encouragement from the other kids! What a fun event and I look forward to watching Syrah's in 5 years!!

Hiking

Last weekend our family was able to go on a long awaited hike. Long awaited because we haven't gone hiking in quite some time in concern that Sadie would struggle. However, Sadie has been doing amazing health wise and feeling better than ever! We have been taking long walks and generally have been more active working up to the thought of a hike. We decided to go to Meadowdale Beach Park. The park was closed last year due to a large part of the trail being washed away.

Here the girls are with an amazing tree! I could take tree shots all day and this one was a great one for climbing!

The girls found many interesting bugs and birds on the walk.

This is a section of the "new" trail. I was quite amazed at how much work had to be done to re-route an entire section. We actually got to talk to the rangers wife (they live at the bottom of this trail, just yards from the beach entrance) and she told us the entire process of getting the trail ready for foot traffic again! It sounded like pain staking labor!!

Once you get to the bottom of the trail you come to a big open picnic area. At the end of that open picnic area is this little tunnel that leads you to the beach.

We had a great time a the beach, there were very few people there and the tide was quite a ways out when we arrived.

The beach portion goes on for miles in either direction that you can walk and explore. We had the presence of a blue heron and we found more crabs, hermits, sea snails and other sea life then possible to count!

Ava had an exciting time with this little crab. (No animal nor crab was hurt in the making of this film).

After our time at the beach we went back to the picnic area for a nice lunch together. Sadie finished her lunch and sketched some of the day.

We had a great hike and look forward to being able to do more over the summer!

Spring Concert and Band Concert

One thing I love about blogging is that it gives family and friends who either couldn't' attend or are too far in distance to actually be a part of things a chance to see happening in our lives. This last week the girls both were involved in their school's Spring Concert. The theme was "lighten up" and they accomplished the theme it was super fun and filled with fun songs that made us laugh. This was the first and only time the Kindergartners preformed with the big kids and that was so fun for them!

Here is Syrah and her class singing one of their songs:

They did a second song: A Spoon Full of Sugar and after the song the spoons keep the kids busy... almost all of them kept the spoons in their mouths... pretty cute!

Sadie's class had a few songs, I didn't have the camera at this point, so there is no video to share. As you can see - Sadie lightened up...she was giggling tons through the songs which involved one song of silly noises!

A few days later the 5th and 6th graders had their band concert. I did capture a few videos (sorry they are a tad all over).

I could not get many good pictures at all and could not get the red eye out of this one - yikes!

All and all the year end events are super fun! This next week for the kids is their final week; hard to believe they will be heading to 1st and 6th grade! Where does the time go? This year was faced with many firsts for all of us, but we know God put is in the situation to attend an amazing school, to meet many new people and to experience many new things this year. We give Him all the Glory for this amazing year!

Field trip to The Museum of Flight

Yesterday Bill was able to take the day off work and go on a field trip with Sadie's class to The Museum of Flight in Seattle. The kids spent the entire day there and both said there was even more to see and they would both love to go back!

One of the many things the kids got to do (which they have been preparing for in the class room) is work at the Challenger Learning Center which allows the kids to have hands on experience in a space mission. The kids jobs in the mission were all ready determined based on the applications they submitted prior to the trip.

The kids get to see what it is like (with their roles) within the space station and within mission control. Usually they do not allow more than the teacher in with the students for this activity (which is almost 2 hours of the day), but yesterday they did allow a few other parents to come in and act like the wall which gave Bill the chance to capture some great pictures! Sadie's primary role was in communication and all income and outgoing messages had to be screened by her and then determined to which department they had to be given too. Mrs. Klien shared that in her first years of doing this there was no "forward" button for this job, but that each and every message had to be printed and ran to the proper department.


Some other things the kids were able to do was to tour the now retired Concorde an aircraft capable of flying two times the speed of sound. The kids also were able to do some flight simulations and tour Air Force One.

I know Bill and Sadie look forward to going back and I look forward to going one day.

My cousins wedding

Sunday my cousin Sarah was married to Matthew at Thronwood Castle; it was an amazing ceremony and a beautiful location.

Thornwood Castle is also a bed and breakfast and I wish that I would have been able to peak into some of the rooms; it was absolutely breath taking.

My brother Eric and his bride Lauren!


Sadie, Grandma Valerie and Syrah before the wedding.

Sadie and Syrah in the Secret Garden


Sarah being escorted by her Father, my Uncle Jerry. She looked stunning!

It's a little hard to see but on the tree limb is a Blue Heron which flew out of the trees and stuck around on the limb during most of the ceremony! In addition there were bald eagles circling above and many small birds fluttering and twittering about during the ceremony!

It's official they are married!!

Sarah and Matt, we wish you all the best and pray that God will strengthen your marriage each day. Congratulations!!

More time with family

Saturday we went to my dad's house for a summer (yes, it felt like summer!) barbecue. We just don't see them as much as we were when we were planning the wedding, but we love the time we do get and were grateful for Saturday!

My dad!!

Sadie took over the camera so that I could play some cards, she captured some fun photos of the garden and of her sister.

Syrah and Ava - as you can see Ava was warm and got tons of exercise that day.

Ava was grateful to be included in the fun!!