Seattle Days 5-9

Day 5 The church is till true in Washington! We went to church with the Carrolls and while Rory and Paige had a buddy to go to class with I was left on my own since Shelley is in Primary. We had good meetings and then afterwards someone in their ward must own a bread route or something because they fill up the kitchen with all sorts of bread, bagels, rolls, donuts etc. available for anyone to take home. So the whole ward stocks up and I think each of the kids had at least 2 bags that they were carrying out to the car. 

Day 6 Monday we just took it easy, stayed home and did some much needed laundry. Adam got sunburned pretty bad while clamming so we stayed inside for his sake while the rest of the crew played outside most of theday. The van was in the shop getting a dvd player put in anyway to make the trip to Utah easier so we just hung out. Some of Shelley's friends from Mesa stopped in for the night while they were on vacation. I knew the girl too from doing scrapbooking with her and Shelley. 

 

Day 7 Tuesday was also pretty low key. Shelley's friends left after breakfast and we hung around the house where Rory has become quite the Wii player. She watched the boys play for a long time then when she got her turn it didn't take long to figure it out. She even won a few times! Later in the evening when we went to another park nearby that had a big spiderweb type rope climbing thing. They have the greatest parks here and they are everywhere! 

Day 8 Wednesday we went to the Science Center in downtown Seattle. In fact it is right next to the Space Needle which we will go back an see on another day. They had a special exhibit about the circus, it was really cool. Rory got to walk across a tight rope, and all the kids dressed up in circus costumes. 

We also saw the IMAX 3D movie about the Hubbell telescope. It was really amazing to see all the pictures it took of things thousands of light years away, I don't know how you can see that and not think there it an almighty creator. They also had a tropical butterfly house that we got to go in and have hundreds or beautiful butterflies all around us.

 Shelley has a membership so we will probably go back again to see the rest of the exhibits we didn't have time for this trip. That night some girls in Shelley's ward were doing a movie night so we left all the kids with Nathan and went over there to watch When in Rome.     

Day 9 Thursday It is cold and rainy again today, hard enough that we could see it in the pond. We even turned on the heater this morning. We went to the store to get more milk and eggs since go through it so fast ( I can't imagine why) then we went to the library to let everyone pick out some books and get signed up for the summer reading program. When we were driving back home I saw a sign that said the temperature was 56 degrees and it was 12:30 and it is summer! The kids read a book about the story of the minotar then went out to play most of the afternoon anyway and I guess the boy were rustling the bushes because they girls now think there is a minotar that lives out in the woods behind their house. We watched a movie from redbox tonight. I think Caleb is getting even more sick so we'll try and take him to the doctor in the morning.     

Seattle Days 3-4

I have an addendum for Day 2 I guess, later in the evening after I wrote last time we went to the Seattle Temple. Like everything else it is surrounded by trees so you get right up to it before you can see it and even then there is a stake center right next to it but you would never know because the trees are so thick. We walked around the grounds and took some pictures. Paige tripped and fell twice on the side walk and scraped her knees pretty good to I took her into the temple to ask the man at the desk if we could have a bandaid and he was clearly flustered by our request, I guess that is not part of their training. He did end up finding one in the desk drawer and then the security guard driving around on the golf cart outside had two more so we got it taken care of. There is also a really nice big park near by that we followed a trail through the trees to and again you would never have know the temple was right there.

 

Day 3 We were going to go to a splash park in downtown Seattle but it was raining and colder when we got up so that was out of the running. It was weird because we could see the rain coming down but it was such a fine mist that it didn't even make ripples in the pond. Later in the day we did go to a park that had a pirate ship to play on and a merry go round. They all had a great time on the merry go round. Then we went to the store and home to take naps then just hung out at the house the rest of the day.

 

Day 4 Today was a big day we all went CLAMMING! We checked the internet to find out when low tide was and packed up to make the hour and a half drive to Samish Island. We got there right on time and sent everyone out to dig for clams. They squirt water up out of the ground and that is how you know where to dig and you have to be fast because they start to dig themselves down even deeper as soon as you disturb the sand around them. Rory was being a total girl and didn't like the slimy seaweed or the clams or crab or anything else the boys found but Paige was loving it. They both spent a lot of time collecting shells so they enjoyed themselves anyway. We did end up catching several big clams a crab that was probably 8 in across, some hermit crabs, a jelly fish and a giant sea star that was probably 12 in across.

 

 We only too the clams and crab home though. After that we drove over to Deception Point. It is a bridge that takes you to another Island and the water underneath is where the ocean meets the fresh water of a river so it is really turbulent and swirling around right there under the bridge. 

We drove down to the beach there to eat lunch and so the kids could play in the water. Rory was much happier playing on this beach and in the ocean because it didn't have all the "yucky stuff" at least that she could see. Paige was content playing in the sand.

 

 After everyone was done swimming we cleaned up and drove across the island to the Ferry at Mukileto. It was a huge multi level boat that you just drive you car onto and ride it across back to the mainland.

 Then we drove back home and made clam chowder and cooked the crab. Rory was not buying into the whole eating the "yucky" things we brought home but she did have to try one bite and she said it was okay but wanted to eat something else instead, Paige ate about half a bowl before she opted for mac and cheese too. Caleb did get a little sunburned on his cheeks while we were clamming but other then that he did pretty good considering we were out and about the whole day. 

Our Seattle Trip Days 1 & 2

***I know it has been forever since I posted and a lot has happened in the mean time so prepare yourself for blog overload! ***

DAY 1 - We made it to Seattle! Our flight was great everyone did so well. Mike took us in to security but then had to get to work but we were just fine! We watched the airplanes take off for a while then we ready to board our plane. Both girls were so excited they could hardly stand it! Paige got to sit by the window first and they switched seats about half way through. They were very excited to get to eat snacks and go to the bathroom. I had to go and with Paige to help her and we both barely fit in there! Rory did it all by herself! Rory colored most of the time and Paige ate most of the time! In her normal Paige manner she kept asking when do we get the snacks from the moment we sat down on the plane and even during take off when her snacks would have just flown right off her tray into her lap! Caleb was good too. I feed him during take off and then he slept for about 45 min halfway through and I just had him suck on a binkie for the landing since he has the ear infection I didn't want his ears to bother him anymore then they had to. They all did great though!  

 

Once we got back to Shelley's house we unloaded our stuff and then went on a walk to a park by their house and the trail to the park was like walking through the forest, it is all so beautiful and it is just their backyard! They have a pond literally behind their back fence and there are a family of geese that live out there with a batch of young goslings. Everyone just played out side until dinner and then again afterwards. Bed time was a little tricky since it doesn't get dark till after 9:30pm but I think they were all to excited to sleep anyway.  

DAY 2 - Today we went to St Edwards State Park. It had a big nice playground for the kids and we did that for a while then we hiked about half a mile down a trail through the forest/jungle to the beach of Washington Lake. 

The kids took off their shoes and were just going to put their feet in but it wasn't more then a few minutes before Paige slid on some moss and went in up to her waist and I guess since Paige was already wet Rory thought it was okay for her to do it too!

 The of course Shelley's boys decided to swim too. Oh well, they had fun anyway and it wasn't me that had to hike back all wet and cold! The dirt is almost black it is so rich and dark and their are big slugs everywhere. 

 Paige wasn't afraid of them and wanted to touch them all but Rory was not so inclined. Caleb did really well and even slept in the backpack for part of the hike but my back and shoulders didn't fair so well, the kid is HEAVY, but super cute so what can you do! After playing in the water we hiked back up to the park and had lunch then played for a little while longer and came home.

We are making homemade flour tortilla's tonight for dinner so I'll have to let you know how they turn out. It has been up to 69 and 70 degrees during the day so not as cold as it has been so that is nice, it is just cold in the morning like in the 50's. 

In So Many Words...Teacher Gift Idea!

I've see these before and thought they looked cool but then read on another blog about using them as gifts for  so many "gift giving" events/holidays

 (ex. Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Baby Shower gift, for Teachers, Weddings, etc)

Wordle creates a fun display of the words you pop into the "create" screen and then you can tweak the font, colors and layout.

These would make a great Teacher gift for the end of the year. Add the teacher's name, your child's name, school year, name of the school, etc. to really personalize it.

This is the list of words I used to make one for Rory's Teacher:

Caring, Helpful, Prepared, Kind, Accepting, Creative, Compassion, Give,  Understanding, Learn, Grow, Happy, Positive, Hardworking, Smart, Smile, Think, Patient, Explore, Nurture, Motivating, Fun, Silly, Students, ABC's, Read, Teach, Classroom, Playground, Math, Science, Language, Young, Little, Art, Write, Color, Draw, Sing, Perform, Curious, Change, Knowledge, Shapes, Letters, Numbers, Questions, Answers, Wonder, Try, Listen, Friendship, Paper, Pencil, Books, Crayons,  A.M., Kindergarten, Zaharis, Mrs.~Moore, Rory, Soar, Eagles,

Here are a few tips when using wordle:

1. There are options for font, colors and layout so keep playing around with it until you get the look you want

2. If you want a word to appear larger than the other words type it into the create box several times

3. Once you hit the "GO" button to see your creation you can't go back and edit your words.  The create screen will be blank. So it's a good idea to create your list in Word or copy and paste it there until you get your "wordle" how you want it

4. It doesn't spell check so be sure you spell correctly

5. Lastly, if you want to string more than one word together (ex. a quote or first and last name, etc) use this symbol ~ between the words and it will connect them together.

It really is simple - don't let my tips deter you. Just wanted to share a few things I learned along the way!

Have fun! (how fun would these be done up for a play room, or kitchen, etc? You can go crazy!)

Caleb at 6 months!

Date 4-20-10

Age 6 months

Height 26 1/4 inches 

Weight 17 lbs 15 oz 

Head Circumference 18 1/4 inches

Our sweet little boy is half a year old already can you believe it! The doc said he is in the 50th percentile for height and weight but 90th percentile for head circumference! Mike says it is because he has such a big brain! I say it is just more if him to love! Caleb has his two bottom teeth coming in and loves to jump in the jumparoo we borrowed from our good friend (thanks Liz)! He is still the best baby and we love him more everyday!

Easter Best!

When Life Give You Lemons...

Pour yourself a glass of fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade, 

cut a slice of yummy lemon braid bread and sit back and enjoy!

My friend gave me a bunch of lemons and I found these recipes and decided to give them a try and let me tell you they were delicious! I used this recipe for the lemonade and just pureed some strawberries to add to it. I I found the recipe for the lemon braid here & here on King Arthur Flour, they have tons of great recipes on their site and their blog you should really check them out! Their recipe calls for lemon curd but I didn't have any and didn't want to go buy it so I used this recipe to make my own and it was very easy too! So go try it out and I promise you won't pull a sour face! 

Happy Easter

Here are two banners I made with the help of my sister's Cricut that I have taken hostage ( I had to make one for her since I've still got her machine) but I think they turned out rather cute.

 I found the inspiration here. I also made this one for St. Patrick's Day. Now I need to do a birthday one!

Easter Eggstravaganza!

We took full advantage of the beautiful weather this Easter weekend and enjoyed family and friends at 4 different easter hunt's/parties. It started off Friday night in Bulldog Canyon with my mom's side of the family, it is a tradition for the Heaton's to go out to the desert and do an egg hunt hike and then have dutch oven dinner. I didn't get any pictures of this one but the girls had a great time climbing the "mountains" around us and they even got to ride on Grandpa's quad with Dad! We didn't get home until bed time and this is what we found as we pulled into the garage...it was so sweet to see Rory & Caleb asleep holding hands.

Then Saturday we had the opportunity to listen to the prophets voice while we helped the girls color hard boiled eggs for the first time and those were their favorite eggs to find and eat!

 Then in between sessions we went out to the soccer park in our neighborhood and did a hunt with some of our neighbors.

It was a lot of fun and the funniest part was that Rory would inspect each egg she picked up, meaning she'd open it up and if it didn't have candy in it she wanted she would close it up and put it back down! I couldn't believe it!

We also ate come cupcakes at the park afterwards and then headed back home for the second session of conference.

After that we went to Grandma & Grandpa Hanchett's house to do a hunt in their backyard

and decorate cookies with our cousins.

We hung out there with the dad's went to the priesthood session and then packed up some tired kiddios and headed home.

 Sunday after both sessions of conference we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa Turley's house for a hunt there and to celebrate Grandpa's birthday!

Of course we had a wonderful time with eggs and baskets and candy but and we could never forget the true reason to celebrate this time of year, that our Savior Jesus Christ has Risen and that HE LIVES!