The Fun Never Ends

The elemenary school carnival is always a main event of June. Bradley, never afraid to be bold and walk on the wild side.

Paige and her very favorite babysitter, Rachael.

Happy as a clam with TWO painted cheeks.

Cuties. And then, the pinacle of 6th grade comes with.....THE DUNK TANK. Apparently the new PTSA did not realize this until after the announcement about the carnival went out over the loud speaker that morning. Tyson, not hearing a dunk tank mentioned quickly let her know how important it was. The poor woman said she spent half the day trying to arrange one and pulled of the biggest and best one they had ever had. The drama didn't end there. No one could fill it up because there was a leak in the hose, so they called the fire department across the street and a fire engine finally came and filled it. Tyson was of course first to volunteer. He said it was actually a little scary he were so high up there and now knowing when he was about it fall.

But of course loving every minute of it. With all the waiting to get it started there was a huge crowd by the time he got up there. It was great watching the excitement of all the kids. He had so much fun he did it again an hour later and Rick got the throw the ball and knock him in.

All on a cool June evening!

Tyson's 12th Birthday

Tyson wasn't having a big celebration for his birthday this year since he went back East with Rick. We'd had a busy week, but he decided he wanted to spend the afternoon with a few guys from the neighborhood. So word spread quickly and soon we had lots of boys to hang out. We had snacks and cake and they hot tubbed, jumped on the trampoline, and played wall ball and basketball. It was a great impromtu party and the guys even came up with a few gifts we weren't expecting. They went to a neighborhood garage sale and got him some gag gifts and then pooled some cash and candy for him. We had Andy, Christian, Logan, Eric, Trey, Zac. Plus Bradley, Kate and Paige.

He got a frisbee, yo-yo, Phillies shirts, hat, and shorts. New tennis shoes, shorts, a mess kit...etc

We ended the night by taking the boys out to Applebee's for half price appetizers.

Happy Birthday Tyson. Current interests...sports, baseball, Phillies, friends, wii, scouting activities, and Young Men's activites like ultimate frisbee.

Meridian Mini Marathon

This year's annual mini marathon fell on Tyson's birthday. We ran, we placed, everyone sang to Tyson and we lost Grandpa and Paige. Tyson got first for his age group, Bradley got second, and Kate, yes Kate got 4th for the Kindergarten and under.

The plan was to have Grandpa watch Kate and Paige so I could finally run myself, without pushing the jogger this year. That was until Kate INSISTED on running. I tried and tried to talk her out of it. 2.6 miles seemed a little far for a preschooler, but she won and we ran...and she cried and I made her keep running, and she learned a few lessons about not listening to her mothers advice! And at one poin,t as I was trying not to get totally frustrated, I was encouraging her on she said "Mom, you sound like a coach and you're embarrassing me!" (No one was around and I have no idea how she know what coaches saw, but it did make me laugh and help me to endure the last mile of torture).

But we made it, and I was proud of her. But where was Grandpa, Paige and the camera? About 15 minutes later we found out when they came jogging in!

Rick beat his time of last year and made it into the top 4 adult finishers (one of the adults that beat him finished in the state high school track tournament this year).

Memorial Day Weekend

Apparently I didn't take very many pictures, but it was a big week for us. Brian and Jessica came into town. Rick was ordained a High Priest and was put into the bishopric and then the following week, Tyson was ordained a deacon. You sure are growing up.

And Paige fell in love with baby Josh, her newest cousin. Even two months later she is still carring blankets around the house and pretending she is holding and taking care of him.

Happy Fathers Day 2011

The kids did a great job of pitching in and helping cook an amazing Fathers Day meal for their Dad on one of his first long Sundays of being in the Bishopric. Banana Cream Pie...one of the whole familes' favorites. Now we just need to work on our Sunday attire!

Phillies vs. Mariners

Rick and Tyson treated themselves to seeing a second Phillies game of the season since they happened to come into town to play the Mariners. They had fun watching batting practice and seeing all the players close up.

Home Away From Home

The girls get mighty used to the baseball fields since they spend up to four nights a week at them all Spring long. This night was not such a great one for Paige... She never cried, and it didn't bleed much, but it was a full thickness cut. I was worried it needed stitches so I dropped into a friend's house, who happens to be an ER nurse. She kindly helped us steri-strip it and all was well. The only bribing Paige needed to sit still was to pet their dog when she was done, worked like a charm.

Another tragic moment for Paige was when she fell down and embankment and was stranded, hanging on for dear life for an unknown period of time (sounds more tragic than it looks in real life. You would laugh if you saw it, but to her, scary. It really wasn't far or steep, she just didn't know that) poor girl.

On a happier note, the girls found a pet snail during one game that became quite popular with all the girls.

Paige even reluctantly held it.

Baseball friends.

Kid Pitch Baseball for Bradley

Bradley had another fun season of 3rd/4th grade Kent Parks baseball. He started off the season by pitching the opening of the first game, to our surprise! He had some great hits and plays (mostly in the outfield since he was one of the younger kids).

I still think his favorite part is the snack at the end of the game...

Relay for Life 2011

I taught nutrition again, Minute to Win It style, at the elementary school for their Relay for Life event. It went over really well again this year. It was a lot of fun having the kids compete in games, being cheered on by the audience of about 125 kids, and then teach them nutrition concepts between each game. Each of the four 30 minute segments flew by.

The previous coordinator for the event has since had all of her children leave the school and I have agreed to help organize the event next year....guess we'll see what that entails later.

But my favorite part of the whole event was during the hero lap, when the kids walk around the track with a hero. Tyson came to me and said "Mom, walk with me". I felt like crying I was so touched. It was very sweet of him.

Piano Recital 2011

Tyson played "The Pines" by Alfred.

Zoo Time

Kate's last preschool fieldtrip was to the Point Defiance Zoo. I took Paige and went along. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun with all of Kate's friends.

Paige is the perfect age to take to the zoo, she just loves it.

Kate's two good school friends, Allison and Leah.

Little League Tournament

The Giants ended the tournament with Second place. Wow, they did great. It was a fun tournament with close games, great plays and a lot of excitement.

I loved watching Rick coach the boys. And Tyson, knowing the game really well, was always coach junior.

Spring's Pet

And people say I don't like pets....well we had one this year, a few as a matter of fact! A bird built a nest in front of our house.

She had her babies there and anytime we came in or out she was there protecting her young. I loved listening to her song.

Then nature took it's course and one day those little birds grew up and flew away and the nest came down. It was neat. And as close as I want to having a pet :)

MV vs Canine

Yes. I really did drive a duct-taped car for over a month! The story goes:
It was a dark rainy night on a two-lane road...when a large dog ran out in front of us... Sad for the dog, and sad for the mom who had to calm 3 children down that clung to her because they were scared every night for a week (while their dad was out of town) and then had to pay $500 to fix it! But we enjoyed the duct tape job for two months first. Who has time to give up their car for 2 days?

The kids couldn't stop talking about the experience to anyone and everyone. Paige kept saying "Dog scary. Dog bit our car!" (And she had slept through the whole thing)

Derby Day

Bradley got first place in the bear den and 5th overall in the pinewood derby this year. He also got an award for the 'best body' because of his great style.

He called it the 'black banged-up derby car' because of the crazy paint job. It was the combined efforts of Bradley as design, Grandpa in cutting, Mom in paint, and Dad in weight distribution, and Bradley in graphite application (sounds like Bradley did most of the work-wink!)

Playful Paige

We love Paige, she brings so many smiles to our home with her cute ideas. One day she built this baracade all by herself.She recently starting riding the broom around the kitchen saying "witch, witch".

She also says "All aboard!" and "Giddy-up horsey" and "SUPER (fill in the blank) usually Girl, or dress." She loves the read books and always wants to pick which book to read next. She even wants to pick when there is only one book left!

Recently she heard that her friend Taylor was going swimming. When we got home she put on her swimming suit and later brought me a roll of duct tape and said "fix it". It took me a while, but I figured out she wanted me to fix the hottub so she could go swimming!

Today she starting using a marker that didn't work. She quickly hopped up to solve the problem. She came back with a battery! When I told her it wasn't going to work she said "need smaller one".

Last week Paige was sitting on Rick's lap and examing his face. She wanted to show him what she was looking at so she kept saying "look dad". She wouldn't stop trying to contort his face so he could look at himself until he faked that he could see his own face.

We went to the zoo last week and Paige couldn't wait to see the elephants, which we unfortunately last on our route. But the next morning I asked her what her favorite animals that she saw and she listed Zebra, Giraffe, Elephant, and Hippo (only one of which do they have at Point Defiance Zoo)!

Spring Break In D.C.

Tyson and Rick went back East for Spring Break as an early 12th birthday present. They spent a few days in D.C. with Jeff, and few days with Rick's Mom in Chambersburg, PA, and even spent and evening in Philadephia at a Phillies game. Bradley was sure they were going to Chuck E Cheese, without him, so they sent some pictures to tease him.

The Potomac River and JFK Theater.

Lincoln Memorial.

The Washington D.C. Temple where they watched General Conference.

The U.S. Capitol. They also went to the Smithsonians, National Archives, National Cemetary, Washington Monument, National Cemetary, Mt. Vernon, Beaureau of Engraving and Printing, and their favorite the Spy Museam, and many more...

But I think the trip to the Phillies Stadium wowed Tyson the most...