Chelan Camping 2009

We'll always remember Chelan 2009 as the year of the stomach flu, but really we had a fabulous time with gorgeous weather (the flu only hit us mildly after the trip). Bradley building a sandcastle of sorts.

Tyson jumping off the dock pole (they upped the annie after the last few years of dock jumping).

Kate sunbathing next to Samantha.

A great shot of the ladies except for Kelly, and one extra set of buns. The highlight of the trip was getting a chance to water ski thanks to the Daniels.

After some manly heats on the racer slides.

Paige's favorite water slide.

Just chillin'

Dig, digging away. Tyson, Gunner, and Christian.

Rick, Gunner, Tyson, and Chloe out for a ride on our raft.

Kate doing some exfoliation.

Saltwater State Park

Kate, Emily, Zachary, and Bradley.

Emily, Jeff, and Bradley.
My brother Brian and his son Zachary came up for Emily's (my sister's daughter) baptism on August 22. My parents and brothers and I, headed out Friday afternoon for a day at the beach for low-tide. The kids built sandcastles, we had a picnic, and watched some skim boarders.

Tyson and Rick spent Friday and Saturday morning and Washjam, a boy scout jamboree.

Japenese Garden

We took advantage of a lovely evening and headed out for another family adventure to some Japanese Gardens in South Seattle.

At the end of the trail everyone simultaneously yelled out something they've never done but had always wanted to. Here were some of the responses:

Angie: White-water rafting

Rick:

Jeff:

Tyson: Get a bazillion dollars

Bradley:

Kate: Go to Tess's house.

There was a beautiful lawn area surrounded with flowers, perfect for a wedding reception.

Afterwards we watched the sun set and the kids played in the water at Seward Park.

New Tricks

I thought I had outsmarted Paige when I contained her in the bathtub while I showered. It didn't take more than the second time before she figured out the water.Slurp, slurp, yum, yum...

Look how she thinks she is! And by the third time she turned the faucet on and drenched herself.Paige is also helpful with laundry,

and baking,

and my favorite....the dishes!

Family Adventure

Last Sunday I had to return a pager I had accidentally taken from work, so we decided to go on a family outing. The kids loved seeing the hospital I work at. We took the scenic route home and found Marine View Park, in Burien, that had a great little hike down to the Sound. It was a fun little excursion.

Learning to Fly

We took advantage of free night at Boeing's Museam of Flight last week. We haven't been there in years. It was more amazing than I remembered.

We tried many different simulators in the Kids' Flight Zone.

Rick's and my favorite part of the night is pictured below. A rare moment that had to be captured.

At the conclusion of the evening we all took a trip into space!

Paige on the Move

Paige looks cute and innocent in this picture, but don't let that fool you, she's become quite a troublemaker!

She learned how to crawl (about a week before she turned 10 months) and she headed straight for the drawers. She also learned how to play peek-a-boo with a blanket, clap her hands for patty-cake, and pull up to standing.

It's Trouble with a capital T. But yet so cute.

And just after having a conversation today with a friend about using tablets instead of granulated dishwasher detergent, who was scooping out my detergent onto the floor tonight?? Guess I'll be buying tablets this week =-)