fun with my family! part 5

Sunday - Day 9 - was Amy's birthday. Happy 18th, Amy! She's off doing the college thing now. I can't believe my *little* sister is in college! (As you've probably noticed from the pictures, she's not exactly smaller than me :) I got the short genes.) We got her stuff for school, and since we couldn't be there for her graduation, I combined the gifts for birthday and graduation together. I had fun shopping for dorm room stuff.

Then, of course, was dinner chosen by the birthday girl. She chose pasta salad, and then gave us free reign on the rest. She's quite easy going like that. Here we are singing to her. Naomi's looking so excited about the whole thing. I'm not sure why Chris is hiding in Dave's arm, or why Dave has his hand over his mouth. Probably just got caught by the camera at the wrong moment. :)

Happy Birthday, Amy! We love you!

Day 10 - Monday - And also our final day. :(

We decided to go back to the beach, this time with Dad, and see if we could show him how awesome it was the last time we were there. Unfortunately, it didn't even compare. But, we did have fun. We played in the "sand" for a while (it's more like gravel), and then decided to build a fort to eat our picnic lunch in.

So, that was the end of our trip. We had such a FUN time! We spent the next day traveling, and were so sad to leave. It was nice to be home, but we definitely don't see enough of my family! Love you guys!

fun with my family! part 4

Day 8 - Saturday

another super fun day! dave's birthday present from my parents was a day of paintballing, which was such a great idea. they both opted to stay home and hang out with the kids. I wouldn't have minded getting a babysitter, but they claim to wanting to spend more time with the kids. that might be true, but i think they just chickened out. he, he :)

dave, me, todd, and amy left in the morning to head out. we were able to join in with another large group that was there, which was great of them. it wouldn't have been very much fun to play with just the four of us.

we played for about 5 hours, and had such a fun time! it was the first time i'd been, and i was a little nervous. once i got used to everything, i must admit that i held my own. i'm proud to say that i even took the shot that won the game for my team, one time around. and, even better, it was dave who i hit! he, he. we weren't on the same team, so he got me a few times too.

i guess i bruise easily or something, because the welts i had looked a whole lot worse than dave's, todd's, or amy's. i just considered them battle wounds, and wore them with pride. :) except when it was time to put on a swimsuit, since they were mostly on my thighs. they looked horrible - all green and purple - like i'd gotten beaten or something. totally worth the pain for the fun of it, though!

when we got home, we showered (seriously necessary! paint and sweat mixed together!), and dave and i took off for a date. thanks for watching the kids all day, mom and dad! i know the kids had a blast with them to themselves for the day. they played on a slip 'n slide, with the hose, and even got pizza for dinner. what could be better as a kid??

we went and saw transformers 2 (lame movie - and i liked the first one), and then went to applebee's for appetizers and dessert. seriously the best day that dave and i have had together for a long time.

fun with my family! part 3

Day 7 - Friday

After everyone regrouped from the morning's activities, we decided to skip nap time for the day, and head up the mountain. It was a clear, sunny day, so we had to take advantage of the sunshine!

There's not many places where you can go to the beach one day, and up to the mountains to sled the next. This was the first time my kids had ever been sledding, and they had such a great time. I had such a great time! My mom had even gotten snow clothes for them. The rest of us were a little more makeshift in our attire. It was fun to be able to play in the snow in t-shirts, though.

grandma and chris had the first run of the day

naomi would cling to me for dear life, but laugh like crazy when it was all done. she loved it, but only went a few times. i don't think she's too much of a thrill seeker. :)

after sledding, we found this beautiful trail, which has been covered in snow when we've been up before. actually, it was still covered in snow in some places. that just made it more of an adventure!

christopher couldn't seem to be able to keep his legs under him on the snowy places, so dave ended up carrying him like this on the way back. he was so funny about it - he just hung there patiently until they got to the part without snow. content to get carried by the back of his pants.

we saw these cool things on the trail. not at all sure of what they are, but they were rubbery, bright yellow, and you can see how small they are from my finger.

after getting back from the mountain, we grabbed some food, and ate outside in the backyard. after dinner was a marshmallow roast in the fire pit. a perfect way to end a fabulous day!

fun with my family! part 2

while we were at my parent's we dug out the old marble connector set that i used to play with. the kids had a blast with it, and you could even catch some adults putting it together sometimes. :) it was interesting to watch how the kids played with it differently. chris was very intent with the building part. he wanted to make sure it all worked together, and that it was awesome. naomi liked watching the marbles roll down, and go through the different obstacles.

The 5th day we were there - Wednesday - the girls went shopping. It's a fun tradition to all go shopping together. I must admit that I don't buy myself much of anything, unless I'm with someone. We had a great time shopping together, and it was even better that the men were kind enough to watch the kids while we shopped.

Day 6 was a very relaxing day. We hung out around the house and played outside with the kids for most of the day. My dad teaches institute, so we went up to his building for dinner that night. He put on the cook's apron and grilled us up some yummy hot dogs and hamburgers. While we were waiting we took advantage of the games he has there.

Ping Pong

Naomi wanted to play too, but couldn't quite get the hang of it - maybe in a few more years :) so, she ended up sitting on the table for the most part.

the guys played pool.

we also played foosball, which was fun for dave and i. we used to play all the time in college.

Day 7 - Friday - was the day of FUN! We packed so much in, it was crazy. Dad took Chris and Dave fishing that morning, so us girls went to a cute park that's become a tradition to go to every time we visit. They have quite a few animals that you can feed (with the food they provide), a barn with all sorts of old farm equipment, lots of green grass, a tall lighthouse-kind-of-tower to climb up, swings and a slide, and beautiful gardens.

Naomi liked the idea of feeding the animals, but wasn't so sure about the geese, ducks, or turkeys. They were a little too loud and aggressive for her tastes. She really enjoyed the bunnies, though.

while we were at the park, dad, chris, and dave were off seeing if they could help chris catch his first fish. it sounds like he got a bit bored, but he still says he liked it, and had a great time. They didn't manage to catch anything - maybe next time. :)

getting all set up. i love how intently he's watching grandpa.

they tried a couple different places - all to no avail.

isn't it so green and beautiful??

another picture by christopher. he's quite the photographer, i think.

that was the first half of day 7. the rest will be in the next post.

fun with my family! part 1

at the end of june, we took a trip up to washington to see my family. it was one of the most fun trips we've taken up there. everyone was there, and it was fun to have the kids a little bit older. we left here on saturday the 20th around noon. we had a 3 hour layover in salt lake, which wasn't too much fun. it could definitely have been a lot worse, though. we just watched airplanes, took walks, and ate snacks. the kids were a bit bored by the end, but they did well. we finally got to seatac at 9:00 p.m., pacific time, which was 11:00 p.m. to us. we had this awesome view of the mountain, as we flew into the airport. you can just see the peak through an ocean of clouds all around it. beautiful!

it's a 2 hour drive from the airport to my parent's house, so we were a little tired when we got there! we put the kids right to bed, and then stayed up way too late talking. it was great, though! we hadn't seen jeff for 5 years, i think we figured out. way, way too long! it was great to see him and get a chance to catch up. he had to leave monday morning, so we spent as much time with him on sunday as we could.

the next day was father's day, which was fun to get to spend with my dad. jeff spent almost the whole day playing with the kids. they had a great time with uncle jeff. we had a barbeque, and just enjoyed spending time together. hope you had a great day, dad! we love you lots!

on monday we spent the morning waiting for my suitcase, which had been put on a different flight, for some reason. luckily i got it back, but it was a little frustrating. while we waited...

grandma painted naomi's fingernails

christopher's always a bit sad that he doesn't get his done too. instead, he got to help grandma with her toes. :)

in the afternoon we went and got some ice cream, and picked some strawberries. fun!

tuesday was dave's birthday. happy birthday, handsome! unfortunately, he and dad both had to work that day, so amy, mom, and i took the kids down to the beach. it was a crazy, low tide, so we had a blast in the sand, tidepools, and warm (relatively speaking, of course) water. we were only planning on staying an hour or so, but we were having so much fun that we ended up staying almost the whole day.

building sandcastles in the rocky sand

christopher took this picture. pretty good, eh?

another few by christopher

it's kind of hard to tell, but that's an eagle on the rock. he was fishing, and it was pretty awesome to watch.

we had about a 20 minute walk in from the road, and we found this "monster" by the trail. naomi was a little scared of it. :)

later on that day, mom made up some yummy ribs, baked beans, and salad for dave's birthday dinner. yum! and, of course, a yummy cake.

more to come...