Seattle bound!

The girls and mom and I spent a long weekend in Seattle visitng Greg, Malee and baby Mason. We were all so excited to meet Mason and couldn't get enough of him. He is such a sweet little boy and Greg and Malee seem to be settling well into parenthood. I had a hard time picturing my brother as a dad, so it was fun to seem in that role. He adores his little boy, but made me laugh a few times as he experienced some of the "joys" of parenthood. By the changing table, he kept his military issued ear protection, when I asked him what for, he said he wears them when he's changing Mason's diaper so he doesn't have to hear him cry-said they help keep him calm. Whatever works, right??

Taylor and I on the shuttle to the airport.

Grandma and Lizzy on the way to the airport.

Baby Mason-wide awake! Such a cutie!

Zzzz.....

Proud grandma!

Lizzy couldn't get enough of Mason.

Taylor all snuggled in with Mason. What better feeling in the world than to have a newborn baby close to your heart??

Even I got a turn to hold him! :)

A picture with Malee! This is the only picture I got with Malee in it. I don't think she got to hold her baby other than to feed him the whole time we were there. She was probably very happy to have him back to herself!
Since Greg and Taylor both had birthdays in September, we got an ice cream cake to celebrate.

Greg took us to the State fair in Pullalup and took the girls on a few rides.

A little taste of home-Greg and Lizzy milking a "cow."

It was so fun to visit Greg and his family and to meet Mason. We had great time-Thanks, Greg and Malee!

Taylor turns 11!!

On September 16th, Taylor celebrated her 11th birthday. She had a couple of her best girlfriends spend the night and we went to Color Me Mine to paint pottery. The girls had a great time working on their pieces and stayed up late dressing up and doing make-overs and just being girls!

Taylor and some of great friends!
Taylor picked a hippo bank to paint.

Taylor and her friends at Color Me Mine.

Proceed with Caution!

I added a few pictures of my "Toothless Wonders" in the post below. If teeth gross you out, do not proceed!!

Back to School!

The kids had a great first day back at school on Tuesday. I was glad for them to be back at school as there were getting a little sick of being home together all summer! It also made for a very quiet day for me at my desk at work-I was getting used to my usual 4 or 5 calls from them during the day!

All ready and set to head out to the bus stop!
Waiting for the bus.

Taylor started 5th grade this year and is at the new middle school in Kasson. She says that she doesn't like school, but she could not hide her excitement to go yesterday morning. She had her alarm set and a minute by minute schedule of what she needed to do to get ready-hmm....I wonder where she gets that from??!!?

Luke started 3rd grade this year. He wasn't as exctied about the first day as the girls, but had no complaints either. He loves to play kickball with his friends at recess and this makes the rest of the school day worth it!!

Lizzy was super excited to start 1st grade. Her teacher is our next door neighboor and she thinks this is so cool. Lizzy loves to be involved and to be with other kids which is good because between 2 dance classes, bible study, soccer, piano and girl scouts, she has a super busy year planned!

Being goofy waiting for the bus!!

All 3 of our kids are in school full time now. I would say that it feels weird, but I have worked full time for the past 4 years, so it doesn't feel that different except that I don't have to worry about who's going to what daycare or preschool or what time or where, which is very nice. It's hard not to have little ones around anymore, but as they grow, each day is a new adventure!!

More Mason Pics!

Greg posted a few more pictures of my new nephew Mason. So excited to meet the little guy! Less than 3 weeks from now!

Can't believe my little brother is a dad! Congratulations!
Malee and little Mason

So sweet!!

My Toothless Wonders!!!

The kids had a big day at the dentist this week. Combined they had 13 teeth pulled out. Luke had 7 pulled, Lizzy had 4 and Taylor had 2. The tooth fairy had to lower her going rate for the night and make a stop by the ATM! They all did a great job and are doing well. Lots of Jello and ice cream at our house this week! I have some pictures but haven't gotten them onto the computer yet and are a little disgusting, so I may not post them. :)

Changed my mind-added pictures!!

13 teeth all together!
Taylor with 2 top teeth pulled.

Luke with 7 teeth pulled-4 on the top and 3 on the bottom. I thought his mouth would look a lot emptier than what it did.

Lizzy with 4 teeth on the bottom pulled.

Dream Vacation in the Dells!!

…We'll play mini-golf at the Jellystone
And we'll finally see that house of foam
And if the kids wanna buy a t-shirt what the hell
It's our dream vacation in the Dells

And at night when the kids is all asleep
Then off to the lounge for a nightcap we can sneak
I know our lives they ain't the stuff of dreams
But for one full week we can live like kings and queens
So let's board the dogs, lock the door
We'll roll down Interstate 94
Be the best week of our lives I can tell
We'll take our dream vacation in the Dells…

Last weekend, we took a short trip to Wisconsin Dells with my brother Christopher and his friend Kelli. We didn’t get a full week to take a dream vacation in the Dells like in the Martin Zellar song above, but we had an awesome weekend with the kids!

We took off Saturday morning and picked up Christopher and Kelli at 7:00am and squeezed all 7 of us into the van on top of tents, pillows, sleeping bags and food. We made it to Noah’s Ark before 10 and spent the day playing in the water and doing all the water slides. The kids are old/tall enough now to do most of the slides, so it made it easier to stick together as a group this year. We’ve done this trip in August with Christopher for 5 or 6 years now and it is such a fun way to spend time with him.

After Noah’s Ark, we headed to the campground to get set up. We ordered pizza and sat around the fire. We were all exhausted from the day and were in bed before 10:00pm. We got up on Sunday morning and headed to Mt. Olympus to ride some roller coasters and go-karts. They have some extremely long and fast roller coasters. They are also all wooden and super rough and jerky. Although they were super fun, after 4 or 5 rides, I had to take it easy as I was getting a headache!

We made a final stop at our favorite McDonald’s for lunch before heading home and got on the road about 1:00. I didn't get any good pictures, but stole a few cute ones from Kelli. It was a short trip, but the weather was great and we had a wonderful time!

Christopher and Luke on the car ride to the Dells!

The whole group at Noah's Ark
Taking some fun pics during our break for a picnic lunch.
Lizzy and Kelli!