The Marina

This year we tried out a new park.......it's down by the marina. It's called Zuanich Park. There is a playground there geared for the boys age, but they weren't really interested.........they always want to ride their "bikes!"

the kids just love their plasma cars................it was actually quite cool down there that day & REALLY windy....we saw some people flying a kite and Sidney really wanted hers......I keep forgetting to ask my Dad if he has one

the marina

the kids loved going up and down this little hill

the boys decided to leave their bikes and run around a little

Daddy is cheating and pushing Sidney back........she's not too happy about that!

Seattle with our Friends

We went down to Seattle on Monday to see some of our friends.......who are actually from Phoenix! Summer and her family moved back up here a couple of years ago, and Patty and her family are in Oregon for a few months, so they drove up so we all could see each other. We had such a nice time and the kids loved seeing and playing with each other!

the girls......we almost forgot to get picks of the kids and us together......most were of them on the "Ride the Duck" tour we took. I had a hard time taking pics during the tour as I had both boys on my lap.........and the battery was dying.........Patty and Luigi took a bunch.......can't wait to see those!!

the kids were all pretty tired by then and didn't want to smile for the camera.....they all got these lovely "quakers" during the tour and were quacking all over the city

Lake Union

The Space Needle from Lake Union........the tour bus we were on was some type of military craft that can go in the water too.

The kids running around at Seattle Center, at the base of the Space Needle

Hovander Farm

The kids just LOVE going out to this old farm/park.......we have to go 2-3 times each year........we raided Grandpa Jo's piggy bank (with his permission of course), for quarters to get the dried corn to feed the animals........Mommy has gotten smart too.....and figured out to bring baggies to put it in and so that we each get our own, to prevent fighting!

I thought that I had thrown both cameras in the diaper bag, but apparently not.....because once we got there I could only find the video camera.......

Carter is getting really excited seeing the bunny moving around........Cameron and Sidney have already moved on to feed the pigs.....

the kids were having a blast feeding the ducks with Daddy

the kids found a little girl to run around and play with

they kept asking about the tractor.....we finally made our way over there

Deception Pass/Cranberry Lake

It's such a nice area, and the kids had so much fun there last year, that we decided to head down to this Lake again at Deception Pass..........

the kids had a great time.......but could have gone without the long drive.........I think they enjoyed it a little more last year, when we got to meet our friends there.

Sidney is looking for the little girl that she was swimming with earlier........she gets soooo tan, even though we put sun block on her!

I'm not sure what Cameron is doing here......but I thought it was too cute!

Carter and Daddy.......he's saying "Ok Daddy, I'm ready to go now...."

Playing with some Friends

We went out to visit my BFF and her family last week for a BBQ......and the kids had a great time playing together too!

Madison had this tent all ready when the kids got there......Sidney was all over the dress up, then they headed in the tent to play.

the boys were SSSOOOOO excited when they brought out this train set. They played with it for hours!

Sidney and Madison......watching a video, waiting for dinner.....bonding......."No, we're not tired!"

Birch Bay

Sidney has wanted to go swimming ever since we got here.........well, at home too.......she always wants to go swimming! We were trying to explain to her that the water here is quite cold and that there are only a few places that you can actually go swimming.......after we got to the beach and the kids got to get their feet wet and start digging in the sand, then she kind of got over the not being able to swim on this day.......

We looked in the paper when we got here for the low tide, so we could time it when you'd be able to walk out a ways and find great discoveries in the sand.

the shoreline.........that might actually be Canada that you can see........or maybe that's from Semiahmoo?

all three kids digging in the sand......check out the haze/steam coming off of the sand.......it was pretty cool!

Sidney LOVES conkle shells (SP?)...........she calls all shells conkle shells........her bucket was over flowing!

All Carter kept saying as soon as we pulled up was, "YUCKY!".......but he eventually dug right in and was loving it!

Sidney and Carter kept going in and out, in and out......I thought that when we reached the actual ocean it would have been FREEZING........but this very shallow water was actually kind of warm!

We saw a couple of crabs.......this one was intact, so we thought it might be alive.....but it didn't move if it was.......

I thought this was kind of cool................little air holes sticking up from the clams/oysters, etc...........

Cameron was having fun in the sand!

Sidney and Carter were running in and out of the water.....screaming.......having a grand ole time!

Boulevard Park

I talked to my Dad and ordered the kids some plasma cars for while we were up here in WA, as an early Christmas present (free shipping here, but I will send them back to AZ for us to use too!)....................they've gotten a lot of use out of them............and we haven't even been here a week. We took the kids to a park/walk-way down on the bay and they loved it! There are railroad tracks down there too...............we heard a train, but didn't see one while down there.
I took these with my cell phone, so sorry they aren't that great of quality.....

They have a nice paved sidewalk there.....and a long bridge & trail................tons of people run/bike/blade down there.....and it's right on the bay.......so beautiful!

Roman has a sweater on here, but I've hardly had my jacket on at all...during the day. Just the past couple of mornings have been cool, otherwise it's been GORGEOUS out! And it's supposed to be heating up.

a view of the coastline

the boys checking out the water

they found the playground........

but didn't want to get off of their trikes!

We Have Arrived

Sorry it's taken me so long to get these up.......I haven't had much time on the computer and when I try to the kids are all over me. We've been pretty busy since we got here and are really enjoying our trip. The kids did pretty well on the plane.......starting getting a little ancie the last hour.......then when everyone stood up to deplane, but weren't moving for about 20 minutes the boys really lost it! First stop.......was my brother's house. It was my sister's last day up here and Sidney was SSSSSOOOOOO excited to get to see Madeline and Kendall......and she had been talking about Alyssa and Mattea for awhile too!

All 7 grandkids on the Johansen side......boy, it's difficult to get a good one of all of them!

It's rare that we all get to get together....it was nice!

My Dad with all four kids.........can't you just tell that Zach is SSOOOOO excited to pose for pics!

I will try to get some more updated soon.........and hope to get caught up on the back log I've missed when my computer was down too, at some point! Off we go again.....

So much to do!

I finally have MY computer back.....in working order.......even got my wireless internet working! I have soooooo much I WANT to do..............but quite a few things I NEED to do.......I'll see about getting some pics and videos up here soon. They re-backed-up my hard drive and so now all of my 350 videos and 6600+ pics of the kids are safe! PHEW!! I am sooooo happy about that!
We leave to see my Dad in just a couple of days.......definitely looking forward to the cooler weather!! I have Sidney completely packed already and packed up the kids snacks for the airplane today.......the boys are about half-way packed........now I've just got to go through my clothes and see what I want to take. Hopefully it will be a lot less stressful this time.....trying to anticipate needs and be prepared!

I am SSSSSOOOoooooo Excited!

I called Radio Shack again today as it's getting down to crunch time of when we leave for our trip and I hadn't heard anything in over two weeks and have never been able to check the status on-line with the codes they gave me and...............she said it just came in today! She had tried to call me earlier, but apparently had my number wrong.............and after a very unproductive over 1/2 hour on the phone with Best Buy yesterday, I got a call today from the manager of the Geek Squad and am going to get 1/2 of my money back for the botched back-up they did, and they are going to do the back up over again, and the manager said he would do mine tonight himself if he had to! (I had expressed concern over how long it took last time and my impending trip.....) My hard drive is still in tact and I got my computer back! While a new computer may be nice, I prefer to just have mine.................to be able to turn it on and just use it.......to not have to set EVERYTHING up again! And to have all my video and pics of my kids!!!!!!! I'm so happy I could cry!
Plus, today I actually found some new tennis shoes for the boys (they have out grown their stride rites and will need them for WA) and some pants and long sleeve shirts too! So, now we should be fully prepared! Although, I just looked and it's supposed to be absolutely GORGEOUS there next week!!!! Sunny and Mid-to- upper 70's...................PERFECT!!!!!! Can't wait to see my Dad and my bros!

Thoughts........by Mommy

Mommy is having some "Get Real Moments"......Realizations I guess you could call them.........I realize that I'm not as elegant and emotional of a writer as one my friends.....who can so beautifully put it all out on paper.....but the feelings are there. I tend to write more on the sarcastic side I guess you could say.......I will think of things throughout the day as they happen and think oh, I should write about this.......and play it out in my mind......Yeah, that's good.........now, if I could just have it telepathically go from my mind to the keyboard.........
Hopefully it will be as entertaining to those reading it as it is to me while I'm thinking it.......

We had a really good time at the pool party today.......but I often wonder how good of a Mom I am.......Am I really made to have 3 kids? Is it just that they are so close together in age? Because Mommy feels overwhelmed....... A LOT of the time.........Don't get me wrong, I love each and every one of my kids and would give my life in a heartbeat for any one of the three of them......but it's very demanding on me ALL of the time.....(something Daddy just can't seem to grasp......) which leaves Mommy feeling even more consumed by it all.......They always all want me......"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" They adore their Dad, but if they need something or want to show us something, or need help.......it's always "Mommy!".......... I love to just sit and cuddle with my kids and just breathe them in.......I could just eat them up............but when all three are fighting for space on Mommy's lap and I'm getting beat up during the scuffle, sometimes I just want to say "GET OFF OF ME!!!!" I can't imagine what it is like to "just have two kids"........I think how much easier it might be? Or if I had them one at a time.....and farther apart......or when I was younger.........Like today at our friend's house........Sidney kept saying "Watch me Mommy, watch me." Carter wanted to play with a remote control car, but also wanted to get in the pool.........so I had to keep a constant eye on him, so that the electronic car did not go in the water........I eventually got him interested in the water and not the car when I decided it was time to go all the way in......then he was like "Catch me Mommy, I'm jumping in the pool.....NOW!!!" Then Cameron was not in the mood to go swimming at all, he was more interested in the neat toys INSIDE and the nice cool environment.......he was like "Whaaaaaahhhhhhhh, I don't want to go in the pool! I want YOU to come with me inside!!!!!".....what to do???? what to do????? I have two kids out by the water......(and we came here to swim), I can't just leave them............so Cameron cried for quite awhile..........I finally asked if I could bring the one toy he seemed especially fascinated by outside...(Carter also really liked this toy..................and Sidney somehow had to find a fascination with it too when I brought it outside.................this girl can never just let her brothers play with something.......oh no, she MUST be involved!!!) I eventually got them all dried and changed.......and ready to go back inside right as people were coming outside to have lunch..................of course, the kids were too distracted to sit down and eat..............and just wanted more and more chips!....Sidney actually ate quite well today though.................Cameron has been my very picky eater lately.........and Carter is getting noticeably bigger than him...............I feel like he's my runt..........that I need to make sure he eats.......and grows........and is healthy......and strong! Then, as we are all getting ready to head home, Cameron loses his paci................and he gets hurt.....so he REALLY wants his paci........and the kids just don't want to leave.....we always seem to be the last ones hanging out........"Left overs", as my Grandma would put it........cuz I never wanted to go.......I always wanted to stay and hang out with the family.........It's a good thing that we only live about a mile away......the boys didn't put up a fuss at all and went down the best they have in a while.......not a peep out of them! After getting Sidney into a quiet time I actually got a little while to decompress and regain my strength and went through my San Diego pictures......when I get my computer back I want to scan some of them......and post on Facebook.....good memories!

Then, tonight I was trying to watch my all time favorite show, "So You Think You Can Dance".....I used to be a dancer you know.......yep, eight years of ballet, gymnastics, tap, jazz, toe......but I never felt like I was really good enough......Mommy has only a couple of shows she watches "SYTYCD", "The Biggest Loser" and sometimes "Ms. Ellen", as Mommy calls it. On occasion in the afternoon, while doing the dishes I like to watch the Ellen Degeneres show.......she's such a joy to watch and Mommy does not like to do dishes!.....or cook dinner, so it's a nice distraction............which leads into this evening......I actually made an all natural dinner....yes, Julie actually cooked!........Mommy is not the best cook...........and doesn't really enjoy cooking all that much. To be completely honest, it's hard to choose what to make........and Mommy is a procrastinator......."what can I throw together at 4-4:30PM?" Fast and easy......that's what I like! But, I'm trying to give my kids more natural food.........Tonight I got inspired.........I actually peeled and boiled potatoes....made my own mashed potatoes.......that's like the first time ever I think! I would normally get the frozen ones.......they are real potatoes and don't have a lot of preservatives and such......but when I looked at the ingredients........half and half, cream, whole milk..........mommy saw the pounds just racking up.......yep, I peeled potatoes, and carrots and chopped up some onion and made mashed potatoes and sauted a kind of stew with the beef........of course, to make good mashed potatoes.....the kind that Mommy will actually eat, you need to make it with the milk and butter (low-fat, mind you) and usually sour cream too, but ours was like a month out dated! I even got the hand electric mixer out and whipped them up a bit..........Papa would have been proud. Mommy LOVES Papa's mashed potatoes when he makes them "Julie Style!!".......I even just winged the beef strips........Mommy REALLY likes to follow recipes......although, once I've made something I will tweak it just a bit to my own liking.........but usually I'm a baker.......you want Carmel apple sundae cheesecake?......I'm your girl! Sidney actually ate it up and Daddy (who is really the better cook in the house) said that it was delicious too! The boys............not so much........(toddlers......what can you do?)
So anyway......I digress.................this whole post really started with what happened later......after the bath.....while I'm trying to catch the dances on SYTYCD Roman was bathing the kids (he bathes, I get them dressed usually).......one of the boys tripped and fell when he was making his way to me ...............normally we dress them in the boys room, but I didn't want to miss anything tonight, so I was in our room.............well, he got hurt......and Roman brought him in in just a towel.........................and I wasn't sure which one it was.......really.....for quite a few minutes.........I was like "Carter? Cameron?........who are you?" ......he was crying.....and I couldn't get a real great head-on look at his face......and he was wiggling around.......I just sank inside..................I felt like I'm a horrible Mother!!!!! I can't even tell my own kids apart!! (BTW..... A LOT of time neither can Daddy.......but that's cuz he doesn't really pay attention) I REALLY did not know which one of the twins it was......I know most Moms don't go through this..............but it's an awful feeling............and I don't want the boys to feel like their own mother doesn't know who they are?! Mommy had a very defeating moment............but after he calmed down and I got to see more of his personality, and really look at him, (and Daddy brought the other boy in) I figured out! It was Carter..........He was ok......and we all went back to watching the dancing................ Sidney has even gotten the special treat of getting to stay up late and watch the dancing the past couple of weeks on Wednesdays....when the show is two hours. She LOVES to dance and watch the dancing...............she will say "When are they going to stop talking and just dance already?!" We took her to see the tour last year and she really enjoyed the actual dancing part..............she could have done without all the commentary that the adults get a kick out of..................anyway, I was spinning around and trying to dance with Carter AND Sidney......before the bath......These kids LOVE to spin!!!.....mommy.......not so much!
Luckily, Roman put the boys to bed, so the girls could watch all the dancers. And amazingly........Sidney went right to sleep after it was over.......YEAH!!!! That doesn't happen often.
So here I am................a bit more exposed.............a look into the mind that is me.............just a bit of introspection I guess..............I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy talking about my kids.....

Sidney's Big Accomplishment

Last night Sidney said that she did not want to wear a diaper to bed.......she had said this the night before too, but I told her we should try it on a day when she hadn't had something to drink right before bedtime, and maybe after she woke up with a dry pull-up for a few days.....because she never wants to take it off in the morning......but she said, "No Mom, I don't want a diaper!" I did not think that this was a good idea, but I found a large, disposable pad, so I put that on the bed and another sheet on top of that, so I wouldn't have to be changing an entire bed in the middle of the night! I thought I should go to bed right after her, because chances are I'm going to be up a lot! But.........................she did amazingly well! She came and crawled in bed with us (she's back to doing that again..........quite a bit lately......so Mommy has been REAL tired lately!) around 3:30 am with dry panties on...................later I did find a wet pair of panties, although she said that there were 2? But her bed was completely dry!!!!! YEAH SIDNEY!!!!!! This is a HUGE step for her...............I think she wants to be like her older cousin Madeline. Now the next thing that we are working on is going poopy on the potty! Mommy already has the bribe gift.......something Sidney really wants.....................but she has to go on the potty for a week to get it! I think she feels overwhelmed by that..........because she will go just a tiny bit and ask if she can have her present!......It's a work in progress..................We will be soooooo elated to get at least one of the kids out of diapers!!!!!
(Hopefully this makes sense...............I am extremely tired and not feeling so great - but wanted to let you know of Sidney's accomplishment.....what a bummer... a long weekend and I'm coming down with something! I think the boys are too, they have runny noses and a barking cough in the morning and at night...........my throat is sore too......let's hope with Daddy around this weekend Mommy can get some more rest and start feeling better soon!)