Next Up???? Cali!

We had a couple (well Mommy did : ) trips to California in August.....since they are extra-special I thought I'd do those before going back to January to try and catch up : )

One Last Post From WA

These are the last of our pictures from our trip up to Washington.......they are kind of random......

I found one from our trip out to Birch Bay on my cell phone. We stopped to get ice cream and there was a couple there with a parrot. The kids were fascinated by it.......their ice cream was melting while they were looking at it : )

Sidney, posing with Sarah.......poor dog......she's lucky she didn't bite her! (I love Sidney's smile in this one!!)

Playing with some dress-up that some friends let us borrow.....how cute is this??

Playing around Grandpa's......the kids pulled all the blankets off of their beds to make a fort........Grandpa even came home to this (without us there, as we had gone somewhere in a hurry)

Visiting With Family

Before we left we went down to Seattle to visit with some of my Mom's side of the family. The kids had so much fun playing together and it was nice for me to catch up with the adults.

The kids loved plying in this little house that my cousin designed & built herself!

Sidney's reading to her little cousin inside after it got dark.

Me, my brother and two of our Aunts.

At the Beach For A Beautiful Day With Friends

This year we met the D family at Cranberry Lake by Deception Pass again. We had another beautiful day, that we didn't want to end. The kids were having such a great time playing together. Once again the girls started playing like no time had passed at all.

This year Mommy was more prepared......I had their swimsuits & towels, packed some buckets & shovels and brought our lunch with us, along with an umbrella for some shade and a large sheet/blanket to sit on.......but when you are sitting on sand there's really no way to stop it from getting everywhere!

Especially with the kids doing this......they were just covered in sand!!! Notice how careful the girls are in making sure it looks just right)

The girls take a moment out to pose for a picture.

Okay, now it's Sidney's turn. She's buried up even higher on her chest.

Next it was Carter's turn........he didn't want his picture taken.....

but Mommy managed to get one in : )

Then the kids were building a tunnel/river and pouring water into it, like they had seen some other kids doing.

They took over this castle with mote when the kids that were playing with it left......S even got in there to help out : )

Carter's making a "sand angel"

Let's Play Dress-up!

One afternoon my Aunts & Uncles came over to visit......Sidney gets her snuggle time in. She has seen them quite a few times, they even took us to the airport when we up to visit my Step-Mom before she passed.

Sidney and her Great-Aunt Joan

It was so cute....Sidney just started picking up pieces and adding them one-by-one

Aunt Joan was such a good sport......she was just giggling and going with it.

Sidney goes to get one more piece.......I think we had to cut her off.......Aunt Joan couldn't hold any more things.

Grandpa's Store

It was so funny..........when I would ask the boys if they wanted to go to the park they would say "No, we want to go to Grandpa's store!"

Heaven = candy and cars : )......it's so cute how they line them all up.

I just had to include one of these again this year.........Grandpa bought the kids plasma cars to leave at his house..............and this is what it does to brand new shoes......and this is why we have one pair of designated shoes to wear when riding the plasma cars.......but the holes were getting so big their socks were getting holes in them......that's a little to close to skin for mommy.......time to get a new pair of "junk shoes!"

More Around Grandpa's

The weather was so nice, especially the last two weeks we were there.....the kids loved hanging around and playing at Grandpa's....which allowed me time to do yet more weeding.

Sidney's getting ready to take on the sprinkler.

Getting her brother's to play dress-up with her.........Carter was actually a good sport & the boys ended up really liking this Robin Hood hat.

Sidney managed to get Cameron to pull her and "her dog." He did pretty well......I was surprised since she weighs about 15 lbs more than him.

The boys......being boys.......playing in the dirt with their trucks.

I think it's so cute how they always get down and lay on the ground to get on the same level with their trucks.

This isn't a very good picture of her, but I thought it was funny.......she kept taking my iPod and saying that she "just wanted to listen to one song"......and then would walk off and see how long it took me to notice. (even though she had her barbie girl MP3 player......but it just has Mickey Mouse, The Wiggles, Backyardigans & Hannah Montana on it.......she wanted MY music.)

Carter, playing in the dirt......for some reason he took his shoes off.......he was one dirty kiddo!

The kids love flying kites........even when it's not windy......Cameron's my little runner......who needs wind??

Fun at a Friend's House

We got to meet up with some different friends this year. We went out to a friend's house that I grew up with and used to work with at my Dad's pharmacy. The kids LOVE these ride-on toys.........they could have stayed at this house and played all day!

Sidney says "It's my turn now!", but Carter just keeps on going. (she had a long turn first)

Cameron got the one that was going a little faster.....they both were low on battery power, but that was ok. It was actually good for my novice little drivers.

A Day of Baking

The kids love to bake............especially treats......Mommy, she's ok with the mess it makes.....Grandpa was trying to keep it contained a bit...

Sidney says "Mmmmmm"

She said "Mommy, I'll try them all to make sure they're ok" LOL My official taste-tester : )

A Day at the Beach

Sidney kept asking to go to the beach......but the tides weren't in our favor like they were last year.....I finally just decided to go one day......we only had a few feet of beach, but they had a good time.

I just love this one......being such a good, protective big sister.

"YAY! Water!!!!!"

"MOMMY A SHELL!!!!!"

They were only finding parts of shells.....but that was ok with them.....they were still excited anyway!

Ahhhhh......playing nicely together : ))))

The Kids actually Want to Clean!

My little bro, Zach, does things...when he wants money, like a typical teenager.....and had washed the cars, but didn't dry them.....so the kids had a blast helping Grandpa dry them.

First they tackle the windows.

Sidney gets the front window

while Carter makes sure the inside is nice and clean.

I love catching her being so spontaneous.......you can see when she notices the camera......and stops what she's doing.

We Missed the Splash Pad

Like I've said......the kids had a hard time getting motivated to go anywhere while we were up in WA. One of the warmer nights we went to the park after dinner, hoping to let the kids run through the water in the splash pad.....but we got there just a little too late, so they just played on the playground.

It's so cute, the boys like to put their tummy on the swing and run, even when they are in the air their legs are moving.

Sidney, my dare devil climbing to the top of the spider cage......then she always wants help to swing down and hang from it.

Carter masters the bouncy beam.

Then Cameron tries the one next to it......one just bounces and the other actually moves up and down.

We went back the next day so the kids got to play in the water after all : )

Formatting

ok, so I picked a new template......and I think it's working ok, but does anyone know how you move your title so that it's centered? I have looked all over and can't seem to do it.

Hanging out at Grandpa's

Just some more random photos I thought were cute : )

This was the site EVERY morning.......the first words out of the boys' mouths are "I want chocolate milk and monster trucks!!"

Since there were so many pop-its (and sparklers) my brother gave us some to take with us.....Cameron was having a blast and popped almost all of them.....I didn't realize until they were almost gone that he had more than one box of them.

Grandpa's helping Carter wash his hands......Cameron took this picture.......this was the day they broke my camera. Not too bad though for a 3 y.o.......he got his brother, but cut off Grandpa's head.

I'm not sure which one of the boys took this one. Their view of Grandpa.

"Mmmmmmm pizza!!!" Cameron's digging in!