Our “Wild” Adventure

The last three days have been FULL of family activities! Our family has been together nonstop on a little trip… going a little crazy but it has been fun! On Sunday we ventured down to Eatonville and went to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. We had a blast!! Jackson was free to get in, and we had an Entertainment book coupon for a free admission for a youth, so that was nice. It was so neat seeing all the different animals in their natural habitats. The tram tour was especially fun, looking for the different animals in the free roaming area. Here was everyone’s favorite thing about NW Trek: Jackson – cool bus, Laci – bobcat, Elijah – tram tour, Jon – otters, Me – seeing the elk in the water on the tram tour.

On the way back we stopped at Southcenter and went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner (to stay with the animal theme). It was fun, although Jackson was a bit scared of the gorillas. Sunday night we camped out in my mom’s backyard in her tent trailer (my idea of camping, especially with little ones!)… We woke up bright and early Monday morning and went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma. My mom went with us; it was such a memorable time! We had a picnic lunch, and got to see everything (except the tigers). I didn’t realize this zoo was much smaller than Woodland Park Zoo (where I used to go as a kid); hopefully we can visit there sometime next month. My mom bought the kids their own stuffed animal souvenir: Jackson got a meerkat, Laci picked a lemur, and Elijah chose an otter. We went back to my mom’s for another night of “camping”.

Today’s adventure was equally as exciting!! We met up with our dear friend, Stephanie, and had a picnic lunch at the Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. The kids played on the swings and other toys, and then we went on the ferry! Jackson is really into boats, trains and planes right now, so we wanted to take him on the “big boat”. It was loud at first, which startled him, but then he fell in love! He didn’t want to leave. The younger kids were free, so it was $13.05 for us to ride from Mukilteo to Clinton and back again. It took about an hour… time and money well spent for this family adventure!

Just over one more month of our “Summer of Fun” family activities. Plus we’re moving soon, so August will be a busy month for sure. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun!! 🙂

Prizes from the Dollar Store

Today was a busy day, cleaning and organizing around the home, getting ready for Jon to come home after 4 days away! So our activity was quick and simple (and relatively cheap): the kids got to pick out two prizes at the dollar store… a coloring book, and something to do at Grandma’s house tomorrow. Jackson picked a Rio coloring book, and a bat/baseball set. Laci got a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and a pink frog bubble set. Elijah chose a Star Wars coloring book and a splash ball catching set.

They’re so excited!! 🙂

Best Friends & Ice Cream Cones

Today we were blessed to have a special activity: Laci’s best friend, Michael, got to come over for a playdate! He is visiting with his family from Florida. Laci has missed him very much and was so excited that he got to come over and play!

Our official activity for the day was to go to McDonald’s for ice cream. We rarely take the kids out for fast food, so it was a very special treat. Elijah and Laci thoroughly enjoyed their vanilla cones, while Jackson opted for some good ole French fries. He cried in line when I told him we were getting ice cream, not fries, so I let him win that little battle. 🙂

Finger Painting with Van Gogh & Beethoven

Today’s activity: learn about an artist, then listen to classical music and do a finger painting. So… we learned about Vincent Van Gogh, and looked at some of his paintings online. I just got a new app on my iPad (PuzzlePlus) and it has some Van Gogh paintings, so we did a few of the puzzles while Jackson napped. After dinner, we started finger-painting! We listened to classical music on Pandora (a Beethoven station), and I pulled up a picture of Van Gogh’s Starry Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vincent_van_Gogh_Starry_Night.jpg). The kids tried to recreate it. They had a lot of fun getting messy! I was so glad Jackson participated in this activity – normally he just cries if he gets messy, but he loved it!

Here’s Elijah’s final product:

Laci’s:

And Jackson’s:

P.S. We are loving the classical music. Still listening to it!! 🙂

Special Times with Loved Ones

Today was such a special day! This morning my dear friend Sonja came over and hung out with me and the kids. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and has such a sweet spirit of encouragement. I always feel loved and refreshed after talking with her. So glad I got to see her before she went home to Vegas!

Some other dear friends of ours, the Moors Family, are up from California, so we got to go see them this afternoon at Jennings Park in Marysville. My kids absolutely adore their kids, so they loved playing with them.

To end the day, Elijah and Laci got to go roller skating with their Papa Kevin, while Jackson and I went on a date 🙂 There’s a new frozen yogurt place in Burlington that we tried out. He had so much fun picking out all the toppings! And no date is complete without a trip to Walmart 😉 Jackson found a “bus” display that he had to have a picture with, and he also got to pick out a new shirt – it has a minion from Despicable Me, one of his favorite movies. And now we’re watching it! I’m sure he’ll be wearing his new shirt tomorrow 🙂

Visiting Auntie Bri!

Today was special because we got to go to Grandma Tami’s and visit Auntie Bri!! She was here for the weekend and flies back home tonight. We love her so much! We were blessed that it worked out for us to see her 🙂

The kids played some Memory with her…

And helped Grandma in the garden…

Two Day Getaway

Our adventures for yesterday spilled over into day: the kids got to spend the night at their grandparents’ house (Papa Earl and Grandma Terri), while Jon and I got to go to Leavenworth! The kids had a wonderful time with their grandparents, aunt and cousin; Jon and I had a memorable time exploring Leavenworth.

We kicked off our trip with a stop at Starbucks in Lake Stevens, and (since we have a Discover Pass) we stopped at the Lake Wenatchee State Park. It was SO windy! The waves of the lake looked like the ocean… we could barely stand up! We didn’t stay long!

We arrived in Leavenworth late in the afternoon, and checked into Fairbridge Inn & Suites. It was about a 5 minute walk from the shops and restaurants, and was only $80 for the night so it was totally worth the price. We went window shopping and bought a couple things for the kids (and some taffy for us!), and then ate dinner at Gustav’s. It was delicious!

Then we went to Froyo Earth for frozen yogurt – best froyo we’ve had yet! We ended the evening with a trip to the theater at Icicle Junction to see “The Dark Knight Rises”.

We woke up this morning and had breakfast at the hotel, then walked to Starbucks. We enjoyed the sunshine and went to the riverwalk. We shopped a little more, got a pretzel from the Danish bakery…

and then went back to the Icicle Junction for their 18-hole miniature golf course. We had a lot of fun! And we got to work on our tans! Jon beat me by one stroke (64-65), but I got a hole-in-one on the last hole (which is one of the hardest)! It was amazing!

We left Leavenworth, stopped on the side of the road to take some pictures of the river, and then ate lunch at the 59er Diner. I remember that place from my childhood, so it was fun to go back. Their milkshakes are the best!

We also stopped at Deception Falls and took some pictures. It was so beautiful there! I love waterfalls…

We wrapped up our getaway with a trip to the Alderwood Mall and dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We picked up the kiddos and headed home. It was a relaxing, refreshing time for Jon and I, and we’re looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead this week!

Author/Illustrator

Today’s activity: write and illustrate a story together. Here’s our story!

Angry Birds & Origami

Yesterday’s activity has been a week long process, and I finally finished it this afternoon. It’s an idea I found on Pinterest (see the link below). It’s a homemade Angry Birds game! Angry Birds is definitely one of the kids’ favorite games to play on our phones. So we collected 6 cans, found a red rubber ball in the garage, and got painting!

Today’s official activity: “Learn about basic origami, fold a creation.” Because our kids are so young, I decided to cheat on this one a little. When we were at Joanne’s last week, they had a 6-sheet pack of Origami for $1. Elijah got the panda and fox, Laci got the elephant and tiger, and Jackson got the frog and monkey 🙂

Link to Angry Birds game: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=angry+birds+ball&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=585&tbm=isch&tbnid=hNQ-h0-qYVyVpM:&imgrefurl=http://geekcrafts.com/tutorial-tuesday-angry-birds-ball-game/&docid=3MCiJAZbPypGlM&imgurl=http://geekcrafts.com/wp-content/geek_craft_images/tut-angry-birds-game.jpg&w=300&h=400&ei=MllET72SD8ry0gG0sPG2BA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=428&sig=100419543822264927995&page=1&tbnh=123&tbnw=92&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=0CH0QrQMwDg&tx=27&ty=79

Coldstone & Cabela’s

This week has not gone according to our Summer of Fun calendar! It’s another one of those times that we will be flexible! So yesterday we read the elephant books that we got on Monday, and the kids got to visit with some family while Jon and I went on a double date! Today we started on an activity/art project that is proving to take more time than I thought. Hoping to finish it soon, but here’s a preview:

Tonight, the big kids got to go roller skating with their papa, while Jon, Jackson and I had an adventure of our own. First, we went to Coldstone Creamery to share an ice cream… We were celebrating that we get to move next month into a bigger home!

Then we had to go to Walmart to pick up a few things, and we had some time to spare, so we decided to explore the new Cabela’s (in Marysville). Jackson had SO much fun watching the fish and looking at all the “animals”… And he loves boats so he enjoyed looking at all the boats.