Vacation at Auntie Pam's!

Whew! It's good to be home again. :) We've spent this past week twiddling our thumbs, missing the fun and excitement of playing at cousin Dylan's house, getting to know his new little sister Lily. We headed over to Poulsbo July 19 after Pam started having some pretty good contractions. Turns out they were all practice and no show, but it made everybody feel better knowing that we were there as Pam's due date drew closer. Pam ended up having several episodes of contractions, but didn't go into labor before her induce date on July 27. So, to pass the time we played in the pirate pool (yar!), went beachcombing at Point-no-Point, ate some delicious food, went shopping, caught Harry Potter at the drive-in (the kiddoes had a private showing of Bolt, Finding Nemo, Fox and Hound 2 [they didn't watch anything in its entirety] in the back of Uncle Jared's car while the adults sat out and watched the feature film on the big screen), and just generally had fun running around the house, doing crafts, and having fun. Grammy came to join the fun on the 26th.

Pam, Jared, and I were at the hospital with Pam after she was checked in on the 27th until Lily was born at 5:45 the morning of the 28th. The kids stayed with Grammy and came to visit us all in the hospital later that morning. The girls were in heaven! Dylan was glad to see his Mommy was okay, and knew exactly who Lily was, but didn't quite go as gaga over her as the girls did. That poor baby got more loves and hugs and kisses from Cadence and Kennedy in the few minutes the girls were with her, than she'd had her whole life. Granted, her whole life only consisted of a few hours, but still. Dylan stepped into the Big Brother role almost immediately, and it was so sweet to watch how he interacted with her. So loving, so gentle, so protective, so concerned. Cadence just wanted to sit and hold her and hold her and hold her. Kennedy wanted to show us all that Lily has a mouth and eyes and a nose and eyes and feet and eyes and hair and eyes... Before she'd even had a proper bath, Lily was showered with kisses from her brother and cousins. It was really sweet.

The rest of the week saw more crafts, more running around, lots of fun, and some really creative ways to cool a house, that doesn't have air conditioning, during a heat wave. We made sure to get in one more trip to the beach, (and miracle of miracles I got my homework finished) before we made the trek back home to more record hi's and an air conditioner on the putz. Fortunately we have an old-rock-quarry-turned-swim-hole nearby (same place we went for 4th of July) which we utilized every day over the weekend for a sweet way to cool down. The girls absolutely love swimming, and Cadence has decided she can abandon the 'noodle' and swim around in the deep water with Daddy with just her life jacket. Now that she's become quite adept at that, she's looking forward to taking the plunge without her 'life-it' and seeing what transpires.

Now that we've been home we've had a chance to just kick back, relax, enjoy our family time, play at Kids Castle, and terrorize the cat. Oh, life is good. :)

Here's a bunch of pictures from our adventures at Pam's:

Headin' to the beach

Posing in front of the driftwood fort we found waiting for us

Okay, let's get down to business

Sneaking up on the seashells

Eeeeewwwwwww! It's so gross! I don't want to touch it!

But I have to touch it!

Can you find Kennedy?

Posing for Mom

Hurry Dylan! Run with me!

Woohoo! The water is COLD!

But it's too awesome to stay out of it!

Cadence: See Auntie Pammy!? Look at the fish I reeled in!
Dylan: See Mommy?! Look at the fish I caught for Cadence!
Uncle Jared: What's up with these kids taking credit for my fish?!

Tackling a glue project

I can brush my teeth better than you!

Cousins in the tub!

Baby Lily is finally here! Welcome little baby!

Funny little monkey I found, hangin' in this tree, at the Bremerton Ferry
(As soon as we got to this park she climbed up in this tree and was happy as a clam to just hang around, until she figured out she didn't know how to get down...)

Time for Break!

Summer break has finally arrived! The end is nigh! Classes ended on July 31st, and now I get to catch up on housework, and paperwork, and any other kinds of work I've been putting off since January. Fall semester starts up again August 24th, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! I've filed for graduation this December, and if all goes as it has so far, I'll be getting my diploma in the mail soon after. Woot!

Happy 4th of July!

I'm so incredibly grateful for the freedom and independence I enjoy as an American citizen, and had a blast celebrating these gifts today with my family. First the girls and I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up a few last-minute things for our picnic, then we grabbed sub sandwiches and the boat and headed out to Myron Lake here in Yakima. It's a small lake which used to be a rock quarry. I was a little unsure of the spot when we first got there (Jeremy's the only one who'd been to this lake; he went there to go fishing in with some co-workers in May), but the relatively secluded spot, along with the fact that there were very few people there to compete with, made this a perfect spot for our afternoon. We had our picnic, then Jeremy put his fishing boat in the water and took turns taking the girls out on the lake. They LOVED it! Cadence learned to trust her life vest and the 'noodle' and spent some time kicking around in some pretty deep water. Angel went with us and, although she enjoyed being out with the family, was very much glad to get home where she could lay on her soft, (relatively) clean bed. She's just not overly fond of swimming and getting dirty. In fact, I'd say she's more like a cat in that sense. :) After we'd had plenty of fun playing in the water we came home to take naps, then watched "Flushed Away" before ending the night watching the fireworks. We can't see any live fireworks from our place, but if we walk just down the street a little ways we get a really clear view of the city fireworks display. So, we put some pillows and blankets in the wagon and hauled the girls down to a little patch of grass where were were promptly attacked by ravenous mosquitos and I ended up running back up the street to get the bug spray. I had given us all a quick once over, thinking that would at least deter them for the 30 or so minutes we would be down there, but apparently they were rather determined to feast on Jeremy and me, so we had to rethink our plan of attack. Another dousing of 'Off' kept most of them at bay, but there were a few that were rather determined to get a snack off of us. I'm certainly glad I was inspired to buy more After Bite this morning!

I took lots of pictures, so here's a few of the best to start with; I'll try to get more loaded later.

Two too cute girls!

Yes, I'm talking about you...

First one out in the boat...

Wee Haw!

Dad has enough lap room for everybody, but we only get to go out one at a time with him on the boat (although Mom has yet to have a turn...)

It's Kennedy's turn...so I'm just sitting here...with my feet in the water...

Kennedy and Dad

Cap'n Kennedy

EEEEEE!!! Heeheehee!

I'm not scared of the water! (only a little bit scared, but not really...just a little. maybe)

Cadence doing it all by herself!

Kennedy absolutely loved being in the water and floating around - every time Jeremy told Cadence to kick, Kennedy kicked and kicked her little heart out too

Hi!

No fear here!

Dad and his girls :)

Just floatin' around!

We had such a good time, we're definitely planning on going back soon. The girls just loved being in the water, and taking turns on the boat with their dad. We really had a fabulous family day, and we hope that all of YOU had a fabulous 4th as well! Remember to celebrate all year long!

This Kid Loves Cherries!

Last weekend my sister was in town and we all shared cherries over the weekend. Last week I bought some cherries to have with dinner the night we had the missionaries over. There were some kids selling cherries they had picked out of the cherry tree in their yard, so I stopped to see how much they were selling for. They gave me a bucketful for $2.00; I probably paid around $1/lb, so that was a pretty decent price. The cherries were delicious! While we were eating dinner outside at our picnic table, our neighbor came out on her deck and asked if we wanted some cherries she had. Sure! we said. Then Jeremy brought home a mixed bag of cherries from a co-worker. We have been very blessed with cherries this last week! Fortunately, none of them went to waste. Cadence is a cherry-eating machine. At first she wasn't sure about eating them herself because they have the pit, but when I showed her how she could bite off one side, then scoop the pit out, nothing could stop her. Fortunately cherries are in season when it's appropriate for little girls to sit outside either naked or in a swimsuit and let cherry juice decorate everything they touch. Kennedy enjoys the cherries too, but not nearly as much as Cadence.

Take my picture too, Mom!

I loves me some cherries!

Fortunately, we have a variety of rinse-options available once she's finished enjoying her cherries (you can see where we had the slip'n'slide in one spot for a little too long last week in the background). Cadence chose the sprinkler when she was done, and the girls had fun getting all cleaned up, then shushing their slippery little selves down the slide. Thank goodness for our wonderful backyard!

Painting the Bathtub

So the other day I just couldn't take the "Mom, Mom, Mom, Hey Mom, Mom, Mom - I need this, I need that, she's taking something from me,whiney-whine, fussy-fuss anymore. I took them into the bathroom and told them that our bathtub looked awfully plain, and I thought it could use some decorating. I asked them if they wanted to paint it up to make it more exciting. Boy were they up for the challenge! Cadence stripped right then and there, and when Kennedy caught on to what was going on, she wasn't about to be left out! So for a good 45minutes, maybe a little over an hour, the girls went to town painting the bathtub. It was great! Unfortunately we had major meltdown the next day when I wouldn't let them paint the tub again, but it's a good activity to do on the days I clean the bathtub, since I'll be scrubbing it down anyway. Just after Cadence stepped into the tub she told me not to worry, they were going to make the bathtub "sexy gorgeous" for me. Here's what happened:

'Sexy gorgeous?' Maybe not quite. But is sure was a lot of fun!

Fun with Friends (and face paint)!

Okay, so, Blogger pastes the pictures in the opposite order in which I listed them to be uploaded, and I don't want to take the time to re-order them, so they're coming at you in the opposite order in which I took them. I know you'll enjoy them anyway. :)

Cadence posing with her face all painted. The day before we had painted faces and she wanted to do it again. I found her in the bathroom scrubbing it off 20 minutes later. I think we'll be getting rid of that stuff and NOT purchasing face paint from the Wal-Mart bargain bin again, even if it does say 'princess' and 'glitter'.

Cadence's friend Sariah was over to play and at the end of our day we painted faces and put on sticker earrings.

First thing we did was paint toes out in the backyard. Kennedy was all for the toenail painting, but declined to take pictures. Can you guess who's toes are who's...?

Surprise! Or maybe not so much of a surprise... ")

We almost couldn't keep Sariah out of the sand box - although the girls declined to play on the slip 'n' slide, they did run around in the sprinkler, then spent a large chunk of the afternoon playing outside on the deck. These two princesses have so much fun together!

Bouncin' Around at Dylan's

On May 31st Cousin Dylan turned 2 and we were there for the party. Cadence thought it would be appropriate to wear her ballerina tutu. Dylan got this trampoline for his birthday and the girls had a blast jumping around inside with their cousin. We always have such a good time when we visit!

The balls started out inside the trampoline with them, but eventually they figured out jumping around was more fun that kicking around the balls.

Showing Off New Dresses

Papa John left some money for the girls to go shopping and buy new dresses. Well, we finally did that and Cadence was adamant that we take a video to send to Papa John. We did, but he's having a hard time getting it to play, so here it is for everyone to see! THANK YOU FOR OUR BEAUTIFUL DRESSES PAPA JOHN!!