Grandma Peggy visit

We kept it simple, but fun, when Grandma Peggy came for a visit. My mom was worried about the temperature, but the weather ended up being perfect. Her trip was short (just a few days) and during her visit we managed to hit Six Flags and Sweet Tomatoes. Sweet Tomatoes is one of, if not her favorite, place she likes to eat. We seem to always end up there with all our out of town visitors. Lots and lots of good food to eat (buffet style).
We’re pro’s at Six Flags, so we knew exactly where we wanted to spend our time. We watched the elephant show, swimming tigers, and the Killer Whale show (during that show, Reggie and I wanted to go to the Thomas the Train exhibit. On our way there we got side tracked at the ice cream store and managed to suck it down before we met up with the rest of the clan). We had some pizza and after getting Reggie a Batman/Joker cape we headed home. The kids were toast and Grandma was a little worn out herself. One of the days we headed to Café Art where the kids got to pick out a glass figurine to paint. Then they are put into a kiln for a shiny finish. Ainsley managed to use every color she had over and over again. Not a lot of detail but hey it was fun for her. Reggie on the other hand decided to choose a robot to paint and was very particular about what colors he chose and how he painted it. The only disappointing factor that none of us realized was that you had to come back a couple of days later to get your “fired” peace of art. Reggie was crushed as he really wanted to take his art home that day. Some tears appeared but nothing a donut hole couldn’t fix. We hung out the rest of the time as the kids just wanted to play with their Grandma. Mom read them books, played basketball, went for bike rides, played games, and watched movies with the kids. Before we knew it, the weekend was here and gone and she flew out Monday afternoon. It will be good to see her during the summer as we’re heading back the first of July. Trina and the kids will be there for 5 weeks and I will visit on and off during that time.

Trip to see Spencer

Pretty cute, huh!

Well, so much for getting caught up last week....

On April 23rd, Ainsley and I boarded a plane and headed to Everett to visit the new baby! I am so thankful for the children I have…..traveling was a breeze. Ainsley took care of her luggage and even entertained herself for a good part of the plane ride. Grandma Peggy met us at the Bellingham airport and took us to Liha’s. It was a nice treat to see her again :o). We got there pretty close to bed time (Allegiant only has one flight a day and for $18 one way and $38 the other, I couldn’t complain) and I knew it was going to be a late night. Ainsley and Maggie were very excited to see each other and went off to play right away. I held the baby for awhile and then Ainsley wanted to hold the baby. We video-conferenced Reggie and Ryan, so they could be part of it too. The girls were going to do a sleepover, but that didn’t work out, so Ainsley slept with me. She woke up bright and early the next morning and looked at me and said with a smile, “Thanks for sleeping with me mommy.” She thought that was pretty cool...what a cutie!!! I had no idea what time it was, so I laid there for a little while and then decided to get up and take a shower. I looked at my phone and it was only 6:45, OUCH!!! The girls were already busy playing. Spencer is a great baby….sleeps a lot and doesn’t mind having anyone and everyone hold him. Newborn are so small and so warm and they smell sooo good :o). When he was awake, he was already holding up his head and looking all around. We went to the Mukilteo garage sale for a bit and he just slept…I hope the honeymoon period is long!
We ate out at my favorite places, the Mongolian Grill and Taco Del Mar. I was a happy camper :o). My mom and dad stayed at Liha’s while we were there and Aunt Pam, Aunt Jeanne and Kirsten came for a visit, so it was one big party. I’m sure Liha and Wade were quite lonely after we all left (or quite relieved!). Ainsley and Maggie had a weekend of fun, dressing up as princesses, putting washable nail polish on (what a great invention!), dancing, playing babies, venturing out in the rain, braiding hair and holding the baby!!! I'm not sure Ainsley wore any of the clothes we brought :o).

Fun with Uncle Wade:

Spencer time:Fun with fingernail polish:Girls dancing to the Doodlebops:

We headed up to the lake Sunday night because it is a little closer to the airport and we had to arrive at 7:30. Too many early morning for me, but I survived. Ainsley was very excited to be at the lake and headed straight to the loft to say hello to all her babies :o). She had some good play time in the loft with grandma. I headed straight for the new kitchen. It is going to be soooo cool when it is finished. I don't see us spending much time in any other room!
It was a quick weekend, but was still nice to come home and Ainsley and Reggie were very happy to see each other. Reggie had a few more toys than when we left and I think he gained a couple pounds too! Ryan kept him busy, going to the movies, ice cream, Chuck E Cheese, tadpole hunting, a birthday party, McDonald’s, Taco Del Mar, Red Robin, etc. Let’s just say, they had a good time as well!

Catch-up

Well, I've been a bit behind on my blogging, but Ryan is in Chicago all week, so hopefully, I'll get caught up (or close!).

Trip to Monterey and Spring Break (April 2nd):
Our trip to Monterey was on Easter weekend. Ryan got good Friday off, so we decided to do something fun. We had heard great things about the aquarium there, so we had to check it out. We were going to stop in Santa Cruz on the way, but the weather didn’t cooperate, so we stopped at Chuck E. Cheese instead. We found the mother ship of all the Chuck E. Cheese’s and the kids had a blast. Chuck E. even came for a visit and tossed tickets from the second floor to the first and our table happened to be right underneath, so we got at least a hundred tickets! After lunch, we made the drive to Monterey and we were all excited to go in the pool at the hotel. I think the last time the kids stayed in a hotel was in 2008 in Maui! So, Ryan and Reggie checked out the pool while I stayed in the car with napping Ainsley. Wasn’t quite what we were expecting….turns out they don’t heat the pool :o(. That is a question I will know to ask for next time. We only paid $60/night, so I guess you get what you pay for sometimes. However, the condition of the room was great!

Since the pool was a no go, we decided to go to the aquarium Friday night for a couple hours and then go back Sat. morning, since it is so big. The kids loved it! They have a lot of interactive stations and we got to learn a lot about sea life (and how humans have ruined it-I could have done with a little less of that, but oh well). Ainsley was very excited to head back to her “new home”. Took us a minute to figure out what she was talking about!
After going to the Aquarium the next morning, we headed to Dennis the Menace park and that was amazing. The bottom was all sand and the kids ran all over, exploring play structures, climbing walls and a retired train! It took Reggie a couple minutes to decide to climb up top, but he did it. Most parents try to discourage climbing, but Reggie is so cautious, so whenever he does something beyond his comfort zone, we're cheering him on.

Crazy slide video:

Tired from the long day (don't worry, I leaned Reggie the other way): We headed home that afternoon and went to Easter service. Easter morning, Ryan woke up early and made me some chocolate chip cookies :o). They were delicious, but made me feel really sick. Probably should’ve eaten before starting in with the sugar, but they were soooooo good. I can’t even remember the last time we made cookies…. It is nice to be eating sweets again and I learned that only through God was I successful in not eating sweets for 40 days. Since then, I've tried to go a day or two and have not had luck! Later that morning, we headed over to Libby and Scott’s for an Easter brunch. The kids did a craft and had an egg hunt and we enjoying visiting and eating with great friends :o). Easter was the kick-off to spring break and I got a wild hair and bought Reggie a new bed from Craigslist. He and Ainsley are so into making forts and I thought they would enjoy having a fort under a loft bed. We set that up on Monday night and they were both super excited. It has a slide and I didn’t realize how fun that would be, but it has been quite the entertainment. It was a bonus to get 90% of his toys out of sight :o). They’ve been having sleepovers every weekend because Ainsley can just sleep underneath. She asks most nights if it is a school night, so I know she’d sleep in his room every night if we let her. We had a nice mix of being at home and doing a few activities during the week. We went to Pump It Up, the Zoo and tried out Geo-caching. For those of you that don’t know what Geo-caching is, it is an online group that hides treasure in various places and gives you latitude and longitude, so you can go hunt for it. When you find the treasure, you can take something and then put one of your treasures in. Reggie died and went to heaven. It was so up his alley. It is nice because they say if it is for kids or if a child originally hid the treasure. We had to head home for Ainsley’s nap and Reggie decided to stay with Caleb and his grandparents to search for more :o). He’s asked to go again, but it seems to be a bit of work, joining the group and having a hand held GPS (not sure if a car one would work?), so I don’t know that we’ll be going anytime soon.

Finding the treasure:Picking the treasure:Train ride at the zoo:

Slide video:

We finished the week by doing the Trader Joe’s food pick-up for our church. It is sad to know that all the grocery stores here just throw old food in the dumpsters, except for Trader Joe’s and Costco. Think of all the people that could be fed….. These other stores have been contacted many times, but for whatever reason, won’t jump on board. Maybe if we stop shopping there???? Anyway, we weren’t quite sure how the kids would do, but they did great and had a wonderful time. Once the van was loaded, we took the food to the City Center, where they have a Sunday evening service and hand out the food. We arranged the food on several tables and Ainsley was in heaven!!!! She is such a good helper and organizer. It felt really good to get the kids involved and have a discussion about volunteering and helping those less fortunate :o).