Lake activities

We had fun visiting with friends at the lake this summer.  My old work friend, Jane, came up with her 2 girls, Lilly and Amelia and they had a fun time playing in the lake and fort.  They had a similar day with the Boyd boys and we really lucked out with the weather!  One came on Friday, then it rained all weekend and cleared off on Monday when Megan came up :o).  A couple weeks before that, my college friend Jill came up with her daughter, Peyton, and then we went to dinner at her new house.  Tanya, another college friend, showed up with her family at Jill's and the kids had a ball playing together!  It really was a fun summer catching up with good friends, reconnecting with old friends (at our reunion) and enjoying visiting and for the kids meeting some new playmates!

Ryan and I drove by the Oso mud slide and it was impressive.  The volume of dirt/debris that came from the mountainside didn't quite compute.....it seemed as if there was way too much.  We took a few picture, but it didn't do it justice, so you'll have to visit for yourself.
Reggie making his annual lavender wand with Grandma:

Hours and hours of building and digging in the sand:

 The kids also enjoyed playing with the neighbors.  Carson is Reggie's age and Cami is a bit older than the girls, but since she is the only girl in a house with 4 boys, she welcomed Ainsley and Maggie's company.  They paddleboarded, snorkeled and painted nails :o).

Party boating!  K was driving and he either honked the horn or pushed the throttle and the girls were cracking up:

 The fabulous little driver!

Playing a little take-out...one of Spencer's favorite activities with Uncle Ryan!

This was a much better summer for our family....I made an extra effort to have special playtime with the kids, especially K and Ainsley, and I think it really helped.  We had a bit more time as a family and it seemed to keep them a bit more balanced.  It was also so nice having our own space and I can't thank mom and dad enough for finishing the apartment!  Hopefully, it was easier on them too (although the kids still managed to sprinkle their stuff at their house).  5 weeks sure went quick!
Our drive home was pretty uneventful, but the bee sting from 2 days earlier was in full reaction and it was hard to bend my foot and EXTREMELY itchy when I did.  I definitely had a strong reaction because it has been 6 days and is still a little itchy!  Thankfully, Ryan did 2 of the 3 legs of driving.

Elsa's favorite place on the drive

We stopped for birthday lunch at Red Robin on the way home and I have never seen so much food disappear so fast!  The kids also really enjoyed Adventures in Odyssey, a Focus on the Family audio series.  We listened to 5 hours on the way back and it made the trip go a little faster.  The car was packed!!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan took off his birthday from work Friday (the only day he took off this summer) and we had a really nice day, filled with activities.
We went geocaching (treasure hunting) that morning and found the 2nd and 3rd ones at the lake.  We went a few weeks ago to find the one Uncle Wade hid and had to get grandpa to help us!  We felt pretty good to be able to find the other 2 by ourselves.

We soaked up a little sun and then headed to see Chuck, the bee man.  He gave us a nice lesson on bees and showed us his two "hives".  The kids kept their distance since I got stung right when we got there!  I had forgotten how bad it hurts :o(.  Glad it was me and not them.  The bee man was a little shocked since they don't usually sting, but it landed on my foot and the dog went after it, so lucky me.  I was given an Epipen in 5th grade because they thought I was allergic and Reggie was very worried about me...what a sweet boy he is :o).  After our lesson, we went to his workshop and got to taste some honey.  It was minty and tasty.

 Suiting up

Honey!

We had a nice dinner after that and headed to Skagit Speedway to enjoy the sprint car races!  Ryan has been taking Reggie for the past couple years, but we were lucky enough to get tickets from Mike Shelley, so we all got to go.  It has been years since I've been there and I had forgotten how loud and fast they are.  It was a beautiful night and we had lots of exciting crashes and everyone had a great time despite the dirt/dust being thrown in our eyes.

 Grandma even captured the car in the background!

It was a really fun filled day and I'm glad we got to have a special day with Ryan.  He really is such a great husband and dad.  Reggie stole Ryan's hat and Ainsley ended up with his sunglasses...he would do anything to make his kids happy :o).  And even when he's tired, he'll play take out and help me with the mundane tasks around the house or rub my shoulders if I have a headache.  I am blessed to have him as my partner :o).

Birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays!!!

Ainsley and Khalif have been spoiled with party after party!  Since we are leaving earlier this year, we decided not to do a party for Ainsley, so we've combined the birthday celebrations :o).
We started the festivities at Lummi and made our usual rounds, looking for sea glass, baby crabs, starfish, cool rocks and any other treasure the kids could find.  We stayed 2 nights this time and everyone was very tired the second night!  Here's some pictures of our fun....

 Dancing in their fancy silk nighties that grandma got for them.

 Enjoying cake!

 Notice the butterfly on Reggie's hand.  They tried to save it, but since it had fallen in the water, there was little hope and it died the next day :o(.

 Searching for crabs...

The next celebration was at Uncle Anthony's and Uncle Dustin's.  We have been able to see them a few times this summer and it is amazing how much Easton has grown!  Ainsley was warming up to him and it was fun to see.

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Happy Birthday K!

Can you guess who's sunglasses???

I think K was starting to wonder if the day of his actual birthday would ever come!  We started his festivities in June before we left and then had 2 more celebrations here in Washington and when the day finally came, there was a look of amazement....he was so super excited to be 5!  He made it well known that it was his birthday and he could do whatever he wanted!
We love K for lots of reasons:
He keeps us on our toes
He is very intelligent and we have some fun conversations
He is full of life and his face lights up when he smiles
He is full of love
He is very helpful
He is a loving brother
He is a huge Seahawk fan
He is aggressive in take-out....Ryan is hoping he will wrestle some day
He seems so much older than 5, the mature things he says (like it is a figure of speech) and does (playing games like UNO and Pokemon with Reggie and building lego's).  He keeps up with the older kids for sure!
We hope this year brings K some permanency, finally!
Height: 39 3/4
Weight: 35 lbs

4th of July weekend

Our reunion festivities started the morning of the 4th of July.  Our class was in the Sedro-Woolley parade and we had a really good turn-out.  We were near the end of the parade which gave us some time to catch up with old classmates.  Grandma Peggy, Uncle Dustin and Easton were with the kids, but they thought the parade was boring, lots of trucks and horses.  Ainsley said the best part was seeing us (so you know it wasn't that exciting!).  Ryan handed out candy to all the kids and got in a water fight with Justin Melton that turned into a wrestling match.  It was pretty comical and I'm glad no one got hurt.  Of course, everyone cheered for them :o).
Tired out after the parade:

 We headed up to the lake to spend the afternoon with friends and family and the weather was beautiful.  Ryan went up with the kids and blew off some tanks and spinners, but then the clouds rolled in and it got a little chilly and then rained around 6.  That was enough to send almost everyone home.  Ryan's friend, Russ was just arriving and our high school friends, Jeff and Katie, came with their 2 week old!  How brave are they??!!  Ainsley stopped everything and just looked at the baby.  When she was done eating, she and Cadia held little Olivia and they were in heaven :o).  The kids were really tired and wanted to go to bed, so up they went and we watched fireworks from the deck for a bit.  I have to say, I was really tired too.  We didn't venture out on the party boat, but Aunt Sue said the show was fabulous.  Maybe next year.

Video of the canon:

The next day we had our class of '94 dinner at a winery in Lyman (I think).  We went over to Tisha and Alden's cabin beforehand to visit and that was great.  Both Ryan and I wanted to try to talk with everyone, so having a little more time really allowed us to make the rounds.  There were a few grandparents in our class!!!
We rode with Seth in a 1970 something convertible Cadillac and that was quite the experience.  I guess we were late because when we got there, the parking lot was full, so he just went right up front.  Tim came up to Ryan and was like, "REALLY, a Cadi....I wouldn't expect anything less!"  I guess it was a little funny.  We had a really great time visiting and there were only a couple people (I found out later) that I didn't get to chat with.  We went to the Train Wreck (bar in Burlington) afterward and visited a bit more.  Anthony and Emily graciously were our designated drivers, but I was fine.  I had 4 Mike's over the course of 8 hours, so no hangover for me :o).
I think there were a little over 50 of us there:

Natalie and Carly

Mike and Seth

The next day was the family BBQ and we knew that evening that there was a large group of people that were not going to make it!  They did a tour of the high school that we really wanted do, so we made the trip down with the kids and they got to see where we went to high school.  They had restored the theater and added on quite a bit...Reggie said he could never go there because he would get lost :o).  It was neat to hear about some of the programs they have.  They are top in the state for getting kids Microsoft certified in Excel, Word and Powerpoint and they still have auto shop, homec and welding.  Such great skills to have!  They also redid the track and turfed the field and it is amazing how nice and new it looks.  The principal who gave us the tour was really great and it sounds like a really good place to be.
Wrestling state champions wall:

I had to take a picture of this because Ryan's record might not be there for that long, since he's at the bottom.  Not to shabby for a full back who never got the ball!

Wood carving was going on downtown on our way to the BBQ, so we stopped to look at the amazing creations (there's a face inside the bear)!

We were exhausted when the weekend was over, but feel very blessed to still be happily married to each other :o).  It is good to remember those fun times in our lives.....We have done o.k. for ourselves!