Washington-part 2

Ryan and I flew back home on Monday July 25th to take Khalif to visit his parents. The kids stayed with grandma and grandpa and didn’t even really care we were gone….I guess they love their grandparents :o). They went to a petting zoo and Water park in Everett one of the days and because it was rather cold, they had the entire water park to themselves! They went back to Aunt Liha’s and went slip n’ sliding that afternoon. We were at their house a few times this summer and they love their backyard, hiking around in the wild flower, playing in the little house and setting up multiple slip n’ slides.

Pen make-up. I made her wear it until bath time and I'm pretty sure she won't be doing that again:

Ryan’s birthday was that Monday and he had work people in town and had his Cisco SBR, so it was a crazy day for him and he didn’t get home until after midnight! Khalif and I had a quiet time hanging out. I had no car, so had to rely on my bike which was kinda fun. We went grocery shopping and ran some errands and Khalif really enjoyed riding in the Ibert (bike seat that mounts on the handle bars). He had a nice visit with his family and we met his aunt and cousin at the park one day and they are really great people! We had a playdate with the Williams’ girls and they dressed him up as Minnie Mouse and he was pushing a shopping cart with a purse….his parents would’ve been so proud! The time flew by and we left Wed. afternoon. Ryan stayed back to work.

The kids were really excited to see us, which was kinda fun for me because I don’t usually leave them and they actually missed me :o). I missed them too. The house was very quiet without Reggie and Ainsley. I can see why Ryan doesn’t like it when we are not there. The sun finally started coming out and the kids were in the water or on the beach most of the day. It finally felt like summer, except the water was freezing. I usually do a swim workout a few times a week and I just couldn’t this year…only swam once :o(. Our last week was really busy; we went to the Children’s Museum, the zoo and the Stanwood/Camano Fair. We had a great time at all of those places. Ryan flew in on Wed. so he got to enjoy some sun and the fair. We talked Reggie into kneeboarding and he did great and loved it! The neighbor was nice enough to lend us their kneeboard….they’ve come a long way since our day. Theirs had a hook for the rope, so he didn’t even have to hold on! I went with him and I couldn’t tell by his face whether he was enjoying himself. When we were done, he said it was really cool, but we couldn’t get him to go again before our time at the lake was over. I decided to go again by myself to have my own fun and show him what you can do on a kneeboard. I could still jump, do 360’s and stand up. I’m not sure about him, but I was pretty impressed with myself :o).

Watching the horses at the fair:
Zumba!

About half way through the summer, Ainsley was asking to sleep in the toddler bed up in Grandma’s room (Wade and Liha stay in grandma and grandpa’s room with their whole family when they are up visiting). Grandma is a softy and said o.k. The only problem is that Reggie and Ainsley sleep in the same room and Reggie wasn’t about to get cut out of the deal. So, it became a nice treat for them to sleep in grandma and grandpa’s room. Reggie was very excited to sleep in a sleeping bag and they loved it. Not sure grandpa was on board, but I’m glad they love their grandparents!

What a good cleaner....grandpa loved it whenever Khalif got ahold of the sponge!

Dancing on stage at the Children's museum-Reggie was working hard in the picture above to do sound and lights:

Reggie's old fav. the Comodo Dragon:

Aunt Sue and Uncle Rich’s cabin became one of Reggie’s favorite places to visit. He biked there with Ryan and always wanted to stop there when we were out in the party boat. They do have a fun place….it is really cabin-like with a loft and they’ve made some trails with interesting attractions, like a fairy house. Look what we found on a walk at Aunt Sue and Uncle Rich's...pretty cool:

The kids got to enjoy an adventure with Grandma Peggy and Uncle Anthony. They always do something fun and this year they went to the water slides. This is something I would never do with them because they are water weanies, but I was hopeful that they might be brave. It was good they both went because Ainsley hung out in the kiddie area with grandma and to our surprise, Reggie went on all the slides with Uncle Anthony!!! Way to go! They had an awesome time :o).

Hanging in the little pool:

Go Reggie!

Sat. was a bit of a whirlwind, as usual with Ainsley’s birthday party and packing. I decided to do the Once Around Lake Cavanaugh race. My back has been feeling good all summer and I’ve been running a lot and for long distances, so it seemed like a good idea. My back was a mess earlier in the week, but it quickly recovered and I ran it without stopping (7.8 miles in 1 hour 12 minutes)!!! When we got back, Peggy, Dustin and Anthony came to visit, then Megan and her family and then the rest of the party around 3:30. We had fun watching people try to paddleboard. Some people can do it and others, like Ryan and Dustin, just can’t. Reggie had a blast playing with Lachlan, Cohen and Mack (Megan’s children). Lachlan even waterskied for the first time, so it was good for Reggie to see that a 9 year old can do it. Maybe he’ll try next year??? Ainsley had fun with Cadia and the twins, Stella and Ruby. Reggie had fun with Charlie….it was just a great day! We had a great time visiting with Jim/Ruth, Lacey/Aunt Jana, Kristin, the Boyd’s, and Aunt Sue/Uncle Rich. Thanks mom for letting us host at your house. The weather even cooperated and it was beautiful.More than half way around the lake...

Presents the night before her party...I now know why so many easy bake ovens end up at thrift stores!

Lachlan and Reggie:

Reggie and Charlie :o). He was so glad to have a boy cousin to play with!

We had a great time watching Ainsley open her gifts. She wanted an American Doll this year, but that didn’t seem to make sense to me. She is pretty young and those dolls are $100! Ryan thought it would be a nice surprise to buy her one, so he got on some website and ordered a doll without telling me because he knew that I’d veto it. I’m not sure how many links he clicked on because he ended up getting baby Kevin for $100. He showed up at the lake on party day, so at least the timing was good. We explained to her beforehand that there was a mix-up and she wasn’t getting an American Doll, but we could send the baby back and get one. Of course she opened up Kevin and wasn’t at all wanting to ship him away. The box said, “Not for play. For children 14+ or adults as a collectible.” Hmmm…I’m not thinking the glued on hair is going to make it. Although, we’ve been home for almost a week and baby Kevin has only had about 5 minutes of play time, so he might just be going on a trip back to wherever he came from. It was a really nice thought and we love Ryan for that….the whole scenerio also gave us a lot of laughs :o). Baby Kevin:

Grandma had a brain seizure and thought Reggie was little and tried to pick him up. Thankfully, she didn't hurt herself!

Jumping with Stella and Ruby:

No animals in the house this year....the cats have gotten a little better about leaving stuff outside. Ainsley was very sad to see the dead rabbits...also had a dead duck this year :o(. She did find a live snake to pet though-for some reason it let her do it: Amazing to see a deer in the water! Haven't ever seen that before :o)

We awoke early the next morning and were on the road a little after 7. We stopped for gas and to go to the bathroom at the Costco in Salem and then stopped for dinner in Yreka. We would have made it in just over 14 hours if we hadn’t hit construction traffic. As it was, we pulled in at 9:48, so it took us 14 hrs. and 39 minutes. Not too bad since it took us 16 on the way there and last year 17 hours each way. The kids did much better on the way back and somehow entertained themselves for a good part of the way (only watched 2 movies).

The summers just seem to go quicker and quicker. We slowed down a bit this year and didn’t schedule much, but somehow it seemed to go by faster. I know it is a lot for my parents to have us there for 5 weeks, but I’m glad they let us impose. The kids will always have their memories of summer fun forever…….thank you!

Washington-part 1

Well, as many of you know the summer started out very cold and rainy. We had sun on the 4^th and we were hoping we brought it with us, but no such luck! It rained at some point almost everyday for 2 ½ weeks! That didn’t seem to stop the kids from playing on the beach and even swimming :o). We went on lots of walks in the woods and Reggie taught the girls how to fly down the driveway on a big wheel and maneuver down another steep hill, using only their feet for brakes. Reggie is very cautious, so I let him keep doing it despite my better judgment. Amazingly, no one got hurt.

Ryan took the entire week after the 4^th off (which means he was still working, but minimally). We went down to our house in Kirkland and did some maintenance, went out to dinner and took the kids to Jungle Playland. We put the Mastercraft in this year and we were hoping to use it lots. Ryan got a tube for his birthday and was dying to take the kids on it. We got one that they could sit in because of our experience when Reggie was little and it submerged and dumped all the kids. So, it was Ryan in the middle and the girls on either side. We weren’t really thinking about the fact that the middle seat was more forward and therefore, a little front heavy. Well, we managed to almost repeat the same incident, but Ryan thought quickly and jumped off. Needless to say the girls were a screaming mess and it will be a few years before they’ll go again :o(. We were able to talk Reggie into it, but it didn’t seem like he had too much fun. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing week. Ryan left Sunday for his trip around the world.

We had a nice BBQ with the Wade side of the family. It was nice to see everyone and meet the new puppy. Ainsley has gotten much better around dogs these days, but wasn’t as brave as Jake, who had no problem getting mauled by the puppy :o).

The kids and I did more of the same when he was gone, playing on the beach, walking in the woods and I almost forgot, lots of party boating! Khalif’s favorite word is water and boat, so I think he really enjoyed it too.

Meal time is a little chaotic, but it is one of our favorite things to do?

4th of July. Lots of food, fun and sun!

Looking at the roman candles:

Fun run in Sedro Woolley. Ryan and Reggie did the 2-mile run without stopping in just under 20 minutes! He never wants to do that again....it was too hard:Lake Cavanaugh parade:

Uncle Wade teaching the kids pyro techniques:

Enjoying staying up late to watch the fireworks. Why don't they sleep in?????

Popsicles on the party boat!

We did take a quick trip to Aunt Pam’s cabin on Lummi Island and the trip could have been really fun or a complete disaster. My sister decided if she went it would be a disaster, so we brought Maggie and Mom, Aunt Pam and myself managed the kids and I have to say it was really fun!!! We turned over rocks looking for tiny crab and explored the beach and tide pools. Reggie found a jar of sea glass in the cabin and decided that was his mission, so they all searched high and low for sea glass. They made several trips down to the beach and brought back all kinds of treasures that they spread all over the deck; shells, dead crab, special rocks, etc. They ran all over the yard playing games and having some kind of imaginary fun. We made a fire in the pit and had smores and got all gooey. We also visited the local school and played on their playground which they thought was the best! While we were waiting for the Ferry, Aunt Pam suggested we get some ice cream from the local store and no surprise the kids were up for that :o). I’m sure they will have very special memories from their visit at Lummi….thanks Aunt Pam!

Smore faces:

Looking for crabs:

Unfortunately, we had to make a run to the urgent care the day after we got back. Khalif was not himself and sure enough, after waiting 2 hours, he had an ear infection. Ainsley wanted to go with us to visit Grandpa Geno, so she and grandma went there and watched some Lawrence Welch. We had to make a run with Ainsley the following week because she had a sketchy bug bite that she probably got up at Lummi. It lasted for 10 days and was starting to go away and then came back bigger on the last day. She had the same thing last year, so we know what to do now and when to be concerned.

Ryan flew back from his trip for his birthday weekend and we enjoyed some great food and had some more fun. Ryan went waterskiing and has decided to get on a health kick so he can actually go for more than 5 minutes. He even bribed Liha to go and she got her $100 because she got up on one ski! Way to go!! Funny story….Ryan saw that my dad had the movie the Great Outdoors and thought it would be fun for the kids to watch it. Ainsley and Maggie sat down and were watching it and shortly after it started, Ryan put in another movie. He told me later that as they were sitting on the couch watching, some inappropriate language was said and immediately, Maggie turned to Ryan and asked, “Uncle Ryan, what is a motha fucka?” (she doesn’t say her r’s that well). I guess PG was different back in those days!


Birthdays:

Dad celebrated his 67th on July 6th:

Khalif turned 2 on July 22nd. Reggie was so proud of himself....he made the cake topper out of legos. Khalif's favorite thing is Sponge Bob:

Ryan turned 35 on July 25th-not sure what the gesture was about....

Summer fun

Ainsley has been bugging us to get a pool since we’ve had many pool play dates this summer. Ryan went and bought one, but it didn’t have a drain and it was a major pain. We had a playdate with the Bliss’s last week and they inflated their water slide park. It sure was easy to get the water out and kept the kids entertained for hours. So, I started looking for one (they are not cheap) and finally broke down and got one. They’ve been having a blast in it! Reggie knocked out his tooth a couple days ago while playing in it…he’s gotten a bit brave. Our foster child was very nervous, but after about 15 minutes was going crazy. Too bad Ryan didn’t put a swim diaper on him….we had a bit of a mess (luckily I was shopping when this unfortunate event happened!). And Ainsley is happy as a clam, “swimming” and flying down the slide.

Brave little guy!

All last week the kids were at vacation bible school. The theme was Pandamania and unlike last year, they LOVED it! They had so much fun and I enjoyed running my errands with our foster child. The last day, Reggie woke up with a sore throat and it took several days for him to be his normal self. It turned into a mild cold. Guess who woke up with it Tuesday, but decided to add a fever to the equation? Yes, Ainsley has been rather grumpy, so we watched a bit of t.v. this week. Her fever was short-lived, although the grumpiness continued, but we were able to go to Six Flags with our good friends the Williams.

We got a babysitter for the little ones and enjoyed the water areas, rides and animals. It was a hot day and the kids got completely soaked :o). The day went quick, but all the kids were pooped by the end of the day.

I’ve been planning and packing like crazy to get organized for our departure on tomorrow. Because we have an extra person this year, we have a lot less room in the car, but we packed today and everything is in! A big thanks to my mom who has shopped for us….not bringing food opened up a bunch of space in the car :o).

Father's Day

Ryan awoke to 2 children crawling on him and breakfast in bed (not as elaborate as he does for me!). They were so excited to share the books that they made for him. They spent many hours working on these books. Reggie wrote nice things about dad and then drew pictures. Ainsley was very creative in her art, but needed a little interpretation. Reggie’s book was called, “All about my Dad” and these are the things he wrote:

My dad plays take-out with my sister and me.

My dad cooks good food.

My dad lights the best fireworks.

My dad is special.

My dad plays basketball with me.

My dad plays baseball with me.

I love my dad.

Pretty sweet! We love Ryan for all of the above and many more. He is a great Dad!!!

Reading his Star Wars card that was Darth Vader's voice saying, "I am your father."

First week of summer!

Well, life is never boring here. It seems one child gets better and then another has an issue. We got a little education last week about MRSA :o(. Our foster child had what looked like a pimple on his calf last Sunday and it was pretty sensitive and got a bit bigger on Monday. I have had staff in the past and suspected that is what it might be, so I knew not to wait. His mom called that morning and I mentioned it to her and she told me he had the same thing last year. The doctor agreed it was a skin infection and I told him he had this before and he looked in his chart and saw that it was MRSA. He prescribed antibiotics and sent us on our way. What he didn’t tell me was that it is highly contagious! My sister told me that 2 days later after bathing the kids in the same water, lathering sunscreen over the wound and then on my kids, etc. We didn’t even put a band aid on it! There’s some mixed and really concerning info. out there about MRSA, but I talked to the kids pediatrician and she made me feel a lot better. So far, we are all in the clear and we are being much more cautious now, so hopefully, the kids strong immune systems (after having all the illness this year, they should never get sick again!) will be able to fight it off. They have also spent a lot of time in the pool this week, swim lessons and 2 swim play dates and the chlorine is good for killing bacteria :o).

It has been a bit stressful, but we’ve managed to have some fun on our first week of summer break.

Enjoying the pool at the Williams:
Swinging at the park...fighting over who gets to push:

Who knew I had such balloon skills, with Reggie's help of course!

We've had this strange jet black squirrel that comes by every now and then. It is so weird that I just had to take a picture:

We also have been doing some chores. With everyone home all day, the house gets out of control pretty quickly. We had a HUGE sock pile that needed folding, so we spent one morning folding them. Usually they do the socks all by themselves, but it was a little overwhelming, so I agreed to assist. We divided the socks into piles based on whose they were and Ryan was the winner with 29! We folded 87 socks and our little sock folding became a math lesson. Once we counted everyone's socks, Reggie added them up and then we divided by 3 (to see how much money we were all going to get- $.10 per pair). Reggie was a bit disappointed to get only $2.90. I explained to him that it would have benefitted them more if I were not involved and we divided by 2 and he could see how much more money he would have had. He always folds many more than Ainsley, so we talked through that and he realized he probably would have gotten around $6.00. Hopefully, this math lesson was enough to take me out of the sock equation!!!!

End of the school year for Reggie

What a whirlwind! We had something almost every night of the week last week of school. Reggie had his singing performance on Monday and did fabulous. Boy what a change from a few years ago. He was singing and doing the appropriate movements. He had a great year and came a long way with his reading and math. He was sent home with a science book for the summer and started working on it right away. That is by far his favorite subject.

Wed. was his baseball team party….we were all glad to finish out the year and be done with that. He had pizza for lunch and for dinner and had a bit of a rough night. He woke up on the last day of school and was complaining of a stomach ache…really??!! He didn’t eat breakfast, so I knew something wasn’t right, but I sent him to school anyway because it was Olympic day and the last chance to see all his friends at once. Ainsley and I went to watch the assembly and he looked a little pale. I was so worried he was going to throw up in the middle (I have vivid memories of throwing up on the school bus as a child). He said he was o.k., but we ended up leaving right after the assembly. He got a low grade fever later in the day, but was able to eat and seemed o.k.

Beginning of the day:
Reggie and his best bud Tyler:

Mid afternoon the same day:

We were supposed to go to the rodeo, but he wasn’t quite up for it, so I took Ainsley and we had a girls night out :o).

Friday he woke up with a stomach ache, but it went away after breakfast and we rode bikes to the park and had a great day. Reggie wanted to picnic, so I put them in charge of making the sandwiches and that went really well. Might happen more often! That evening we decorated the Cub Scout float for the Rodeo parade and ate way too much junk. That seemed to be what did him in. We cleansed and he didn’t eat much, but we stayed within the brat diet. That night he threw up so much Gatorade right at bedtime. He slept with us which is always a treat, such a treat that Ryan slept on the couch. Starting at about 1, he threw up every couple hours, until morning and was moaning and making noise all night. We were all tired the next day, but his stomach seemed to settle and he was soooo hungry. Every time he ate, he felt sick, so we gave him one of Ainsley’s leftover anti-nausea. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much. We dosed him with Motrin and that seemed to help him turn the corner. He was much better the next day, but we laid low anyway. This has been such a bad year for illness in the Wade household. Let’s hope this is it! At least we made it through the week!!!

Dance recital

Ainsley has been anticipating her dance recital for several weeks. They handed out there outfits back in March and she's tried it on a couple times and has been anxious to wear it. We didn't really know what to expect from her since she is very anti-attention and gave us her Agnus face at her Christmas performance. She had a Mother's Day program at school and finally said a few lines of the last song, so I guess there was a little progress.

She did great on Sat. and we were very proud of her!!! Ainsley did the things she was supposed to do and seemed to be enjoying it :o). Afterward, Reggie said, "Mom I was surprised she didn't just stand there with her hands under her chin." We celebrated by going out to lunch wherever she wanted to go....she picked Sweet Tomatoes. Here's some pictures and video:

Afterward with her good friend Naomi:

Go Reggie Go!

Last week, Reggie told me that they had a race in class to see which 2 boys/girls ran the fastest mile and then the students from the other classes would all race off at some point. He likes to run with his friends and that means they chat and don't run too fast. The girls always beat them and that is what he thought was normal. During the race, the girls ran an 8 minute mile and he and his friend Tyler ran a 10 minute mile. I explained to him that genetically boys were supposed to run faster than girls. It was an interesting thought that he hadn't considered. The next time they ran, he told me he was right behind the girls. I encouraged him to move ahead of them :o).

Well, today was the race and it was sure interesting. The Kindergarteners, 1st and 2nd graders all ran together. They took off sprinting and all of us parents were shaking our heads, knowing they were going to gas out. And, they're off:

The interesting thing with Reggie is that he all of the sudden became competitive and ran the entire way, not jogging, but really running. I was very suprised he didn't stop because they don't usually run like that and as we all know, when you run fast, your legs, lungs and everything else hurts. One of his classmates stopped and was crying to her mom that her chest hurt....it made me smile. He finished in the top 10, with a time of 7:24. I'm not sure I could have kept up! I think he was a bit surprised by his ability as he was sharing with a friend all the people he beat. It was definitely good for his confidence :o).

Lap 3-looks like he was pretty tired, but he kept going :o):

Washer/Dryer:

So, we’ve been wanting a new washer/dryer since we moved here, but never got around to buying one. The washer has been smelling like sewer a lot more frequently and bleach didn’t seem to do the trick, so I had been looking on craigslist for a used set. I found one right here in Livermore, but the people weren’t moving for about 3 weeks, so he held it for us and I have been counting down the days. It is sad when you get so excited about a washer and dryer.

Ryan went and picked it up last week and it was going great until they went to load up the dryer and the guy gave him the gas attachment. This was not in his ad and we have an electric dryer, so Ryan told him that it wasn’t going to work. Unfortunately, he had already paid him and the guy was moving the next day. Unkind words were exchanged, but he ended up taking the set because we didn’t really have any other option. He told me what happened when he got home and I was trying to figure out what we could do. We could use the washer and sell the dryer, but it was a nice front-loading set and they really should stay together, so I was thinking, “great, now we have to start over”. Anyway, it was very disappointing.

Ryan got a bright idea of checking to see if there might be a gas line there and God is good because there was!!! We just had to get the connectors and shut off valve and we were good to go. Several hours later and a couple trips to the hardware store and bingo, we fired it up last night. It seems like any house related project we do has more challenges than it should, so it is nice that this is the first one we have had to do here!