Parent/Teacher conference and trip to Seattle

Reggie’s teacher’s conference was scheduled for Monday afternoon but sadly, Scott Lui (Trina’s cousin) was called to the Lord and Trina had to fly back to Seattle for the memorial. She flew out Monday afternoon and the kids and I started our “Disneyland journey.” The kids and I managed to only eat in once and enjoyed every other meal out. We also pulled out the Christmas decorations and put up frosty.

I had to keep their minds off of their Mom being gone (they missed their mommy). Trina was gone for just a couple of nights. She enjoyed seeing her extended family as all of the cousins were there. The circumstances weren’t ideal, but the company was a blessing from God. It was nice for Trina to get away and spend quality time with her family without the kids. Once she got back we settled back into our routine and before we knew it Reggie’s conference was here. We knew we had a sweet boy, but when you hear it from his kindergarten teacher, it just re-confirms it. Reggie is making great progress in school as he’s learning his “sight” words (the, and, it, we, etc..) along with hand-writing, and basic math. His teacher Mrs. Pierson tells us that all of the boys in his class fight over who gets to sit by Reggie, eat by Reggie, and play with Reggie. All in all, he is right where he should be with all the things he is learning and is a joy to have in class. I’m so thankful to God that Reggie is the way he is. Remembering back to my childhood I dreaded going to school and was never very good at it. I can tell that most of it will come easy to Reggie (must be the Norwegian genes) and that he’ll enjoy going to school. Hopefully his sister will follow in his footsteps.

A very late Halloween update

Oh, the fun of Halloween! Reggie dresses up a lot at home, but the week of Halloween, he got to wear his costumes out in public! His school had a fun parade and class party which he thoroughly enjoyed. His eyes were darting everywhere, looking at everyone’s costumes and he was really excited. Ainsley dressed up as Bell and was met by her "friends" in kindergarten. She plays with a couple girls who hang around after their morning class and they were excited to see her.

Here's a clip of Reggie at his school parade:

Ainsley's class doing a Halloween craft:

Sat. was Halloween and Reggie woke up with the sniffles. He still hasn’t gotten over the cough from his first cold, so I was bummed he was getting another. Ainsley got his first cold and we were up many hours of the night for about 3 days trying to get her to stop coughing. She coughed so hard, she threw up a few times. Thankfully, the days are much better for both of them. Anyway, Reggie wasn’t feeling well on Halloween night (wouldn’t even eat dinner!), and we were at Bill’s house (Ryan’s boss), so we decided to go up and down the street and call it a night. Ainsley was having a lot of fun because they have 3 girls and they had their friends over. She wants so badly to be a big kid! I think she would have been fine with us leaving her to go with the big girls! Reggie fell asleep in the car at 7:30 and had a great night of sleep, so he was a different, happy kid on Sunday. And the best part was we didn’t end up with much candy!!! We were home in time to give out ours and we were left with only 1 candy bar :o).

Visit from Aunt Liha and Maggie

We had a great visit!!! It was a little more challenging to find time for fun activities with school and preschool, but I think we found some fun things to do.
Reggie had his school carnival/walkathon on Sat., so I was able to help in the classroom on Friday. The carnival is put on by the PTA and I volunteered with another mom to be our class PTA rep., not really knowing what was involved. Let’s just say, it was good there were two of us and good my sister was in town, because we were pretty busy! The Kindergartner’s were in charge of decorating cakes for the cake walk (it is kinda like musical chairs) for our class game on Sat. We had an abundance of cakes because the morning classes gave us their extras and some people brought 4 cakes, so each kid decorated 2. It was quite the sight and we finished just in time!

Liha had a really bad cold and a migraine, so things started out a bit rocky, but everyone finally slept on day 3 and she started feeling lots better. All the kids went to the carnival on Sat. morning. Reggie walked laps (he was coughing so much that he couldn’t run) and the girls played on the playground. They had all kinds of carnival games, so we ended up with lots of stickers, spider rings and candy! They had a bake sale and Aunt Liha got them a decorated Halloween cupcake, so they had their sugar for the week! They also were raffling off class theme baskets and some were really cool. We did a Christmas theme basket that Libby and I put together….making those baskets look nice is quite the task! I only mention the baskets because I won one….the one we spent so long putting together!!!

Thank you everyone for supporting Reggie and his school for their walkathon!

Sunday we went to church and then headed for Six Flags. They had a new tiger show, so we watched them dive for dinner. It was super cool to see the tigers swim and dive. The kids rode a few rides and then we watched the sea lion Halloween show. It always seems like we are there for a long time and don’t get to do enough, but as usual, the kids had fun. It was dark when we left and they had “smoke”, along with crazy dressed people scaring those walking around, so it was kinda spooky.
We didn’t have much excitement after that. The kids played and played….I’m not even sure what they did, but there was a lot of giggling going on with intermittent shrieking! We took a few trips to the park and the kids played outside in the sandbox and yard because the weather was so nice. And we had to go to Sweet Tomatoes and get bagels for Aunt Liha. For some reason, there’s a lot more bagels shops here.
The night before they left, Livermore had a downtown Halloween festival. Usually, the kids trick-or-treat through the local businesses, but they decided to switch it up this year. It was o.k., but similar to Reggie’s school carnival, except with really long lines. It was kinda chilly, so we didn’t stay long. Colds aside, it was a great visit and we’re bummed they won’t be back for a long time…why did Liha have to go and get knocked up???? It will be exciting to meet the new little girl/guy at the end of April :o).

Cousin Scott

Today is a sad day. Scott lost his battle with pseudomonus, aspergillus, and some mystery fungus in his one functioning lung. He was on life support for almost 3 weeks and had his ups and downs, but took a turn this week. They decided to let him go and he went quickly. I can just imagine he ran to God without having to stop to catch his breath, excited to be rid of his sickly body. Praise God!!! I’m happy for Scott, but sad for the rest of us who will miss him. Please pray for his wife, Kristin, and daughters, Stella and Ruby, along with his parents and brothers and all that loved him.
He’s been the cat with nine lives, surviving his transplant and numerous infections and hospitalizations. Although this day was inevitable, somehow, I think everyone thought he would pull through yet again. Funny how it comes as a surprise when the day is actually here….wow…I can’t believe he is really gone :o(.

Visit from Mom and Dad

My mom and dad came to visit a couple weeks ago and it went by way too fast. Now that Reggie is in school, our flexibility isn’t there, but we made the most of our 4 short days. Not enough time to get the yard cleaned up :o(!!
We got right into our normal routine on Friday and got a nervous grandma on a bike and rode to Reggie’s school. She did fine and we had a nice mellow day. Ainsley got to spend some one on one time with Grandma, which never happens! Grandpa was off to the store to get a paper and do his daily drive. We sure noticed a difference in Grandpa from the spring visit. He was in a lot of pain and not able to do much during their last trip here. This visit was great because he was playing a lot with the kids and they loved it! Reggie and Ainsley love take-out and running around and they had some good fun with Grandpa. Everyone was happy that night when we went to Sweet Tomato’s, our favorite restaurant :o).

Sat. morning Dad and Ryan went to the men’s breakfast at our church. Of course, my dad, found some other old farts who shared his political frustrations, so he had a great time! They also met a retired NASA guy, who owns a couple small planes and flies from Livermore to Sammamish…small world! I think mom and dad should hitch a ride :o). Sat. afternoon grandma and the kids built a gingerbread house. It seems to be the yearly tradition for them. The look of concentration on their faces was priceless and they did very good keeping the candy out of their mouths. They did such a good job decorating that it fell down from the weight of the candy and grandma had to tie it together while the frosting hardened. Later, we went to the park and ran around. Everyone is a bit gimpy, but between the adults, we had the kids running like crazy. Tag is a new favorite game and it is one I enjoy, so I had a good sweat going.

Sunday was a very busy day! We went to the pumpkin patch and had great fun. Mom and Ainsley went on the cow train and I just missed winning 10,000 on America’s Funniest Home Videos because I wasn’t recording my mom’s entrance into the tiny cart. Let’s just say they weren’t made for people with long legs :o). They all had fun running through the hay maze and playing in the corn. Ainsley had another successful ride on the pony, so I think she’s conquered that fear! Reggie and Ryan rode on some pedal cars and that was pretty funny too and I guess a pretty good quad workout. That night we went to a pumpkin carving parting and barbeque through the parks department. It would have been hard to do without mom and dad because, making dinner and carving pumpkins, while containing the kids is a bit challenging. I was able to score on the pumpkin seeds and we did sing some Halloween songs around the campfire, so I think everyone had some fun.

Grandpa, lost in the hay tunnels! Where are those kids???

Only God

It was an emotional weekend that started Sat. morning with news that my cousin, Scott, was on life support due to pneumonia and staff :o(. The poor guy has overcome so many obstacles with his Cystic Fibrosis, lung transplant, infections and has been waiting for a new lung for 2 years (since only one is working). In the midst of that, he had twin girls, who are now almost 2. I just felt sick and helpless. Of course I prayed and I decided to fast. Crazy, huh??? I’ve never fasted before, but have heard people talk about it. It isn’t something that I really want to write about, in fact, I felt silly telling Ryan that is what I was doing. I was well out of my comfort zone…but, isn’t that when God speaks to us??? I share this because, how can we encourage one another, if we don’t talk about the amazing things God is doing in our lives?
I pretty much prayed constantly for Scott because my mind was so focused, as my stomach reminded me every few minutes of what I was doing. My mind was at battle with good and bad thoughts and I just kept getting reminded of the power of God. I’m doing a Bible Study right now on believing God, so I had a few scripture fresh in my mind. God can do anything if it is His will!!! For goodness sakes, he parted the Red Sea and raised people from the dead! It was an amazing day for me in my walk and I would encourage you to fast if you are having a hard time connecting with God because he will be at the front of your mind!!! Scott has improved, but he is still in critical condition and on the ventilator, so please continue to pray for him :o(.
Then, the coolest thing happened this morning at Church when Pastor Steve was reading some verses in Acts. He was reading about FASTING!!! Ryan and I kinda looked at each other strangely….he went on for a good 20 minutes about why we should fast. If you are interested in listening, it is the first half of the sermon on Oct. 18th (probably won’t be posted for a few days), http://livermore.cornerstoneweb.org/Livermore/MediaGrp/MediaArchive.aspx. Then he quoted a Psalm that I had read on Sat. Coincidence…I think not! Bottom line is that God hears our prayers and he wants us to know that. As small and insignificant as we feel, he loves us so much! How awesome is that!!!! Our prayers might not always be answered, but, hopefully, we will be changed through the process. I’m not sure what will happen with Scott, but I know God is there :o).

Eeek, has it been a couple weeks already??!! We’ve been getting into a routine with school and everyone is doing great. Not too much to highlight over the last couple of weeks, but Ryan took the kids to an open house at the small airport in our city and they got to sit in a rescue helicopter and old war plane. They seemed to really like it, but it was super hot, so they didn’t stay long.

The next day, we went to the Children’s fair in Pleasanton. It was good we went, but I doubt we’ll be going next year. It was super expensive (like $3-4 per ride, per child!), but we enjoyed meeting the movie characters and watching a retired circus clown. The kids laughed and laughed at Mr. Diaperpants :o). It was close to 100 degrees that day, so we were happy to head over to our friends open house/pool party. Their pool was pretty chilly, but Reggie didn’t seem to mind…he just loves the water so much! We’ve already made some good friends from kindergarten :o).

Ainsley's first successful pony ride!!!

Hugging all the characters:
If you can't view the video, go to www.arrtwade.blogspot.com:

We also had a celebration BBQ for the Governor’s Fitness Challenge at his school. Several of the kids from the school that we donated the fitness money to, came and sang the kids a song and showed their appreciation. Rancho (Reggie’s school) also announced that they were able to get $5,000 toward the building of their track, so they should be breaking ground next spring! The kids are super excited about this. Reggie has a big foot now, so he’s ran 10 miles! At the BBQ, Reggie was kicking the ball around with some older kids and it was amazing to watch. Maybe we’ll have to try soccer again.
This last weekend, we went to the 3-D Toy Story movies. I haven’t seen a 3-D movie in a long time and they sure have improved. The detail was absolutely amazing. There’s one scene where it snowing and you could almost reach out and touch it! Now that I think of it, maybe that is where Reggie picked up Pink Eye :o(. We’ve had a few colds and I’m still trying to figure out what to do about the H1N1….shot or no shot….that is the question????

Wonderful kids

I feel so lucky to have such good kids!!! They are sweet, considerate and for the most part do the right thing :o). They love each other too, which is huge bonus. They play together every morning and last weekend, Ryan and I rolled out of bed at 8:30! That is unusual, but I feel very lucky that they can play 2 hours together unsupervised and fairly quietly! Is is a surprise sometimes, what they get into in the morning:
Big man on campus:
Reggie’s school is big on physical fitness and they run laps to get popsicle sticks. When they get 4 popsicle sticks, they get a foot charm to go on their necklace. When they get 10 little feet, they can trade it in for a large foot and I guess the kids trade feet and think they are really cool. Reggie already has 4 little feet, which means he has run 4 miles (he runs a mile twice a week when it isn’t 100 degrees!). He is asking when run day is because he wants to get more charms. He’ll be in better shape than me soon!!! This week his school was awarded the prize for the Governor’s Fitness Challenge, so there’s lots of buzz around the school right now. They received 100K to spend on equipment, but because his school has what they need, they donated it to another deserving school. Pretty neat experience for the kids and staff: http://rancho.schoolloop.com/. Notice Reggie's feet on his necklace....

Reggie’s only been in school for about 3 weeks and we can already see a significant improvement in his handwriting :o). He also has been very interesting in doing homework…it used to be like pulling teeth! The other day, I asked him to help me read part of his homework and he knew the colors, red, yellow and green. I’ve been really trying to get him to read sight words when we are reading together and it doesn’t go well at all. I’ve only been working on “and” and “the”, so I was wondering if he was just being a stinker and could actually read some things. So, I thought I would be tricky and leave him a note in the morning that said, “candy on dad’s desk.” Turns out he can’t read unfamiliar words, but he is making progress. Might be a fun game when he gets a little better at sounding out words.

Big Girl:
We were at the store the other day and the checker said, “Oh, what a cute little girl.” Ainsley was very quick to correct her and say, “I’m a BIG girl.” It was pretty cute and she is growing up rather quickly these days! We’ve been working hard on picking up our messes and I asked her to clean her room a few weeks ago and she put everything exactly where it goes. Big mistake on her part! Now we’ve been working on putting her clothes away. She constantly surprises me with her comprehension and memory…I guess I still think of her as a little girl too. We pulled into Reggie’s school the other day and she said, “Oh look and A and an R.” Rancho is written on the wall and somehow, I guess, she is learning letters. Maybe I should start working with her…she might be reading “the” and “and” before Reggie!
She started her gymnastics class without me and that has been fun to watch. She really likes to look at what the older kids are doing. She doesn’t quite get how the class works yet, but she’s only been twice and really improved the second week. She sure is strong, but not very flexible. I wonder who she gets that from???

The big girl found some lip gloss (notice her fingers)....
Here she is feeding cooper:
We also discovered this summer that Ainsley gets car sick and will throw up at the drop of a hat. That wasn’t so fun, but after it is over, she is totally fine, so that is good. We also leaned from our good friend, Laura, that Ainsley probably had severe acid reflux when she was a baby. We tried Zantac, but it didn’t do anything. I guess you have to pair it with Prilosec to see improvement. So, if anyone ever tells you that their baby has to be asleep to eat/nurse, they probably need to see a feeding specialist. Too bad all of my resources (several Dr.’s/Breastfeeding Center/Chiropractor) didn’t tell me about that when we were going through it. She grew out of it at 15 months, but I think she might always have a weak reflux and throw up easily. We’ve had salmon a couple times recently and she’s thrown up after eating it, so she might have some sensitivity or allergy to salmon. Who knows??!! We won’t be giving it to her anytime soon!

Sound of rain

It was very HOT here this week, so hot that we couldn’t even open things up at night :o(. Last night I awoke to the sound of rain and thunder! I quickly opened the window to enjoy it and was blinded by the lightning. It was quite a show and went on for a couple of hours. Amazingly, the kids didn’t wake up. Today was a perfect day, about 75-80. We went for a bike ride this evening and ended up at the park. I’m looking forward to fall when the weather is more like today.
It has been a busy couple weeks and we are starting to get into a routine, although, I still feel like I’m going to forget one of the kids somewhere! Ainsley started preschool and loves it. I told her I was leaving and she thought I meant that we were leaving and she said, “I don’t want to go”. I told her she was staying and she got a big smile on her face. She’s been waiting to be a big girl for awhile. She has school Tues/Thurs. mornings and then Wed. morning I have bible study. We pick Ainsley up and go directly to Reggie’s school to drop him off (did I mention they don’t have school buses here!) and then back to the house. As if lunch wasn’t fun enough, I get to have 2 lunch times, one with Reggie at 11 and then one with Ainsley at 12. It makes riding bikes a little more complicated, but we’re still managing to do it some days. He figured out how to start and stop, so we don’t have to worry about that anymore!

Reggie had back to school night and I decided that both Ryan and I should go, so we got a babysitter. We didn’t want to waste the sitter on an hour school meeting, so we went to a comedy club in Pleasanton afterward. We laughed a lot, but we were more impressed with the opener than the main show (Tommy Davidson). The next day we went to an end of the summer party at our church and had a sleep over with Mike and Sam! They did soooo good. The older boys were pooped at the end of the day, so they went to sleep pretty quick. The other 2 did pretty good, but Ainsley didn’t fall asleep until 9! Sarah warned me that the boys would be up early, probably around 6, but Reggie and Ainsley woke up first at 6:45 and they didn’t get up until 7:20! That was great for us :o).

Sarah and Eric invited us to the Oakland A’s game and since they were playing the Mariner’s and the seats were awesome, we couldn’t say no. Thankfully, our babysitter was available on short notice, so we had 2 evenings out in 3 days! We decided we HAVE to do it more often. The next day Ryan, Reggie, Eric and Michael headed back to the stadium for another baseball game. The Mariner’s lost both nights, but everyone had fun. Reggie hasn’t been to a game in 2 years, so we weren’t sure how he would do. He wasn’t really interested in the game, but really enjoyed his sundae in a hat and the baseball bat Ryan bought for him. He got home and was all about baseball, out in the yard swinging away. It is amazing to me how much better he is at hitting then just a couple months ago (without even practicing).

Labor day was spent celebrating Sam’s birthday. It was a fun weekend filled with the Bliss’s. We had cheetos and cake and pizza and everyone was full and happy :o).

Big Week

Reggie started Kindergarten on Monday!!! His teacher is Mrs. Pierson and it seems like she will be a perfect fit for Reggie. He was already raising his hand during circle time and got some sort of prize for running laps. Who is this kid? His teacher volunteered at VBS this summer, so he recognized her and I think that helped. He also has a buddy from pre-school in his class, so they’ve been playing a lot together. I’ve already met several parents and one was Ainsley’s Sunday School Teacher. School is about a mile from the house, so we’ve been riding bikes :o). Ryan took off Reggie’s training wheels on Sunday, so he was a little hesitant, but now he’s great. He just needs to figure out how to start. Every Wed., he starts at 8:10, so that will be a little bit of a challenge! Ainsley will start pre-school after Labor Day, so we’ll be up and out by 9. So much for enjoying our slow mornings :o(. I guess we’ll have Monday and Friday :o). It is so interesting that I’ve been waiting for the day Reggie goes to school because then I’ll finally get a break, but now, I’m a little sad. We are losing our freedom and are going to be bound by school schedules. Not only that, but we’re losing a lot of play time, which again, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but when are we going to play??? I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

Ryan survived his softball game, but was very glad his teammates were yelling, "don't run!" over and over. He managed to hit a double, so you can just imagine how far he must have hit the ball! His team lost, so no more worries until next spring :o).

Update on Ryan-2 months post surgery

Last night was the first night I saw Ryan walking and could hardly tell anything happened. He wasn’t even limping!!! He has physical therapy twice a week and is making great progress. We were talking about softball the other night because his team is in the playoffs and one of the guys is on vacation and they are in need of another player. So, he decided to ask his physical therapist what she thought, expecting her to say no way! But, instead, she said, “Let’s take a look at your swing.” Kinda weird they have a bat there, but whatever. I guess he swung so hard something flew off of it and bounced all over the gym, hitting one of the trainers, so she said he could hit, but to not even think about even walking fast. Is that crazy or what? He plays tonight and hopefully, nothing exciting happens!
He also went for his first real bike ride (not at the gym) a few nights ago and was excited to really be able to work up a sweat. Unfortunately, it will be awhile until he is able to anything but the bike. He is still frustrated that it swells and is very stiff in the morning, but overall, he is making a great recovery.

We have a swimmer!!!

I can’t believe it…I took the kids to the pool a couple days ago and Reggie found the deepest place he could and started to swim. He immediately went underwater, which usually results in serious freaking out, but not that day. He got right back up and was so proud that he held his breath. I think he quickly figured out that he’s much heavier without his life jacket, so he just worked a little harder. He was swimming half the length of the kiddy pool over and over. It was amazing!!! To watch the video, go to http://www.arrtwade.blogspot.com/:

Then, Ainsley decided she wanted to go down the slide in the water. I couldn’t get her to do it before we left. She went once and that was it…she kept going and going, probably 25 times. We had such a fun day at the pool :o)!
I have to share a funny little story. Reggie and I were playing motorcycles outside and I was jumping off of our porch box, trying to land upright. We did this for a good 10 minutes, so probably 20 times and then Reggie said a little prayer, “God, can you make this motorcycle land upright?” Of course I was thinking and wondering if I should tell Reggie that God isn’t super concerned about whether your motorcycle lands upright or not, but I decided to remain silent. I haven’t heard him say a prayer before, so I didn’t want to crush his hopes. Sure enough, the next jump, the motorcycle landed upright. To which Reggie said with a big smile on his face, “Hmmm, I guess my prayer worked!” God never ceases to amaze me…there’s nothing too small for him to be concerned about. It is also a good reminder that when we pray and truly believe something will happen, it will!!! If we could all be like children……

First week back

We had a busy week unpacking, shopping and trying to get life back in order. Reggie had a golf camp every morning, so that kept us busy too. I don't think he's going to be the next tiger woods:

We visited with the Bliss family everyday because the golf course was right by there house. Reggie got his Michael fix and Ainsley and Sam actually started playing together, so that was fun to see. Sarah and I got caught up on life and that was good too :o). The kids have enjoyed their rooms, toys and the bounce house...it is always a bit like Christmas when we come home.
Reggie does a very good job of being happy where he is and understanding that grandma and grandpa and our friends there are too far away to play with, but Ainsley is having a harder time. She has asked for Grandma several times and wants to play with Maggie. I'm glad they are coming for a visit, so we can tell her they'll be here soon!

It was very, very hot and I think it felt hotter than it actually was because we didn't have a lake to swim in! My tan is already starting to fade :o(. The evenings are great because it is still 80, so being outside in the evening is very pleasant. We went to the market and had our usual snow cone and kettle corn and stocked up on fruit for the week. Ryan has discovered pluots and really enjoys them :o). We've also been eating grapes from our backyard and they are delicious!

I had my rhuematology appointment and he confirmed I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, but he was surprised that my x-rays looked so good and since I wasn't having pain that day, he really didn't do much for me. So, I might just do physical therapy on my own and see if I can see a Naturopath to give me some ideas on how to slow the process and have pain relief when things flare up. A little frustrating that you have to figure these things out for yourself...what is the point in going to the doctor these days???

Summer summed up in a loooong post....

Wow, a lot has happened since our last post.....we've had nothing but sunshine, even 100 degree weather a few days!!! Didn't we leave Livermore to avoid the heat???? At least we had the lake to cool off in :o). Time has really gone fast :o(. I can't believe our time at the lake came and went. It was so wonderful to spend so much time with family and enjoy the lake and the peacefulness of being there. There's not much better than sitting and looking at the lake in the morning, just relaxing (it didn't happen that often!).

Ryan came for a short 4 day visit. It was great to have him here and he was off his crutches and into his boot, so he made some great progress, so great that no one wanted to tell him what he could/couldn't do because they didn't want to be liable if something happened. He was a bit frustrated and ended up walking a bit without his boot. We didn't do too much while he was here, except went to his birthday dinner with his mom/brothers at Skipper's. Mmmm, how I love their clam chowder :o). We swam a lot and Ryan found that it really helped his Achilles feel better. Then we had birthday dinner at the lake and Ryan chose his usual, lasagna and banana cream pie. He was supposed to fly out early Monday morning, but he had to make a last minute trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, so we got to spend a little extra time with him. We had plans to visit Sarah/Ashen/Torin that morning, so he came along. Ainsley was a little clingy, but Reggie had a blast. It was a hot day, so they played in the pool :o). I also had a great visit with Sarah. As chaotic as it is when we are in town, it has been great to see friends and catch up.
We spent a few days at Liha/Wade/Maggie's and enjoyed the Mukilteo beaches and parks. We went to the water park near their house again this year and the kids had a great time. It doesn't seem to matter where they are...they have a good time, just hanging out and playing. They love to explore the yard and play with all Maggie's toys. Reggie and Maggie have become quite the playmates :o). They've also been to the lake a lot and for some reason Maggie and Ainsley are better playmates at the lake. Reggie is very good about watching out for Ainsley and Maggie, so they go off and play for long periods of time and Reggie intervenes when they are struggling and I have heard him problem solve with them and it is just great!

There's a Kangaroo farm in Arlington that we visited one Sat. morning. We met up with Jenisa, Lacey and the kids, Aunt Pam and the Rinehardt's. We saw all kinds of animals...ostrich, lemur, kangaroos, pony's, goats, llama's and alpaca, turkey's (no, not the kids!). It was a very interesting place and the kids had a great time. Reggie had his first experience on a tree swing and we got some big smiles from him.

We also spent lots of time on the party boat. Reggie asked if we could build a lake in California, so we could have a party boat too. Hmm....If it were only that easy! Reggie and Ainsley love to drive the boat and Ainsley dances to the music and waves to all the people on shore. We rescued a piece of wood and a tennis ball from the lake and they were our treasures :o). We also took several rides in the canoe and went down the outlet, all the way to the log jam. We didn't see any beavers, but we saw plenty of beaver trails. They got a lot more comfortable being in a rocking boat. We spent hours everyday, building in the sand and swimming in the lake. About 2 weeks before we left, Reggie decided he wanted to swim. We put a life jacket on him and off he went, swimming for hours at a time. There's was a trampoline about 100 feet out from the beach and he had no problem going out there and circling it, even though it was over his head. We played the "ball" game, where I would throw the ball and he would swim to get it or we would race to get it. I think we're going to start serious swim lessons soon. He told my mom he never wanted to leave the water! What a difference a year makes. Ainsley made slower progress, floating in her life jacket. She would giggle and laugh hysterically trying to keep her face out of the water. She loved the shallow water and would "swim" and dance and jump around, splashing and throwing herself all over the place :o). The beach/water was a big hit with all of our visiting friends. My friend from high school, Megan, came up with her kids and Reggie had so much fun playing with the boys. He was doing stuff I never thought he would do. Amazing what can happen when they see other kids doing things. Kellen and Abby and their families also came to the lake for a visit and the kids had a ball, playing in the sand and water. Again, it was so nice to visit with friends :o).

Grandma Peggy came to the lake for a visit and played with the kids all day! They had a great time (after Ainsley finally warmed up-she can be a stinker sometimes!). Reggie was very happy to skip quiet time and read books with Grandma! A couple weeks later, she took them to the movies. I never got the full story, but in Ainsley's words, "Weggie was hiding undew the chair and it was weally woud!" They just don't seem to be movie theatre kids....maybe someday. They left early and went to McDonald's and that was a big hit. Being at my parents, 1/2 hour from anything doesn't make it easy to go out to dinner! They even got a toy and had ice cream, so all was good :o).

We missed the fair this year in Pleasanton and they moved the Skagit fair out a week, so I was very sad because it looked like we weren't going to get to go to a fair. Then, we saw in the paper that Stanwood/Camano was having a fair, so we HAD to go. It was a very small fair, but perfect for the kids. They had a stage and had different performers every hour. When we got there, a country singer and his daughter were performing and grandma, maggie and ainsley were very excited to dance. Ainsley just kept going and he asked her to go up on stage and then she freaked out and ran away. The girls rode some rides by themselves and Reggie went on his first roller coaster by himself. It was a very exciting day. Later, we went and watched some tap dancers and they were great. The last group we watched was a bunch of kids, from age 8-16, who were dancing and singing. Ainlsey was watching and mimicking their dance moves. I think it is time to get her into dance!!! Reggie was soooo bored and just wanted to go on the rides! It will be interesting to try to keep them both happy at that kind of event. We did manage to find a pirate show and boat building station and Reggie could have stayed there all day!!!

Ryan arrived that week on Wednesday and we were all very happy to see him. He did, however, bring the cloudy weather. Poor guy didn't get to enjoy the sunshine at all! I think he was happy to be there no matter what the weather. That Friday, we went to my mom's work picnic. Ryan enjoyed the food, the kids enjoyed the bounce house and face painting and winning prizes and Ainsley enjoyed dancing to the music. Maggie was once again the only brave one who would ride a pony...someday! We did get a big laugh watching Reggie and Ainsley do the wheelbarrow race :o).

On Sat. the 8th, we had Ainsley's birthday party. I packed up quite a bit Friday and Sat. morning, so I was feeling pretty good about the trip home, which made her party much more enjoyable. We had such a nice time visiting with family and friends one last time (until Christmas). As you'll notice from the cake, Ainsley is really into shoes. Since we've been home, I've had to argue with her everyday about the shoes Grandma Peggy got her-they are too big and she wants to wear them out of the house. Is this just the beginning? After an early BBQ dinner and cake, we headed over to the firehall for the dance where Ainsley admired her sparkling shoes all evening. Ainsley, Maggie, Cadia, Grandma Irene and Grandma Pam boogeyed, while Charlie and Reggie threw rocks in a hole outside. Could boys and girls be anymore different!

We woke up early the next morning and were on the road by 8:30! I was sad to go, but also excited to get back. We had such a wonderful summer and it did go too fast, but school starts for Reggie in a week and a half, so we couldn't have stayed longer, even if we wanted to! A big thanks to mom and dad who put up with us all summer. Thank you for letting them come up and snuggle with you in bed every morning (like you had a choice!), so I could sleep a little longer :o). They will have wonderful memories of their summers at the lake.We had a nice drive back, stopped for lunch and dinner and ran around a bit. The kids were so good in the car and we didn't have to turn on a movie until after dinner! We arrived at home at 12:07 (Ryan won our ETA bet-he guessed exactly), so we made great time.