A Book A Day

Haley often has her school library books half-read before she even gets to the car. She zips through them so quickly - her current favorites are the Magic Tree House series, which she can finish in under an hour. Can you say i-n-s-a-t-i-a-b-l-e appetite for reading?

Tinkerbell Premiere

One day after school we invited a couple of friends home with us to view the latest Tinkerbell movie and enjoy some popcorn and Tink-green treats. The kids loved it; we'll have to make it a regular event during the long winter months.

Sweet Sleepyheads

Why are kids so incredibly sweet when they're asleep? Maybe because they're not whining or fighting or asserting their independence? Whatever the reason, I love it. It makes me want to pick them up and rock them back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Because no matter how big they get, as long as I'm living my babies they'll be.

I can't remember exactly how Alex wound up like this, on our bedroom floor.

Jake has been requiring multiple "snuggly friends" at bedtime lately. Here he is sound asleep with Caramel, Lucky Puppy, Snowball, Bunny, CuddlyBear, and Fuzzy-T, the Transformers blanket.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

We had SUCH a FABULOUS time in Washington, D.C. over Labor Day Weekend. What a wonderful place to visit with the kids - there is so much to see and do, and most of it is free! To make things even better, Grandma and Grandpa Wood met us there and gave us the inside scoop on their top picks. The kids were great travelers, we got to stay in two different fabulous hotels, and I didn't lose any of the kids on the subway (which I was terrified of doing). It's a great place to visit and we highly recommend it to everyone!

Of course we couldn't see it all, so we tried to hit the major sights and museums. A lot of walking and subway rides later, this is what we saw:

The Washington Monument was even more impressive in person than I thought it would be.

Roar! We loved the Natural History museum.

The view along the mall from the Lincoln monument.

Alex takes in the sights from the comfort of the stroller.

Our poor, country kids - they could not believe how brave this squirrel was.

Haley stands next to the stone marking where MLK, Jr. stood while giving his famous speech.

With Grandma at the WWII memorial.

The subway was pretty darn exciting at first - not so much by the end of the week. However I have to admit that I was still wowed every time we took the enormous escalators up out of the Dupont Circle station.

Oh, we could have spent the whole week at the Air and Space Museum - we walked through the shuttle dozens of times and tried to see all of the museum, but we'll have to go back some day.

It was H.O.T. and humid that week so we tried to stay in the museums during the day and see the monuments in the evenings.

What a TREAT we had waiting for us at the Capitol. One of Rob's former students was an aide in Senator Dorgan's office, and the senator was kind enough to take a few minutes to talk with us and let the kids try out his desk. Then we were off for a private tour of the capitol - what a great experience!

Jake signs the "No Vegetables At Dinner" Act.

Cute kids, stunning rotunda.

This is how Alex saw the Capitol tour.

On our last day we were thrilled to be joined by old-UW-college-day friends Jens and Karen at the National Zoo. It was hot, super crowded, and the kids were a little tired of sightseeing, but it was wonderful to have a few hours to catch up with them.

Baby Brother

It must be hard being the youngest in the family - always wanting to do what the big kids are doing. Alex loves to be outside, but since our yard is unfenced (so far) he can only go outside with me. Luckily at 14 months he's still little enough to get enjoyment from just watching Haley and Jake play outside.

And it's not like there aren't perks to being the baby, either. Take dinner time for example - who else gets to make SUCH a BIG MESS? Almost all of the spaghetti got eaten, except for a few stray noodles stuck to the window.

Jake, Pre-schooler!

As hard as it was to send Haley off to school, it was a little easier to watch Jake start pre-school the following week - he was SO EXCITED. He's been ready to start school since last Spring when he turned 4 and just couldn't wait to be in on the fun. The first day he pulled me down the steps saying, "Come ON, Mom!"

Jake is going to the same pre-school that Haley went to, and was even lucky enough to get the same teacher too. He goes two mornings a week and so far he loves everything about it - show and tell, recess, snack time, crafts, music, new friends, and of course his Transformers backpack. As fierce as Jake was as a baby and toddler, he is turning into such a sweet and helpful big kid. He's my best little buddy and I'm going to miss him terribly when he starts kindergarten next year...so I refuse to think about that for now and will just enjoy the days and afternoons I get to spend with him.

Haley, 2nd Grader!

Back-to-school time came way too quickly this year, and before I knew it we were sending Haley off to 2nd grade. I always loved going back to school as a kid, with new school supplies and clothes and tanned-and-bug-bitten limbs. But it's different as a parent and I have to hide my true emotions in order to be sure our kids feel that same sense of excitement and adventure. It all just goes by so fast and every year I can see her growing up - and just a little more away from me. Of course it's also exciting to watch Haley becoming her own person, with her own ideas and opinions, and I can't wait to see how she'll grow and change this year. Here's to a wonderful school year, Haley!

In kindergarten she read a (very old) book where the kids brought apples to the teacher. Loving old-fashioned stuff as she does, this is now one of her traditions.

That's our goofy girl!

Maple Lake

I know I've posted about Maple Lake in years past, but it's one of my favorite nearby spots to spend a summer day. If I squint just right I can almost pretend I'm at Chism beach on Lake Washington, with Mt. Rainer to the south and sailboats bobbing towards Mercer Island just ahead. Okay, that's a stretch, but it does remind me just a teeny bit of the lakeside parks back home and the kids and I try to make it out there every few weeks in the summer.

This year the water level was very high, leaving only a tiny strip of sand for playing in, but that didn't stop the kids from digging and building in it. It's fun to watch Haley and Jake's new-found confidence in the water after only one session of swim lessons, and I look forward to the day when Alex has some water safety skills as well. For now we're content to splash in the shallows and only drink a few mouthfuls of lake water.

Buckets and shovels and rocks, oh my!

Jake shows off his moves - boogie!

They were in a goofy mood this time.

I love these kids, and I love having them home all summer!

"Time to pack up, Mom...and get our traditional mini Blizzards on the way out of town!"

Church Campout

This past weekend we participated in our church camp out at Turtle River State Park. I was not too excited about the idea, but Haley and Jake were thrilled to get to go camping again. For me, camping plus a just-walking toddler equals a lot of work, mess, and headache.

However I was pleasantly surprised, and the weekend was a big success. The kids played happily with friends while we helped with dinner and Rob set up his gear for the evening's musical program - a touching re-telling of the Mormon pioneers' journey to Salt Lake. Afterward we enjoyed s'mores around the fire with friends; the kids could make s'mores every night of the summer and not get tired of them. It turned out to be a memorable and enjoyable trip that I hope we get to repeat every year.

Haley and friends in pioneer costume.

Jake watches one of the dozens of frogs we caught - oh, the delight those little frogs cause!

Poor Alex spent a lot of the time buckled into his stroller, but there was lots to see and explore from there, thanks to kids giving him "rides" around the campground.