Summer Fun with the Nguyens!

As I said before, we are having lots of fun this summer! We've had quite a few playdates with our friends the Nguyens. They are a great family that we love dearly! We have kids almost the same ages. Emily and Anna, Erin and Amy, Katelyn, Ian and AnhMinh. Katelyn plays great with both little boys and everyone is very happy! At the beginning of June we got to have our Dinner group at the Nguyens home. They fixed wonderful Chicken Kabob type thingies (hows that for an explanation!)3 sets, one marinated in a Thai sauce, one in Teriyaki Sauce, andone in Italian Dressing. All 3 were yummy and it was fun trying something new! The kids played and played and didn't want to go home!

We then got together for a playdate at their house and went to the park behind which had tennis courts. The older kids played first and then were "too hot!" (think whiny voice there!). The little ones begged me to play tennis with them, so off i went! Jamie was the professional photographer getting all the cool action shots!

Last Friday, we met at Willis Tucker Park and had a fabulous time. The kids played in the water, sand, and on the playground equipment for almost 4 hours! This is one place we will be hitting frequently as it is so close and best of all FREE! We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends and can't wait to plan more playdates!

Summer Fun in June

We've been having lots of fun since school got out! The best thing is getting to sleep in!!! I love having kids old enough to get their own cereal in the mornings! When the weather is good, you tend to let the chores go and get out of the house! (Chores will always be there tomorrow!)

Last Thursday, Spence surprised us and came home early!!(5:54pm Whoa!) He had even stopped by and picked up a picnic dinner for us! He took us up to Kayak Pointe Park and we had a wonderful evening together! It meant so much to me that he came up with this and did dinner and everything! What a great guy! It was a little overcast, but the water was so still and peaceful! The kids loved playing with logs (again!) and at the playground. It would be a perfect area for a family reunion. (My opinion, take it or leave it) Maybe we can get those close by up for a picnic or something!

Father's Day Fun!

We decided on the way home from Church that we didn't want to spend our beautiful day inside. So, we packed up a picnic lunch, changed clothes and went to the Bill Herriman Wilderness Park that is about 2 miles away from our house. We ate our lunch and then followed the trail through the "Wilderness". It ended up at a rocky beach along the Snohomish River. The kids threw rocks and hunted for the prettiest rocks to keep. We were lucky enough to see a beautiful eagle flying above us. It was really great! On the way back, along the trail, there were logs stacked up to the side. Ian and Katelyn said that this was their new club house! Ian took it a step further and told us to go on home and he and Katelyn would live there! It took a ride on Dad's shoulders to get him to come home with us! We were quite hot and tired near the end, but we made it back up the hill to the car. It was a great adventure!

Fun at the Zoo!!!

I'm catching up again on our blog! We had a wonderful Father's Day Weekend!! The sun was shining and it was in the 70's. Whoo hoo! On Saturday, we hurried and got our chores done and then went down to the zoo. We got to see the new flamingos and we looked and looked for the new baby gorilla, but couldn't see her anywhere. :( It was a fun day with riding the carousel, playing in the play area, getting ice cream treats! The only dissapointment was that we tried to feed the birds at the end of our visit and they were already stuffed from being fed all day long. The kids were climbing trying to force them to eat! I think Emily was the only one who succeeded for a few minutes! We had a GREAT TIME together!!

Fun with Cousins

On Saturday, June 7th, we went down to Shoreline to see Bridget in her dance recital. It was fun to get together, and as you can see below, Bridget was quite a star!! Katelyn was so excited to get to sit by Freddy during the performances!



A Star is born!!


Bridget with her adoring fans!


Yummy lunch at Old Spaghetti Factory.


Emily hid in the last picture, so I got one with her and her "Auntie Jen".

We had a wonderful time and are looking foward to more time together this summer!!

Kimi, don't bite my bummy!!

We are still waiting for Spring/Summer weather to hit around here! It has been raining for FOREVER!!! Last week the kids were building forts with the kitchen table and chairs in the family room. They kept trying to make Kimi stay inside the fort, which wasn't happening!Somehow, Kimi started chasing the kids around. (They all had energy they needed to release!) It was so hilarious that I had to record it. Kimi loves to play and doesn't usually bite, but she nipped Katelyn while in chase and Kate's response is so funny!! It is a little long, but I don't know how to edit it! Listen closely near the beginning as Katelyn is running away grabbing her rear and saying, "Kimi, don't bite my bummy!" Enjoy!!

Fairy Tales and The Three Piggy Opera

Katelyn's class did a unit on fairytales this last month. (Hence, our fieldtrip to see "Cinderella") She had a family homework assignment to display her favorite fairytale using a free range of art to create. They wanted family participation, but Katelyn was to be "in charge". We had a great time together working on this!! I don't know if you can see, but we used toothpicks for the chairs. Little pompoms for Momma Bears chair and bed. Spence and Katelyn worked on a cool fireplace together. Erin did the staircase and helped with the table and kitchen area! Katelyn drew the bears and told us her favorite part was when Baby Bears finds Goldilocks in his bed!! So, that is the scene we created! Katelyn stayed til the last wanting to fill in everything with color. ( I had to reign her in a bit!) She was very proud of her work and we are very proud of her!!

The children all got to display their work on June 3rd at their performance of "The Three Piggy Opera". Isn't Katelyn just adorable as a little Piggy?!!? She says she is the 3rd piggy,who makes his house out of bricks!! They sang really cute songs like "I wanna BIG, FAT, Pig to Eat!" and "I'm gonna blow your house D-O-W-N!" She loved it and has been singing all over the house!! By the way, in the second picture, she is on the top row, directly in the middle!! It was a great way to end the Kindergarten year!!

Spring Piano Recital

On Saturday, Emily and Erin had their Spring Piano Recital. It was held at our Ward building in the Relief Society Room. We were lucky that our friends, Arden, Corin, and Beth Tobey could come hear the girls. Erin's first song was "Forest Drum" by Faber.

Erin's second piece was Bach's Minuet. She has had it memorized for quite some time. She did a really good job!

Emily's first piece was "Blues Scales" by Palmer. She worked hard to make that 'blues' sound.

I'm having a hard time downloading Emily's second piece. I'll try it in another post and see if that helps!

No luck! I guess it is too big! Oh well, hope you enjoyed our mini recital!