Chasing Airplanes

My best friend and I took our kids to see the Astoria Column... but we managed to snag a bunch of glider airplanes and had fun with those for about an hour!

Jen holding up a canoe

Our kids Katelyn, Kora, Matthew, Jake and Kiley

Autumn lines everyone up to launch their airplanes... ready, set, GO!

Aunt Sami & the boys

Time for cookies!

Winter Break at Nana and Papa's house! There are a lot of pics of Jake because he'll actually stand still. Matthew is usually off and running... :P

Honoring our Veterans

On Veteran's Day, the kids and I bought some flags at Wal-Mart (Made in the USA - can you believe it? No Chinese flags here! hah) and went to the gorgeous cemetery here in Everett. The history in this cemetery is amazing! I helped Matthew find the military ones and explained what a veteran is and why it was significant and what the flags represent. He didn't really understand it all until we got back in the car to leave, then wanted to drive through to see his flags again - as we drove by, he saw that his flags were in front of some headstones and not others, and that everyone else who drives by will now know they were veterans, and honor them. Matthew got it! :D

Hitchin' a ride

Today the kids and I ventured up to Snoqualmie to ride the Santa train and check out Snoqualmie Falls. So much fun, but VERY cold out. :)

My strange child, Jake

Mukilteo

Fall is here!

Visiting Olympia

Obviously my last entry was a false start... but now that fall as officially kicked off, my camera is dusted off and back in action. :)

Back in Washington

Well, it's been a long hiatus but I think we're back. In all honesty, I haven't even taken my camera out of its bag since we left California but now that life is settling down, I hope to keep this updated for our adoring family and friends. :)

I did not take this picture of Everett... I stole it from Google images. But it will have to do until we get our own up. :)

A fun little escape

As a final hoorah before leaving Southern California, the boys and I took a quick trip to Knott's Berry Farm. Fun stuff! :) We all look a little goofy in these and I am not sure why, heh.

Hollywood!

For my 30th birthday, the boys and I met a friend of mine in Hollywood. I had never been down there before and was so excited!!! Julie Andrews - it doesn't get cooler than that! :)

And this bug was so weird I had to take its picture. What the heck is that thing?

Desperately seeking Washington...

Today I needed to get out of the house and find some negative ions (water, trees) to get me through another week in this very non-Washington place I live. So, we drove about 30 minutes to Lake Arrowhead - but not many lake pictures. Oh well. :)

On the way back down the hill, the boys and I got out and enjoyed the view.

Of course, once we got back to about 2000 ft, we realized why we had to leave the city in the first place. Ahhhh, take a deep breath kids - we live in that mess down there. Ugh. The layer of smog is a nice effect, don't you think? haha

Our new library

It didn't take us too long to establish ourselves as library patrons here in San Bernardino County. This library is so big, it has its own children's library inside. Very cool. We go once or twice a week now to feed our book addictions...

This poor little city tree. So sweet and strong... and so out of place.

Just floating through life

Matthew is getting so comfortable in the water - love it!

A pool? What's that? We're from Washington...

And summertime temperatures to go with it! It was 104 degress yesterday (too hot to swim) but we had a blast today. Matthew and Jake both kick all over the pool (even the deep end) and jump off the side. I am teaching Matthew to float but so far he doesn't trust the whole process... heh.

What's with the shoes? He looks mighty relaxed hovering over 9 feet of water though - I love it!

Up a creek

The kids and I headed out to a place called Forest Falls, but we didn't make it past the rock creek due to the three miles between the creek and the falls. :) Since it was a spontaneous trip, we just played in the creek. Next time, we'll come prepared for a serious waterfall hike.

We apparently found the lady bug factory... I have never seen so many buzzing around.