Medford, Oregon Trip

The day Ryan flew into town, we picked him up from the airport and started on our trip down to visit my brother's family in Medford.  Lucky for us, we were also able to spend one night with Ryan's cousin's family in Camas, Washington (just outside of Portland).  We had an amazing time and I would seriously love to move in next door.  After some delicious homemade pizza, playing at the park and putting kids down for the night, we were able to just hangout and play a fun new game (Telestrations...totally recommend it).   Not only are they an awesome family and the kids played great but Costco is literally just around the corner (short walk away) AND Walmart is across the street from that.  Plus as we drove through town we saw every store we could have wanted.  So cool.  I wish we had more time to spend with them.  Maybe next time :).  They were great hosts and even sent us with a box of Mars candy (his cousin works for Mars). 

We arrived in Medford Sunday afternoon.  Sadly, the weather was pretty gloomy until later in the week, but the kids were great using their imagination to play together.  The big hit was the bag of felt.  The kids all got to make their own items but in the end I think they all ended up with a fish on a line of ribbon.

Ryan woke up extra early each morning to get a full day of work in and still be able to play with us in the afternoon.  As a treat, on his last day (thurs) I took the kids down to grab some donuts from a neighborhood bakery.  I was even able to get him a bacon maple bar.

Thursday the weather was finally nice enough to swim in the pool.  We sun screened the kids, strapped them in life jackets and let them go.  Our kids are not huge pool fans.  Kevin would only sit in the steps with his toes in and squirt people with the sprayer.  Oh I guess he liked pushing people into the pool also.  Kherington was a little more adventurous.  She liked floating on the turtle until it tipped over.  Ryan was a good sport and let the kids climb all over him.  The favorite line from pool time was from Brenna when she repeatedly told her mom how strong Ryan's arms were.  So funny.

Kherington and Ez were super cute playing and watching movies together.  The kids also loved the bar stools. 

The day before we left, Elise brought home a huge new rug for their front room.  When they unrolled it, the kids just kept rolling around in it because it was so soft and fluffy.  At one point Kevin even wanted to jump off the couch onto it (a little too high for this little boy).

It's a good thing we didn't have to say goodbye.  Instead we got to roadtrip back up to Seattle with each other.  About halfway through the drive we stopped at a Carl's Junior to get some star chicken nuggets which were a hit with the kids.  At one point I was sitting by myself with them all and a man who'd been staring at us finally asked, "Are they all yours."  Haha...no.

US trip arrival and week 1

Our trip to the US was the normal long trip but it ended a little crappy with Kherington puking on our luggage as we waited to be picked up.  Not so much fun.  It took a couple days to adjust then the kids were off having fun, enjoying huge popsicles, bubble baths and best of all grandma's sand pit.  That was definitely the highlight for them. They spent hours out there.

On top of the fun, we also had some good old American food.  One night I made pizza with the kiddos letting them each decorate their own. I love how easy it is and that everyone gets to make their own masterpiece.  Kherington was pretty funny to watch.

Saturday morning we went with grandpa to hike Poo Poo Point.  Kherington really wanted me to carry her so she ended up in Lani's Ergo carrier (I really liked it) on my back.  We made decent time and had some awesome view at the top, but about halfway up the kids started complaining that they didn't want to go...a little late for that.  At the top there were quite a few huge dogs out hiking that scared the kids a little.  I was glad we got such clear views.  I haven't hiked this is the summer time in years.  We were even able to see Mt. Rainier in the background.  It was definitely a great workout hauling extra weight up the mountain and my hips were quite sore at the end.

End of the School Year

Kherington had her last day of school two weeks early this year because we were heading to the US. She came out with all her artwork for the year and had fruit snacks on the walk home.  She says her favorite part of school is playing outside. She came home each day with shoes full of sand.  School must have tired her out because she was out cold that afternoon.

Squeezing in some fun

Ryan has been busy at work so we decided the weekend before heading to the states we'd take the kids to Disneyland again. We went the night before, did a couple rides then enjoyed the evening fireworks show. Then in the morning we went back. We were the first ones in the park which was pretty cool BUT we headed straight to Dumbo which ended up being under construction. The kids had a blast and slept nearly the entire way home. I guess that's what happens when they only sleep 6 hours at night and are running around in the sun.

Mulberry Bush

We've all heard the song "Round and round the mulberry bush, The monkey chased the weasel, The monkey thought 'twas all in fun, Pop! goes the weasel."  But do you actually know what a mulberry is?  I didn't until yesterday when one of my sweet friends brought me a bag (someone else had given her some they brought back from a recent trip).  Here they are:

When she pulled them out, my first thought was the last time I tried something from a song it ruined the song because they were nasty.  That would be "Chestnut roasting on an open fire..." Hot roasted chestnuts are nasty.  Anyways, I gave the mulberries a try and they are sweet like a raisin and are pretty addicting.  If you have a chance, give them a try.

FHE

Our little munchkins LOVE Family Home Evening (FHE).  Every night Kherington gets started talking about who is in charge of lesson, song, activity and treat and I have to explain to her that we only do it on Monday nights.  We do try to read the scripture each night though so she thinks that's an okay replacement :).  She is most excited that when we get to the end we get to go to the pizza place that Dana and Guillaume took her to when they came to visit.

We've now tried to go downtown to get these delicious looking chocolate filled waffles three times.  The first time I couldn't find the place.  The second time we took the bus as a family and found it...but they had closed 20 minutes earlier.  Then we tried again for FHE the other night, but two buses were not running so we wouldn't have got downtown before it closed.  Some day we will get to try them, but for now, Kherington has a list of places we can go get treats (frites, ice cream, kebaps) if we go and the waffle place is closed again.  They went for frites the first time :).