Special Family Time

A trip to the mall with an agenda...two boys in tow...without Matthew...typically results in unmet expectations. Today we were moderately successful!

When I laid out the plan -- kids play...Mom goes to a store...kids play...Mom goes to a store...kids play...we all go to lunch -- Sam was ready for fun! He kept saying, "Let's go have some special family time".

They did such a good job in Pottery Barn (I never realized how many glass and fragile items they have in low places until I tried to shop and watch the boys at the same time) that they deserved a special treat. Not only did we play in the mall play area -- I sprang for a ride in one of the toy cars.

Sam picked the fire engine and the boys climbed in for a ride. They loved it! Laughing and smiles all around. When asked which fire engine he liked the best, this one or his Dad's, without missing a beat he said, "This one was a lot better -- I got to touch all the buttons!"

Fun on the engine!

Touching buttons.

Lunching at Nordstom.

Do you think Zak liked his chocolate chip cookie?

A Fish Named Sam

Sam just wrapped up a month of swim lessons -- he did a great job! He did such a great job that he passed all the necessary skills and is ready to move on to the next level.

Our pool is not the best place for taking pictures, but here are a few from his last day.

Getting ready for one more lesson!

This is what Zak does during swim lessons.
That and trying to open up cabinets that don't belong to him!

Today they practiced wearing life jackets.
They also rode in a canoe and everyone got dumped in the water!

Sam is looking forward to spending a lot more time at the pool.

Goodbye Preschool -- Hello Kindergarten!

Today marked the last day of preschool for Sam! They celebrated by having a school-wide picnic. Our picnic was held inside since it has been raining here since...well, forever!

Yummy cupcakes!

Sam with some of his classmates...
Landon, Levina, Emily, Mila and Sarah.

Miss Pam & Sam.

Sam loved preschool this year -- and he learned so much! Yesterday he asked me if I would like him to draw a picture of the lifecycle of a butterfly. Well, of course! Then he wanted to know what color to make the chrysalis. I wasn't even quite sure what the chrysalis was!

He was sad that there would be no more preschool -- but he has a fun and busy summer planned, so Kindergarten will be here in no time!

Soccer

Soccer season for Sam has ended -- and amazingly every practice was outside -- except for their final day.

He enjoyed dribbling and shooting goals, but his favorite part was running the drills.

Sam likes to set up "soccer practice" in the backyard. Using jump ropes and orange cones, he has several drills that he runs you through. He's quite encouraging as a coach -- I heard a lot of "Great job, Mom!".

Sam chasing down the ball.

Jumping the rope ladder.

He shoots...he scores!

Taking a break.

Sam with his soccer certificate.

Soccer boys.

The Wrestlers

Sam and Zak are starting to play together -- and lately that means wrestling on the floor!

Sometimes Zak gets the upper hand.

But that doesn't usually last for very long!

Sometimes Sam forgets that he's quite a bit bigger than Zak.

But, it won't be long until it's fair!

Sam's New Bike...One More Time

Sam was not feeling very confident on his new bike -- which we finally attributed to the fact that it was just a tad too big for him. So I found another new to us bike that is a much better fit! And it was green!

Sam first tried without training wheels.

A little wobbly...

Zak was pretty sure that it was his bike too!

Once the training wheels were on...Sam was off!

He rode all the way to the park and
then spent an hour riding around.
He loves it!

Spontaneous Saturday Fun!

The boys and I were headed to Target this morning when we hit terrible traffic -- not a normal thing in Vancouver. There were orange cones everywhere, police cars with lights flashing and traffic lights flashing red. Then I noticed that there were lots of people walking around carrying chairs.

We ended up in a Safeway parking lot trying to figure out how to get to Target (which would end up being impossible) when I asked a lady what in the world was going on around here. It was the annual "Parade of the Marching Bands". Who knew? The boys had never been to a parade before -- so we parked our car, picked up some snacks at Safeway and found a front-row spot to watch the parade.

We didn't stay for the entire parade -- but the boys thought it was great! Marching bands -- some good -- some needed a little more practice -- old cars, Boy Scout troops, 4-H dogs, Little League teams, old-fashioned fire engines, more marching bands, political officials and everyone was throwing candy!

The boys checking out the action.

Didn't take long for them to get in the spirit!

Yeah for the old fire engines!

Munching on goldfish crackers.

Wiped out!

Sam spent hours outside this afternoon. We pulled out the water table and he scrubbed it up and filled it up with water. That has been the best garage sale find ever!

Our neighbors were staining their deck -- so Sam decided he wanted to "stain" the fence. I found him a roller and gave him a bucket of water the let him go at it!

He was really working hard!

Zak woke up from his three hour nap and joined in the fun.

These dirty boys went straight into the bathtub!

We All Scream For Ice Cream!

We've been working on a "situation" at our house for years. Our "situation" is that our children do not like to eat ice cream. I know. Where did we go wrong?

The ice cream truck goes by our house daily in the summer. We can't get anyone interested in picking out a treat. That's right. They don't eat popsicles either.

So yesterday was a great family day. We spent the morning at the community center swimming. Sam is taking swimming lessons this month so he was able to show us all that he has learned -- and then some! He can swim all over the place using a noodle. He is a fearless jumper. This was Zak's first time in a pool -- and he loved it! Our pool has a water slide and Zak wanted to go again and again!

Our afternoon was spent outside in the yard -- Matthew put in a drip system for the plants -- and then the boys went to the park.

It was pizza night for dinner. Things were going so well, I offered up some ice cream for dessert. And Sam said, "I want ice cream". So, I made small ice cream cones for the boys. Sam tried his and decided that he now likes ice cream. Zak thought it was fun to put his tongue on it -- but that was as far as he was willing to go.


Before we get too excited about our trips to Baskin Robbins -- Sam barely made a dent in his ice cream before he was ready to be finished. I'll guess we'll need to keep working on it -- but it was positive progress!

Sam's Field Trip

Sam's preschool class had a field trip to his favorite place -- The Portland Children's Museum!

He could go to the Children's Museum over and over and over again. The only thing that made the trip even better was getting to ride a school bus to get there!

Emily, Sam & Sarah.

Sam & Mila digging in the pit!

Working in the construction zone.

Sam and Preston were bus buddies.

What a fun class trip!

Working For The Weekend

It was finally time to start working on our front yard! We knew this was our year to start making some changes to our yard, but waiting for two non-rainy days in a row took some time.

We had a local nursery make some suggestions and then we just started picking things we liked as well as transplanting several plants from the backyard. The poor backyard looks more than a little picked over.

It's still a work in progress and we have more we would like to do, but it was a great start!

Sam and Matthew taking out some of the grass.

Zak loves the hose -- he is going to love summertime!

Zak kept trying to climb in the whiskey barrel,
so finally I just put him in there.

Of course, then he changed his mind!

Did you know the inside of a whiskey
barrel is coated with soot? I didn't!

The hard worker and his helpers!

Front yard before...

...and after!

Another before...

...and another after!