Hood Canal 2011

In July we took our annual family vacation to Hood Canal. It was a great week of swimming, kayaking, BBQ'ing, smore'ing and all around fun. McKinley turned two!
Snuggle time

Are we having fun yet?

Vroom!

Loving this!

Safety first

I'll have s'more!

King of the hill

Ready for an adventure!

The p.j. princess is on her throne

The whole family

I Love Boys

As I got into my van, I was rewarded with this beautiful dandelion duct taped to my steering wheel. My sweet Jackson was sitting in the back with a huge smile one his face. I think my smile was bigger though. Precious boy. Made my day.

Picasso at the Seattle Art Museum

The Picasso exhibit was on display at the Seattle Art Museum and going to see it was all Kennedy wanted for Christmas. So under the tree she found a family membership and could hardly wait to get started using it.
Great modern art greeted us as we walked in. She was immediately taken in by the cars hanging from the ceiling in the lobby.

While we weren't allowed to take photos in the Picasso exhibit, it was okay in the rest of the museum. Here are some of our favorites:

Kennedy liked this still life because rather than being a perfect display of fruit and flowers, it depicted a table in disarray, as though a feast was over and it was time to get started cleaning up.

We took a photo of this one because Kennedy was interested in trying this technique at home by creating a painting and then leaving it out in the rain for a while.

The title of this one was Mother. I might look a little like this to my children when I have one nerve left and they are standing on it.

This was a fun one of children playing with bubbles. Kennedy enjoyed seeing children from a different time period enjoying the same childlike activities that she does.

Did you know that Seattle Art Museum has an Andy Warhol? Kennedy recognized it right a way.

We were walking down the hallway, when Kennedy looked into the gallery and saw this painting. She commented that it looked like a Jackson Pollock. I told her that it wasn't likely, but we could go check it out anyway. Sure enough, it was a Jackson Pollock original. I didn't know that the S.A.M. had one of those either.


We took a lunch break at the market and then stopped by the Hammering Man outside the museum on the way back in.

It was a great day with my daughter. Her perspective on art is fun and fresh. I love that she appreciates so many different artistic mediums. We are both looking forward to our next visit back to the Museum.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve was spent at Grammy and Papa's house. We all congregated for brunch and then enjoyed a nice day together.

Papa showed the girls some of the photo ornaments with their pictures on them.

Uncle T. read a Christmas story to the children.

Ava and Junie showed off their favorite ornaments.

Christmas morning the boys were up bright and early,

checking out their stockings and ready for the excitement to begin.

The three older children took turns reading the Christmas story

from the book of Luke before they began opening their stockings.

McKi

Jack-O

Mikey

Hairby

Kiki

My mom, little brother, aunt and cousin came by later in the morning.

Branden and Mikey

Aunt Cyndi and Cousin Kelly

Christmas evening we went to Ompa and Oma's house to celebrate.

I enjoyed a walk with the four older children down the country road.

Check out the root structure on this tree stump!

Back yard trampoline fun

Angie's family

Harrison and Mikey kept Uncle Jeff busy with scratch art.

So nice of Karsten to share his new Buz Lightyear bike with Mikey.

It was a great Christmas. I loved seeing all of the extended family and and watching the children play with their cousins. We are blessed to have family in the area.

Michael & Jackson's Carousel Party

Since Christmas is sandwiched between Michael (December 23) and Jackson's (December 26th) birthdays, it is much easier to celebrate at a different time. We had a super-fun morning at the local carousel where we rented the place for a couple of hours.

In lieu of gifts, the boys asked guest who were interested to give money to help the children who live and work in the dump in Ecuador. They were so excited to raise $303.60 to help!

We had plenty of donuts, coffee, and cocoa to keep us warm and full.

Santa stopped by for a visit. He handed out peppermint lollipops to the children and stayed for photos.

There were lots of laughs and giggles as the children took full advantage of two hours worth of free carousel rides. Though many might have been feeling ill by the end, only one actually tossed his donuts.










We had a great time celebrating our boys with family and friends. Thank you to all who came and enjoyed the festivities with us. And a big thank you for the donations that were given to help the children who live in the dump. It was precious to see our boys get excited about

giving their birthday presents to help other children.