New park, new adventures

Race car bed

Mason's friend Tommy gave him his race car bed. Mason LOVES this new bed. It doesn't even have a mattress yet (I know, I know, we're getting to it), so he just piles the blankets in the middle and dives in. He loves to show off his "wase cahw bed" to anyone who walks in the front door.



By the way, even when he had a mattress he still slept on the floor, so he's not too deprived. (Yes, it was a toddler mattress and too small for him, but he's FINE, really, he's FINE. And we will get him a mattress.)

Bedtime

Is this really the most comfortable way to read a bedtime story? Mason was captivated.

Tackle Time

With our new house we have a bit more room for Tackle Time. Cindy is teaching the kids to "block and tackle," scramble for a "loose ball," and, when she gets tired, "go long."

A trio of fake smiles

Big Bird makes me do the strangest things

Fishing with Grampy 2007

Grampy took the kids to a Rotary function where they fished with a group of developmentally challenged people. Kenzie and Mason had a blast. Grampy hooked the fish for each kid and then let them pull them in. They were very excited. He said it was fun to watch them.

Unfortunately they were among the few who caught their limit, so there weren't enough fish to fry for the whole group. They went home and ate, enjoying dinner with Grammy instead.

Cindy, who was chaperoning the whole process, said that Mason held onto the pole the entire time.

Lounging

Kenzie

Every once in a while it seems like the kids age a year in one day, and it becomes evident in a picture. This picture did that for me. I can't believe she starts kindergarten in just a couple of weeks. We're disappointed that she didn't get into full-day kindergarten because she seems so ready for it. But, Cindy will continue with home schooling and I'm sure Kenzie will continue to soak it up like a sponge. She has taken a very keen interest in reading, even to multiple syllable words. She overcame her fear of becoming frustrated with new words and is really eager to figure things out.

She's not very excited about school yet. I think the change is hard for her. We've gone into the new building a couple of times, but she's not comfortable there yet. We talk a lot about making new friends and learning from new circumstances. I think she gets it, but she's also sad about leaving her old school and friends. Today she was looking at the pictures from her graduation from preschool, saying how much she LOVES those pictures.

Horsing around with Sarah

Ferry ride

We went over to Randy & Sary-Jo's cabin in Belfair. Grammy and Grampy drove up to meet us for the ferry over. This picture makes it look like we had beautiful weather, it was actually quite blustery for much of it. We had a fun time on the quick day trip.

Chirpie is growing up

Kenzie let me know this morning that Chirpie is going to be a waitress. She's going to work at Red Robin and serve mac n' cheese.

Grandchildren

Today Kenzie and I went to get our nails done and had some time for "girl chat." I asked her if she ever planned to have kids. She said, "of course!" I said, "how many?" and she held up three fingers. I asked her if they would be boys or girls. She said "all girls." I asked her if she had concerns about them arguing a lot, but she dismissed me quickly saying, "no, mine won't argue." I asked if she had any parenting tips for me, but she gave me the look that implied I just wouldn't understand. But, a promise of three grandkids...I'll take it.

I'm writing this one more for the record than anything else.

Comic Kids

The kids love to sit and play with this blog. Kenzie can navigate from month to month, selecting her favorite videos and playing them over and over (and over and over). Mason stands over one shoulder and yells, "yeah, that one, that one!" or "see ME!" This one is for them...click play, prepare to wait.

Grammy's Hairstyling

Grammy insists that gel in Kenzie's hair is a good thing. Yes, it keeps it out of her eyes, but judge for yourself. This explains a lot about my early childhood photos. To the right is a picture of me with my famous "pixie" haircut, Grammy's all-time favorite. (By the way, this is the same picture that Grammy thought was "just perfect" to show to all my coworkers in a recent presentation that required me to have a childhood photo.)

Reading time

By the way, those are not bruises...it's blackberry cobbler.

My family, by Kenzie

Mason has an orange tee-shirt because he likes orange and because he has a shirt like that with the number 15 on it. He's saying, "Mom" because the frog is saying "ribbit."

Mommy has a red dress because she likes red.

I have a purple dress because I like purple.

Ama is looking down at her shoe laces because they're untied.