Evolution

Yesterday Kenzie said to me, "Mom, if I were a spider I wouldn't build my web up and down. I would build it like a hammock." I asked her how she would catch flies breezing past to and fro and she said, "okay, I'd build two. And they'd be attached. One would be up and down to catch flies, the other would be just below it like a hammock. Then when the fly catcher gets a fly it would wiggle my hammock, I'd wake up and eat it."

Pacific Beach

Aunt Carol rented a house in Pacific Beach. We went down for a night, then walked and rode our bikes the next day on the beach. Mike, Crystal, Jaidyn, Grammy & Grampy were there too.

Mason took his job of collecting and carrying (even in his hood) sand dollars. They were very serious about it, even insisted on bringing them home. (Yet still haven't noticed that they "accidentally" got left at Grammy and Grampy's.) Aunt Carol took them to the special place where the birds were resting on the beach, which signalled the motherload of sand dollars.

And, of course, Kenzie found a critter...a dead jellyfish. She and I made big circles in the sand with our bikes that outlined a "snowman," then the jellyfish became the mouth with a couple of sand dollars as eyes.

Mason didn't have a bike, so I let him ride with me.



And, not to be outdone...

Dear God

In Sunday School the kids got to write letters to God. Then Pastor Dave replied.

Here's Kenzie's.



And the reply from Dave:



Mason's had a little bit of help interpreting his words:



Dave figured it out:

So Mason....

Cousins

After two months, it was finally time to say goodbye to Cheyenne and Lane, sending them back to Oklahoma to reunite with their parents. The time went fast, and we stayed very busy!! We had something going on almost every night, and certainly on the weekends. From hiking Tiger Mountain, to Northwest Trek, to evening concerts, to bike rides, to entering a parade, to making ice cream, and countless trips to the lake, we spent a lot of time together and had a great summer.

Most of all, though, the four kids grew as close as siblings. Lane and Kenzie, being only three years apart, sparred occasionally as they sorted out their place in the new dynamic, but found common ground when they could run free. Mason and Cheyenne continued their tight bond that started when he was only a few months old and we all went camping in Montana. He snuggles up in the crook of her neck and she just carries him around. Cheyenne and Kenzie did lots of things together, even though they're very different girls, they find common ground in art, stories, nail polish, and their late night talks in their shared bedroom. Mason and Lane are both dudes that love to play rough, ride bikes and fix their hair in Mohawks. The four of them together engaged in endless hours of fantasy play, setting up their own shops with special currencies and individualized roles. It was a world that nobody else entered, but they hated to leave.

Sharing

We are down in Portland this weekend for a music festival with several friends.  Rather than camping like everyone else, we opted for a Best Western.The kids were excited about the pool, but cautious about sharing a bed. 

Especially Kenzie. She said that she Did Not want her brother peeing on her in the middle of the night. Really what she wanted was the bed to herself. She tried every trick she could to orchestrate a queen sized solo night.

Fast forward to 3 AM. We wake to the subtle sounds of puking. It's Kenzie. Mason sits up and I noticed puke all down his chest. Then he started dry heaving.Thinking he had vomited then fell back asleep I grabbed him and ran for the bathroom while Cindy was rolling up the pile on the sheets. He was so asleep he couldn't speak until finally he said, "it's Sister's puke!!!" then  he added, "I don't like people puking on me. It's Rude!"

After we all settled in Kenzie, now alone in one queen and the three of us huddled in the other, seemed to be a tad reflective. She said, "Mom, I didn't puke just to get the bed to myself."

That gave me a tremendous case of the giggles. Mason was highly annoyed.

And they both went back to sleep. 

Endless supply of frog legs anyone?

Oh no!! Those 5 tadpoles, that turned into frogs...that all jumped away except one?? Well, somehow there are about a thousand new tadpoles in the tank! Kenzie spotted them today. And you thought you were tired of posts about tadfrogs before!??!

July 21 update - ok, so Corrin corrected us on the circle of life and pointed out the fact that our tadpoles couldn't lay eggs, and this is most likely mosquito larvae. Disgusting. Thankfully the last frog freed himself from the outdoor tank today so we can disinfect.

I Spy Blue

Cindy and I had Mason alone in the car. It is during these times that he jabbers non stop. He chats when Kenzie is in the car, but when she's gone, his mouth NEVER stops. So, sometimes we play games, such as I Spy. Usually he spies the trim on the mirror, or the straw in the cup. Yesterday's surprised us a bit.

Mason: I spy something blue
Me: Is it inside the car or outside?
Mason: It's outside.
Me: Is it the sky?
Mason: No.
Me: Is it a blue car?
Mason: No. We passed it now. You can't see it anymore.
Me: Was it a tree?
(At this point Cindy had to turn the car around, so we were heading where we just were.)
Mason: Yes!! It was a Blue Spruce. There! There's the Blue Spruce (and he points to a Blue Spruce...or at least what he convinces us is a Blue Spruce because neither of us know better).

Floating frog eggs

>All but one of the tadpoles have turned into frogs and completely escaped. The last remaining one, Bella, has a knob of a tail left and has earned the Kenzie's full attention. Today we had a sort of show-and-tell at church, so Kenzie brought Bella.

I asked her if it would be okay if we set Bella loose after church. She asked me where. I suggested the creek. She got a panicked look on her face and said, "no! she needs still water." I asked why. She said, "Mom, the rolling water in a creek is too fast for her. Her eggs will float downstream." Seemed logical, so I said we could put her in the wetlands.

Mason came down and I tried to continue the conversation. She quickly changed her story, however, and all of the sudden it was okay for her to be set free in the creek. She whispered something to Mason that she obviously didn't want me to hear. I asked her What Gives. She sheepishly said, "it's okay, Mom. She doesn't have a mate."

Ocean art

School is in session. Today's assignment was ocean art.

Stop

In addition to using the toes of his shoes, Mason has a new way to stop his bike. And, hmmmm....wonder where he learned it?? That's what older cousins are for!

Happy Fourth!

Mason's preschool was walking/riding in the Issaquah Fourth of July parade. It was so beautiful out we decided to join and recruited Jackie and Lauren (okay, maybe they didn't know EXACTLY what they were signing up for). Cindy and Cheyenne opted to watch. The rest of us rode our bikes into town, joined the massive parade crowd, but never found Mason's school group! We picked a break in the parade line and dove in. We were all on bikes--we dodged and weaved around the kids in wagons and show dogs on leashes. We each had a stash of candy that we threw at spectators, and were out before we reached the end of the block.

Here's a quick peek at the action. You can see Mason in the foreground and Kenzie in the background.

After the parade we picnicked with the rest of Issaquah, did face painting, and let the kids run wild for a while. Oh, and Kenzie got to come face-to-face with yet another critter, this time an iguana who was out for a Fourth-of-July-walk (with his owner).

After the parade we went to Kelli and Jeff's, who gratiously "volunteered" to let our traveling party come their way. It's kinda cool watching their swimming skills grow each time they swim. Ah, the power of peer pressure. Emilie is such a good little swimmer. Kenzie hates to be outdone, so she pushes herself.



Kenzie braved a new "flip."

And Mason is swimming off the diving board (and coming back up)!

Adventures with Tiger

My paragliding pilot contacted me yesterday morning to ask if I wanted to go on a 1:00 flight with him. I thought it would be fun to hike up to the top of Tiger Mountain this time. I called Grammy. She had already gone on a 4.5 mile walk that morning, but didn't want to miss on the opportunity. We didn't have much prep time, but I did note that the hike is over 3 miles with 2,000 feet elevation change. I asked which kids wanted to go, but told Mason that I was gonna need him to greet me at my landing. The other three, Cheyenne, Lane and Kenzie, all were eager to go. I reiterated that this wasn't like a hike that they've been on before - this was a bit more serious. Unable to phase them, we set off about 11:45. I had to meet my pilot on the top at 1:00.

 

Kenzie, Lane and Cheyenne took off like a shot. Mom and I paced ourselves a bit more leisurely. Eventually we spotted Cheyenne ahead, who had let the the two little balls of young energy continue their quick ascent. After a mile or so, I did a time check and realized that I needed to pick up the pace, so I left Cheyenne and my mom while I tried to regain some ground. As I saw people coming down I would occasionally ask if they had seen two kids ahead. They would say "yes," and I would continue. At one point I wondered what I would do if they started saying "no." Eventually we met at the summit, found my pilot, and then stalled until mom and Cheyenne arrived. I have to say, I was pretty proud of my mom - she put in over 7 miles in one morning, including a pretty stiff 3 miles up.

They all sat hillside while I took off, then they took the shuttle down, which seems to be the highlight of the day for the kids. They got to ride in an open bed truck with no seat belts!

Here's a picture from the air with our landing gear in view.


And here's a video of it: