When the cat's away...

...The little mice play.

   For some reason that quote kept coming to mind while Will was gone for a work conference. Will isn't gone very often so I knew the kids would be extra sad.  So I decided we needed to do some fun things.

Things like going to Burger King for dinner for no apparent reason.

Lots of fun were had on the toys, not lots of good pictures though.

Things like falling asleep on the stairs with no pants.  How that could be comfortable I have no idea.

We went on a walk on a nice afternoon.

Hanging out at a park.  My kids love this park because it has a rocket ship toy and lots of good hiding places.

We also had a stay up "late" night - like 9:15.  Watching the Cosby Show and eating popcorn. 

The kids got to go with me to mutual.  They thought it was great fun being with the big people to a normally forbidden place.

And things like eating newspaper being a completely acceptable past time.

We were even fortunate to have Will's parents come by for the evening on their way to Vancouver.  They took us out to dinner.  So yummy.

So it ended up being an alright few days. But I certainly don't want to fly solo very often.

Graduating from Head Start

So my little girl hit a milestone a little while ago.  Megan graduated from head start and will soon join the throngs of elementary school.

There was a bounce house for all the kiddos.  And it was super loved.

I need to invest in one of these because it certainly got out a lot of energy for a lot of kids.  The girls played in it for a long time.

Adam, on the other hand, is afraid of bounce houses.  So he played on the playground a lot with Will.  Maybe I will wait on that investment.

There was a sandy area which led to lots of leg burying.  (And maybe a little sand throwing).

You can see Megan's two teachers in this picture.  Miss Laura and Miss Josie were super wonderful.  I don't know if I would be patient enough to take care of a bunch of ruly four year olds all day.

The kids got to tie dye t-shirts.  They all turned out a little different.  As a parent I have never tried to tie dye with my kids but it turned out super easy and fun.

Look at this happy girl.  I think this was popsicle number 2.  The next day after head start ended Megan wanted to know why she wasn't going to school.  I think she thought Kindergarten was coming immediately.  Sorry.  Still have a couple of months to wait. 

I am proud of my little girl.  She is growing up and the teachers said they really enjoyed having Megan in class this year and she is definitely ready for Kindergarten.

Cinco de Mayo Celebration

So we usually don't do very much for Cinco de Mayo, considering how very white we are.  (I am still waiting for my nice tan to come through).  But this year Hermiston had a big celebration for the holiday.

The firemen were in front handing out bags so the kids could hold all their goodies.  The kids got magnets and coloring books to remind them what to do in case of a fire.

There were a lot of people running for office - cleverly with candy bowls to attract kids so their parents would have to come over.

One group was doing crafts with the kids.

Showing off their maracas.  These were so easy - rice, a plastic egg, two plastic spoons, and tape.  Yet my kids love them.  Adam would not let go of his for the rest of the day.

There were a couple of games kids could play and win little prizes.  I think they had to answer traffic safety questions here.

More little prizes; it is really hard to pick one.

There were some very expensive amusement rides.  So we told everyone they could pick one ride or one treat.  Whitney and Rachel decided to ride and the nice gentleman manning the roller coaster let me go with them.  And didn't even charge.

So then they got to pick another ride using those tickets.  I think Whitney loved the rides but Rachel was a little afraid of them.  Adam was super scared of them and he wasn't even riding.

Megan picked cotton candy and Adam got cookies instead of doing rides.

On the way out we had to stop and admire the babies.  These were from the pregnancy clinic to show how big babies are at different parts of their development.  My kids love looking at them.

Anyway, it was a really fun day.

Screen Free Day

So it has been awhile since we have updated, but that is because of a little bug called lice.  Megan brought it home from preschool and it is the worst.  We have done so much laundry and hair checking over the last couple of weeks, and little else.  We are finally starting to get out again.

Hermiston had screen free day for families to get out and spend time doing fun little activities.  The kids went to different stations to get stamps on their passports.

You had to spin a wheel and do the exercise it says to win a prize.  I think everyone picked frisbee for their prize.  Guess who has a lot of frisbees from lots of events like this?

Time to do some yoga.

Rachel was really good at the yoga and quite interested in it.  I should get her into a class or something.

This was the learning station.  There were lots of books that had puppets and other toys to go with the stories.  They also had toy cars and people and whatnot that were fun.  Nobody wanted to leave.

Even Hannah gets a turn with some of the baby toys.  I think Megan was trying to show her the mirror so she could see herself but Hannah was more interested in the rattles.

Then down the street in the WIC office was a spin art paint craft.  You put paper inside and the wheel spins making the paper spin and then you squirt paint on it.  They turned out cute.  So it was a fun evening right in the middle of the week.

And our baby is growing up so quickly.  She has gotten big enough for this new toy.  She can sit in it and push the button (but so far only Adam has been a good button pusher).  He is "helping".

Is this not just like the cutest little face?  I am so blessed with my family.  I love them so much.