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.

Happy Easter

We had a fun Easter this year.  Lots of candy.

My mom had lots of eggs for us to dye.  Hannah watched from the sidelines.

The kids were super excited to make lots of colorful eggs.  Even Adam got really into it and did a bunch of eggs.  We finally stopped when we had some close dye spill situations.

Then the Easter egg hunt at Grandma's house.  Rachel and Megan both went after all the eggs under the kitchen  table.

Whitney tried to find the eggs that were up higher to save the lower ones for smaller kids.

And some people kept eating their Easter candy, but we won't name any names.  And I know he is wearing a Halloween shirt on Easter but arguing with a two year old is useless.

Hannah looked so beautiful in her spring Easter dress.  Because of general conference we didn't even go to church that day.  But I wanted a picture anyway.

Making Easter rolls is a tradition that I think is super important.

We are able to talk about why we have Easter and being grateful for Christ's resurrection.  The rolls taste pretty good too.

Our ward had an Easter party, about two weeks after Easter.  Kind of funny but at least everything is cheaper that way.  We enjoyed our breakfast of pancakes and ham.

Will brought his giant bubbles to entertain the kids before the egg hunt.  Everyone thought they were
pretty awesome.

Hannah "finds" an egg.

The kids had fun running around the field looking for Easter eggs.  They asked people to donate and the ward really came through - 1800 eggs filled with candy were scattered in the field.  So that was pretty awesome.

What a great Easter we had.

Cousin Time

We love hanging out with our cousins.  It was such a fun few days with everyone.

Will's parents brought some little art things.  I think here they were doing stickers.

All the kids loved sitting on the blow up air mattress for scriptures and story time.

We went out to Shari's together.  The food was delicious.  Thanks for the meal.

We also spent a couple days in Pasco with cousins from the other side.  Here the kids sit eating popsicles.

We went to story time together.  They had a fun farm theme.

Doing the activities afterwards.

We found a Burger King close to the library.  The kids can eat a lot of chicken nuggets and ice cream, of course.

One of the days in Pasco was semi-warm weather so we decided to have a picnic in the park.

My parents wanted a picture of all their grandkids.  Everyone is looking in different directions for different cameras but oh well.

We had so much fun with cousins.  I wish we lived closer to everyone so we could hang out more often.

The Sage Center

This was our second time going to the Sage Center in Boardman.  This time was extra fun though because we had extra family.

Now we can all be farmers - or farm animals.

Looking at the desert exhibit.  The kids went around on a treasure hunt throughout the center.

Everyone took turns driving the tractor.

Megan feeling the cheese curds.

Adam and I walked through the special exhibit of women in the armed forces.  It was neat reading their stories.

And the kids loved playing the sort the French fry game.

This was after the simulated hot air balloon ride. 

Adam liked playing with the little train set he found in the gift shop.

And you just can't leave without getting some Tilamook Ice Cream.

We stopped and played in the park and ate our picnic lunch.  It was a little cool but that didn't stop the kids from running around with their cousins.  Thanks for meeting us there Jensens!