Fourth of July

We had a good holiday.  I found a cute craft that is easy for kids to do a couple of days before the Fourth.

It just takes glue and glitter and you can make little fireworks.  The kids liked picking their glitter colors.

Some of us, I won't name any names, enjoyed the glitter too much.

I found this treat idea on pinterest and it was sinfully yummy.  It is just melted almond bark with pretzels, peanuts, and patriotic MnMs.  So good.

Here we are in Pasco the night before Fourth of July.  My parents bought some fireworks for us to light.

The girls loved playing with the sparklers, Adam not so much.

And the traditional breakfast with all the neighbors.  The food was great and there were lots of people.

Then we hurried off to the parade.  The kids were ready to get some candy.  We got a fair amount.

Hannah and Grandpa watching the parade.

It was a good Fourth of July.  We had fun with our family and friends.  Happy Birthday America!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

I have not done a lot of big outdoor things this summer.  It is harder with a baby who needs warm bottles every two hours.  But we have tried to do a little.

This is us enjoying a delicious lunch with my family at Mcnary beach.  My dad barbecued some hot dogs and hamburgers and we brought some strawberries and cookies.

The water was really cold but that didn't stop the kids.

There ended up being a splashing water fight but I didn't get any pictures.  Next time I will bring my suit so I can go in the water too.

Adam didn't want to go in but he had a blast playing with the sand.

All of us hiding from the sand dragon.  It was a really fun day outside.

This was our ward campout.  Hannah watches her dad and another man from our ward setting up the big tent.

The kids had fun playing in the big field.

And s'mores taste so much better over a fire, rather than the microwave we use sometimes.

Getting ready for bed.  We brought lots of blankets so I think everyone stayed warm enough.  I was mostly worried about Hannah being warm enough but she did fine.

And the next morning there were breakfast burritos to enjoy. 

It has been fun spending time outside with the nice weather we are having. 

Finishing Up School

Obviously from the title I am super behind on posting.  We have been having kind of a lazy summer.  Which really is the best kind.  School ended well in Hermiston.

The end of school had a show what you know night.  Whitney and Rachel worked together to do a science experiment - an egg drop experiment.

We picked nine different things to put into bags and see if those objects protect the eggs.  The girls made hypotheses first.  Only the rice managed to save the egg, although the cotton balls were close.

Then we made a poster to show the results and the girls took it to school.  I think they were super excited to show off their project.

Move ahead and it was the last day of school.  I spent most of the day at the school going to two award ceremonies, two lunches, and a Kindergarten party.  Here is Whitney with her awards.  Her teacher loved her and Whitney did really well.

Rachel shows off her awards and she had a cute graduation cap.

After her ceremony we could go back to the Kindergarten classroom and see some of their projects.

Saying goodbye to Rachel's teacher was really hard.  Rachel was very sad.  Mrs. Newton was a great happy teacher. 

After the last day we decided to get some ice cream to celebrate.  Of course, my kids love school so it was more in mourning.  But ice cream can help that too.

Anyway, school is over and we are in the thick of summer fun.  Stay tuned for more fun activities.

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.