A Bouncing Good Time

I have heard from a couple of people in our area that the Inflatable Fun Gym in Hermiston was the place to go.  I have been putting it off until my kids were older and would appreciate the bounce houses.  We decided to try it last Saturday and the kids had a blast.

Whitney loves loves loves going down slides, and slides on a bounce house are all the better.

Checking out the pirate ship bounce house.  That one looked pretty cool.  Rachel was too scared to get on this one.

I thought this one looked the best.  You could hold onto a rope and jump.  We saw older kids sitting on the rope and swinging and then jumping off into the red bouncy part.  It looked really fun.

Megan got to go into the simplest bounce house.  It was filled with balls.  I think she liked being inside.  At least, she didn't cry.  Rachel loved this bounce house the best.

There were other toys besides the bounce houses.  There were a bunch of toy cars for kids to drive around.

Whitney and Rachel both liked this tool set table. They also had a little house and little kitchen set that were loved.

There were baby toys also.  Megan had fun with this piano.

And she got a ride on a train.  So it was definitely a fun place that wasn't too expensive and had plenty of things for the kids to do.  Now we finally have something we can take people to when they visit us.

A Happy Fourth

So we had a good holiday back in Pasco.  It was quite convenient to have the Fourth land on a Friday and make it a three day weekend for Will.  Here are some pictures from the day.

I wanted to have the kids dress all patriotic.

My parents have a big Fourth of July breakfast where they invite all the neighbors who live around them.  It was a really good turnout.  Everyone was friendly and I think it is a great way to get to know the people around you.

Megan waits with Grandpa for the parade to begin.

Everyone thought this car/submarine was pretty cool.

But not as cool as the waving fireman dog.  The kids got a fair amount of candy and even an otterpop, so they were happy.

Poor Megan got prickly skin heat rash from the parade.  So my mom suggested letting her go naked for awhile to help.  The poor girl didn't seem to mind the little red bumps all over her body.

We went to a water park in between the parade and the fireworks.  Rachel was a little timid in the water, but eventually decided that it was kind of okay.

They were handing out free suckers to the kids entering the stadium for the fireworks.  We got there like an hour early and everything was great and then literally a minute before the show was to start, Whitney needed to go to the bathroom.  Thankfully, we only missed a couple of fireworks, I think.

Will is good at taking firework pictures.  He got several good shots.  Anyway, it was a happy day.

Parade, Water, and Fireworks

The post title pretty much says it all.  Last Saturday was Umatilla's Landing Days.  I don't know how many cities actually celebrate their founding day, but good old Umatilla does.  My mom and Conner also came to visit very early and spent the day with us.  So that was fun.

Waiting for the parade to begin.  The girls did a good job waiting.

Whitney got the most into the parade.  She would wave at everyone.  Here she watches a dance team go by.

And the funny little cars.

You know it is kind of a sad, rinky dink parade when the big hit is the fire station.  Thankfully, my kids are little enough to not know that the parade wasn't very exciting.

After lunch we all went to the pool in Hermiston.  Rachel was very clingy and had a hard time letting go of us. But she agreed to sit out by herself for the picture.  The pool was super crowded but it was fun.

Whitney got more use to the water and would walk around by herself if the water wasn't too deep.  Megan also wasn't thrilled with the water, but we didn't get a picture of that.

That night was fireworks.  The funny story about the fireworks was that we didn't know where we should go to see them.  Last year we watched them from close to our house and we couldn't see them very well.  So we decided to go down to a park.  We thought it would be crowded, but it was empty so we were worried that we wouldn't be able to see them.  Will wanted to take some nice pictures but then the sprinklers turned on like the same time the fireworks began.  So a fast picture was all we got.  Oh well.  The fireworks were still fun to see.

Not part of Landing Days, but we did just bump Megan up to a bigger size of clothes.  Now she is wearing twelve months.  She is happy with her cute outfit.

In the Gorge

Last Saturday was a fun day.  My family had to cancel on going to the Hermiston swimming pool and we didn't want to just stay home.  I really wanted to get the kids out of the house.  So we called up Ruth and Dana and asked if they wanted to meet us in the gorge - kind of halfway between our two homes to do some things together.

This is stonehenge and it was the first memorial for soldiers who died during World War One.  Along the walls were plaques with the names of the men from the area who had died serving their country.  I am surprised that I have never visited it before with growing up not very far from it, so it was touching to see.

We got all the kids to sit together on the rock in the middle.  They are even all looking forward and that is amazing by itself.

After visiting Stonehenge, Dana told us about a hike you could take that was part of the original Oregon trail.  You could see the two ruts from the thousands of wagon wheels.

Because we were lucky enough to have Dana with us, he was able to locate some bugs and show the kids.  

When we got to the top of the trail, Magnus and Whitney became quite friendly.  They were hugging each other and walking around holding hands.  It was really cute.

We were in the front of the pack on the way down from the hike and my arms needed a break from holding this cute baby the whole time.  So Megan and I found some shade and relaxed for a couple of minutes while we waited for everyone to catch up.  Megan immediately found a stick to chew on.

After the hike, we all decided to eat our picnic lunch together on the grounds for The Maryhill Museum of Art.  The kids were more interested in playing in this metal canoe sculpture than eating.  But oh well.  It was so fun being able to spend time with the Jensens.  We will have to make it a longer trip next time.

The Jensens had to leave after lunch, but us Keelers went into the Maryhill Museum of Art (thanks to a free pass from the library).  It was a neat museum.  Will and the kids enjoyed seeing the different chess sets from around the world.

This exhibit was about the Eskimos.  Whitney wanted to know why they would wear seal skin sweaters.  I liked the snow whip up on top.  I guess you get a lot of snow on you and the Eskimos would whip it off before entering a house.

And if you can believe it, this was a rattle.  Could you imagine handing this scary looking thing to your baby?

There was a theater exhibit with dolls dressed up all fancy.  Don't my kids look ready for a ball?

Queen Marie donated her authentic royal accouterments to the museum.  Will is pretending to sit on the royal throne.

Megan exploring the big chess set that was on the ground.

Then we went to the grounds and walked through all the sculptures.  I thought this flower was really pretty.  We had planned on seeing some waterfalls afterwards, but everyone was too tired.  So we decided to call it a day, but what a fun day it was.

A Great Father

Because Will is such a great father, we decided to turn Father's Day into Father's week.  I decided to surprise Will with something different each time he came home from work.  It was so much fun and I think he liked wondering what he was going to get each day.

Rachel helping make Will's favorite cookies for Monday - snickerdoodles.  They turned out yummy and not too much flour spilled on the table and floor.

Whitney and Rachel eagerly waited for Will to come home from work so they could give him his present.  It wasn't fancy, just some white socks because his old ones have lots of holes.

I enjoyed making the candy bar poster for Will.  I wish WalMart had more options of big candy bars, but I made do with what we had.  I think this was the girls favorite present because Will was nice enough to share candy with them.  My favorite present was probably the surprise date for Friday night.  I got a young woman to babysit and we went out to dinner and miniature golfing and ice cream.  It was just heavenly being able to get out with just the two of us.

Rachel helping make the traditional coffee cake breakfast for Sunday morning.

I saved the sentimental presents for Sunday.  The girls helped color a book for all of Will's "jobs".  Things like 'trash taker outer' and 'yard fixer'.  But the end said our favorite roles were husband and daddy.  

Each girl decorated a paper tie to give to Will.  Whitney wanted to know why he couldn't wear them to church.  We decided they were just for fun ties.

And there was a surprise present for Will.  Megan started saying "da da" and was all cute while saying it.  

So it was a great Father's Day week.  I am so grateful for having a good husband and for being raised by a great dad.