Last Wednesday was Levi's first day of the 1st grade. I cannot believe how fast this has come. I was pretty much in denial that he was going to be away all day every day until it actually happened. After having him at my side all day, everyday for 6 years, it is harder than I thought to let him go. In anticipation of the big day, I was thinking that it would be pretty hard for him and not too hard for me. Wow, was I wrong! It was quite the opposite. He did pretty good, didn't even cry and it was ME who was sobbing, walking away from the classroom. What a mess I was!
Here he is in front of his classroom. He INSISTS on wearing his jacket zipped all the way up! He says it's not "comfy" otherwise...
This is his desk. He is liking school for the most part and is excited to be going back on Tuesday. Stay tuned to see how his first bus ride goes this week!
The boys had been looking forward to our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge for over 2 months since I made the reservations. They would always ask me, "Is today the day we're going to the Great Wolf Lodge, Mommy?" So when Landon came down with the stomach flu 2 days before we were supposed to leave, I was thinking things weren't looking good. But Landon was feeling better by the day we left and nobody else was sick, so we went! 
The boys were so brave and loved going down the slides. However, on this particular slide, although we would send Landon down in the correct position, we never knew how he was going to come out at the end! Usually it was sideways or something with an arm or leg flailing in the air! He had a blast, none the less!.jpg)
Both boys LOVED the wave pool. They couldn't get enough of it! 
Before bed, the kids put on their pajamas and we headed down to storytime. They loved the little animated characters, especially the talking trees.
Then off to our room for what turned out to be a not-so-restful night's sleep. Somebody thought it would be so hilarious to pull the fire alarm at 2AM. So we pulled the blankets off the beds, bundled up the kiddos and headed out for moonlit stroll of the parking lot. At least it was memorable.
Here's the 4 of us just coming out of the River Canyon Slide. This was Landon's favorite ride. He called it the slide with the floor in it since the tube didn't have the traditional hole in the center, through which he was certain he would fall through!.jpg)
Other notable events included my mom and I standing in line for 1 hour to check in to our room wearing only our wet swimsuits, and Levi's one and only ride on the Howling Tornado slide which completely freaked him out and ended in a few tears.
We had a great time and I can't wait to go back again. But next time I think we'll go in the off season!
Since Aaron has been working so many hours at work lately, we decided to make the most of his day off and take a road trip up to Mt. Rainier. Our original plan was to take the boys up to Chenuis Falls, a place Aaron and I frequented when we were dating. Here is a pic from the last time we were there when Levi was a baby.
It's hard to believe 6 years have passed since we last were there! (Ummm...what happened to Aaron's hair?!! Haha, love you babe!) OK, to be fair, here's a pic of me from that day as well....jpg)
Well, last year's storms wiped out the road to Chenuis Falls so we weren't able to make it there this time. They said the road might be repaired by this fall so we'll have to try again later. Instead we just hung out by the river and drove around to different spots to view the mountain.
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The boys had a blast throwing rocks and sticks into the Carbon River, which I might add was FREEZING! That glacier water is cold!.jpg)
I was glad to get some of these shots, but even these were tricky seeing as the horseflies were out in FULL FORCE! At one point they were swarming the car, about 30 of them, pelting the windows and trying to get in! Wowzers! Those things are nasty!
Stay tuned for a follow up post when we actually get to see the falls!
Our recent record breaking temps sent us racing to the beach to beat the heat. Amy and I packed the suburban full of food, toys, kids and carseats and headed on out. The excursion started out as a day trip, but ended up being a 4 day mini-vacation! After 3+ stops along the supposedly 2 hour drive to the coast, we could hear echoes of our hubbies saying, "I told you so!!!" But it did not stop us! 
Were we even about to let leg cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, whining or complaining ruin our trip?! I think not! We spent our days running from the beach...
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to the pool...
stopping only to enjoy some very QUIET naptime in between! This was our time to sneak in some Scrabble or cards!
We also were able to enjoy a yummy treat at this ice cream shop....jpg)
and saw some sites...
It was a fun trip!!!
I haven't done one of these in FOREVER. We were getting ready to go out of town so I let the fridge get REALLY bare! Time for Muffin tin Monday! Basically grab any assortment of "bite-sized" foods and throw them in a muffin tin. The kids love it! They especially love eating the foods with toothpicks. Something about it makes boring, ordinary food turn super fun!
One of the things I loved most about Aaron when I first met him was his love and talent for music. Now, as a father, I love that he is passing this passion on to our boys. The boys LOVE to sing and think its a great treat when Daddy lets them bang away on the drums our belt out a tune on the mic. They also cannot wait to play the electric guitar but Daddy says they have to be older for that. I think they're counting the days.
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So I'm finally taking an online class to learn how to use my Photoshop software that I got for Christmas. A few of my friends are taking it too so we're posting our daily projects from the class. Here's day 1. It's of my friend Andrea and I. We're donning our super chic life jackets in preparation for a big pedal boat ride on Gig Harbor.
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