Sunday, September 14, 2008
First Day of School!
Off to the school bus on day one of 1st and 3rd grade!!
Here we go, another year of starting the day off at the bus stop with our buddies...
WHAZZUP?! The gang arriving at school (at the back of the bus, of course).
Hi Mom!
(We have a tradition where us parents see the kids off on the bus at home then we race over in our cars so we can get to school before the school bus arrives so we can then get these pictures of the kids arriving on day one... Yes, we are rather paparazzi-like about it, it's pretty funny!)
Excited for 3rd grade!!
Here we are with our new principal, Ms. Metzger. Mr. Citrano--we all miss you! But Ms. Metzger is really great too :)
Yay, we get to have another year with Mrs. Young! (She was Asia's 1st grade teacher and Ez is excited to have her)
I LOVE this picture. No caption needed :)
Bumbershoot 2008
I realize these pictures are nothing like anyone else would post from Bumbershoot (sorry, Kirk!!)--since it's a super huge music and arts festival with super cool bands playing for three days of music excitement--but this is MY Bumbershoot experience.
ParentMap is one of the main sponsors for the kids area so each year we have a big craft area set up. That's my job--to take care of the logistics needed for events like this. Fun!!
I had friends from work, church, Girl Scouts, the neighborhood, Andy's office and who knows where else collecting toilet paper rolls for me. The idea was that kids would make trains out of the rolls but in the end they pretty much made everything but trains!
Asia came to "work" with me one day (that's her in the light blue top). You can see some of the toilet paper rolls stashed under the tables. I came home with 10 garbage bags full of the rolls! So that means we'll be doing all kinds of other craft projects with those things for the next few months...
Seattle Storm Game
ParentMap partnered with The Seattle Storm (that's our women's basketball team) so I had a ParentMap craft table at a game and they gave me free tickets for Andy and the kids.
Andy and the kids (plus one ;).
Sylvie really got into the Girl Power excitement :)
2nd Annual Vancouver Weekend With The Girls
The 3 Day Team from last year decided to make it a tradition to go to Vancouver for a weekend to get in some good walks and some good times...
Here's the view from my parents' apartment (we kicked them out for the weekend, they went camping so we could stay at their apartment. How awesome are they?!?!).
When we pulled into the apt parking lot we happened to see our friend Solomon and his fiance (who we hadn't met before) walking by. They had some big news! The Justice of the Peace person (well, the Canadian equivalent) had just called to tell them that she could either marry them TONIGHT or it wouldn't be til October.
His fiance, Nikki, moved here from Japan to be with him and can't get on medical insurance, a job, etc until they are married. So hey, no time like the present, right?
So we found ourselves taking them out for a "rehearsal dinner" to celebrate their upcoming nuptuals. (Yum, lamb at Characters...)
About three hours after we arrived we were the witnesses for their wedding in their apartment. My parents were very sad to miss it (Solomon is like a son to them), it was so last minute that they'd left for camping earlier that day planning to be the witnesses the following week.
But we made it a very fun celebration for the new couple! Here they are--newly married.
Da girls.
After the little ceremony at their apartment we all went out dancing to continue the celebration... Lots of memories! :)
The next morning began as all mornings should: Fresh pastries (chocolate croissant, mmm) from Cobs Bakery then down the street to Blenz for some good Canadian java. Welcome to our Morning In Vancouver tradition.
Another tradition: serious walking.
Countdown to the Vancouver Winter Olympics
Look at us and our bad selves with our scarves! Oh so hip...
We went out for ramen for dinner that night at a legit Japanese ramen shop. Slurp!
Photographing ourselves in the world's most awesome mirror. Seriously. It makes every woman feel 8 feet tall... (maybe you had to be there?!)
We spent time on Granville Island before heading back home...
The Kids' Big Trip
Off they went on their own (together) to visit Uncle Kevin and Auntie Theresa in California!!
They had such a great five days with their uncle and aunt. They got to do things that they don't do at home--like go to the park in their pjs ;)
They spent a few days at Theresa's parents' place. Her sister lives in a neighboring house on their ranch and the kids spent lots of time in their pool.
Auntie Theresa happily snuggling with some of her nieces and a nephew. (The other two are her sister's girls)
They visited the Jelly Belly factory where Theresa's mom worked in the admin office for many years.
We visited the factory when Asia was two, she thought the employees were Oompa Loompas when we went on the tour and looked down into the candy-making factory :)
Such cool hats.
Fun for kids of all ages!!
The kids had a very special time with Uncle Kevin and Auntie Theresa. They were all tuckered out from all the fun!!
Sushi with Grampa
Dad was with us for an evening and we had a sushi feast at a new restaurant near our place.
Yes, mom (Gramma) and dad (Grampa) are the king and queen of quick visits :) Our motto is better one day than nothing at all! We love 'em.
Camping in the 'burbs
Opa and Oma were here for a few days. They'd planned to go off camping for a night or two with the kids but the weather was iffy so instead they just camped across the street from our house.
You can see their heads in the back window--this picture was taken from our front porch :)
My 35th (August 12th)
...gee, what an exciting-looking party! A bunch of guys in plaid shirts hanging around watching the Olympics.
Of course the ladies know how to party! The camera is rather out of focus, it seems to have had a bit too much to drink... hmm... ;)
Aww, what a fun surprise--birthday cake(s)!! I hadn't expected that from my "I don't eat sweets" husband. And by the way, no, I'm not 53 as the candles on the white cake might make you think ;)
"Cousin" lovin. Ezra and sweet little Alice.
Good times were had! A post-party margarita... Just one more drink...
...over and out. It's tiring be 35!!
Horse Camp
One of (several) highlights of the summer for Asia was her week at horse day-camp. Here she is on the last day showing the families their new skills. Her horse was named Sierra.
She looks so confident on Sierra! It was such fun for her. She first got to ride a horse when she was just two years old and her Auntie Theresa took her for rides on her own childhood horse, Dusty, when we visited them in California.
Asia's buddy Sylvie did horse camp too. Happy girls!
Their other favorite thing about horse camp was playing carpet ball...
T-ball, er, I mean Softball
Andy's office started a softball team this year with the local parks & rec department. I keep telling people that Andy is in t-ball b/c I'm used to sports for the kids, not for one of us adults!
I know I'm biased, but Andy was definitely the MVP for his team at their first game.
Here he is, the MVP himself coming around on his way to making one of their two runs (I totally don't want to embarass Andy so I wouldn't dare mention that the other team had, oh, 27 or so runs... ;). Hey, it's all about having fun, right? That's what we tell the kids when they play t-ball and soccer!!
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