Happy 4th

Our first stop was to our friend Chris' house where her family and neighborhood had their annual 4th of July bash. She's definitely the most patriotic, July 4th-loving friend I have :) Look at her cake! It was DELISH. Andy's going to post this on his flog. If he ever gets around to it, that is...














Then we had our own neighborhood bash with a bunch of friends and ended up going up the street to do some of our own little fireworks. The view from up there is pretty cool b/c you see fireworks displays going off all around the place.
And the best part? No crowds or traffic!!














I love blurry fireworks pictures--they look so dramatic!














Happy 4th

Cowboy/girl

Asia's doing a week of horse riding camp in August so we decided to get her some awesome cowboy/girl boots. (never mind I think the camp actually supplies them with riding boots, but oh well) The kids (and I) were fascinated by this Western store. There were toy rifles, cowboy hats and everything!

This picture looks SO wrong to me (We're SO not gun people), but the kids thought it was pretty cool. Oh my. Yee haw.














After the Western store we went down the street to the cupcake shop--much more my kind of hangout :)

Getting geared up for the 4th with this patriotic cupcake!

Another camping trip

While I met Andy at the bonsai garden the kids were finishing up another fun night of camping with Opa and Oma. I happened to check in with them just before I got home and found out they were at a nearby McDonald's having ice-cream in the parking lot before they headed home. So I dropped in for a quick visit.

Bonsai garden

Andy's office is near the Weyerhaeuser headquarters and they have this random (in my opinion) lovely bonsai garden on the grounds. We've meant to check it out for years and finally one day I met Andy at lunch to go have a look. It was lovely!

This tall Dr. Seuss-ish one is Andy's fave.


















I loved how this one had two colors of trunk.

Good times with the principal

We heart our principal! Well, x-principal as of now... Him and his lovely wife, Shawn, are moving to China to be the principal and 1st grade teacher at an international school there. Our school will miss him dearly...














Yes, good times were had by all. 'Nuff said.

Time to play on the beach

After cheering the cyclists off we spent a while hanging out at the beach. A lovely hot summer day...














I LOVE this picture of my boy.














What's up, rockstar? Here's Asia doing a commercial for Sierra Mist ;)

Sea to Sea

Around 200 people are taking part in a bike ride from Seattle all the way across the country to Jersey City. The ride is called Sea to Sea and it's to "end the cycle of poverty".

We know a few of the cyclists, including one of my parents' closest friends in Vancouver, a 77 year old woman named Agatha! She is incredible. She's biking "only" the first two weeks of the ride, from Seattle to Denver I think it is.

This picture was taken the morning they began--the tire dipping ceremony in Puget Sound all the way over here on the left coast.














My parents, the kids and I had to be there to see Agatha off! What an inspiration.














For you Nigeria-days people who look at my blog, this is Uncle John Vandersteen leaving the starting line. I hadn't seen him in, oh, 25 years or something!!














There goes Agatha...














And another old friend from Nigeria days, Uncle Lou Haveman.

Ryan & Kristin's wedding

Our family with the happy new couple! CONGRATS


















Asia had fun spinning and spinning...

KidsQuest

I was a brave, brave woman--me and six (!!) kids off for an afternoon at a fun kids museum...














WHAZZUP

Another try...

Nope, still no luck with two wheels...

Cool new bed

I've been eyeing this cool loft bed at Ikea for years now--wanting it for Ezra when he got old enough. Now that he's a big first grader he's totally old enough. It's so high that I can stand under it!



















Andy is just the right height to peek over the edge to say good night.

Half Birthday Party

June 21 was Ezra's half birthday, the 22nd was Kaden's. So we decided to use that as an excuse for a little sleepover party. The kids each made their own pizza with the dough Andy had made from scratch.

Would you like a little dough and sauce with your cheese?!














Lovely!

Last day of school fun

The kids got out at noon so a few of us went to open play time at the local gymnastics place. Here comes summer!!














That afternoon the neighborhood got together for a belated birthday party for Sylvie. She wanted a National Treasure themed party and her dad did a smashing job of setting up a huge scavenger hunt for the kids. It was a H-O-T afternoon but all the kids had a great time on the hike over to a park across the Green River.


















The birthday girl with the treasure chest they found at the end of the hike.

Fun Run/Walk 2008

Every year on the 2nd to last day of school all the 1st-6th grade students and teachers walk around the surrounding neighborhood--just over a mile. No idea how the tradition started, but it's great seeing all the kids out there getting some exercise.














Afterwards all the kids get to mill around with their friends and have a giant all-school recess. Shortly after I took this picture of Asia and her girlfriends the entire school broke out into a round of the Cha Cha Slide.














Some of the 2nd graders with their much-loved teacher.

kindergarten field trip

We spent the last day of k/g on the field trip to the zoo. This group of monkeys enjoyed watching the monkeys on the other side of the glass :)


















Loved the tiger.

It seemed like most of the animals were napping or something b/c we didn't see all that many. But we got a great view of the tiger in the roaming animal exhibit--they change the animal regularly so that they smell each other and I guess that keeps them excited and active which makes them fun to watch.














Ez with some buddies on the bus ride back to school. Good times.

And now we are big first graders!

Meeting Nika

Asia's teacher regaled the children with stories about her dog, Nika, all year. The kids finally got to meet the Famous Nika during the last week of school, they were so excited!

Happy Father's Day

Andy is rather odd in the world of fathers--b/c his choice for a Father's Day Dinner was for him to cook it at home. That's our daddy :)

Gramma, Lois, Kelly and Wii Fit

A lovely impromptu dinner with some neighbors. Good food, good wine, good conversation.


















Even some good Wii-ing. Kelly trying to perfect the ski jump.














It is so rare for me to have 1st place ranking in anything around here--thanks to being surrounded by a family of gaming professionals. Therefore I wanted to show that it *is* possible for me to win at something! I've got the gold and the bronze in tightrope walking. Whoo Whoo!














Blondie lovin'

Cool new bike

Asia outgrew her (horribly girlie pink and purple--she's so over that ;) bike so we decided it was time to get her a for real bike. Her and Andy have been going on serious bike rides down trails near us so we wanted her to have a good bike for such excursions.

Travis from Bicycles West became Asia's new best friend...














...you can tell the guy loves his job! He was very sweet with Asia--asking her questions, teaching her things about changing gears, etc. etc.














We have a winner--a super cool 21 speed Trek! A very cool bike.

Oh, and whaddya know--it can be passed down to little brother (unlike the aforementioned horribly girlie pink and purple one). Very cool indeed.

Be Fri/St Ends

Aww, they put on "best friends" tattoos. If only they were always so sweet with each other!














Yeah, this is more accurate... ;)

Bowling night

A favorite tradition at our school is Bowling Night put on by our most-wonderful PE teacher. If the kids get a spare he does 5 push ups or gives them a treat (their choice--you can see what Ez chose ;), if they get a strike he does 5 crunches or gives a treat. The kids LOVE it! He's a good sport...














This year we bowled next to one of Ezra's classmates, Luciano, and his family. Love the long hair.

Happy 13th Anniversary to us!

June 10th was our 13th anniversary. Here's how we looked 13 years ago... Andy didn't want to wear a suit so instead he wore a Nigerian robe. I wore my mom's wedding dress which my grandma had sewn for her.














CHEERS! Here's to us 13 years later. A delicious dinner at Wild Ginger in Seattle.