Youth Rugby

Today we had a free trial class to non-contact youth rugby. Evan loved it and we'll be signing him up for the 4 week session coming up in October. Ellena was a little overwhelmed by the big kids and the ball. Look at her face above! There were some tears, but we encouraged her to keep trying.

In the end, she had some one-on-one time with one of the coaches and she really picked up on the quick passes, catching and kicking. Depending on how the 4-5 year old class will be run, will determine if we sign her up...

It's Official...

... This girl can make anything cute! Here she is wearing her new dragon hoodie. I love her unique taste in clothes! She can be wearing her baggy "boy" tshirts and basketball shorts with girly orange strappy sandals. Too funny!

Today we were reading a book that said, "They can all share the food. What would you bring to a picnic?" Ellena replied, "Burps!" Disgusting little girl!

Ellena's Buddies

Here is a picture of Ellena with her two best friends - Kushagra and Adhvay. They were in the same class last year. Adhvay has moved on to Kindergarten and she was so disappointed that she doesn't get to see him at school any more. She does see Kushagra and she enjoys playing with him at recess!

Evan's Picture Day

Evan took school pictures yesterday. He wore a nice collared shirt and gelled his hair - very stylin'! Before leaving for school, I snapped a few of my own pictures - he was in quite the posing mood. Think the last picture will be closest to what we get from the school.

Back to School!

The kids went back to school last week - Evan to 1st grade and Ellena to start her last year of Montessori. They were excited to see their friends and teachers and we look forward to a great year!

I was looking forward to some alone time, myself, since we had quite the summer of togetherness (Ellena had no interest in going to any summer camps or activities.) But I got knocked down with a horrible flu bug and spent the entire week resting and trying to get better. Well, today starts a new week and I'll be going to a gym class! Hooray for fresh starts!

The Last Week of Summer Break

It is our last week of summer break and we're trying to pack in the FUN! We used up our last Groupon to Remlinger Farms and spent another day at their amusement park.

Our next day's adventure was the Reptile Zoo with our buddies, Jamal and Jelina. Here's Evan with the python - the size of this snake is unreal!

Ellena enjoyed holding the snakes, especially this corn snake.

We brought Rocko the Iguana out. We were warned that he tends to pee when he comes out, and sure enough, he let loose! Thankfully, he went on the bench that he was on, and not on us!

We had one more adventure planned, but Evan caught a little cold, so we took it easy instead. Tomorrow we go to both schools for their Open House/Meet the Teacher gatherings!

Summertime Pics

Summer has been great to us! Sunny weather and fun-filled days! Here are the kids at a very elaborate putt putt golf course. Evan had golf camp earlier this summer and enjoyed that. He loved putt putt. We found a $5 kids Nike putter at a garage sale so he makes intricate courses in the backyard.

I probably have a few pictures of this - every time we go to the Sammamish Farmers Market, Ellena insists that I take a picture of them on this sculpture.

Kids met Clifford at the Market. What a treat!

We went to Point Defiance Zoo and fed the birds.

A few more adventures coming up this week and then it's time to go back to school!

Reptile Zoo

Our second time to the Reptile Zoo and the kids loved it. We were a little worried because we got there at the same time as a YMCA camp, but they didn't stay long and we got to roam around the zoo at our own pace. You can handle a couple of the smaller snakes for free, but pay a little to bring out other reptiles - most people choose the baby alligator. However, Ellena is not a fan of the baby alligator, so we asked if there was another reptile that could come out instead. They said the iguana or the skink, but both tend to pee when they come out. Another family brought out the iguana, and sure enough, it peed! We were next with Bert the blue tongue skink. I got to hold him with some paper towels, in case he started to go. We quickly took our pictures and enjoyed our time with Bert, and he didn't pee on us!!!

It was a beautiful sunny day, so they had the tortoise garden open. Turns out they open the panel in the tortoise pen so that if they would like to walk out to the garden, they can. It's got some grass to eat and an enclosed area for the smaller tortoises. We didn't see that on the first visit, so this was very fun for the kids. We're going to make one more trip back to the zoo before summer is over.

Our Day at the Circus

The circus came to town! We surprised the kids with tickets to the Barnum Bash (you know that drove Evan crazy - not knowing what we were doing/where we were going.) Throughout the day we gave them vague clues - we told them we were going on an adventure, it was going to be fun, it would take about 45 minutes in the car to get there...

What is neat about this performance is that an hour before every show, they have a free pre-show, where you can go backstage and see the animals, watch mini-performances, and interact with the clown and other performers. The kids got in the limbo line but declined the dance party :) They tried balancing peacock feathers on their fingers and shoes and also got to see the unicyclers and elephant up close and personal. The time flew and before we knew it, it was time to take our seats!

All of the acts were great, but here are some of the cooler pics I got. Duo Fusion was amazing because unlike most balancing acts, the girl did most of the heavy lifting!

One of my favorite parts of the show - the Elephants! They are adorable and so well trained. There were protesters outside of the venue when we entered, but it's not like we were going to change our mind about going to the circus at that point.

We all enjoyed our day at the circus. When we were walking back to the car after the show, Ellena asked me, "So where are we going next on our adventure???" Oh goodness, that was it, girly!

Giant Slide

Today we went to Kidz Bounce. They have a giant slide there that Ellena has been afraid of during previous visits. Today, she went straight to the giant slide to conquer her fear. She went down the first time by herself and was a little overwhelmed with how quickly she went down. The video clip is of her second attempt - this time with Evan. She did much better and he was really encouraging. After that, she loved the slide and went down it many times! Hooray for brave girls and supportive brothers!

Day at the Farm

Today we spent the day at Remlinger Farms. The whole, entire day. From the time the park opened til the time the park shut down. Phew! Kids had a blast! The amusement park is filled with children-friendly rides that do not require adult participation. Here they are on one of their favorites - the barrel ride. Spinning the center disk makes the barrel spin around even faster! (Think Disneyland Teacup ride.) Glad I didn't go on that one!

Another highlight of the day was the unlimited pony rides. The children love their pony rides! They probably had about 5 rides throughout the day, and even squeezed in one last ride just before the park closed up. One thing about today - there were not that many people at the farm so the kids could keep riding and riding and riding, without much standing in line in between. They loved it!

Not sure why Evan can't look at the camera when I say cheese.

My two strawberries - one looks like a sweet strawberry and the other one looks sour!

When the park closed up, we browsed their farmers market and then got some ice cream treats. What a fantastic day!

Tubing Video

Seafair

Today we had an amazing time on our awesome friends' boat to experience Seafair in person! Here are Emily and Evan getting ready to go tubing.

We dropped anchor pretty close to shore and the kids spent most of the time in the water!

Here's a picture of the Blue Angels air show and how crowded the water gets with all of the boats.

Blue Angels!!!

Blueberry Picking

Today we went blueberry picking. Oh my goodness, there were crazy amounts of blueberries available! We spent about 20 minutes in the fields and took home 2.5 pounds.

Threw together this little dessert tonight - some sweet mangoes from Costco, vanilla ice cream and the fresh picked blueberries on top. Yum!

Super Star Kids!

Super proud mom right here. Took Ellena to her 4-year wellness appointment today. She was scheduled to have 1 shot this year and 2 shots next year to start Kindergarten. She decided she wanted to get all 3 today and be done with it. Wow! Then, as soon as it was over, Evan was telling her how brave she was and checking if she was ok. Such a great big brother! These are 2 super star kids!!

"Riding" a Tortoise

Reptile Man!

We had the Reptile Man come to Ellena's party and he was awesome!!!!! He brought a bunch of lizards, snakes, a tortoise the kids could ride on and a baby alligator.

Ellena did NOT want to give Lucy, the baby alligator, a hug.

Here she is holding Sweet Pea, the blue tongue skink. And her buddy Jade from school is with her.

Evan had the opportunity to hold Lucy!

This was Ellena's favorite - the tiny rubber snake. And here's proof that Pops touched the snake. He did not enjoy the experience, but he did it anyway! Anything for his girl!

My best shot of a group picture of the kids holding the yellow python. Reptile Man said he was about 50 lbs, but he felt like much more!

Birthday Party

On Sunday we had 18 children running around our backyard to celebrate Ellena's birthday... and we survived! Here are our buddies, Riley (in Evan's K class) and Tyler (will be entering K when Ellena does, crossing our fingers they are in the same class!)

Evan and Kyle (he was also in Evan's K class). Kyle and Riley also got to be friendly with Ellena at pick-up time, so Ellena asked that they come to her party.

Lining up for the lizard pinata. At times Ellena got a little overwhelmed at her party and needed to take little breaks. Here she is with her mopey lip.

Ellena's best friends from her preschool class, Adhvay and Kushagra. And our buddy, Addy.

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday. The plate next to Ellena's Iron Man cake has some chicken that she was nibbling on, cause she got hungry!