Dillon's Capitol Field Trip

Daddy Post:

Once again daddy got to go on a field trip to the state capital, this time with Dillon.  This time, the legislature was in session so they got to actually see a bill get passed by the House.  Unfortunately, it went through with only 1 no vote so no real argument.

Also in session was the Washington Supreme Court.  Unfortunately, that meant they did not get to go into the courtroom.  However, they still got to have a mock trial.  Dillon was chosen to be the Chief Justice. So, he led the trial, gathered the votes of the other justices, and read the ruling.  Although this court did not agree with his vote, it was split 5-4, Dillon's vote was actually the same as the real Supreme Court's ruling that this mock trial was based on. 

With all the activity going on, there was lots of activity from different groups coming and going throughout the day.  It was fun to see congress in action and to just get to hang out and walk around the State Capital together. 

Snowmageddon!

This February we got a ton of snow!  It snowed and, just as that started melting, it snowed some more!  At our house we ended up with a total of 15.75 inches of snow.  I don't remember ever having that much snow in this area.  School ended up cancelled four days and two 2-hr delays in two weeks.  Of course, this landed right as I was starting my coverage for maternity leave.  It was incredibly frustrating because I really just wanted to work!  However, we had an AMAZING time!  Sledding with friends, snow ball fights, sled ramps, starting an igloo, Daddy being home for the day etc.  It was fantastic and we were definitely sad when the snow disappeared. 

 This crazy kid thought it'd be fun to go out barefoot!

 We went to a local hill, we really don't have many, to sled.  We had to work really hard to compress it to be able to sled otherwise it was too powdery.

The basketball hoop filled with snow!

   We also so chain link fences with each little square filled with snow!

 Carson and his friend Ty.

 Carson, Carter, Ty and Dillon.  There were a couple of giant snow balls already there that the kids hauled around and turned into a giant snowman!

 Taryn, Adrienne, Ghianna, Kayda, Carter, Dillon, Ethan, Carson and Ty.  The parents all ended up hanging out with hot cocoa while the kids played.

 Kayda, Ghianna, Taryn and Adrienne.

It was a fantastic couple of days off!  School will push farther into the summer now, fortunately we already have our trip all planned out so we'll be done the same day as before.

Another Cave!

Daddy and the kiddos spent the evening in Seattle with the extended family.  I'll let him write about it!

Uncle Pat saw that tickets were available to walk through the new tunnel before it opened to traffic.  So, we all accepted the invite and headed to Seattle (mom wasn't feeling well so she ended up not coming).  The total distance walked was about 2 miles right under downtown.  We started about the Space Needle and ended right by the stadiums.  We then rode a bus back up to the starting point, going through the other deck of the tunnel.  Although a little long it was fun to see and the kids had a great time with their cousins, as usual!

   

The picture is a life size photo of Bertha, the drill used to create the tunnel.  If I recall correctly, it was 57 feet across.

As we approached the end, Papa Mike proudly proclaimed, "I see the light at the end of the tunnel!"  

After, Grandma Peggy and Papa Mike treated everyone to pizza.  It was a great time and glad to go on the adventure.

Kayda's mini choir concert

Kayda signed up for a rotating schedule this year.  They have two choices for 6th grade, a full year of band or a different class each quarter.  So second quarter Kayda got choir.  She loves choir.  She was able to do a solo for a song called "Irish Dance" and she did a duet with her friend Miracle for "Can't help falling in love".  She was feeling really nervous about her solos but she did great.  One of the other parents told her she should stick with choir.  She's considering doing full year choir next year.  There were some motions she was supposed to do and she hated it, she said she felt silly, like they were too old for it. 

Unfortunately, since it was during the school day, I wasn't able to be there, but Daddy and Grandma H were able to be there.

Dillon's 11th birthday!

Dillon is officially 11 years old!  This kid is growing so fast and into an incredible young man!  He is about as laid back as could be.  He thinks of everyone as a friend, is inclusive and patient, he dedicates himself to making himself better in school and in sports.  He likes to do activities but is also a homebody; he isn't interested in being away from home for too much of the day.  He enjoys playing soccer, basketball, flag football and swimming.  He had a interest in baseball for a little while but prefers the other sports.   

We celebrated a little early with Grandma and Papa G.  He got the "Dungeons and Dragons" starter kit... unfortunately I'm still trying to figure out how it works so he hasn't gotten to try it yet.  He's pretty excited about it, Kayda is currently going to the club at her school so she can learn it and be our "dungeon master".

We went to dinner with Grandma and Papa H.  He even wanted to be sung too!  

  We got home with very little time left for being home but we still did birthday cake! 

A couple winter break memories

We had a pretty laid back winter break.  Christmas was so close to the beginning of it that we ended up with a lot more downtime AFTER Christmas that we weren't used to.  Once Grandma and Papa G left we still had another weekend before school started again.  

Saturday Dillon was invited to be part of Zack's (a friend from soccer a couple years ago)  Christmas "experience gift" going to the go carts.  Carson was able to go also so it was a fun day for the boys.  Since I wasn't there, and Daddy was driving too, we don't have any pictures of the actual driving.  They came home and Carson said "Our family should all go do go carts.  Mommy can take pictures!"  Apparently I don't get to drive one!

Saturday night the power went out due to a big windstorm that came through the area.  The kids were all spending the night at Grandma and Papa H's house while Mommy and Daddy had a date night.  We got up there to get them right away in the morning since their power was out too and I thought they may be a little harder to entertain than normal.  When we came home we snuggled up around the fire and played card games.  When it started getting dark we pulled out the oil lamps and some little backpacking lanterns Auntie Kina gave them for Christmas.  We set the kids up to spend the night down by the fire.  It didn't end up being necessary since the power came back on about midnight.  School ended up being delayed two hours which was a great way to ease back into school.  I'm glad it didn't end up being cancelled and to be made up later in the year!

Grandma and Papa G visit!

Grandma and Papa G came to stay with us on the 28th and left the 2nd.  The kids were bursting with excitement!  We thoroughly enjoyed their visit.  We spent a lot of time playing Diablo with Papa and they snuggled with Grandma (mostly Carson).  We played board games, chatted and watched movies.  It was a very mellow, enjoyable few days.  

Grandma and Papa brought a new game for us to try "telestrations".  Apparently they played it at a ward Family home evening and thought it was great.  So we got to try it.  We LOVED it.  The kids wanted to play again and again and again.  There were several times Dillon got laughing so hard he literally couldn't sit still!     Someone was usually sitting aside to help Carson if he needed help spelling a word or didn't know what something was.  He mostly played on his own though.

Grandma snuggles include the ipad.  (Carson was irritated that I was taking their picture)

Tuesday we decided to head up to the snow.  The place where we had sledded before was completely bare!  We actually thought we weren't going to find any to play in at all!  After driving quite a ways further up the road we finally found a little side road, covered in compact snow to play on.  It ended up being great for sledding because it was smooth and slick and actually flattened out way down around the corner!  While we were up there we took a couple pictures of the kiddos.  

Grandma and Papa left this morning.  The kids were really bummed out.  Kayda had to go spend a few minutes alone to settle down.  They absolutely loved the time and look forward to when we see them again.