Puyallup Fair!

We went to the Puyallup Fair this evening for a couple of hours. It's the first time Daddy and I have been there since back when we were dating...7 years ago. We had a great time, spent more money than we probably should have (spoiling our children of course) but is was quite relaxing and a great change of pace. The kids had a great time on the rides. I was pleasantly surprised that after they went on the carousel (which Kayda insisted was first) the kids were HAPPY to try more rides. They couldn't go on many because they just aren't big enough yet but they loved the ones they got to go on. They also went on a pony ride! Dillon rode Honey and was perfectly happy to do it all by himself. Kayda was excited at first, riding Cinnamon, but after a while she remembered that she wanted to ride the WHITE horse and got upset. These are pictures of pictures that we bought so they're not real clear but they were adorable.

The carousel... It was going really fast so it was hard to get pictures but the kids loved it!

A train ride!

Pony ride!

It had to be a GREEN car. A family in front of us was nice enough to trade so that Kayda could have the green one instead of a pink one.

The canoe ride. This one was nice because we got to walk right next to them the whole way around.

"Riding" an elephant while we were waiting for an elephant ear!

The petting zoo.

Kayda's First Swim Lessons WITHOUT Mom and Dad!

I managed to get Kayda signed up for swim lessons (WITHOUT Mommy or Daddy in the water) at Lindbergh. I used to work there and I found out Kyoko still worked there. She is a fantastic swim teacher so I was REALLY excited that I was able to get Kayda into one of her classes. Kayda absolutely loved it. 90% of the time she had a huge grin on her face, the other 10% she was underwater! She did SO well, I was concerned that she wouldn't be ready to swim without Daddy or I but she started going underwater without even being asked to!!! Daddy was able to take a short break from work and come down and see her first day of swim lessons.

Her cheeks must have been sore! Look at that SMILE!!!

She's getting a ring from the table!

One of the very few times we managed to get Dillon to just SIT.

Dillon DESPERATELY wanted to go in with big sister but he just isn't old enough yet. This week is too busy but starting next week either Daddy or I will be taking him for some "Dillon swimming time" in the evenings. I felt awful. I don't know how I'm going to do it when Daddy isn't there to help me. I want SO much to just sit and watch Kayda swim!

This picture cracks me up! Kyoko and Kayda were touching the bottom of the pool after Kayda jumped. I love the bubbles!

The Circus

A couple of weeks back (September 3rd) we went to the circus for Grandma Peggy's birthday. The kids LOVED the animals but got really antsy and distracted when it was just people, even for the clowns! Dillon had a hard time sitting still but he still had fun. Since we went, every time Kayda sees a commercial for it she starts yelling for me and tells me she wants to go. Unfortunately by the time I was ready to relent the circus had already moved on.

Catching up...Random Tidbits from the Summer

A couple of weeks ago, on one of the chillier days, I brought the kids to Lake Meridian for an hour or so to throw rocks. They had a great time! The only bad part was this one duck would not leave. Every time the kids threw a rock it would swim after it thinking it was food. Fortunately the kids picked up on the fact pretty quickly that they were NOT supposed to throw rocks at the duck. It only took a couple of times with me reminding them right before they threw anything!

About two weeks ago (right before my days at work started) Grandma G and I cleaned out their old hot tub. It doesn't really run anymore but we cleaned it out. The kids had a great time filling it up and they had an even better time playing in there over the next few days.

Last Friday after a couple of hours on the picket line we went to the park with my friend Tracy and her two kiddos. The kids didn't really play together. There were too many exciting things at the playground. Dillon went down the biggest slide on his own though..WOW.

Kayda is getting better and better at riding her trike! Here's a video. If you turn on the volume she actually tells me that she's riding her bike! She falls over at the end but she was NOT hurt.

Strike

The Kent School District teachers are on strike right now. I went over yesterday to spend some time with my coworkers on the picket lines. I brought Dillon and Kayda with me. It just so happens that two news crews were there when I showed up. Kiro 7 decided that they wanted to interview me because they were looking for a teacher who is a parent's input and my kids were "very photogenic". I tried to pawn it off on someone else but it didn't work so my kids ended up on TV!!! Here's the link. Just ignore me. Grandma G recorded it so eventually I can put the actual video on without having to use the link but until then... http://www.kirotv.com/video/20591302/index.html

Kitsap Memorial State Park

We spent the August 5th to the 9th at Kitsap Memorial State Park which is over by Hood Canal. It was the H family trip this year, we had 21 of us plus one of Nathan's buddies. The campsites ended up working perfectly! Right in front of our sites was a loop that the kids could ride bikes around and just beyond that was a huge field! The only downside was the beach was all rock and was covered by the tide most of the day. We ended up visiting Poulsbo and Port Townsend, the kids were asleep for a lot of our time in Poulsbo.  Grandma Peggy was nice enough to stay out in the car with them because she had been to Poulsbo recently. It was FANTASTIC being out with all of Daddy's family. The kids played practically non-stop! Hank was with us and was constantly being walked by someone, after the first day he calmed down to his normal behavior and was constantly wandering around with some kid or another, even Kayda and Dillon walked him around though we had to be a little closer for that.

Ella and Dillon were brushing my face with dandelions, they thought that was great fun.

Dillon LOVES the big kids and was copying Aileena for a while. Notice his new haircut?

Kayda was sharing her dandelions with Aunt Anna.

Dillon, Brian (Nathan's buddy), Ella, Nathan, Mikey and Peyton.

Immediately after this picture Dillon crashed.

We got all the big boys to play ring around the rosie with us!

The three Mike and Peggy branch granddaughters.

Grandma Peggy and Dillon, eating lunch and checking out their feet.

These are at Great-Uncle Mark's community beach.  There were TONS of shells and Kayda and Ella spent the whole time there collecting them.

Can you see his footprints?

Kayda and Ella on Grandpa Mike's bike.

The crew. They were all in the back of the truck and the older kids were deciding which of the younger kids they were "babysitting". From left to right:Dillon, Brian, Nathan, Mikey, Kyle, Aileena, Ella, Kevin, Peyton, Jarrett and Kayda. The only kiddo missing is Chase, he's not a year old yet so he couldn't get in with so many big kids!

In Port Townsend. The big boys decided Dillon should hang with THEM.