After a very long trip, we arrived in California Saturday morning at 7 a.m. The kids had fun waking up Gramma and Grampa (they were expecting us to arrive in the evening). We decided to leave Portland on Friday night instead of early Saturday morning, and I'm so thankful that we did. I was able to see my Grandpa before he passed away this morning. God's timing is perfect. Most of all, I'm thankful that Grandpa trusted Jesus to be his Savior last week.
Caleb just finished reading Set 2 of the Bob Books series! He calls them "the ring books" because our library attaches all 12 books in the set to a ring.
We needed to finish these up and get them back to the library before our big trip! Many of you may not know that our family is headed down to California for about 6 weeks this summer. We'll leave Thursday and spend Thursday and Friday night with Phil's cousin, Michele in the Portland area. We hope to arrive at Phil's parents' house on Saturday night and make that our home base for our stay in Lake County.
On the agenda this summer:
*Caleb's 4th Birthday!!! He'd like a Thomas the Tank Engine party with a watermelon cake
*Several doctor appointments
*My niece's Jr. High graduation
*A High School graduation (one of my former 2nd graders, in fact--yes, I feel old!)
*A quick weekend trip down to San Diego to see my sister, Emily, and to attend a family wedding
*Two camping trips
*Fourth of July BBQ (which we haven't discussed yet, so I guess I'm planning it)
*My Grandpa's birthday
Having twins keeps me busy in the diaper-changing department. But just when I start thinking, "All I ever do is change diapers!" I remember what my life used to be like, and, I must admit, I find little reason to continue my complaining.
I once changed 10 poopy diapers before lunchtime (that was, of course, when the girls were first born and all four of my children were in diapers).
One thing for which I am thankful is that I've only ever used disposable diapers!
We spent the afternoon at Riverfront Park today. We had a picnic lunch and then walked over to Mobius, our children's museum.
Phil took great pictures of the Spokane River! The water is raging through the park, thanks to all of our snow this year.
And here's a picture to make all moms nervous! We had to cross this bridge to get to our car. Due to the fact that this picture was taken about 3 hours past the girls' nap time, Gracie was a little less than cooperative, and opted not to participate. The little boy standing in between Jared and Caleb is Nathan, a friend from Jared's school. Today is Nathan's 5th birthday!
Jared is very proud of the shield he made at the children's museum.
I don't want to be redundant with yet another set of poolside photos, but I'm sure the Grandmas won't mind one bit! We had a wonderful Memorial Day. I was sad to miss Clear Lake Baptist Church's Annual Memorial Day Picnic this year, but we had a great day up here in Spokane.
My friend Brooke came over this morning and pulled weeds in my backyard for 2 hours! Yes, she's a good friend, indeed.
We enjoyed a delicious BBQ lunch with one of our next door neighbors and a couple of friends from Phil's school. The kids had fun playing croquet and splashing each other with water from the wading pool.
Here's Jared being silly with his croquet mallet. We ended our day at a friend's house, another classmate of Phil's, where we supped on sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and apple slices. We love having friends with small children!
Funny thing...nobody has to teach a girl how to be a girl, or a boy how to be boy. It's innate. My boys definitely would not be found in front of a mirror brushing their hair. In fact, when I call for them in the morning and tell them it's time for their hair to be brushed, they protest. No one taught them that. Gracie, on the other hand, runs to me, sits down, and is excited for me to put a pretty in her hair. No one taught her that.
Phil ran and got the camera when we found our girls together in the bathroom yesterday morning. Here are a few more pictures from this afternoon of the girls being sweet.
And no one has to teach a boy how to splash his little sisters!
Phil made a comment about the music truck driving by the house this afternoon (that's what Phil and I call the ice cream truck), to which Jared replied, "Actually, Dad, that's the ice cream man."
Today was Jared's last day of preschool. His class met at a park for their annual end-of-the-year picnic. He enjoyed playing with his classmates, but he had a difficult time saying goodbye to his teacher and friends when it was time for us to leave. He's such a sensitive little guy. Of course, I get a little teary-eyed, too, when I think about his starting Kindergarten this Fall. Where does the time go?
We attended the boys' AWANA Cubbies award ceremony tonight. They received their handbook awards along with a teddy bear and a Bible storybook.
Caleb was a bit sleepy, but still very excited when his leader called his name.
This will be Jared's last year in Cubbies (so hard for me to believe). Next year he'll move up to Sparks. It's a good thing, too! He's outgrown his uniform.
The girls were excited to go to Cubbies with their brothers tonight.
He can fix anything! Recently he picked up this little car at a yard sale and paid only $5 for it. The previous owner said it was broken.
Just a few minutes ago I peeked out the window and saw Caleb driving it around the yard.
The girls are napping right now, but when they wake up I'm sure they'll be very excited to see that Daddy fixed their new Dora car!
Just to name a few: spending a beautiful Spring day outside with the sweetest children,
kissing these precious cheeks,
sharing cotton candy,
and watching my baby grow into such a handsome young man.
I had a wonderful week in Tennessee with my friend, Stephanie. Steph and I met in college, but we hadn't seen each other in 11 years. We stayed at her parents' house in Lake Tansi and enjoyed a great week taking walks, sitting on the beach, watching movies, eating Tiramisu and sipping coffee, eating out, sleeping in, talking, and shopping together. We had the whole house to ourselves, so we were able to enjoy a peaceful and quiet week together.
