Even More Camping

This was our summer of camping, which is good because it seems like that was the only summer activity we've done. With only 2 days above 80 degrees, there has been very little beach, sprinkler park and swimming at the lake.

Nate and I took all our boys to Larrabee, which is a state park so we get to camp for FREE (foster care perk). That's just my style of course. We had the 2nd to last available campsite (right next to the railroad tracks), but it was actually a great spot with all kinds of trails and woods for the boys to play in. The train thundering by at night left a little something to be desired, but the Littles loved seeing all those trains.

Hey look, proof I was there for once!

Christian and Justin took a break from sticks and dirt to pursue their latest passion, Stratego. Christian got his butt kicked, but he loves this game. He plays it every day at summer camp. Look at that intense concentration!

July- There was Camping

We took our annual Lopez Island camping trip in early July, the weather was perfect and we had our favorite campsite on the beach. Grammy and Papa joined us for the first time and it was so much fun to have them along. Here's a snapshot of everyone...
Look, it's Grammy and Papa and Carrot Top and Ashi and Christian and Lucky. See Lucky came, there is even a photo of the dog for pete's sake. Anybody missing? Oh yeah, I swear I was there too. Promise. I was.









Here we have a fine specimen of a good solid camping trip, the ubiquitous filthy child. No that is not a blurry image at right below, that would be a dust cloud coming off the adorable little urchin. That amount of dust combined with a half cup of rinsed out conditioner leaves an impressive tub ring, let me tell you!

April Showers (killing my flowers)

This is what we woke up to Thursday morning. Big sloppy snowflakes. You have GOT to be kidding me. Thank God sanity reigns and schools ran on time. By Saturday the sun was shining again and I had two little boys frolicking in their finery before heading off to the African Caribbean Club (ACC) Culture Night at WWU. We actually had outfits for all the boys, but Christian opted for the shirt and tie look (no complaints from me, that's one handsome boy I didn't photograph). As usual, that kid is just a rockstar at the ACC. He was really turning on the charm too. Giving Salome kisses on both cheeks, getting all kinds of lovin' from every lady in the room, and high fives from the young men. He gets more "that child is so handsome"s in three hours, than through the rest of the year. And if I had a nickel for every hair compliment, I could pay for his products! Ashi just soaks it all up, he's in heaven! Oh boy was he excited! He was telling us all day long how he was GOING TO DANCE ON THE STAGE! He was going to dance with Mulu (who cooks Ethiopian at the market). And when will it be MY turn to dance!?! Once the show started the chatter only amped up. A: "WHEN can I dance?" Me: You have to wait, everyone is taking turns. You can dance when the Ethiopians have their turn. A: Why do we have to take turns? Me: The stage can only hold so many people, there are too many to all dance together. A: No we can all dance. Look, the stage is really WIDE. When the time finally came, and as Ashi calls it the "Dance Party" started. All the Ethiopians come spilling out of the audience onto the stage. Some young adults come off the stage and scoop up Ashi, who suddenly is not so sure about it. He had the deer in the headlights look on his face the whole time. When he came back to me I asked him why he got so shy when it was his turn to dance. And he set me straight. "I didn't WANT to dance with the girls, I want to dance with THE DADS! (the men). Poor kid. Too many ladies, he better get used to it.

Today was Easter Eggs.

And soccer. These bad boys won 8 zip today, wahoo! They don't usually play on Sunday, it was a make-up for flooded fields last week.

Meanwhile the Littles went Dumpster Diving. Ahh, the things that fascinate three-year-olds Then just as things were winding down before bed, we heard the sickening thud of Springtime. A bird against glass. What do I find as I peer out the front window. These two fighting to the death. I couldn't pull the kids away. One of those suckers was MEAN too (he won BTW). Ashi was sure he was going to rip the head off his victim. Christian was banging on the window and throwing sticks trying to stop them. And I was dry heaving. It was awful! Now the kids are hatching plans for all the things they will do to that mean bird when they see him again. There will be water guns I am told.

Manoa Falls

Waiting for the bus...
Getting started... Mmm, stagnant water inside a tree! And bugs!

Why step when you can leap?

The actual falls were a bit underwhelming. But then the trail probably would have been very muddy if we'd had a recent rainfall.

"Look mom, another bug!" Can you tell where our priorities lie? The bugs.