Cheap Labor

 I came downstairs after folding some laundry and saw this sign... (Translation: Emma is open for being a slave for a penny. I do what you want for one day. Me + you = happy face.)

Along with this basket underneath!

So you better believe I took advantage. After giggling to myself for a minute, I told Emma I had a penny and I was ready for her to be my "slave". I handed her a dust cloth and asked her to dust the stair banister. She looked at me and said "Oh, man! I forgot to say no chores!". I said "Sorry, you didn't say that on your poster.". I put the penny in the basket and off she went. =)

Apparently, there was a brief moment where Payton thought this was an amazing money making plan and asked to have her name added too (See the red that reads "and Payton"). Then when I put Emma to work and gave her the penny, Payton decided this wasn't the best career move (Notice the red that reads 6 and up? Emma quickly added that after Payton left the company.) so she opted out.

Camping with the G6

It was time for the C6 + G6 annual camping trip, and this time we wanted to go somewhere a little warmer, so we chose Sun Lakes in Eastern Washington. We invited our neighbor, PJ, (who had never been camping before) and packed up to head East.

We endured a crazy thunder, lightening, and wind storm. Visited the Grand Coulee Dam and watched the laser light show. Our campsite was attacked by raccoons (who ripped a hole in our brand new tent!). We got swimmers itch from the lake (yuk!). We celebrated two birthdays (Happy Birthday David and Maddi!) made smores, rock people, and played lots of games...

And then it was time to go. We packed up and said good-bye to Sun Lakes. Hoping to never return (at least to the actual lake). The kids helped us pack, and took plenty of breaks in between. It was hot, by 10am in was in the 80's, so we made them drink water like crazy so that we could hit the road.

We took our time going home. Stopping at several places along the way. Dry Falls was our first stop. It was once a waterfall that was four times the size of Niagara Falls! It is now the worlds greatest waterfall...without water. It is beautiful there! We took our time and took plenty of pictures.

We also stopped for lunch and then ice-cream at Winegars. Next stop was David's college, CWU. We always take Hwy 2 to Eastern Washington, so it was a nice change to take I-90 and visit some of David's favorite places. Our last stop was at Owen's Meats in Cle Elem, to try the beef jerky that we had heard so much about and by some pepperoni sticks. We will definitely have to stop there again!

Despite it all, we had a great time! We have decided to stick to the San Juan Islands for next year though! Swimmers itch is the worst! Always check for signs before you swim and if you see snail shells that is a pretty good indication that you are at risk for swimmers itch!

A Little Water Park Fun!

The weather forecast said sunny and 80, so when my friend Kim asked if we wanted to go to a water park, we were totally excited! We had never even heard of the Henry Moses Aquatic Center in Renton before, and it sounded like the perfect place for my girls to go for a sunny and hot day!

The day started out cloudy and cold. To tell you the truth, we were contemplating not going, but the clouds were supposed to clear so that the sun could shine, so we went.

There are lots of shallow areas for the littler ones to play. The big kids spent a lot of time at the two water slides. You can take an intertube on one of the slides, too!

This was a pretty fast "lazy river"! Haley and her buddy Amara took a break in the middle to watch their siblings float by.

 Caleb (little bro to Amara) from the M4 turned and let me take a quick pic of him enjoying the tubes.

Kaylin hardly left the slides, she was having such a blast! But she enjoyed the tubes, too!

 The clouds did clear out and it ended up being a beautiful day! The kiddos all had a blast and are begging to go back again! Thanks so much Kim for inviting us! I still can't believe we had never heard of it!

Ferry Fun!

For our last day trip with our Cali family, we decided to take a ferry to Kingston. We stopped at the Walnut cafe in Edmonds (per Sheree's suggestion) and we were not disappointed! One of the yummiest lattes I've ever had!

It was a beautiful day, so we got off the ferry and walked around Kingston for a bit. Goo-Goo B bought the girls ice-cream or sorbet (their choice) at Mora and then we hopped back on the ferry and headed home for a big family dinner because Connie, Queena, Vanessa, James, and Frankie had to leave in the morning. =(

Thank you so much for visiting and hanging out with us! We had such a good time laughing, chatting, and lounging with you all. xoxo

Donuts and Meerkats

Have you ever tried a maple bar donut with bacon?

Well if you haven't, you are totally missing out! I had to get some for our California guests to try.

My absolute fave is the bavarian cream, though. Head on down to Frost Donuts in the Mill Creek Town Center, and get yourself some! The salted caramel is delish, too.

              Srsly, you will not be dissapointed with Frost Donuts! 

After our donuts, we headed to the zoo!

The gang!

 There is a new entrance at the zoo right by the penguins. The north entrance and west entrance combined and are no more.

 The girls and I were super excited to finally see the Meerkats! I was a little surprised at how small the exhibit was, but they sure are adorable. Have you ever seen Meerkat Manor? It's a great show!

We always enjoy the Komodo Dragons, too!

The girls have to climb this statue every time we pass it!

It's been awhile since we have seen this guy. He was walking around looking for food. Apparently, the lady that feeds him works in this office.

We all gathered around to see him.

 He didn't like that, so he blew up his tale! The lady came out yelling at us all to get back because he might charge us! It was crazy the way she was yelling at this bird, like he was a 2 yr old  kid.

After the zoo we hit up Red Mill Burgers! (Don't worry, we didn't use our cell phones and get yelled at like someone I know!).

The Fourth (2010)

We headed to the local parade in the early afternoon. This is a tradition for us, and one that we always enjoy. The weather was pretty iffy, and we lucked out and missed the rain. It rained in all the cities around us, but not ours!

 We scored a great spot and got settled right before the parade began. Lookie who we saw in the parade! Joe and his daughters Kayla and Breanna!

Gotta love Star Wars!

Note: This years Darth was short! Of course my girls noticed.

We headed straight home to help host our First Annual Neighborhood Potluck. It was a great turnout!

We had our own fireworks show right in front of the house. I am not one to like the noise that comes along with this holiday, but the kids sure had a good time!

Dao made a fire pit and Smores were made!

Thanks to all of our family and friends for celebrating this special day with us!

Leavenworth For The Day

We have some family in town from California and so we have been playing tourist. We went to Leavenworth for the afternoon to show them what a cute little town it is.

I love that they have a Starbucks here! One of my favorite things about Starbucks is that the bathrooms are almost always clean. I know that it is a safe and clean place to take my kids to the bathroom, so it is always our first stop!

Next we were hungry so we went to "Munchen Haus" where we had them try the delicious brats. Dao got the "big Bob" and put everything on it and of course an ice cold beer to go with it!

The girls had pretzels and hotdogs. The prices are decent, and the food is delish. You should definitely stop and eat there.

This is one of the girls favorite shops. They have every kind of silly hat that you could think of  and they like to try them on and look in the mirror.

I'm not sure why Payton was posing like this in almost every picture I take of her lately, but I thought it was kinda funny that she is in a tank top with rosy cheeks next to a Christmas Tree. They have a few Christmas shops that have a very good selection of ornaments. This was taken at the Kris Kringl shop and they were stocking up for the holiday busy season. I am so not ready to think about Christmas yet!

It was over 80 degrees out, and Emma was happy to find a shady spot. I love all the flower pots on the sidewalks there. It adds such a pretty splash of color.

Another shady spot. The girls played for a long time with this drink fountain. Apparently if you hold the top one down, the little one at the bottom (for dogs) would shoot up and squirt you.

(From left to right: Dao, Frankie, Vanessa, Payton, Kaylin, Connie, and Queena)

A trip to Leavenworth would not be complete without an ice-cream cone! We stopped at because they were making handmade waffle cones that smelled delicious!

(James, Haley, and Emma)

The sun was starting to go down, and we wanted to stop at Deception Pass, so we left soon after we finished the ice-cream.

For some reason I didn't take any pics of the falls at Deception Pass. :(

After the Pass, we all headed home and the kids fell asleep in the car.

It was a very good day!