Gma Dee Ann is Here!

Grandma Dee Ann came over for several days to visit us. The kids were excited to have her come. They were excited for her 2 iPads too. ha! As you can see in this picture below, the kids all had their own. I like Chelsea standing in the middle of the room looking at me. It made me laugh.

She's so funny and cute. Look at those teeth!

Dee Ann watched the kids one day while I went to Southcenter to meet up with my sisters, Marci and Sara. Sara and Zane had come over to visit Marci for a few days because Derek was busy working on the farm. It was fun to meet up with them and go shopping. We went out to lunch at this Thai place. Marci and I liked it, but Sara was hesitant about our curry. haha! We found some good deals and just had fun being together. I'm thankful for my sisters.

We went to the Woodland Park Zoo with Dee Ann one day. We got to hear the loud Siamangs and watch the elephants push around their ball. It's fun to see different things every time we go. 

On Saturday, we went to Remlinger Farms. I had gotten a groupon deal for it this year and that was awesome. It's a great place for young kids. I wouldn't take older kids because the rides are small and not very exciting for older kids. But it's clean and the operators aren't scary like the one's at the fair and you pay one price to get in and it includes everything. We like it.

Kate rode the horses many times. She liked the horse named Thyme best. She felt like the American Girl named Saige because Saige has a horse. She had just read the book Saige with my Mom and watched the movie so she was pretty excited to ride a horse over and over. Lindsey was scared at first, but then ended up doing it. She liked it in the end. 

I liked Dee Ann's face on this one because it's the face of fun!

The little roller coaster 

On the train that goes around the park.

We were waiting in the longest line to ride the cars (no other line was this long and we wanted to give up, but it was the last ride the kids wanted to do still so we waited and waited) and it was hot. But Chelsea was all over the place so Kyle put Chelsea on his shoulders. She was making funny faces, but then started pounding on Kyle's head. ha! Poor Kyle.

Weeee!

 Dinner at Red Robin, yummy

I liked how Lindsey had her princesses lined up and Preston had his Lego tow truck. Lindsey wanted Preston to play princesses with her. So cute. 

We were glad Grandma Dee Ann came to visit us. She spoiled all of us and we had fun with her. 

Cindy and Jason's Visit

Cindy and Jason Erickson and their 5 kids came to visit us for a weekend in July. They live over in the Tri-Cities area. We were excited to have them come and show them around our area. Cindy is my very good friend from high school. Her and I have grown up together, played sports together and even went to the same college. I was really homesick for the first few months at college and one day I was having a rough time. Cindy happened to call me that day to check up on me and I started crying. She came over and it made me feel much better. She was prompted to call me and I'm so grateful for good friends who love and support me. She is someone I can talk to about anything. She's a good listener too. :) They came over on Friday and got here for lunch. I made homemade corn dogs for them (they took forever to make b/c the oil took a while to heat up) and then we were off on our first adventure.

We went to Mukilteo Beach, which is like 15 mins from us, and it was a windy/chilly day. It was supposed to be nicer so we weren't prepared with jackets for everyone. Oops. Jason had grabbed Claire's jacket and put it on. Cindy and I were laughing. Jason is a funny guy. He's also a County Deputy Sheriff so it was fun to hear his wild and crazy stories from work. Thanks to Cindy for some of the pics!

Kate finding some creature...

The kids crawling through the bike rack and it's a pretty cool pic!

We attempted to get a picture of us at the Beach. With 9 kiddos this is what we got! haha! 

L-R: Emma, Kate holding Chelsea, Lindsey, Preston, me, Claire, Lainey, Cindy and then Benjamin in front of Cindy and Paul in front of Kate. (Claire and Benjamin are twins)

There is a ferry that goes from Mukilteo to Clinton (on Whidbey Island) so we ended up walking on the ferry to take a little ride. Cindy's kids have never been on a ferry so they were loving it. Well, and actually my younger kids haven't been either! Jason treated us all to ice cream cones before the ferry ride. What a fun day! And I have to say that Jason and Cindy were very helpful with my kids even though they had 5 of their own to worry about! I was impressed how Jason would pick up Chelsea or push the stroller for me. We probably looked like polygamists with all the kids and only 1 guy. hahahaha!

After the ferry ride, we came home to make dinner. Then, we went to the mall to visit the American Girl Store, Lego Store and Disney Store. Then it was bedtime for the kiddos while us adults stayed up and chatted until midnight. :) Cindy and I were sharing recipes, well mainly me because I was excited to show her everything from my fave cookbook. But they are very easy to talk to so it is always fun visiting and laughing with them.

Saturday morning, we packed a lunch and went to Howarth Beach. It's my favorite sandy beach. It's pretty and usually not very busy. The kids were brave and went far out into the water. After a few hours, it was time to say goodbye. It was fun to have Cindy and Jason come over. We were already planning the next time they come over and what we'll go do. :)

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a great time with family for the fourth. Kyle took the day after the 4th of July off so we were able to stay for a long weekend. Over the few days we were there, we went to the Moses Lake Aquatic park, saw Despcable Me 2, went to a graveside service and luncheon for Susan Walton (my Dad's cousin), Kyle spent lots of time raking, baling and stacking hay which he loved and overall it was a fun time. I'm thankful for this country and our freedoms!

My aunt and uncle, Monty and Sonia (my Dad's brother) and their 3 kids came over for the 4th. My Dad's sister, Jacque, also was there. She was out visiting from North Carolina. My Dad's cousin, Darla, also came over.

L-R: Jeni, Sara, Aunt Sonia, me, Marci and Aunt Jacque

Yes, Marci and I have matching hats. I bought mine first and she loved it so she got one too. haha! We looked awesome all matching. We got some good laughs out of it. 

The kids helped decorate my Dad's trailer to make it all festive for their own parade. They went down the lane to neighbors. They sang "You're a Grand Old Flag" and threw out candy. 

Marci and I thought it would be funny to be the "ultimate fans" and so we met them halfway down the lane on the four wheeler screaming and cheering. Then while they were visiting other neighbors we went down to the end of the lane so we'd see them again when they got down there. The kids thought it was pretty funny and we were laughing pretty hard ourselves. This picture shows how desolate the road my parent's live on looks. It used to be a cow trail when my parent's moved here 30+ years ago! And Kyle's grandma used to live behind those mailboxes. Kyle would come up during the summers and stay with them so we knew each other growing up. 

Chelsea was so festive for the 4th. I planned it that way though. :)

My Dad was barbecuing the hamburgers when Kyle runs in asking where the fire extinguisher was. We thought he was kidding because he didn't seem too rushed or worried. Well, apparently he was serious because the BBQ was on fire! They had to extinguish the fire and the sad hamburgers were toast. We had to make new one's inside. Amazingly, my Mom cleaned the BBQ and it works fine now. Who knows how the fire started. 

We played Bingo with everyone. My Mom had a bunch of prizes for everyone to choose from. It was fun and the kids loved it. My Grandma Helen Gene started this tradition, but she couldn't come this year so it was fun to still do it.

My Mom even had a craft for us girl's to make during the day. We painted these and Jeni is super crafty so she helped us add more embellishments with the triple twine and star in the middle.

And I don't have any pictures of the fireworks! It was pretty windy at night, but we still let them off and they were beautiful. Lindsey was scared of them and Preston jumped every time a big one would go off. 

She's on the Move

We have another walker!!! She started taking steps at the end of June (she turned 1 on June 9th) and really took off the first part of July. She walks with her arms close to her body/chest area and stomps her feet a little when she first started walking. It was pretty funny. It's nice for when we are outside because before she'd want to get down and crawl, but then she'd get so dirty and wreck the knees on her pants. She's already climbing the step ladder on the playground and going down slides. It's fun to watch her explore. 

One Sunday we dressed all the girls in yellow. They are still fine matching so for now we can get away with it. :)

Family Time

Kate got to go over to my parent's house for a week at the end of June. She was looking forward to being there by herself without us, her mom or dad, there. :) My Mom and Dad spoiled her in fine fashion. She got to pick the meals she wanted every day. It was all about Kate. 

She went to Chuck E Cheese with Jeni's kids in Tri-Cities. 

There's this place in the Tri-Cities mall called Cooper's Corner, dedicated to a kid who died (I think) from getting hit by a car, so it teaches road safety. The ladies that volunteer are serious about their job too so they'll correct the kids when they are zooming around on the carts. :) It's not a fancy place, but the kids sure love it. Kate was spoiled the week at Grandma's house. She didn't want us to come get her!

We came over to pick Kate up and to go to Kyle's Uncle Gene and Aunt Marcella's 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration in Moses Lake. We visited with his cousins we haven't seen in over 5 years. His side of the family doesn't get together much!

A couple of Melanie's kids rode with us over to Chico's pizza after the reception. This is what having 6 kids would be like. Quite a full car!!!

Kyle with his Uncle Gene. Kyle would work with Gene on his dairy during summer while in High School. He also laid tile with Gene the first summer we were married. Gene is very good at laying tile so Kyle learned from the best. It's a good skill for Kyle to have...he can use it for our house!

We had fun visiting at Chico's. And eating. Yummy pizza piled high with toppings! L-R: Craig Fuller (married to Jill), Michelle and Jeff Lublin (Jeff is Kyle's half brother), Lynn (Kyle's Dad) and Jill (Kyle's half sister)

After Chico's, we went to a park to let the kids play and so the adults could visit longer. It was fun to visit and laugh with one another. His family is funny so we should get together more often!

Melanie, Dee Ann and Kyle