Since I haven't really updated since the first of the year I'll try to catch you up.
January started similar to all the previous January's...cold, kids going back to school, my house looking like a tornado hit, leaving a trail of paper, packaging, and toys in need of new homes. After having a two week break from school myself, I also had to jump back into my own schoolwork. Jeff, never really getting a break, was still working away at Comcast. There was also a lot of sadness in the house because Grammy passed away after suffering a stroke almost a month before.
February started off with some sadness but soon changed into celebration with Martin's birthday and then Owen's birthday. For Owen's birthday we went miniature golfing, same as the year before. He had a blast and you would never guess that one year earlier he had a broken leg. The end of February also brought a light snowfall and we found the kids playing outside, doing their best to make a snowman.
March was pretty uneventful...Leah and Matthew were doing great in school and Owen was chomping at the bit to start school since he was officially 5 years old. The kids spent some time outdoors...riding their bikes. I also had a small House Party for Philadelphia Cooking Creme. It is pretty neat stuff...slightly softer than regular cream cheese and comes in many great flavors which are good for chicken dishes and pasta. Jeff and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary by going to The Melting Pot on a double date with Martin and Dianna.
April was a quite a bit more eventful. The first week of April was Spring Break for the kids so Jeff took a few days of work and we got Seattle City Passes and had a little "staycation". We visited the Woodland Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Pacific Science Center Museum, Experience Music Project, The Space Needle, and took a short cruise around the Seattle harbor. Some of it we had seen before but there were a few new things and it was a little exhausting but overall we had a lot of fun. Chellie and I also took the kids down to Portland, OR for a night to visit my very good friend, Roxanne, who was up from Utah. We had fun visiting the Japanese Gardens, even though it was very, very cold. We also went the Spring Fair and watched a demolition derby; it was not really a true demolition derby because it was the last day but it was still fun. Although Owen did not appreciate the loudness of the cars. Of course, we cannot forget about Easter and all things related...the kids had a blast coloring eggs and were very excited when the Easter Bunny came to visit.
May brought several school related activities. There was a science fair that both Leah and Matthew participated in. The 2nd grade had an Alphabet Recital, where Leah had a solo speaking part. And the Kindergartners had a field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo, so Owen and I met Matthew at the zoo and had fun looking at all the animals. The end of May brought Chellie's birthday...mmm...ribs.
June brought a lot of fun memories. The first weekend of the month I tried something new...I left Jeff home alone with all three kids while I flew to Maryland for my nephew's graduation. This was the first time I had been away from the kids for that long and I missed them a ton, but I still managed to have a little bit of fun in between working on school assignments. After I got home, I found myself chaperoning Leah's 2nd grade field trip to Northwest Trek and Matthew lost his first tooth. The kids' last day of school was June 19th and we left that same day for a vacation to Southern California. It was sort of weird to go to California and not see Grammy but we were still able to have a good vacation. We spent three days at Disneyland and California Adventure, one day at SeaWorld, one day at Universal Studios Hollywood (thank you Comcast!), one day stuck in the hotel room because I was sick, and one day having a BBQ and hanging out with family. Lots of pictures...I'll try to add some later.
