Gatherings

Tuesday, April 14


Here we all are together on Easter morning at my sister's house in Seattle. Can you believe it everyone together for a weekend and no one was too sick and I just realized, no one threw-up (unlike the two previous years). Way to go kids!

The cousins had such a great time together, they were so happy playing and spending time together. It's great how they are so close to the same ages. Grandpa Rick and Uncle Eric took them to a nearby beach, where they collected rocks and got to practice carving sticks.

The little girls spent a lot of time on the trampoline.

They also loved the tire swing at the nearby park.

Last Friday the girls and I joined Kevin at a totally different gathering - Norwescon, a sci-fi convention. I didn't take too many picture even though there were a lot of people in costume even before the big Masquerade on Saturday night. It wasn't our first time there.

Here is Sydney the cat helping out the local ghost buster.
The girls also get their annual dose of doing paper mache. Last year it was dragon eggs and this year it was 'Lost Civilizations'.
We still have to decorate them since we weren't there the next day. Sydney didn't last long handling the oooey goooey, so I got to finish hers.

Today we're picking up Grandpa Bubba from the airport and heading straight to IKEA. I wanted there to be one in Portland for so long and then I never went 'cause I was afraid I'd spend too much money. So wish me some will power, I keep adding things to my list.

Friday Flashback: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Friday, April 9
Why have I waited almost four months to blog about the cruise we took last November? I have no good excuse, but it's not because we didn't have a great time. Cruises are the way to travel with kids! Right now I'm hanging out in a hotel near SeaTac airport. We are all headed to the Science Fiction Convention today, an annual stop for us on the way to visit the cousins in the Seattle area for Easter. Yes, I could have some very interesting pictures to post next week.

Here is what I found on the laptop regarding Dubrovnik which was written on Sunday, November 23, 2008.

Cute little town surrounded by a wall that we walked on top of. It was pretty cold and the girls begged to go back to the boat the whole time. We had lunch at a little restaurant by the water and had some yummy shrimp and seafood risotto that had a little too much seafood for me. I pretty much only like peeled shrimp and shelled crab. Luckily Kevin doesn’t mind foraging for his food and for his family too.
Click here for more pics of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

You Capture - Fun

Thursday, April 9

This weeks photography theme was fun. We're really looking for some fun this weekend since we're heading up to spend Easter with the cousins in Seattle. As for last week, not much was going on around here. We took the girls shopping for their birthday and they were so happy to finally pick out some new scooters.

I'm not sure if this should be categorized under fun or scary, but here it is:

Make your own animation at Gickr.com

The pictures look kind of grainy to me. Anyone know a better way to animate stills?

That girl loves to have fun! Click here to join the fun or see more fun photos.

Macro Monday

Monday, April 6

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Sunday, April 5

Now that you have added the family blog to your Google Reader I know you'll see this message shortly after you check your email today. Hopefully it will make up for the fact that I didn't buy or make you a card. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN (aka Dad, aka Honey, in fact he rarely gets called by his real name around here). It's your last year to celebrate that you're still thirty-something and you may rather be wandering around the Alhambra

or day dreaming on some Greek island...

but thankfully you've done those things already. So I ordered up some warm sunny weather just for you. It's you're day! You can go for a long bike ride or just play some boardgames. The girls have been instructed to respond to any requests by saying, yes Master. We will do our best to help you have a great day. You're the best husband/dad a family could have. We love you!

Spring Break 09

Friday, April 3

I'm looking at the calender and realizing it's already been three weeks since we went to the beach for Kevin's spring break. huh. How did that happen? Anyway, the weather was unbelievable for Oregon, sunny and just windy enough to let us test out the new dragon kite. We stayed outside a lot more than usual, skipping our usual visit to the carousel and aquarium in Seaside. So glad we decided to bring the bikes.

Gma and Gpa joined us for the last night. We really appreciated having them over. Gpa Rick turned out to be a great beach playmate and took the girls swimming two times, which means they went swimming 5 times in 4 days. That's two more times than just Kevin and I would have taken them. Thanks Grandpa!
Click here to see more beach pictures. Please let me know if you have any problems with the link. My computer was being weird about it the other day.

You Capture - Spring

Thursday, April 2

This weeks photography challenge was spring and these are all pics I took this week. Aren't you proud of me, no old photos. There are plenty of daffodils out, but for some reason I was not in the mood to take their picture. I thought for sure the huge tulip bud in my front yard was going to pop in time for me to do a before/after pic, but instead this smaller one started to unfold. I kept thinking it would be great to get a picture of people actually springing, like on a trampoline or that bouncy teeter totter at the park, but all we've had is rain. So here it is.I'm not much of a pink person, but I really love seeing all the pink trees blossoms. I desperately wanted to have a beautiful blue sky in the background of this picture, but I never saw one this week, so white clouds will have to do.
Click here to join in or see more spring pics over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.