Slip Slidin' Away....

C: Why do I smell ice cream? Oh cuz there's a B&R right there.
Nice try, kid.

D: I need brownies at the new house!

D: I pushed the button!  It must be Comcast!

Me: We're going back to the Treehouse today!  And see Daddy!
J: Yeah!
D: No, I wanna stay at the brown house!

J: I wanna go crazy!
Me: Already there, my friend.  You mean want to go to the lazy river?
J: Yeah!

D: Green means go, Sarah!
Sarah: I know, D.
x a billion at least.

(7/21) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos. They got to go check out hockey gear with Dad and C.  They'll be starting hockey in the fall, so their turn is coming.


(7/22) Ahh, vacation.  We kicked it off with Zumba for me, and then went shopping for our trip. We're headed to Wapato where Oma & Opa have a condo that they graciously offered up. Two adults, five boys.  Should be fun? We chilled at home for the rest of day, and the littles got good and muddeh before their bath tonight.  Gotta make it worth it.


(7/23) Finished gathering all our stuff this morning and stuffed the van full.  We went over to Sarah's, loaded up her rig, piled in, and made the very.long.whiny.omg.are.we.there.yet drive to Lake Chelan. I'd like to say the rest of our evening was smooth sailing, but it wasn't so much, so let's just fast forward to tomorrow.


(7/24) Our early birdie crew was raring to go this morning and we were headed to the lake by 8:30a.  The kids saw the sprinklers and dashed off to play in those.  When the crew came around to turn them off, we continued on to the lake, where we spent most of the morning.  We stopped back at the condo for naps, where we got 2/3 of the littles to sleep.  And then we went up to the pool to play in the water some more.  Because my children napped, they refused to go to bed in a reasonable amount of time this evening, and I ended up in their bedroom reading my book and grumbling whenever their heads popped up.  Harrumph!


(7/25) Water park day! We thought about going to Slide Waters later in the day, but when the whole group woke up punchy, we decided a destination was in order first thing.  We got there right as it opened, and for the next 6 hours, the boys played in the water.  D braved the little water slide with me, while J preferred playing in the pool below.  I hardly saw C since he was part of a roving band of kids doing all of the slides.  There was a great little kid area, so the littles and I just moved between pools and the lazy river.  It was crazy windy today, making 75° feel very chilly.  So we took breaks here and there for the hot tub or to burrito frozen children in towels.  After we got back, I put on a movie for my littles, and Sarah took the bigs and her little out to play miniature golf.  We learned hockey players and baseball players do not make good golf players.  LOL!  The littles went to bed easily tonight, and Sarah and I weren't far behind.

(7/26) We decided to pack up this morning and run for home. Sarah's kiddos woke her at 5:30am and mine were all sorts of grumpy.  Too much fun, I guess.  We were packed, in the car, and off by 8:30am.  Then commenced the five-hour whine fest, with stops to break up the monotony, and the very critical 30 minute stop for coffee.  It was a good trip, but exhausting.  I'd do it all again though!  Dad went out to fetch dinner so I didn't have to cook. Yaaaaay!  And since the twinsies didn't nap on the way home, they went out pretty quickly. Dad made me watch a terrible movie (Lavalantula), which I made it part way through before collapsing into the black hole of couches. I'm like the kids, give me a blanket, and zzzz....


(7/27) Back to work with me today, and Dad has the kiddos.  I'm enjoying the quiet and only having to take care of one person: myself.  I'm sure that'll get old and I'll be ready to be back in it this evening.

Smarshmallows!

J: I need smarshmallows!
Me: Not for breakfast you don't.

D: Ginger eat me!
Me: She gave you kisses.

D: We need to go to the store to get another Minion-ferret!


(7/14) Work day for Dad & me, and Sarah had the kiddos.  Poor boys are going to have two super early days this week.  But it's for a good cause: camping this weekend!  Can't wait!

(7/15) Work day for Dad, and I had the kiddos.  We hit the gym as soon as the daycare opened, and then got all cleaned up to go and visit Helen.  She used to take care of my brother and me as kids.  She's 95 and is still exactly how I remember her.  The twins met her dog, and they keep telling me "So fun at Bella's house!"  They're like me in that they learn the dogs' names first, then people.  Helen lives with her grandson and two kiddos, one of which is a 3 year old boy.  They were all over his toys and had a blast!  Hopefully he'll be home the next time we visit.  I picked up C on my way home - he spent the night with a friend.  The twins slept hard for the ride home and didn't even wake up when C scrambled by to get in his seat.  Sounds like he had a fun time!

J is putting on a smoke "hood"

Testing out the new dog bed

(7/16) Work day for Dad and me, and Sarah had the kids.  I met up with her at the gym after work.  We decided to walk some after class since she said my boys were all uber grouches today, and that I probably didn't want them back.  LOL!  Bedtime came soon after we got home for sure.


(7/17) I took today off from work.  I woke up to a quiet house and got to enjoy my coffee with no interruptions for a whole hour. Then, once the littles were finally up & fed, I hauled them to the gym for some more QT with my book.  We ran a few errands afterward, and then came home for lunch. I was in the middle of that when Sarah called saying she'd just been in a car accident and could I come grab her boys?  We piled in the car and grabbed the boys - thankfully, her car and everybody in it were fine.  Her kids ended up joining us for lunch and a quick visit.  After they left, I put C in charge of the littles while I finally got around to getting us packed to head out for camping!  We reserved a group site up at Coal Creek, along the Mountain Loop Hwy.  Perfect site for all of us!  We had 2 pop-ups and 2 tents, all centralized right next to the creek. We all got in and had dinner, and got a roaring fire (thx DeForest!) going. C hauled wood and was a real trooper all weekend.


(7/18) We all woke around 7ish this morning and had breakfast by the fire. The littles argued over whether they needed hot chocolate or cold chocolate, and Melissa made mochas out of camp coffee and hot chocolate.  I took Deedles over to explore the other side of the campsite and he promptly fell in the river.  It was already starting to heat up, so I just changed the top half, and left him in his swimming suit for the day.  The kiddos were in the water pretty much all day - whether it was climbing up on the rocks, playing with clay, or just sitting with their feet in the river.  We planned to do nothing today, and we accomplished it nicely. We had a potluck this evening.  Burgers, hot dogs, corn, roasted veggies, kabobs - just some of the items.  S'mores, rice krispie treats, and brownies to top it off.  And there may have been a plethora of adult beverages.  The littles zonked out almost as soon as their heads hit their pillows. C managed to stay up with us and watch the stars start to come out, but we all turned in before it got really dark.  Doing nothing is exhausting apparently.


(7/19) We broke camp after breakfast this morning and came home to get cleaned up.  We didn't feel like cooking so took the kiddos to Red Robin for lunch.  D insisted on having carrots and ranch, but then got mad that his lunch didn't come with every side listed on the menu.  I shared my fries with him, and he finally ate his carrots, but the boys were punchy after a long and very fun trip.  The heat didn't help either, and we all about melted before Dad brought us Slurpees when it really got hot.  I saw 100℉ pop up on the car's dash, and the recorded high was 94° for the day.  Bleh!  We questioned leaving the river big time.  


(7/20) Monday again - back to work with me, and Dad has the kiddos.  It finally cooled down enough to turn down the wind tunnel (fan).  A high of 72° today?  I'll take it!

A River Runs Through It

D: I am windy!

J: I see the fire!  I eat Colton's fire?
(candle from C's cake)

D: YOU NEED TO GO TO SARAH'S HOUSE AND I NEED TO GO SEE MY BED!

Me: You are making me very grumpy!
D: You are making me busy!

Me: What would you like for breakfast?
C: I'm gonna make my own breakfast!
Me: What are you going to make?
C: Probably some type of egg meal... Mom, can you hard boil our eggs?


(7/7) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  We planned to have a small herd of boys over for C's birthday this evening, but plans got jumbled and we only ended up with one friend.  Dad bought enough pizza to feed an army though, so at least dinner was delicious! The boys played and played and had a good time, as they usually do together.  Bedtime for the twins is *finally* getting easier. It's been taking 30-45 minutes, which isn't so bad.  No more 3 hour marathons, please kiddos.


(7/8)  Eight.  Let me say that again... EIGHT.  Happy birthday, C!  We love you so very much! I asked the big boys what they'd like for breakfast, and C assured me that he was going to make his own breakfast.  You know, because 8 year olds do that kind of thing.  But then they asked me to cook their eggs.  LOL!  They wanted them over-easy, as it turned out.  I kicked us all outside to play/work in the yard and we were out there til Nana came to get Jor.  She brought C a very cool kite!  And then suggested we fly it at the park out by the marina.  We'll definitely have to go test it out!

(7/9) Work day for Dad & me, and super early day for the kiddos.  I had to wake them all and have them at Sarah's house before 6:30a.  They were grouchy disasters all day, and J even fell asleep in time out.  Definitely nap time.  Dad grabbed them after work, and then sat with them as they fell asleep so I could go walking with Sarah.

(7/10) Work day for Dad & me, and Sarah had the kiddos.  I let them wake up and eat breakfast while I worked, and then ran them over to Sarah's so they weren't quite so out of sorts today, and it made for a more peaceful morning.  Nanan picked C up early and took him to Build-a-Bear for his birthday. He made a very cute bear!  They returned and then Nanan stayed so Dad & I could go on a date.  Huzzah date night!

Toddlering is hard

Captain Spills EVERYTHING

(7/11) This morning we had a contractor out to look at our front entry to see what we might be looking at to repair a soggy beam.  Way more than we're wanting to spend right now, so we've decided to put the house hunting on hold.  But the house is clean and spruced up, so it's not all bad news.  I took my frustration out by putting in the privacy screen along our formerly ivy-covered fence. It looks really nice back there now!  I still have some work to do, but that can keep me busy on another day.  The littles played outside for hours and came in absolutely filthy. I even pre-washed them, and they still required a change of water come bath time.  Nanan was out for most of the day and ran C in to the pet store to pick up a new fish for his tank.  He came home with 2 little neon tetras, which he's named DD and JJ.  Wonder where he got that idea?

J: it's an upside down toilet!

(7/12) After a grumpy morning (early birdies + spills and all prior to coffee!), we packed up and headed for our favorite river for a picnic with friends.  We took the dogs on a trial run to see how they might fare when camping.  Poor Moosey was very stressed and kept returning to the van.  Cass had a great time though, and we wore them + the kiddos out! I fell off the rock bridge both coming and going because I'm talented like that.  And so the mom that was sure to pack a change of clothes for all the kiddos was without a change herself.  Argh.  After we got home, I got to go shopping all by myself, which is always awesome, and Dad cooked us up quite the feast of surf & turf.  I rounded off the evening with a walk to the Bux with Sarah.  Was gud!


(7/13) Work day for me and Daddo has the kidlets.  J was already awake and opening his door before 6:30 this morning.  I slid him the tub of Legos and hoped he'd go play quietly so the rest of the house could sleep.  Not sure how long that lasted.

C: See? It pays to work around the house!

Mischief

Summer Days Drifting Away, To, Uh Oh, Those Summer Nights

C: We should think about getting a boat because I have my crabbing license. Me and Jordan are saving up to get our own boat!

(6/30) Work day for me and Dad had the kids.  I'm all moved in to my new cube and have a veritable green house going.  Our agent suggested thinning the garden window down to just a select few plants, so I brought them all to work.  Dad took the boys to the Depot today and D told me it's too loud, but they got fun new stuff to clean with, so huzzah for that.

(7/1) Day off for me, and work day for Dad. Converted the twins to big boy beds today.  They have been getting out of their cribs for weeks now, and then J's crib broke when he was climbing on it today, so that was the final straw.  Bedtime just got more fun.  Sigh.  We did get out to the lake today to enjoy the sunshine, so that was lovely.  The twins are getting so brave with their swimming!  J still doesn't love getting his head wet, but he willingly goes in up to his ears.  

(7/2) Work day for me, but we were loosed early for the holiday.  I stopped by Starbucks for iced drinks, and then went and sat outside and watched the kids play at Sarah's.  D thinks their pool is way cooler because it is blue, but I'm thinking it might have something to do with the dome over it.  We stayed until J wore out our welcome allllll over said dome.  Thank you very much, J.  And then we went home for dinner, and to meet up with Dad. 

(7/3) C spent the night at Sarah's, and we met up in the morning to hand over Pokemon cards, and go to Zumba.  We stopped at the popcorn store (Ace Hardware) since they had umbrellas for sale, and they were out of popcorn (aka hadn't made it yet).  Deedles was crushed.  He told us all day about how sad he was that they were out of popcorn. C got to go out crabbing with Sarah's fam and they brought back 6.  Awesome!  

This not napping business is going well.

(7/4) Happy Fourth!  We're staying home today to make sure our neighbors don't burn our house down.  Dad worked until 4p and then brought home kabob fixins, which we had plus some delicious crab that Sarah dropped off from C's crabbing adventure yesterday.  I got Pop-its for the boys, but since fireworks are illegal in the city and it's been so dry, we didn't do anything more than that. 

Pop-its with Dad

Complete with cheese

(7/5) We were busy today.  Dad ran several loads to the dump, and we sent another load to Value Village.  I vacuumed, steam cleaned, and washed the walls.  We met with our agent today to talk about timing, and figure we're at least another week out.  We managed to get the twins to take a nap by separating them, but it still is taking almost 3 hours to get them down at night, nap or no nap.  Combo of the light and heat, I guess.  But ugh. I'm ready to put blackout curtains up... or bungee them to their beds.  

Zombie bebe eats brains for breakfast.
Tastes like cherries.

(7/6)  Work day for me and Dad has the kiddos today.  I have to work a full week this week.  I haven't done that in what feels like a looooong time.  Best get to it!