A Helicopter Tour

The Olympic Flight Museum brought helicopter down to the Hands On Children's Museum one day so kids could explore the inside.  So, of course, we had to go check it out!

Ethan exploring the cabin 

 Taking his turn in the pilot's seat!

 Now trying on the co-pilot seat

 The state capitol building (where the helicopter was located)

 We ran into several friends down there.  I was able to snap a few quick pics of the Marlatt boys.

Skyler looking out the window

 Dylan and Skyler

 Dylan hammin' it up

 Allisha and Dylan

 Trying to get a pic of the big boys...Ethan wouldn't cooperate.

 Afterwards, we let the boys burn off some energy by running around the capitol campus.  This is one of the fountains on the campus.  I took a picture of Carter in front of it to prove he was there with us!

 Skyler and Ethan running around

It was fun for Ethan to be like his daddy for the day!

Summer Fun with My Boys

All summer I have been thinking about how grateful I am to be in a home rather than an apartment.  We have had so much fun here as a family.  I have felt so much more relaxed and more able to enjoy my time with my boys.  Carter is growing so fast.  He wants to be big like Ethan and is doing a pretty good job keeping up with him!

He is a MESSY eater.  I know there are many things about parenthood that I will miss when my boys are grown and gone, but having to literally mop the floor after EVERY meal is not one of them--I am sure of that to my core!  On the positive side, he is a good eater and not picky at all.  Here's a picture of him enjoying dinner one night.

 He has discovered the washer and dryer and is fascinated with them.  He loves to watch it spin around and around.

 One day I went to go check on Ethan during quiet time because it had been a little TOO quiet for a bit.  I walked in to find an empty bedroom.  I started to panic, wondering where he could be.  I searched his bed thinking maybe he was just balled up under the covers--nothing.  Finally I looked in the closet because that was the only place left to look.  Here is what I found:

 Ethan had apparently crawled in there to play and fallen asleep.  I was so relieved and was then able to laugh about it.

 I love it when I catch little moments like this...they were looking at a book together and it was just so cute how they were sitting together.

 One day I couldn't find Carter so I went back to my bedroom calling for him.  He cam crawling out of my bathroom with toilet paper following him.  He had made a huge mess, but I couldn't help laughing when he popped up with this look of accomplishment on his face!

 We enjoyed going to our ward park playdates once a week.  One week a sister in the ward brought a parachute and some balls to play with.  Ethan loved it (he's wearing the read shirt with the blue and white stripes).

 This pop up tunnel has been the center of our summer inside fun quite often.  Ethan has always loved it and he and Carter have so much fun playing in it together.  Carter loves it so much that he will crawl inside of it even when it is folded up.  What a silly boy!

We have had lots of fun just being at home together this summer!

Summer Camp Out

Costco had these great tents on sale and after shopping around we decided it was too good of a deal to pass up.  It's a 10-man tent, but we figure that really means 6 or 7 and we already have 4 people.  Throw in another kid or some friends who want to come along and we should have no problem filling it up!  We decided to set it up and check it out one day and then decided we should have a family camp out!

 Ethan and Carter both loved the tent and loved playing in it.  Once we got Carter down for the night we headed out to the tent to watch Up! and eat popcorn and candy.  Ethan thought it was so fun to hang out in the tent as a family.  And then the MASSIVE thunderstorm hit.  I mean, I don't remember EVER having thunder and lightning like that in Washington.  You could barely hear the movie!  But we made it all the way through the movie and got to test out how waterproof the tent really was!

 After the movie I decided to move inside since I was worried the power would go out and the baby monitor wouldn't work and Carter was inside by himself.  But Ethan made it through the whole night with his dad and we still had lots of fun!

This is just a random picture of our head of cabbage that came from our garden...It doesn't really fit in with any post, so here it is!  We had a good turnout from our garden this year and are looking forward to another harvest next year!

When the Cat's Away...

When Tristan is away, I am all too aware of how understaffed I am around here...but sometimes something happens that makes it VERY clear.  Like this:

 Yep, that's ACRYLIC paint on my RENTAL house carpet.  When we put the boys down we read scriptures together and then Ethan has about 10 minutes of quiet time while I get Carter settled and in bed.  Well, I had been crafting and put the unopened bottles of craft pain on the table in the playroom.  I even noticed them earlier that day and thought about moving them, but they were unopened and had a plastic seal so I figured it was fine.  Ethan, however, knows how to unscrew lids now...and apparently all the plastic seal was good for was keeping the flip top closed.

Now to be clear, Ethan doesn't do stuff like this just to be "bad".  He loves, loves, loves to paint.  When I came out of Carter's room he had poured paint onto one of his coloring books, so I'm assuming that his original plan was to paint in his book.  Then some of it had run off the edge of the paper.  That's when he decided it would be a good idea to drive his CARS through it, leaving car tracks all over the carpet.

When I discovered it, I was beside myself.  I was totally in a panic.  I mean, how do you clean up ACRYLIC paint???  I made phone calls, searched the internet and ultimately decided I had to at least try cleaning it.  My ever-so-level-headed friend Kelly arrived without me asking with carpet cleaner--got to love best friends.  She just happened to read the back of the bottle and it said that while it was wet, clean it with soap and water.  That's when I started to have some hope.  I ran and got a carpet cleaner from QFC.

And here is the result:

I couldn't believe it!  I actually went over it a few more times and it looked even better.  I'm so thankful for friends who come to rescue without being asked!

Damon Point and Pacific Beach

Our friends Brian and Denise invited us to come to beach with them in July as well...man, July was a busy month!  We had a great time.  The weather wasn't the best we had had, but that's kind of how the beach goes in Washington!  We headed down to Damon Point when we first arrived and spent some time making a plan for the day.  

Seagulls in the surf

 Ethan and Caitlyn couldn't wait to break out the beach toys

 Carter's first trip to the beach!  He spent the first part of it snuggled up in the Ergo and taking in the sights.

Carter finally wanted down and started exploring this wet stuff we call "sand".  I expected him to hate it, but he actually did really well with it!

Digging in!

The first of, what will probably be many, brother pictures at the beach.

Ethan's turn to dig in!

Ethan and Tristan trying to get their feet stuck

Ethan watching the seagulls fly off after he ran over and scared them

 I love this crazy kid!

We found a little shrimp...too bad more of his buddies weren't around.  That would have been a yummy dinner!

Carter exploring the COLD water with dad--he didn't even get upset over the water.  He was a trooper!

Tristan and I are still debating who took these pictures of Ethan, but they are some of my favorite that I have of him.  What a cutie!

After playing for a bit, we packed up and drove out to Pacific Beach to play for a bit.  I put Ethan into his swimming clothes so we could get serious about playing!

Every time we go to the beach Ethan loves to push this dump truck.  He just runs up and down the beach pushing it.  It recently broke, so my dad is going to have to search some more garage sales to find another one for him!

Caitlyn running and playing

Ethan hitching a ride from Brian

For some reason, the sand was really green and staining everything, so I finally changed Carter and put him in the stroller for a bit.  He had been crawling around in it and was wet and getting cold.  I love this look on his face...it's like he's waiting for us to stop watching so he can plan his escape!

More fun getting stuck in the mud

 The waves are always so beautiful.

The beach is one of my favorite places.  I love the sand and the waves...I just wish we had a little more sun!  But we still had a great day playing, snacking and visiting friends!