Like father like son

Anton had an Obama meeting on Saturday, so of course he dressed for the occasion:
"I'm fired up"

"He's ready to go."

Dressed in red, just like dad!

We Luv Puget Sound!

Here are photos from yesterday's hike and beach visit w/ Scott and Kristine. We were at Marine View park in Normandy Park (close to Monica's preschool). It's a 3/4 mile hike down to the beach and then back up. Monica did really well on the hike, especially considering the hard part was at the end. We finished the day with dinner at our place, which turned into quite the feast. I had pot roast in the slow cooker and Auntie Tina's cheesy potato bake in the oven. Then Kristine made a fresh apple crisp for dessert. I think we easily regained any pounds lost on our hike!

The views even from the upper trail are great, and if it were a little clearer we could have seen the Olympics above Vashon. Just the thought makes me drool!

Dad and son building something out of rocks and sand. Typical male bonding.

Sister prefers to climb on all the big logs.

But Jack likes to give log climbing a try.

Quick family pic!

And one of the sweethearts too!

Jack was trying to throw rocks like Anton and Monica. Unfortunately his never got close enough to make a splash, so finally he gave up and decided that plunking down in the wet sand was more interesting. It was great until about 5 seconds after I turned off the video, he put a GIANT handful of sand in his mouth!

"Don't you wish you never had anything else to do BUT..."

Swimming swimming in the swimming hole...

Monica almost popped a gasket when we told her that we were going to family swim time at Tukwila pool last night. She immediately ran to put on her suit even though we weren't leaving for an hour yet. Jack was a little more hesitant, not having been in a pool in recent memory, but soon found it was loads of fun, especially to splash dad. Unfortunately his lips got blue earlier than expected, but Monica and I stayed in longer. I particularly enjoyed the water basketball hoop. Monica even made a basket (with a little help). We ordered pizza for dinner afterwards and then Anton and I settled in for a night of NCAA basketball.

NW Trek

Well, unfortunately WSU lost to N Carolina. It was pretty awful. But UCLA is currently ahead so I'm about to make my 9pm nacho tray and crack open a Dew. I'm quite exhausted after today's adventures. While Jack spent the whole day at the Martins (Keri is my savior!) I took a personal day off work to take Monica on her class trip to Northwest Trek. Wow. What an incredible park! It's not only a zoo with all northwest animals, it's also a wildlife park with elk and moose coming right up to the tour bus you can ride around in. I'm a total fan. I loved that it's all northwest native species. I so prefer seeing black bears than African giraffes. I guess my interest in zoos is about as exotic as my travel interests.
The only problem with today was that the weather was FREEZING and I spent most of the trip feeling hypothermic, which was mostly my own fault for not dressing more appropriately. Monica didn't seem as cold. I think that running from here to there with her friends kept her toasty. I think it would be tons of fun to go back and visit again, maybe in the summer!

Monica, not so sure about this. It's pretty cold and Mom committed the cardinal sin of forgetting her mittens AND her animal book. Hey, I managed to remember the driving directions, the camera, and the mountain dew... what more could you ask for?

After waiting 30 minutes in the cold for the whole group to assemble, we finally started with the walking part of the zoo. Here is Monica (in pink) and Nadia looking at a wolverine. Go Michigan!

Teacher Shauna posing with her posse. Monica is 3rd from left, standing closest to her BFF Eva. Those two are getting so close these days that if they had cell phones they'd probably be texting each other nonstop.

This view is from the tram we rode. Roosevelt elk, I believe. I learned they lose and re-grow their antlers every year. Who knew!

Yes, Mr. Buffalo WAS actually this close to me.

After the tram ride we visited the children's activity center. Thank god it was heated! Here are Monica and her friends coloring fish pictures with googlie eyes.

Lunch! Notice I picked the table next to the fireplace. The cafe was quite cozy, the only problem being the chef and the cashier chick kept yelling at each other. Eva's mom suggested they have a "team meeting." I was just afraid one of them was going to walk out and quit before my chicken strips were cooked.

We walked through a few more exhibits before we left. Here are the grizzly bears who seemed just was curious about watching what we were doing as we were about them.

At last, back to the car. It's so great to see Monica interacting with her peers and making friends. And Teacher Shauna is a rock star. We can only hope that kindergarten goes this well.

When we finally got back home it was almost four o'clock and I was so exhausted I turned Elmo on for the kids and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Unfortunately Monica disturbed me every 5 minutes asking for popcorn.

Tomorrow... back to work, but then the weekend!

Cream of Wheat and Withdrawals

Well, tonight is the one night of this week with no basketball on TV. So instead I'm watching American Idol and eating Cream of Wheat. I'd rather it be a game with a plate of nachos, but that will have to wait until tomorrow night. Then I will be kicking off the Sweet 16 with the WSU game at 4pm, which probably means grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner or maybe pizza if the game gets really good and I can't pull myself away long enough to open a can of soup. The Russian pizza driver from Pizza Hut knows our regular order anyway so the phone call would be quick.
In the meantime, here's a few recent shots from around here:
Hats. Hats are a big theme in our house these days. Jack either REALLY wants one on, or REALLY wants it off! He is particularly interested in Anton's bike helmet. Monica just wants one on when Jack has one on.

Psych! This is NOT a photo from December. Mother nature is really playing some tricks on us. From almost summer this weekend to almost blizzard tonight! But hey, I'm all about a snow day tomorrow!

Projects. Kyle and Monica and I did a make-your-own-picture-frame project today. Monica wanted to make a present for her friend Eva but of course she made one for herself as well... framing a photo of herself and Eva at the aquarium. Kyle chose a picture of he and Monica in the bathtub with washcloths on their heads. I actually pretty much hate any projects involving glue, but with a full pack of babywipes ready for my fingers, somehow we all survived.

Easter!

Here are some snapshots of our VERY busy Easter weekend!

Monica reading with Great Grandma

Dyeing eggs with Anja and Auntie Mia.

The Easter bunny has arrived and Jack LOVES his new froggie.

....And Mo loves her new groovy girl doll as well.

Posing with friend Chloe after Easter mass.

...and friends Sophia and Eva. (I know this is a pretty mushy comment coming from me, but all the girls decked out in their Easter dresses was awfully cute.)

Easter egg hunt at Dana & Nathan and Cousin Hans' house.

Big shock... look who got the most eggs!

Some of the plastics eggs were empty, but some were filled with bunny-shaped marshmallows. Jack and Hans figured this out pretty quickly and soon their idea of a hunt was: find an egg, pry it open, eat the marshmallow, leave the remains, and go on to the next one.

Later, everyone got to try wearing the Bunny ears: Hansie...

Nanie...

And even Auntie Anne...

But Jack prefered the construction hat!

Happy Easter everyone!... He is risen!

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." -Mark 16:15

A visit... with no tears!

My mom got this photo of the kids on Friday at the Seatac Community Center. I'm still in shock that Jack didn't cry, especially given the deafening treatment of Santa last Christmas.

Later Monica announced, "It was just a person dressed up."

To this I replied that the Easter Bunny must be so busy getting ready for Easter that he has to have someone else visit with kids. She seemed to buy that explanation.

A Tower

Jack is quite interested in this set of wooden blocks that Auntie Lisa got for Monica years ago at the Lakeside rummage sale. He and Dad love to build it all up, and knock it all down!

It's egg time!

Every night for the past week Monica has requested an egg hunt instead of a board game as her before-bed activity. She lies on the floor and hides her eyes while Anton and I "hide" the eggs (they're all pretty much in plain site.) Monica gets SO excited every time she finds an egg! Last night we had our friends Jenny and Ernie over and even they got in on the fun.
Today when Mo returned from preschool she had a new collection of eggs from her class' hunt. So now there are eggs everywhere, as well as that annoying fake grass stuff that's impossible to clean up. While Monica was occupied in her room, Jack found the egg baskets and spent at least 15 minutes opening each one and emptying the candy contents. He managed to get one of the foil candy wrappers removed. I wasn't sure what he would do with it or if he would even know it was edible. But sure enough, he popped the ENTIRE chocolate candy into his mouth. He had to work on it for quite a while before he could get it all chewed and swallowed, but when he was done he flashed me a huge chocolatey grin.

When I grow up...

Miss Kramer ready to report to work for the day!

Twinkle Twinkle

Our little star returned home from preschool this afternoon exhausted from her big day. Each student made a page to go in her star book (the pink thing she is holding in the second picture) so now she has drawings by all her friends. She and her teacher filled out the poster you see in the first picture. Under "when I grow up" Monica had Teacher Karil write "ballet dancer." Hmmmm.... perhaps some lessons might be in order before that career is launched!

Spring Search 2008

Yesterday I got home from our second and final Search retreat of the school year. It was a successful weekend. The only issue being that Father B forgot to bring hosts for communion so we had to use tortillas. Hey, it's unlevened too!
Here's a few photos from the weekend with captions:

One of my favorite times at Search is when Jill plays the guitar for the group.

Our two student leaders giving a talk during mass on Saturday.

Anton brought the kids for dinner Friday night and they enjoyed a little jog around camp.

" Baby B" is getting bigger and bigger!

This spring's group of student leaders.

I picked the wrong year to not coach...

The Lancers made it all the way to the state championship this year, unfortunately losing to Auburn Riverside by 6 points. Way to go, Lancers! Next year the title!!!

Go Eagles!

We just received word that Monica has been accepted to St. Francis for Kindergarten! She received a cute certificate that we posted on the fridge, in addition to the letter for the whole family. I think Anton and I are more excited by this news than she is... it's a huge relief to have everything set for next year. We have been impressed with St. Francis school overall and think it will be a good fit for Monica. Here is a link to the school website if you're interested:

http://www.stfoa.org/school/index.htm