Emerald City

We are now up in Seattle/Bellevue at my parents' house. Steve and I have actually returned from a 6 day trip to Hawaii. It was really great to get away, sleep in, have some cocktails, and eat a meal without having to be a circus clown. We missed them like crazy and called everyday and actually took the laptop so we could video conference with them. The kids had a great week with Grammy and Pop Pop. They had 2 different playdates set up with 2 different kids, have been to the park and the lake. WOW! The kids are popular. Anyhow, they went to the lake on one playdate and they loved it. Brooke apparently did a face plant in the water as she was trying to run out into it. They have had a great time spending some quality time with their grandparents and also their aunt and uncle. Kim and Jared took the kids on Saturday to the Zoo and let them go all day. It makes me very happy that the kids will know them and have fun with them.

The weather here has been really great. My girlfriend Erin and her family came over yesterday to play with the kids. We took the sprinkler out and let the kids run through it naked. It was really cute. Kim and Jared came over and we had a little BBQ. It was a really great day and I went to bed to with warm fuzzies. I would love to live here with family and friends. Hopefully one day in the near future we will.

I will have to upload some more photos of our trip here. The naked sprinkler pixs are too cute.

Lake Shasta

Here we are at Lake Shasta. The first picture is of Brooke after I told her that it was time to get into her bathing suit and go on the boat. She had her sunglasses that Auntie Janet got for her and her Elmo hat on. She couldn't get out of her PJ's fast enough. The other is Kyle with daddy on the boat learning how to drive. The one with Brooke and I was when we were on our raft out in the water. She resisted at first and then really liked it. The other picture is of the kids on the boat with their lifejackets on. They really liked it but the water was colder than they would have liked. We had to dip them in the water to cool them off. Brooke actually did jump from the boat once but she did not like how cold it was. She did better on the raft when only her legs got wet.

We had a great couple of days there. The kids actually took naps on the boat. Kyle was so tired at one point that he feel asleep next to Steve while he was driving. We had a fun filled 2 days on the boat with the kids. At one point, I was in the back of the boat and just watching the kids play and tickle each other. It almost made me cry. These were the days that I have always waited for...the family times spent with the kids.

Schools Out for SUMMER!

Summer vacation is finally here. As of June 9th, I was done with the regular school year. I decided to do the first 3 weeks of summer school in order to finish up with the master schedule. I had about a week off before summer school started. Steve's parents came in for his niece's graduation and stayed with us for a few days. Steve also brought the motorhome to sit in front of the house so I had 3 days to pack before we left for a month. We have plans to go to Lake Shasta for a few days and rent a boat. After that, our plans are to head to my parents house and then take off to Hawaii just the 2 of us. After that, we are planning on heading down to Oregon to stay at the beach in Newport. WOW! Sounds like the summer is already over and I will have to go back to work.

Father's Day came and the kids and I went to the fire station to be with daddy and have a BBQ with the other families. I got some shirts for Steve and the kids got him a book that I had made online. It was pictures of just Steve and the kids and I put some quotes in there. I was really happy with the way that it turned out.I figure I can continue my love for scrapbooking but do it online after the kids go to bed. It would be something as opposed to what I am doing now which is nothing!

So it's off for summer and some real good times with the kids.