Mother's Day Ferry Ride

Today we celebrated Mother's Day and I have wanted to take the boys on a ferry ride to Bremerton forever.  So we took advantage of the beautiful day and headed to downtown Seattle and Pier 52 to the ferry terminal.

After finding a place to park (finally!) we bought our tickets to walk on the Seattle to Bremerton ferry.  Then we had an hour to walk around and grab a bite to eat.  Colson and I headed to Starbucks for a sandwich and drink.  Cannon and Chris stopped at Ivars for some chicken strips.  We met back at the outdoor seating next to Ivars and had a wonderful lunch, watching the boats and seagulls and people.

The boys couldn't wait to get on the ferry boat!  We rode on the Walla Walla on the ride to Bremerton, which is a huge ferry with a great outdoor, upper deck.  We spent most of the trip up top,

We had a great time walking around the docks at Bremerton.  The boys enjoyed all of the fountains and we were able to look at boats along the guest docks at the marina.  There was an old Coast Guard ship docked and we got to get on board to look around.  The day was beautiful and it was so nice to be outside, with family and near the water.  So perfect!

This was the best picture of the boys and I.  Isn't this typical.  They are SO NOT interested in pictures!

Yummy ice cream from Cold Stone.  It was so good!  

 On the ferry boat ride back.  So happy!   

We had a great day.  I could have stayed in Bremerton longer and would have loved to hike all around Seattle, too.  But the boys were tired and I knew we needed to get home.  Colson lasted about 15 minutes before he fell asleep in the car!

What a fabulous day!  I love our beautiful state and feel so lucky we have so many wonderful places to visit. The boys loved going on their first ferry ride.  The best part of the day was their excitement about the ferry and how they wanted to see everything.  I loved how they wanted to watch the ferry leaving the docks as well as docking.  I loved all of the questions Cannon had.  I loved that they were so interested in the upper deck, the inside where people sit and also the car decks.  It was all amazing to them!  Colson loved looking at the gigantic map of Puget Sound on the Walla Walla.  I remember loving all of the same things when I was a kid and rode the ferry!

So incredibly blessed!

Enjoying every moment!

A Few Stories From Miscellaneous Photos

Bedtime routines....we have been doing a lot more reading books together before bed since both have lights out about the same time now.  We love to either lay on the floor in Colson's room or snuggle up together on Cannon's bed to read.  Tonight, we took a few silly pictures.  Makes me smile just thinking about these two!   

These two often argue, fight and pick on one another. However as they get older, there have been more times where they play nicely, get along and respect each other.  I love this picture...Colson was watching TV and Cannon came and snuggled up behind him.  

Cannon comes to school with me in the morning and he loves hanging out.  He often draws, builds with blocks, hangs out or plays on the computer.  So independent.

Earlier this week Cannon had a Teddy Study appointment.  He gives blood at every appointment and he's an expert at it.  Amazing!

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week.  Each day we were spoiled.  Spoiled with fruit, donuts, flowers, kind notes, breakfast, lunches, desserts, etc.  Here are just a few of the flowers I received!  They are now all at home and look wonderful on my kitchen window sill.

We often find DC asleep in Colson's bed.  He loves to curl up on Colson's blanket.  One night this week, I walked in and I found this car on top of DC.  Colson (or Cannon...but I'm thinking Colson) must have put it on top of DC, which didn't phase the cat at all.  Sound asleep!

Enjoying every moment. 

Mother's Day Tea

The Friday before Mother's Day is such a special day at Mountain Meadow!  The Early Kinders, Kindergarten, First and Second grade classes each hold a Mother's Day Tea.  The classrooms were packed with moms who were being honored.  

Cannon's class had their room looking beautiful with handmade place mats, flowers, decorations, cake and strawberries.  The kids were all excited for the afternoon with their moms.  Cannon loved showing me what he made, reading the poem on the place mat, telling me about how he helped with the flowers and serving me cake and juice.  It was wonderful and perfect!  

I loved getting to be a mom in his class!  So special!

Enjoying every moment! 

Carnival Photobooth

Here's a few more pictures from the carnival on Friday night.  They had a cute photo booth set up with tons of props.  The boys loved the red noses!  Hilarious!

Love these two so much!

Carnival Time!

Our school carnival was this Friday.  It's small, but full of wonderful games and activities for the kids.  They love every minute of it!  This year Chris was out of town so I invited Granny Joy to come with us.  It was nice to have an extra set of hands.  We often split up, Joy taking one boy and me the other.

Both boys got their faces painted and also had swords made from balloons.  Those were a hit!

They loved the bouncy house and slide!

Both boys played numerous games and it was great to watch them work so hard to get a prize.  I loved their determination...and the look of pride and happiness when they won (especially Colson!)

Of course, the cupcake walk was a MUST stop and both boys won cupcakes!

Hats off to the PTA and all of the volunteers who made this such a great evening filled will many memories for the kids!  That is what it's all about!

Enjoying every moment!

A Few Things to Remember

Just a few things that I want to remember.  I often forget that I don't need pictures to tell stories.

• Since Colson turned three, he moved to the next class at church.  I thought this may be a difficult transition since he was used to his 2's teacher but he did great and has talked almost daily about going to church again so he can be in the 3's class!  

• Chris is traveling a lot for work this week.  He doesn't travel often, but this week, he's been to Medford and back and spent three days in Michigan.   

• Cannon and Colson are both into Legos.  They have a huge tub of regular Legos and have gotten better at using their imagination to build things.  (with lots of practice!)  Colson also has some Lego Duplo sets that are bigger and easier to put together.  They both like to play with those.  I love watching them play together, however I often see them play by themselves, too!

• Cannon's class has snails at school for science lessons.  They have got to watch and observe the snails, hold them and feel them, draw and write about them and most recently, had snail races! (Couldn't have been much action there!)

• Last Friday night we all sat on the couch and watched Frozen.  Cannon and Colson had both seen it before (many times for Cannon) but Chris and I hadn't.  So we planned a movie night.  It was a good movie, with great songs and a great message.  It was nice to sit down and relax.  Cannon wanted to tell us everything that was going to happen and we kept having to tell him to be quiet!  Fun family memories being made!

• A quote I found when I needed it the most:  “The secret of life isn’t what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.”- Norman Vincent Peale

• My kids at school are really working hard to meet their reading goals.  They are striving for a goal of reading 40 books in a year.  A handful have already surpassed that and some are very close.  I am very proud of them!  

• Cannon is a wonderful sleeper.  He sleeps so hard, nothing usually wakes him up.  When Chris was gone, Cannon slept with me one night.  I took a shower, put clothes away and read....and Cannon never even moved.  I loved watching him sleep!  :)

• Colson had a great report from the dentist and was absolutely fabulous for them.  However, he does need to stop sucking his thumb!  We are working on it.  He knows....and catches himself, but right now it is such a habit and it's hard to break!  

Enjoying every moment. 

Enjoying the Sun

This week we were blessed with some fabulous weather that included 80+ degree days.  It was wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun and enjoy so much time outside.  The boys ran through the sprinkler, ran around buck naked, ate ice cream and wished this was the weather we had all of the time!

I also loved waking up to blue skies, wearing sun dresses, reading on the back deck, watching the boys play, and of course...eating ice cream!

Cannon and I played a number of great UNO games, sitting on the deck, enjoying the weather!

Colson, naked as a jaybird, eating ice cream....not a care in the world!  

This wagon gets so much use.  Colson is working on putting blocks under it.

The boys having fun kicking the ball around the yard.  So much fun and great exercise!

They will kill me for this later...both peeing in the bushes.  :)

(Too bad Chris missed the wonderful weather. He was in Michigan most of the week for work where it was cold and rainy!)

Please come back sun and this time, stick around longer than a few days!

Enjoying every moment!