the Wolf Lodge

The day after Dave's wedding we headed down to Grand Mound for a night. The lodge has an indoor waterpark that is super fun.

We also bought a 'Paw Pass' for the kids to share which got Annie a Build A Bear style wolf, a t-shirt to color, a wand thingy that allowed Charlie to play this Harry Potter like game throughout the resort, as well as some candy and ice cream along the way. This place is like Vegas for little kids, if you haven't been you should go.  Kids LOVE it.

After the Wolf Lodge I drove Matt back up to Seattle and left him at the Hyatt so he could attend a work conference.  I drove the tuckered kiddos home and then the next day left for a little business trip of my own.

While Matt was at the Hyatt enjoying steak and top shelf booze...I was driving to rural Eastern Oregon (alone) passing through tiny towns that list the number of pets people own on their population sign.  Super weird. 

barfing, the zoo, and Dave's wedding

A few weeks ago Matt's good friend Dave got married over in Seattle. We went over a day early so we could spend some time enjoying something tourist'y. We were planning on hitting up the Science Center but Annie randomly spent Saturday morning barfing so we thought better of it. After deciding that it wasn't really the flu, just our sensitive little pumpkin having a little reaction to something she ate, we headed out to the zoo. The rational being that she wouldn't be in too close of contact with anyone and therefore we were not bad people. This is Annie having a quick dose of medicine in the parking lot.

After a successful (read: barf free) trip to the zoo we decided she could handle the wedding.  I offered to stay back with her but Matt got in my head and convinced me she wasn't contagious.  I'm pretty sure he just wanted a designated driver and someone to dance with.  It's kind of my role in this marriage so I let him convince me this was a good idea and we all got dressed up and headed out.

Charlie's attempt to get rid of Annie - assign her to a table in the parking lot.  Genius.

We navigated the wedding with no drama and no sickness.  Everyone had a great time - the happy couple was happy, looked great (although it turns out I'm totally narcissistic and didn't take a single picture of the beautiful bride?), and totally enjoyed their day.  

Congrats Dave and Rachael!

Swimming!

My kids have become such brave little swimmers this summer. We're so fortunate to have grandparents living on a lake!

Random picture of Matt with his puppy nephew Ricky.

Uncle Cage, Aunt Katie, Cousin Alexis

Taking a break from the water.

Reading to Grandpa.

Silverwood

Last week we took a day off work and took the kids to Boulder Beach and Silverwood with some friends of ours. No pictures of Boulder Beach, trust me when I say it was super fun though.

Matt and I found Annie in Charlie's bed when we headed to bed.  She's never done that before and I'm pretty sure Charlie didn't even know she was there.  Such a mischievous little rascal sometimes.

Our lucky little kids get to go again tomorrow with Matt's parents, Great-Grandpa and some of Matt's cousins.  This time I'm going to be super prepared and send them with extra clothes.  Annie had a little mishap while we were in line for the log ride last time.  We were deep in the line and were up next when she declared she had to go to the bathroom.  2 seconds later she's peeing her dress as we're being loaded onto the log.  Thank goodness for us it was a wet ride and she just looked like she got splashed (way more than the rest of us).  Not thank goodness for the people after us who had to sit where she sat.  Someday I'm going to write a book about public places my kids have peed...so far we have an amusement park, an airplane, various parks.  I could go on all night...about how disgusting we are?  I'll stop while I only have 3 places on the list, this could be a slippery slope.

Anda Cousin Fest 2012

We're so lucky to have all the cousins close enough that they'll get to grow up together.  Pete and company came up from the Tri-Cities a couple weeks ago and we spent the weekend enjoying the sunshine and watching the kids goof off.

Annie (4), Caden (5), Charlie (6), Royal (2)