Easter

Before Easter came around this year, I was looking at the $5 movie bin at Wal-mart.  I came across a few movies that I thought our family might enjoy.  First, Anastasia – the one that came out in the movie theatres about 1997. Second, The Land Before Time – the original one.  I usually come across The Land Before Time 45, one of the many sequels they have out on the market.  Third, Horton Hears a Who – again the one that came out a few years back. Last but not least – Robin Hood, Prince of Theives, you know the one, the Kevin Costner/Christian Slater one. Yeah, that one.  When I saw that and Land Before Time, I knew I had to act fast.  I wasn’t looking to buy any movies, but once I saw these, there was no turning back.  There I was with four movies that would be perfect for the kids (and the hubby) for Easter.  The kids have not seen Anastasia or The Land Before Time, and it was about time they be exposed to some other great movies. 

Before I go on about our Easter, I have to put in this funny little story about watching Robin Hood.  So, the hubby and I had the kids down in bed and decided to watch the movie.  I put it in the blu-ray player (mind you, it is a regular dvd).  We begin watching it, but about half way through the movie, it jumps back to the main menu.  We were both baffled, thinking something was wrong with the dvd.  Then I remembered that the dvd looked two sided, thought it was one of those widescreen/full screen, but didn’t pay much attention. We flipped the dvd over and poof * we were back were the movie left off.  I guess this dvd was either one they found sitting in a warehouse since 1992 or what we get for paying only $5.  Either way, it was a great find!

For Easter this year, we didn’t go on the Easter camp, we stayed close to home.  To start the kids week off from school, I had an ultrasound scheduled for baby number 4.  F, K, L came along, while B stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  Baby looks very healthy and kept it’s left hand up by it’s face the entire time, moving around plenty.  We were excited (especially L) to find out that we are having a baby boy!  Feels like a perfect way to end our family. 2 girls, 2 boys. 

Friday, F took off work and we spent it as a family.  We drove up to the Kimball Arts Center and enjoyed the Lego exhibit they had. It was amazing to see all the works of art made entirely of Legos.  After that we went to the Tanger Outlets and did a little shopping, well I did and the kids played on the playground with F. 

Saturday, we went up to the zoo.  We love the zoo – so much we have an annual pass and have done so since K was little.  We never get bored of the animals and the zoo has made some amazing transformations since we first bought a pass and even more since I was little.  That night, we dyed Easter eggs.  K and L were pretty creative with theirs.  L made a dragon, K made a frog and a chick hatching.  B was able to get into it a bit more than previous years. 

Sunday, New Easter clothes.  I bought sweaters for the girls and a new shirt for L, and I made matching skirts for the girls. I love being able to get them to match for one day each year.  It will be ending before I know it though!  We went to church and later we visited F’s parents. We ate dinner at my parent’s house and had our annual Easter egg hunt. My mom hides the eggs all over the backyard.  The kids hunt for the eggs.  When they are all found, we divide them among the kids (each egg has a name on it).  The kids always have a blast. 

Among all the eggs and treats, we do teach our children about the importance of Easter which is not only the atonement by our Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane, but the Resurrection of Him.  I am grateful for Jesus Christ and his willingness to do all the Father asked of Him.  He leads the way back to our Father in Heaven, made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins, and live together for eternity.  I am thankful for my membership in this Church and the covenants I have entered into and for F being a worthy priesthood holder and blessing our family because of it.

Christmas Break

Well, it is now 2013, and we have had a lot of fun.  F was able to take all of last week off and we have had about a week and a half with our family together.  The Sunday before Christmas, we went downtown to Temple Square, walked around to see the windows at Macy's and went through the Visitor Centers on Temple Square.  We met up with all of my family and walked around the grounds to see the lights, and another look at the candy window displays.  Followed up with a delicious dinner at my parents house.  I love going to Temple Square and usually we are there late and miss going into the visitor centers. It was nice to see the displays, talk to the children, and to show them the Christus statue. 

Christmas Eve: My parents good friends had rented out a movie theater and invited their family and friends to join them. We were lucky enough to be invited and had a great time seeing Rise of the Guardians, and catch up with friends we hadn't seen for a long time.  Just as we walked into the theater, K was up talking to my mom and another girl I didn't know.  It ends up this girl is in K's school class.  Her grandma is sister's with Jill, who invited us.  Small world and great to meet her and her family (it is their first year at our school).  After the movie, we went over to F's parents house and played games, ate dinner, watched Scrooge, and had a great night. It had snowed most of the day, so driving was a little nervewracking, but we were save and sound. When we got home, the children were able to open new pajamas.

Christmas: The kids were instructed not to get up before seven.  F was in the shower at seven and I heard K and B playing in their room, followed by L coming to their door and saying, "It's not morning yet," and going back to his room.  Once F and I were ready, we let B come down first, followed by L, and lastly K.  When B saw her easel, she said, "School." The kids had a great time opening presents, and giving presents. I always love seeing the excitement on the kids faces when they see their presents for the first time.  L had asked for a bed side table (at one point in time), so we bought a small side table and glued on some lego baseplates. The table doubles as a place to display and play with his legos, and also a bed side table.
 When asked about Christmas, L said, "I didn't get anything on my list."  Which was partly true.  His list had changed daily for the whole month. He had asked for most of them over the several list changes. It also didn't help that K replied, "Well, I got everything on my list."  Overall they were both happy with what they got.  K has been taking endless pictures and videos with her camera.  After breakfast, we got dressed and made our first stop - my parents.  We opened gifts and ate some pancakes.  My parents got all the grandkids cowboy boots.  B and K have been wearing theirs any chance they can. We went over to F's parents afterwards and again more presents.  F's  parents gave us some food storage and emergency preparedness items, which are very helpful.  After playing a game and eating more food, we went to our last stop, my grandpa's house.  We again had food (I was actually to full to eat anything, but enjoyed the tradition slush). It was great to see some cousins and family we haven't seen in a few months, and some even a few years! What a day!!

Since Christmas, we have gone sledding twice, visited the zoo, slept in, stayed up, played hours of video games, ate too much, put two puzzles together (well, I did), read new books, drank hot chocolate, watched new movies, relaxed and had lots of fun.  For New Year's, it was a little more low key.  B went to bed at her normal hour, K and L stayed up until ten watching Goonies on tv.  F wasn't feeling well, so he was in bed before 11, and I stayed up rang in the New Year watching fireworks out in the neighborhood from our front window.  I can't believe how fast it has gone by and that today is the last day before we get back into reality.  But for now, I am going to go have some fun!

Lego Birthday Party

For L’s 6th birthday, we did a Lego themed birthday party.  Thanks to Pinterest, we had a load of great ideas to choose from.  I had a great time putting everything together and I think all of the boys had a great time, too!

Here is what we did.  I borrowed the large box of Legos from my parents… with three brothers, there are quite a few Legos.  I separated out body parts.  Heads, torsos, legs, and hair/hat accessories. The boys were able to pick out and built a Lego guy, which they took to the table where they could color a picture of their Lego minifig.

Then they could free build with the Legos.  I had these set up on a big queen sized bed sheet on the floor of our living room. 

After all the kids arrived, we ate some little snacks.  Chips, grapes, rectangular shaped Jell-o Jigglers, and some graham crackers filled with a little frosting topped with colored marshmallows to look like Legos. I made the banner from cardstock and made them look like Lego bricks.I added little Lego smiley faces to the side of each cup and also wrote their names on the back (I hate when I lose my cup in the sea of  cups at a party!) 

Next…games.  The games we played were: Pin the head on the minifig,

Lego toss game, simply tossing Lego blocks into the rings.

Find the minifig head: hiding the several heads from the previous game.

Lego scavenger hunt: To pick teams for the scavenger hunt, we had separated out two colors of Lego bricks.  One for each kid and having equal of each color. Let each kid blindly pick a block, determining their group.  The prize at the end was a bag of Lego brick crayons that I made earlier in the week with a mold and old broken crayons.

Last but not least, a Lego brick piñata.

For the cake: we had cupcakes instead.  Along with the brick mold, I bought a Lego minifig mold.  I used candy melts in different colors (yellow for the head/hands; blue, green, red for body and legs). I had made these earlier in the week too.  I used one to top each cupcake and displayed them on a cupcake stand. 

Party favors: I cut circles and hot glued them to the front of bags and filled them with stickers, little ninja guys, and other Lego items found at a party store. Attached a tag with the name of each boy. The font I used is from dafont.com called LEGo hic.

And as a little thank you, I used the yellow candy melts to cover marshmallows on sucker sticks. Wrapped those in little cellophane bags, attached a ribbon and thank you tag.  I don’t have a picture, but I drew a little Lego face on the cellophane bags (I didn’t have a edible writer, or I would have just drawn it on the candy.)

When everything was done, the boys went back to building Legos in the living room as parents came to pick them up.  It was a great party!! I had a fun time putting everything together and I think L had a great time too!

School Days, School Days!

Here are the kiddos on the first day of Kindergarten for L.  K started 3rd grade last week.  And Baby B will miss her sister and brother, but more time with Mama. I can't believe how time flies.  We had a great summer and looking forward to a wonderful school year.  Both of the kids are excited about their classes.  L thinks he can do things by himself (namely going to and from the bus stop without me - it's not too far away, but I like knowing they are safe). 

The Great North West

Monday, October 3rd

Packed up – again, headed to the ferry – again.  We sailed from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA.  We drove on the 101, the Pacific Coast Highway through Olympia National Park.  We stopped to eat lunch at the Storm King Ranger Station next to beautiful Crescent Lake that was a gorgeous turquoise color.  We saw a family of deer just enjoying their lunch by the lake as well. 

Some of the things that amazed us on this drive were: how tall the trees are, how green and mossy everything is, and how sparse it was to find civilization.  We drove down into the rainforest and as we drove further along the road, the darker it got, and the more the rain fell. Our destination was to see Big Sitka Spruce in Hoh Rainforest.  Even with the pelting rain and the panic to get in a few pictures, it was worth it. 

We did (for my sake) stopped at the sign for Forks, WA, only long enough to get a few pictures by the city’s welcome sign. In this one day, we made it all the way through Washington state – barely.  As the day got later, the more worried we became about find a hotel, being again the lack of civilization.  Our last adventure before finding a hotel in Astoria, OR was crossing the Columbia River, spanning 14 miles. 

Tuesday, October 4th

We started off by heading back into Washington to go see a lighthouse, but the road was closed and we were – disappointed, which was likely to happen, since the lighthouse is at Cape Disappointment.  Oh, the irony, especially since the night before we had passed by the Cape of Foul Weather in a rainstorm.  We went into Lewis and Clark National Park and learned about the explorers and saw the home they made for themselves in the winter, saw a wooden canoe replica of what they travelled in, a dog which is the same breed (Newfoundland)as the one that travelled with Lewis & Clark, and a little historical video.

  

While in Astoria, we drove up and saw the Astoria column, and ate lunch by the 36th Street pier serenaded by the sounds of sea lions! 

As we drove down the coast further, we followed visitor brochures to hit some sites on the way, making sure to stop for me to get a few pictures of Haystack monolith at Cannon Beach.  The weather was cloudy and a little bit rainy, so we didn’t stop for too long – we were also in the search for a bathroom for the kids. 

Our last stop before our next hotel was – drum roll please – the Tillamook Cheese Factory!  We had fun seeing the cheese be cut and packaged, sampling various cheeses, and enjoying some Tillamook Ice Cream, yummy!  We drove into Newport, OR and checked into hotel #5 and settled in…Here is where we ended up staying for the majority of our time, and loving it….more in the next post.

Vancouver Island

September 30

Making our trek across the border!!  We set our GPS to guide us to the border.  However the directions it was giving us and the signs on the road – were completely different!  We followed the signs on the road which took us to the right border crossing (the other one was apparently ridiculously out of the way).  At the border, the nice lady checked our documents and asked us a few questions. One question was where were we headed.  When we told her the town, she replied “Why are you going there. It’s not really a destination point!” We told her our reason. After declaring all that we had and why we were travelling, we were allowed to enter into Canada.  We made way to the ferry. The signs pointing us in the right direction suddenly had no ferry port listed, so we thought we had made a wrong turn. After turning around and driving another direction for about 5 minutes, we figured we originally had been on the right track.  So, back on our first course and just yards after our turn around point, we came into full view of the port.  We got to the ticket booth and found that we had just missed the last ferry (by moments!) and the next ferry was scheduled to leave in 2 hours.  If we didn’t make our turn around deals, we might have made the ferry, but no, we had to hunker down in the duty free shops until it was time to board the ferry.  We got seats on the ferry right at the front, being able to view the water.  The ferry ride was about 1.5 hours.  They made mention of a children play area, so I made a lap around the boat with B in her stroller to get a lay of the land.  When I got to the play area, it was a small room, a few things to climb on, chairs for the parents, and The Wiggles playing on a television… I think we are better off at the front of the boat.  The children did great and had fun. 

On our drive to the hotel, the children played with stickers – they’ve got quite the imaginations!  They had decided to make curly mustaches with their stickers, even giving a few to Baby B! 

Well, since we were behind in our travels, when we arrived at the hotel, we found F’s family ready to get dinner before the reception and his brother came to get the remaining decorations that we had brought with us.  We had just enough time to check-in, unload our stuff, get cleaned up, and over to the reception to help prepare the food.  This time, some friends helped keep the food going, which meant, F and I were able to sit back and enjoy this reception a bit more than the last.  The kids stole off into the nursery room with their Canadian friends to play most of the time.

October 1

F’s family (minus the bride and groom) left to head back home today (so we only saw them at the reception and a few minutes this morning).  We went to downtown Duncan and walked around. Downtown Duncan is famous for its totem poles.  We followed the steps to each one and had a great time taking pictures, reading what had been carved into each pole, pretending to be totem poles, and enjoying a little down time after the busy days we have had. 

Next we drove up the coast to Ladysmith and met up with F’s brother, wife, her mother, her sister and family, and a cousin (who follows F’s brother – everywhere!). There is a beautiful beach (Transfer Beach) with a large wood/metal/old tires filled playground.  The kids loved it!! 

The beach also had plenty of rocks to explore, an kids sized boat to play in, and for the big kids (F, brother, and cousin) – ocean kayaks.  They rented them for an hour, got instructions, looked absolutely hilarious in swimsuits, sandals, windbreakers, and life jackets. 

The rest of us played on the sand.  F’s brother also brought us some local cuisine from the Dairy Queen – poutine  (pronounced poo-teen) which essentially is french fries covered in cheese curds covered in gravy (the gravy melts the cheese curds). It felt as if all my arteries were clogging up from the minimally bites I had.

 

Before dinner, we drove through another town, Chemainus, to see there murals through out the city.  We met up with brother, sis-in-law, and her mother to grab a bite to eat. For dinner we tried some more local fare at White Spot.  The big hit there was the kids meal that is brought in a large paper pirate ship (I think there is one still sailing about our house!)

October 2

Today we checked out and headed down to Victoria. Our first stop and where we spent most of the day, The Butchart Gardens. The weather has been about 50-60’s through this trip, so we all needed our coats, but it was pleasant weather for walking around outside.  F and I were both worried about how the kids would take to walking around a garden, but they did well.  It was a lot of walking, but there was plenty to see.  They loved to find plants/flowers that they liked. Just as we arrived and were getting out of our car, a deer walked by, crossing through the parking lot.  That was a great start.  This garden has been around since the early 1900’s.

When we had seen all that there was to see and ate our lunch, we travelled to Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard lighthouse.  F got his enjoyment through the old naval base and I got to see my lighthouse.  We also saw a family of deer.  (Got to love wildlife!) Next we checked into our hotel and drove down by the harbor.  We walked around and saw the parliament building and the harbor.  Most places were closed because it was Sunday and others had already closed up for the day (it was about 6 pm when we were walking around). 

Right across from our hotel was a nice little restaurant (which we got a discount because of the hotel). The restaurant, named ABC Country Restaurant, was one of the greatest experiences!  We were greeted by an older man, not from the US or Canada (mid-eastern country) and our waiter was also an older man a Jordanian parent/ Italian parent (he told us).  This man was crazy!  After being seated and ordered, he asked if we needed anything for the baby.  We said, “No, she can’t have anything.”  (mind you – she is 7 months old, no teeth and only eats rice cereal, pureed veg/fruit, and milk). Our waiter insisted – these words we hear all evening – “No, don’t worry about it, It’s free. It’s free! (add your own little accent here).  He brought out – saltine crackers and a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  B didn’t get much, but it was a great appetizer for the rest of us. The waiter was all over the place trying to tell jokes, stories, and dancing for all the tables (about 3).  When it came time to order dessert, we told him F and I didn’t want any, but again – he quoted his phrase – Don’t worry about it. It’s free. and brought us each a bowl of vanilla ice cream.  We had plans to get some donut holes after dinner from Tim Horton’s, which we did, but we didn’t eat them until the next day.  We tucked the kids in bed and got ready to have another day long day of travelling.