Sunday, April 27, 2008

Spring in the Northwest

Most of the country this time each year is experiencing 89 degree weather more often. Not in the Northwest. What I have realized is that when the sun comes out, the shorts come on and the bathing suits come out. It can be 60 degrees and cloudy and our kids think that the slip-n-slide should come out. It was sunny in the morning, but as the afternoon went on, the clouds rolled in, but it wasn't by our standards. So, we went down the the park in Bremerton again with my sister and brother-in-law. We ate dinner and let the kids play. There is the picture of one of the exploding water features. It starts trickling water down about 30 seconds prior to exploding. the kids just love it. they have 5 of these that all go off in intervals. Fun to watch the kids.



Noah and Nolan sitting in a carved out rock. They have a smooth rock slide for the kids to play on and a lot of other rock formation that we hadn't realized were there.




Kids had a great time, but did get cold towards the end of our time. What are they going to do when the sun really comes out?

Gardening with the boys

We had another great day on Saturday with warm weather. We desperately needed to get out and weed the flower beds and work in the yard. The kids wanted to help, so we all joined in. Many hands make light work or many hands in a small area can breed chaos. The kids were a lot of help, but they were able to get somewhat distracted and play around too. It was nice to be outside, enjoying the weather.








We do have some more plants to add, but right now, we are just trying to get this place weeded before we add more to it.










Wondering why Jonah is weeding with his bike helmet on? They way Jonah help out is a bit of work, a bit of play. So in the midst of riding his bike, he would swing by and pick some weeds. Hey, we will take the help any way we can get it.

Hope you all enjoyed the day.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The LeRoy men are bowling on Sunday

Rebecca ended up having a pampered chef party on Sunday after church which meant that the boys and I were looking for something to do. Now even though the day before was in the seventies, that day it was raining. So, off to the bowling alley we go. We had to try out the whole bowling experience which consists of: The smelly bowling shoes, the sticky bowling balls, ordering french fries and getting a pitcher of root beer. other than that, it was all we needed. Noah was in the lead most of the time, which didn't say a lot for my dad and I. Jonah became very competitive because he thought he should be beating Noah since he is younger.

This was a picture taken prior to the time when Jonah realized Noah was beating him. Once he found out, he kept his distance from him and no longer wanted to help him.
"An empty pitcher of root beer and good friends"


We figured out that all of us were helping Noah, distracting ourselves from our own game. Noah is pretty sneaky.



Jacob had great form. Thank goodness they all had the bumpers up for bowling. Even though they had the extra help, Noah bounced his ball over the rail and got it wedged. The pregnant attendant had to walk out on the floor and retrieve the ball. It was very fitting.
All of the kids picked out bright colored balls just in case we would lose sight of them. They were worried that the balls weren't going to come back through the tube. I assured them that they would


This is one of those pictures you get of one brother helping another with no strings attached. You have to get that on film. A second later, I am sure Jonah threw Noah down the bowling lane, hitting a strike...too bad I didn't get that on film. They had a good time and ate their weight in fries. Oh the life we live.
professional bowler we are.



Sunday, April 13, 2008

An ecclectic weekend!

We started out Friday night by having Reba's sister and brother-in-law over, Sarah and Josh. Rebecca and I had gone out for Greek food last week and decided to try and make some of it for Sarah and Josh. It was harder than sitting down and ordering it. Rebecca thought it the perfect opportunity to get the camera out as soon as I put on the apron. A lot of prep work, but it was great. We made Falafel with warm pita bread, hummus, taziki sauce, and lemon/garlic chicken. It turned out great. Rebecca then made crepes for dessert, filled with strawberries and chocolate. It was great, and we are glad that we had them over and tried something new. We had gone onto the Internet to get recipes, since we had never made these things before. We had a great time.






We started out Saturday with grand plans of cleaning out the garage and letting the kids play outside all day. It was 75 degrees and sunny all day, which is very hot for us since we have been used to45 degrees and rainy. It was beautiful. The kids found the crochet set and put that up and had a great time playing and hacking at the bushes with their mallets.






Noah thought it would be fitting to put on ear phones while he played...because i guess that's how the game was originally supposed to be played. No ides, but it worked for him. Shorts, boots, a sweatshirt, and earphones. Ready to play in England. This child makes up his own mind.







These pictures are priceless!













So since we had been remodeling since October, again, the garage turned into a place where we set stuff to get it out of the house. After awhile, that adds up and piles up. So, we set out to clean the garage up and put things back in there place since we couldn't walk through without breaking out neck. It took hours to finish, but it looks great now. Don't want to show you the after picture in case the garage gets messy again.





After dinner, we took the kids downtown on the water where they have a new water feature that the kids can run through. It was still nice and warm and they had a good time. It was beautiful last night. It made us long for summer when it feels warm all time. The kids kept asking if summer was here. Once they woke up this morning to rain and clouds, they felt like yesterday was just a dream.










Great picture of Jacob on his own Island.










Here is a picture of all the "smoke stacks" that explode with water every two or three minutes. the water has chlorine in it so that the kids can truly run through it and play. There are three or four pools and they have tables scattered all around. It is really nice down there.








They have also done a nice job with the landscaping and all of the huge rocks placed around. They have a Starbucks, Taco Del Mar, subway, and cold stone creamery right nearby so you can grab dinner and sit out near the water. We will definitely be hitting that again come summer or the next day above 70 degrees.








The kids moved from the water to the trees as the sun went down.









What a great end to a perfect day of sun. It was nice to have one day that reminds us that summer, although two months away, is right around the corner. Hope you had a good weekend.
RnR









Construction on a grand scale--"The clubhouse"

Well, construction on the clubhouse has been stalled for months due to inclement weather and financial concerns. The three boys have secured the loan and hired Pappa Mark as the contractor. Towards the end of spring break, the floor went in with a lot of hammering, loud noises, and hurt fingers and thumbs. The crew needs a lot of work, but they have big hearts. Our L & I claims will be up I'm sure over the next couple months.






As Pappa ran the saw, the kids looked on covering their ears, much like most construction sights that you drive past each day. There were a lot of breaks, some fighting about who has more nails, and a lot of bent nails. All and all, it went exactly as planned.








They were able to take out their aggression on the wood and the nail. There was one incident where Noah pulled his small hammer back and Jacob in the glasses causing a small boy to run through the construction sight screeming bloody murder. Jacob was more concerned about his new glasses--in the end, they probably protected him from an ER visit. Noah received a fine and a mandatory class presentation on hammer safety.





A picture taken at the beginning of the work day--notice all of the kids are hugging in the picture--again, much like most work sites we see around the area right now.










The contractor had to stop for awhile and take some phone calls from people as he is securing the plumbing and electrical bids for the project--or it was just checking in with his wife. I don't think we are paying him enough for his hard work and long hours









Much of the time, all of the children were in the same place at the same time, all with hammers pounding away. A sight for sore eyes.










Jacob being very particular about where he is hammering and how it looks. He is pretty good with a hammer. the strength of an ox.

I will give you frequent updates on the clubhouse as thing progress. We hope and pray for no injuries and a lot of sharing time on the job. We do take frequent potty breaks and snack times. There are also occasions where our workers will walk off the job and wander the premises or stop to play with the animals.

Your hard working crew in Bremerton, WA

Giraffe's really do have long necks


This is the direct quote from Noah while we were at the Woodland Park Zoo on Thursday over spring break. Sometimes, it is nice when four year olds point out the obvious. Giraffe's really do have long necks. Rebecca was out of town on business the last half of spring break, so the kids and I met my mom and my two nieces, Hannah and Astrid, and we went to the zoo. The weather wasn't half bad, which made it much nicer. The kids had a great time that day. Even though the animals were cool to see, I think they had more fun playing tag with each other while we walked from animal to animal.


One of the few pictures we got with the kids not moving around as fast. Thank goodness Hannah is old enough to carry Noah when he would get too tired. It's like having a little assistant. She enjoyed it.









We did get to see a lot of the elephants since it was morning and they had just been let out. I think the elephants were spending more time looking at the kids than they spent looking at them.









At one point, the sectioned the path off and moved two Giraffe's from their house to the open space. The kids thought that was great to watch. This Giraffe and his brother are two years old.










Astrid is always very good with her cousins. They love having one-on-one time with each of them. We had a great day and then Grandma ended up buying icecream for everyone to seal the deal. The kids were exhausted by the end of the day which is always a perk. We got home just in time for all of the kids to climb into bed.

signed,
single parent for the day

All you need is a pool and a soft bed


I have no idea what Noah is wearing in his hair. As a parent, there are many times you glance over at your children and end up doing a double take. Not sure where he got this or why he is wearing it in his hair, but things are too busy to really get to the bottom of it. So you walk away wondering, always wondering.



The first weekend of spring break we all followed Rebecca down to Eugene, OR while she was working. The kids were so excited to have a pool at the hotel. After the long drive down there, in their opinion, as soon as we got there, they were in the pool. They couldn't care if it was the only thing they did the whole time. They had a great time. Reba and I jumped in too and all of the kids suddenly attacked. It was a lot of fun.


There was no diving in the pool, and the kids had to work really hard not to do so. It took every ounce of strength for them not to.











We ended up putting Noah's life jacket on so that he could be in the pool at times without us. He is a dare devil.












Noah, the little ham. Enough said.












Rebecca snuck a picture of me working out. It was great to have a treadmill at the hotel. I worked out overlooking the pool. The kids thought that was great. We had a great weekend of swimming and only one visit to urgent care as Jonah came down with an ear infection. We were due for another visit to the urgent care, and we got it. So all of you know, the next weekend, Jacob came down with an ear infection. Can't wait until spring.

RnR