Farming on Bainbridge Island

We headed over to a farm on Bainbridge Island today that was having an all day event where they had rides, food, music, and incredible sunny skies. Kind of a rare thing for September 28th. We met my sister and her kids and had a great time. It was an enormous piece of property with apple trees and big open spaces for the kids to run. Most of all, it was free, which is always a bonus.






I think the kids liked the big swing and the tractor rides the most.












Here are their cousins, Isabelle, Nolan and Sophia. When all six of them are together, they have a great time. They are a force to be reckoned with as a group.










It is always nice to see a little bit of love instead of fighting while waiting in line for the rides.












Sophia is my little cute niece who has me wrapped around her finger. I slip her candy any time I can. It is probably why she always gets all excited when she sees me. She is very independent and knows what she wants. Got to love it. I pushed her on the swing and she had a great time. If I would have let go, she would have flipped over, so I held tight.






Noah had a great time on the swing. All they could say is higher and faster. I love this shot of Noah.











This was the slide that they rigged up. It dropped you off into a big pile of hay. After the hay fights, they all were itchy. All the parents looked at them and said, "Yeah, that's what happens when you throw hay at each other."











Jonah and Isabelle didn't even know why we were laughing at this picture.












This was one of the tractor rides that they all had a blast doing.












Drinking apple cider at the end of a good day hits the spot. They were all tired and hungry. Great day!

Baby Thomas is here!!!

On Wednesday, September 24th, Sarah and Josh checked into Harrison Hospital at 0900 for their scheduled induction. The doctor thought it was time due to a lot of different variables. The plan was for pitocin and hope for the best. Our kids were hoping that we were going to pull them out of school when Thomas came. Little did we know that it wouldn't be until September 25th at 3:37 p.m. that we welcomed him into the world. Here is a picture on Wednesday after they had arrived at the hospital. So relaxed and excited to see their son soon.



Nothing happened for a long time, but they were able to get a little bit of rest on Wednesday night. Thursday they turned up the pitocin and hoped for the best. By later that afternoon, the doctor decided to do a C-section, so it was time for Josh to suit up, hair net and all. Very manly I might add.













Sarah got wheeled off to the operating room and everyone patiently waited. Everything went very well and the doctor was glad they had decided to do a c-section. Thomas was born on September 25th at 3:37 p.m. and he was 8lbs 9 oz. and 20.7 inches long. He has dark hair and mushy cheeks, so say the kids.







This was the crowd waiting outside of the operating room. This wasn't even all that could have been there.












Rebecca and I were able to slip away Thursday night for a half hour and see Thomas and the new parents. Everyone is doing well and we are so glad he is here.











We were able to bring the kids this morning and they couldn't wait. They have been so excited to see their new cousin. Each of them brought a stuffed animal for Thomas and was able to hold him. It is fun to watch them get so excited. And yes, we have had a lot of baby discussions around the dinner table lately which has pushed the envelope at times. It's all good.







Jacob is so excited to be an older cousin to Thomas. He was a so proud!













Jonah was excited too, but was a little nervous that Sarah had surgery to get him out. He is very observant, especially when he walked into the room. He holds back a little bit more and presents as everything is cool, when he really gets emotional about the whole experience. It is very cute.

Noah was talking to Josh about teaching Thomas to skate board when he gets older. Noah said, "but I don't know how to skate board very well yet." We let him know he has a little time until he has to master the sport.

Pictures of Thomas getting his diaper changed and his temperature taken. Noah was amazed by all that was going on in the room. He was shocked by what a good set of lungs Thomas has.

As we were leaving, Marna and Aunt Hannah showed up to spend some time with the little guy. We are so excited to add another to our family. It will be fun to watch him grow over this next year. Happy Birthday Thomas!

The Actual Day, September 13th

We spent the night at my parent's house since they had watched the kids the night before. We got up that morning and celebrated Reba's birthday with my family. Of course it was chaos because of all the little munchkins, but it was still fun. We had cinnamon rolls and sweet rolls.








My mom got Chinese yoyo's which were a hit with the kids, as you can see in the picture. That gives a perfect scenario of how the breakfast was. Chinese yoyo's going everywhere. It was dangerous if you got caught in the cross fire.










Once breakfast was over, our family headed over to Seattle for the day per Reba's request. She wanted to walk around Pike Place Market and enjoy Seattle since it was supposed to be so nice out that day. We rode the ferry like tourists and walked around Seattle.









Bunch of cool dudes.













We walked by the Aquarium and looked in the huge fish tank. Noah couldn't see anything, so I had to pick him up. He thought the fish were going to jump out at him. Only from a child who thinks everything in life is 3-D.








By looking at the picture, I'm not sure they were completely comfortable turning their backs on the guys who throw the fish. They were mesmerized by all the seafood, but mostly how these guys get to throw food for a living.











Only in Pike Place do you see a lot of "culture" and other walks of life. This guys was walking around with his pet lizard and I'm not sure our kids thought it was utterly cool or down right scary. Noah did reach out and touch it.
























We had a great day, all being completely exhausted when all was said and done. We haven't done something like that for awhile. So much of the time, we don't take advantage of things in our own city. We would have done that in another city, but rarely ours. Rebecca said it was a great way to spend a birthday.

Rebecca turns 34, September 13, 2008

Sarah, Josh, her parents, Hannah, Rebecca and I went out to dinner in Seattle at the Melting Pot. It is a great f0ndue place that takes 2-3 hours to eat dinner. We got two or three different cheese fondue's, three different broths/oil to cook the meat in, and then three different desserts. It was incredible and a lot of fun. Talk about overeating, this is the place to go.







I love snapping pictures when no one is ready. I think it really gives a good shot of what goes on before the perfect picture. I am sure they will all kill me for taking this, but since I take the picture and post them, it is up to me.









Here is a bad picture of the dessert that we dipped in chocolate. It was the best part of the dinner, I thought. How can you go wrong dipping brownies in dark chocolate, chocolate/peanut butter mix, and s'more?










Here is a picture of Mark and Sarah (Reba's dad and prego sis) through the smoke of the fondue pots.












We had a great time and were excited to get a good picture of all the adults. It is more rare that we go out to dinner without the kids, so we took advantage and snapped a couple. Even though Sarah is the one who is 9 months prego, we all left the restaurant with a food baby.

HAPPY 34TH HONEY!!!!!!!

A full Saturday

Rebecca headed off to an all-day conference in Tacoma today, and Jonah had been begging me to take him to the skate park. We headed down there early because we knew it wouldn't be busy with the professionals until much later. It is like when I used to work mental health. We would go out for visits into the inner-city first thing in the morning because all of the drunks were asleep. if you went later in the afternoon and evening, that is when you could run into trouble. So, we had the whole place to ourselves for awhile, which was great. Now, I did look at the graffiti pretty close and there was only one or two words that were woven throughout the park, but they were hidden from the kids. I had the aerial view and they didn't, thank goodness. They did first get to watch two older adults skate when we first arrived, but then they headed off to work. We labeled them as the long time skaters who now have respectful jobs, but still need a fix of skating every once in awhile. This picture was taken in what Jonah stated was the "bowl".

Now Jonah hoped that he could go down the first hill and he would have all of this down pat. First run, he flew off the skate board and landed hard on his hip. It was a big one. He screamed out in pain and he now has a huge bruise on his hip. Within minutes, he was back at it and a little more aware of how he wasn't a professional skater.

They both looked like they knew what they were doing in this picture, but this was only one frame of many. There were a lot of falls, but they always got up and tried again. They then moved to their scooters which was more fun and provided a bit more stability.

If you look in the background, you can see the word "slick" with a crown over it. Any thoughts at what this means from those of you who have a a skating past? We couldn't figure it out.

Noah, who always jumps in and says he can do anything his brothers do, made sure they knew that he never fell once while we were there. In this picture, he was doing one of his tricks where he lifts one leg for about 10 seconds and toodles around. He thought he was awesome, and quite frankly, he was doing better than I was.

After recovering from the skate park, we went home and put together Jacob's new rocket that he got from Grandma and Grandpa LeRoy. We went out to one of the elementary schools and launched it twice. It was very cool. I started getting all of these non-adult ideas of hooking things to the rocket or adding more boosters, but I had to refrain since I was trying to teach the kids safety. It was great to watch the thing launch.

We also went t6 pick blackberries, but didn't bring the camera along for fear of dropping it in the stickers, down a ravine. At the end of the day, Marna and Pappa were putting in a concrete step for the clubhouse, so all the kids wanted to help. Noah did a great job pouring water for the cement

Jonah wanted to help smooth things out. At the end of the day, they got to put their hand prints in the cement with much help.

In the middle of all these activities, I was able to mow the lawn and clean the gutters out. by the time we put the kids to bed, I was exhausted. It was a great day and we sure did have a lot of fun. Thank goodness Monday is coming, because I don't think I could keep this momentum up every day.

First Day of school, September 3, 2008

The first day of school, filled with excitement and tears. I guess that is how it is supposed to go. Summer is over and this kids are excited to see their friends, but not sure they are really ready to go back. This combination was a hard one for Jonah this year. If you look closely in the picture, Jonah's eyes looks like he has been balling 5 minutes earlier......and he had been. He didn't want to get dressed or make his bed--pure rebellion for school to start. He was really nervous, so it came out in not wanting to get ready in the morning.



Even though Noah's school didn't start until Thursday, he jumped in the picture. He said, "I still have summer because my school doesn't start until Thursday." Jonah didn't like that too much. Once the kids started school, they all are getting used to it quickly. Jonah had a hard day or two, but Jacob loved all three days.







Jacob in his class room.


























Jonah was so excited to see his friend, Sam, who was sitting next to him on the first day. So many high emotions. Next week will be so much easier, we hope.