Our Summer Vacation (picture overload)!!!!

I haven't blogged for so long! Our summer has been super busy, and I have other pictures from all of the fun stuff we have done but I thought I would start with our vacation. We travelled to Salem, Oregon first and stayed with my brother & sister-in-law for a couple of days. It was lots of fun. The day after we got there we drove to Lincoln City so the kids could see the ocean. They loved it! These pictures are from Taft Beach.

Splashing in the waves. Both Zach & Meg got knocked down by the waves. Zach, of course, thought it was great. Meg not so much.

The kids with Uncle Garon & Aunt Kati.

I love this picture of my sweetie.

The next day Garon took us on a tour of the police station. The boys thought the motorcycles were so cool!

We also went hiking at Silver Falls the same day. This was beautiful!

We then travelled to Kennewick, Washington to visit Ryan's parents. Grandma and Aunt Jill had a surprise for Megyn - pink birthday balloons & chocolate cake! Happy Birthday Meg!

The day after we got to Washington we travelled to Seattle. We had to make a trip to the space needle.

We ate at a restaurant that had huge chocolate chip cookies.

We ended the day at a Mariner's game. I thought this sculpture was kinda cool. It looked like it was made of glass bats.

We had great seats. The Mariners were playing the White Sox. They lost 1 - 0. Not the most exciting game. In fact, the most exciting part of the game was when a kid jumped over the wall and started running all over the field trying to avoid security. They caught him and hauled him away in handcuffs.

We spent one more day in Seattle. We went shopping and went on a harbor cruise, but I forgot to charge the battery in my camera so I didn't get any pictures from day two. These pictures are back in Kennewick. We went boating with Ryan's aunt & uncle and some of their family. It was so much fun. Rece was really brave. He went on a tube pulled behind the boat three different times! He didn't fall off once. I was impressed. I wouldn't let Zach go on the tube, although he wanted to. But he and Megyn went out on the boat a lot. Megyn would cry if she got left behind. I didn't get any pictures of Rece riding the tube because I was too busy trying to keep Zach and Meg in the boat!

On our last full day in Kennewick we went to the boat races on the Columbia River. They also had an air show.

It was kind of slow between races, so some of us played in the river.

Some of us just tried to stay cool.

Some of us caught some zzzz's.

And some of us played dress up.

Grandma Jensen and the little girls.

We are ready for another great vacation - thanks everyone!

The Graduate

At the end of May Zach "graduated" from preschool. They did a program for the parents that went through all of the things they had learned throughout the year. Zach had a great teacher, and he made a lot of progress throughout the year. He really liked his teacher, Mrs. Dance, and he made a lot of friends.

What a face!

Zach with Mrs. Dance.

I had such a great time experiencing this with Zach!

The Hunt

On Easter we went to my parent's house for dinner and an egg hunt. Someone forgot to bring the baskets so we had to improvise, but I don't think the kids minded too much.

And they're off!

This Time I Really Am Back....Maybe

I have a ton of pictures that I want to post, but I am going to start out slowly. January (yes, that is how long it has been) was all about birthdays and basketball. We celebrated Ryan's birthday with our families. I made him a Snickers cake. Sounds really good doesn't it? Well it wasn't. I couldn't even choke it down. I felt really bad for everyone who was trying to eat it, and compliment me on how good it was. Liars. I really love and appreciate everyone for trying to spare my feelings. It was a good time and we really appreciate everyone who came to celebrate my sweet husband's birthday!

This was Rece's second year playing basketball and he loved it! This is such a fun way to spend a Saturday. He was really sad to see his games end. Good job Rece!

I'm Back!

I haven't had a computer for almost three weeks! The power cord went bad, and we had to order another one. I don't spend tons of time on the computer, but I really missed it. I didn't realize how much I have come to depend on it until it was gone, so now I need to get busy and post some pictures that I have been neglecting. Probably not today though...the house is a mess.

Sick

I am so ready for winter to be over. I'm ready for spring to get here and fresh air, and getting outside with my kids. I'm ready for my kids to not be sick anymore. Honestly, someone in my house is always sick. Yesterday, I stayed home from church (again) with Zach and Meg. Meg has pink eye (again), and Zach was running a fever all day. Last week Rece had some kind of stomach bug, but it didn't hit him until Sunday night. I have been washing sheets every day, wiping everything down with Clorox wipes, opening windows in an effort to get some fresh air circulating, and constantly washing and sanitizing little hands. Anyone else experiencing this kind of fun?

Out of the Mouth of Zach

Zach says things every day that either make me laugh out loud or just make me smile. Ryan keeps after me to write them down, but I haven't been very good at that. Why is it so hard to get out a piece of paper and a pen? Am I the only one seriously lacking in this area? Anyway, here are a few things that he has said in just the last few days that I thought were fun.

Zach: "Mom? Do you know where Grandma and Grandpa Jensen live?

Me: "Yes. Do you?"

Zach: "Yes! At Chuck E. Cheese's!"


Me: "Zach, how would you like to go do something fun with your dad tomorrow night?"

Zach: "Yeah! We could go get ice cream, and he could get buttercream and I will get chocolate and he can count the red cars and I will count the blue cars just like on the movie Up!


Me: Singing 'Teach Me To Walk In The Light'.

Zach: "Mom! Stop singing!"

Me: "Why? Do I sound bad?"

Zach: "No. Just a little bad."


Me: "Zach, do you love me?"

Zach: "Yes."

Me: "Do you love daddy?"

Zach: "Yes."

Me: "Do you love Rece?"

Zach: "Yes."

Me: "Do you love Megyn?"

Zach: "No."

Me: "Oh. Why not?"

Zach: "She just bugs me."

Worth Mentioning.

I realized last night as Ryan and I were discussing our date night plans for tonight, that this is the tenth anniversary of our first date! How ironic is it that we are even doing the same thing we did ten years ago! Dinner and a movie. Is that ironic or just predictable?

Christmas Vacation

We have had an excellent Christmas vacation. Ryan has been off work since Christmas Eve, and doesn't have to go back until January 4th. We went to my parent's on Christmas Eve and had an awesome dinner with them and my grandma. My dad loves to experiment with his cooking, and that night made a roast that he stuffed with pancetta and veggies and served with a yummy mushroom gravy. It was so good. We stayed at their house only until about seven and then went home and got our kids to bed. It was a really relaxing way to spend Christmas Eve. It was actually good that we got home so early the night before, because our kids were up at 6 a.m. on Christmas Day. All three of them came bursting into our room together. The boys, of course, understood the whole concept of Santa bringing gifts, but Meg was so confused. She kept saying, "Mama...pink baby?" She could not understand where it came from, and to add to it we had been telling her for at least a month not to touch the packages under the tree and then all of a sudden we were ripping all of them open. The Christmas spirit has definitely stuck though, she has been going around the house shouting, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!". Here are some pics from our holiday.

This is Christmas Eve. Those are vampire teeth in Zach's mouth. He always has to be a little different!

Both of the boys got a Nintendo DS from Santa. Definitely a hit!

Look at those faces, Santa must have got it right!

Megyn digging into her stocking.

She's still not sure it's okay to touch. All she heard since the tree went up was "Don't Touch!". Poor Meg. It's so hard to be little.

This was by far my favorite moment. Zach's preschool teacher gave all her students a Christmas gift. He was very excited about this particular gift until he opened it. The picture says it all...he was not impressed.

Even on Christmas this kid still manages that sad little puppy dog look!

Not this guy, he was all smiles all day long. Ryan's parents gave both boys a monogrammed towel. I think they are so cute...they match their bathroom perfectly!

Still smilin'!

The aftermath. Merry Christmas!

Personal Preferences

What I prefer.

What she prefers (diaper optional...pink fluffy princess slippers a must).

Enough said.