Happy Birthday Sam

Yesterday was Sam's birthday! She had a very busy day, consisting of 2 birthday parties!

The "friend" party:

Her Cake
Some of the 16 kids (am I crazy or what) waiting to sit on a balloon to pop it...we decided this age is still a little too young for that game!

Pin the nose on the Clown All the kids holding their clown noses to their own noses
Waiting for the singing to begin
Her special birthday present...can you see what it was? hint: it's something sparkley
Her first Lego creation...thanks Colin!
Now the "family" party:

Steph and Doug gave her this koosh ball...can you tell she loved it?

Grandma Crabtree bought her two different bed spreads and let her decide which one she wanted...this is Grandma explaining the situation
This is the one she chose...TinkerbellGrandpa Clay, Alli, and Jack watching her open (Grandpa is telling her to shhh b/c she keeps screaming when he tickles her, who's really at fault?)

Waiting for the singing again (we used all the of the first cake during the friend party so I tried to make her a duplicate but it decided to stick to the pan and not come out...she looked at me and said "Mom, let's just do brownies"
I still can't believe she is 5. She'll start Kindergarten in September. Crazy, huh? She's a great girl who loves riding her bike, watching Scooby Doo, building with blocks, swimming, and playing games.

Utah

We made our annual trip to Utah with my mom and sister. We piled 8 people in my dad's suburban and made the 15 hour drive. It was quite packed! Luckily all 5 kids did great. Even Jordan who is only 4 months did awesome.

Here are a few (okay, I mean a lot) of pictures...

• Popsicle time! Almost everynight we enjoyed popsicles on Grandma and Grandpas front lawn. The girls also rode their bikes each evening as well.

• A trip to Stockton to visit Great Grandpa Riding:

This is Alli sitting infront of a quilt my sister Michelle made for our Grandpa after Grandma passed away. Isn't it great?

On Grandpas front porch

• Parking lot scooter riding/soccer playing...don't worry no one was hit by a car! :)

Taking a spin, with Mohsen, on Aunt Kari's scooter.

My cousin, Alex, who I can't believe is all grown up, showing the kids his tricks.

• The Kangaroo Zoo (a bunch of blowup jumping things)

Jaden, Kayla, and Sam sliding down together

Baby Jaxson and Macie

• A Park in Orem:

Kimber and Sam (I just realized she was in this picture too) climbing a tree

We met up with my friend Carrie and Bailee...Alli was so excited to see Bailee. We miss them so much!

• Our reason we go to Utah....(Sorry family, it's true...my girls want to go to Utah to swim :)) the Scera Pool

Have you all seen the commercial where the family goes on a cruise trying to find something...in the end of the commercial you find out they are just trying to get a smile from their teenage daughter...this picture made me think of that commercial. How lucky will I be in a few years????

Jackson jumping into the big pool with Stephanie

We had a great trip. I got to eat Cafe Rio twice, Sconecutter twice, had two snowcones, and a almond/skor yogi at Hogi Yogi. Can you tell why I go to Utah???

Thanks to everyone for playing with us while we were there. Some of you we didn't get to see very much, sorry about that. It gets hard squeezing so many people in!

I Survived YW Camp

So here's a break down of what I did for the last 4 days...

-crammed 7 people and all their gear in my van
-hung out with Tami
-ate great food, which I didn't have to cook (even though I missed cooking it)
-relived an old passion of making friendship bracelets. It all came back once I had those 4 colored strings taped to the table. All the different styles...those were the days. I used to make them so often my finger would bleed from "rope" burns.
-slept through a 'fight' between the upstairs and downstairs girls in my unit. Yeah, not so good when the rest of the camp knows what happened during the night and the leaders, that were 2 feet away didn't have a clue...oops. I guess they shouldn't have given us the "sound-proof" tent :)
-took a polar bear shower...soo cold
-learned that sometimes you have to treat 21 13 year old girls the same as you treat a 7, 4, and 2 year old
-sang lots of fun songs
-watched the YW Hoopla...where Tami and I demonstrated how to Crump and the real way to do the running man
-learned how to put up and take down the flag
-learned that it's impossible to hike for 5 miles and pass of 14 or so certification requirements in a two hour period
-learned that Tami can get many other people to do things for her. She's amazing!
-wore matching plaid shorts with Tami, which many girls envied and many leaders laughed at.
-had to clean up way to many candy bar wrappers and pop cans from the litter bug YW
-lived the stress of almost losing a girl (she was just in another levels cabin, but we didn't know that for a while...not fun!)
-got really good at counting to 21 (not that I really needed to practice...)

We had a great time, but I was ready to be home. It was exhausting!

Date Night

So last night Konrad and I went out on a date. He told me he had it all planned out but wouldn't tell me what it was. He said we'd go to dinner and then do something that would take about 30 minutes. I couldn't figure out what in the world it would be.

After we dropped off the kids at Steph's (thanks!) we were deciding where to eat. I asked where we needed to be to do the "secret" part of our date. He said it wouldn't matter. That got me thinking...what can we do anywhere that only takes a half hour. He had also mentioned that he had never done it, implying that I had. Then it hit me.

He wanted to go get a pedicure. (while we were camping he wore flip flops the whole weekend and his feet ended up pretty chewed up and sore. He wanted a nice soak and scrape to help them out)

Many of you our probably thinking, Wow..her husband wanted to go and get a pedicure with her...but my first reaction was NO!. See for those of you who don't know, I hate, and I mean HATE feet. I don't like touching them or having anyone touch mine. The thought of a pedicure makes my stomach churn and I stress about it. Thus, Konrad was keeping it a surprise so I wouldn't stress about it over dinner. I do love the aftermath of a pedicure though...so I have to decide if the end result is worth the anxiety. Last night it was and I'm loving my soft feet. Not loving the bubble gum colored polish I chose...a little more hot-pink then I realized.

Thanks Konrad for being creative and making me face my fears!

Samantha + Sand =

Is my little girl crazy or what? Gotta love her!

Camping - Lincoln Rock State Park

We enjoyed a great camping trip this past Sunday-Tuesday. We went to Lincoln Rock State Park, which is in East Wenatchee. It's on part of the Columbia River, that is dammed off, making a freezing cold lake.

The camp ground was nice with a ton of stuff to do. Volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts plus soccer and baseball fields. We didn't enjoy those parts b/c we didn't have any other adults to play with, but we enjoyed the walking/bike paths.

Both girls can now ride two wheelers, which is very exciting for all of us. I can't wait to take them on a walk/run...I won't have to push two kids! Anyone want to trade a double jogger for a single? The girls spent most their time at the camp ground either in the water or on their bikes. It was great. They were so entertained.

We ended up camping next to the Wilson's from Auburn, who happen to know Konrad's family. They have a boat and were so kind to take us out on it. All three girls got to drive it, Konrad sky-skiied, and Kimber and I went tubing. It made our dream of having a boat much more real. We really want one....

It was a great trip and I'm sure we'll go back again.

Unfortunately our I broke our camera last Saturday (I was coming back to my house from the park, squeezing between the two fences and jammed the camera lens...it worked fine for a couple of days as long as you didn't zoom all the way out, now it won't work at all). I did get one picture of our camping trip before it froze completely. Here is Sam and Konrad roasting some marshmallows for smores. (I can't remember what Sam thinks smores are called at the moment, it's pretty funny. I'll have to ask her in the morning.)

Rain Forest Cafe

My sister Michelle and her family were in town last weekend and we decided to use Kimber's free coupons to the Rain Forest Cafe (we only go there if the kids meals are free...luckily Kimber seems to collect them, so all 3 girls were free this last time!). We got to sit right next to the elephants, which Kimber and Sam thought was great...Alli and Makenna were not so impressed. After the first stampede and wild animal call both were in tears and covering their ears. Even after it stopped Alli wouldn't stop plugging her ears and Makenna wouldn't sit in her chair. Eventually we asked to be moved to a different table. This helped Alli some, she actually ate some of her dinner (all though Konrad had to feed her b/c her hand were busy covering her ears), but Makenna was still pretty freaked out.

*Note to self...Rain Forest Cafe ages 3 and above! I was actually worried about Sam, she doesn't handle costumes or fake animals well. Suprisingly she did very well. Good job Sam!

4th of July Fun

So I'm a little behind, but hey that's what a camping trip will do to you. We had a great 4th. It started off in Issaquah with our friends, the Leder's, to watch the parade and do other fun activities they had set up.

The parade ended up being a "dress up your kid and dog (even some chicken's), walk down the street, and throw candy at us" type of parade. Sam thought it was the best parade ever(probably b/c there were no Quizno cups to scare her, (remember that Tiff?)...)! I don't think the kids noticed anything but the candy, but when your 9 and under that is what is important.

After the parade we stood in long lines to go down a big bouncy slide, ride ponies, get faces painted, and go through another bouncy house. They also participated in a potato sack race. We had to convince them to do that, but from the look on their faces they enjoyed it.

After that we headed home to set up for a get together at the park. We had some friends over and enjoyed some yummy food, water balloon volleyball, regular volleyball (although I never made it over to play...sorry Mel, I really wanted to!), and of course fireworks. Luckily we didn't have any major injuries (except poor Gavin crashing a few too many times). Leah almost lost an eye and there was a small fire in the trash can, but all in all it was a great night. We also figured out that "our" park is a great place to watch fireworks. No need to head to the crowded beaches and parks in the area...just come hang out at our park!

That is my absolute favorite picture of Alli...isn't she funny? She wasn't too sure of the firework noise, all though some of the time she would laugh her head off. She just cracks me up!

Let's see what this does...

Here's a fun tag for you:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, if we’ve actually met in person or not, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.

So...let's hear it! And you should do this one, too! Because I'm just sure I have something fantastic and hilarious and/or heartfelt to say about YOU, my friend!