Memorial Weekend

What a great Memorial Weekend we had. It was one of those weekends that just worked perfectly. To have a whole weekend like this is amazing. First of all the weather was fabulous. I think this is one of the main reasons that we had a great weekend! This was the second weekend in a row that we've had good weather. I could really get used to sunshine all of the time. On Saturday we first went to Costco and basically had lunch there with all of the food samples they were passing out. Seriously, if you haven't gone to Costco on a Saturday (I know it's busy) but you can try so much food it becomes another meal. The kids love getting the little samples. While we were at Costco we bought a carpet cleaner! Maybe it doesn't sound great to everyone, but I was really excited to get it. Our carpets upstairs desperately needed to be cleaned. After Costco and nap time we headed over to Forrest Park in Everett that has a water sprinkler/fountain park. I couldn't believe it was warm enough for the kids to be in swimming suits running through the water, but is was! Will and Claire both had a blast! It was so much fun seeing them go crazy running through the water. I love to see them happy and laughing! I've included some pictures of them at the water park




.
Sunday was nice and sunny too, so we had some friends over for dinner and we got to eat outside! I love to eat outside!
Monday we went on a hike to Wallace Falls near Monroe. It was very beautiful! The hike was about 3 and half miles. We brought Lilly with us and she was plenty worn out by the end. Claire did an awesome job. It was a pretty good hike and she did the whole thing without being carried! We did have to promise her a milkshake at the end, but she deserved it. Will walked a little, but ended up in the hiking pack. After the hike we went to eat at Zekes burgers. It was so good. If you are ever in Washington up past Monroe you have to go to Zekes. It was a really good burger. It's a little pricey, but very yummy! Anyway, that was our great sunny family weekend! Oh, we also found out that we are going to be an aunt and uncle again, and Claire and Will are going to have another cousin! Jim and Jamie are going to have baby number 2!!! Congratulations to you guys! We are excited.
Here are pictures of us on our hike!

Transformers and Tents

Shawn ordered and just got a "transformer" in the mail. This one is actually Voltron. He spent quite a bit of money on it. It is totally old school. It's something he used to play with back in the 80's. He was so excited to get it. The reason he got it is because Claire and Will have taken an interest in playing transformers with him, so he thought he'd buy the coolest one of all to show to them. Shawn loves it that the kids love his old transformers, and the kids love it that Shawn plays transformers with them. Above is a picture of the voltron that Shawn just got. The other picture is of Claire and Will in a couch cushion made tent. They love to make tents. Claire is constantly asking us to make a tent for her. We usually do tent day on Saturday and they watch cartoons in the tent. We do have to keep reminding Will not to tear down the tent until we are done. When we are done with the tent though it is Will's favorite part to push down the tent and jump all over it. Our couch is getting a lot of great kid use lately!

Classes, Classes and more Classes

I think we have the kids enrolled in too many classes. Claire is in preschool, swimming and dance, and Will is in a gym class. Sometimes I feel like all I do is drive around. Luckily gym class for Will just ended (a little sad because he loved it). Preschool will be over in 3 weeks and the end of year dance recital is around that same time too. After everything is over in mid June we can rest and enjoy the summer!!! I really love seeing Claire and Will in their classes, and they enjoy them too. It will just be great to have some unstructured fun. Life is only bound to get more busy from now on as Claire starts real school in the fall, so I will enjoy this summer! Here are a few pictures of the kids in their classes!

Claire in swimming class. She is doing really well and LOVES to swim. It's her favorite!
Will at Gym class. He is in the foam pit. It's a really cool pit full of foam blocks that the kids can jump into from a trampoline. Of course all of the kids love it! I really wish I could jump in. The other little guy in the picture is Will's friend Collin from our neighborhood.
Will at Gym class again! He really loved all of the climbing and tumbling!!!
Claire at The Dance School where she takes dance class with one of her good friends Vivi.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Shawn and I just celebrated our 8 year anniversary on May 12th!!! Sometimes I can't believe it's been 8 years (time has flown), but sometimes I can't believe it's only been 8 years. It does seem like we've known each other our whole lives. I met Shawn when I was 15 years old and since this year I turn 30 it means I've known him half of my life! Wow, we've known each other for 15 years! In reality it has gone by so fast. Especially the past 8 years. We have our good days and our stressful days, but there is no one I'd rather experience life with than Shawn. He is a great husband and friend and the best dad to our kids! I know it's cheesy, but 8 years is not long enough and neither is 15. I really need eternity with Shawn :)
We didn't do much on our anniversary day. Our anniversary was on a Monday, so we spent the day with the kids. We actually let Claire choose which restaurant we went to eat at. Her idea of a good restaurant is Burger King, so we got a BK Stacker for our 8 year anniversary meal! It made me laugh to eat at Burger King. Luckily we were able to get a babysitter for the Friday after our anniversary and we went out to a nicer dinner at Applebee's and then went and saw the movie Baby Mama. It was a pretty good movie, but I think every movie without the kids is great , so I don't know if I can give a good review. I love going out on dates! We had a great anniversary and I can't wait for years and years more! I've included a few photos of us from 8 years ago on our wedding day. Don't we look young? I love to look at my wedding photos and remember what a great day it was and what a great husband I have!

Our Dog Lilly

This is our cute dog Lilly. She is a one year old Cocker Spaniel. In this picture Claire dressed her up like a princess. The poor dog has to put up with being dressed like a princess by Claire, and then endure a wrestling match with Will. It's funny how they both treat her so differently, but both love her so much. We have had her almost a year and she is a full fledged member of the family! She is the best dog and we love her!

Will's 2nd Birthday!!! May 2, 2008

The beautiful b-day cake I made for Will. He loves balls, so of course he loved his cake!!!
Will got a new lawn mower that blows bubbles for his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Smith. This was his favorite present! He also really liked his new helmet. He wore his helmet the rest of the day and would cry if we tried to take it off. He also got a bike from us, but nothing compared to the lawn mower in his eyes.
Grandpa and Grandma Smith came to visit us in Washington for Will's 2nd Birthday!!!

This is Will just about to blow out the candle on his birthday cake. It is a baseball cake, and he loves balls, so of course Will loved the cake! He kept saying "ball, ball"!

Day two

I figured out how to add music to my blog! I think everthing is better with music. Anyway, I think I will add some pictures now from this year. Let's see how it goes.

Day one

Ok, I have no idea how to blog, but it's all I hear about lately, so I'll give it a try. I need to figure this out, so it might be slow going. I would like to do this so family and friends can see what we are up to. Hope this goes well.