Ahoy Matey

This weekend our home was seized by a Pirate! Braxton's Bama was doing more cleaning out closets and found this pirate outfit that she knew someone would greatly appreciate. Braxton doesn't do anything halfway. He's got the outfit, the boots, the sword, the hook....all we needed was the ship and the treasure.
So we hit up Burger King for some treasure.? Then we went down to the Harbor in Blaine to seize ourselves a ship.
We learned something while we were there. These birds are called Cormorants and in China they are used to fish. They have a ring tied around their neck with a line and they dive under the water, catch the fish with their beaks and then retrieve them to the fisherman. Pretty interesting.
Here are the kiddo's on the Plover Ferry in Blaine. It was a great time (thanks Lesha for the idea).

Emmett was a sport. I love those green eyes!
The Captain kept telling me to hang onto Adelle because he didn't want her to fall out the window. Like I would really let me little girl fall out? Hello? She is a risky one though and got as close as she possibly could.
Here are the kids looking out into the Bay.
We got off the ferry at Semi Ahmoo and hung out on the beach for an hour. Looking for more treasure and massaging our feet in the sand.
Emmett loved the Sand too and had fun letting it run through his fingers.
Of course Adelle goes walking right into the water. Pants and all. It was 7:00pm at night and a bit chilly but she was in the water without reservation.
The boys were a bit more cautious and dampened only their feet.
Here they are burying some treasure for the next pirates who make it to shore.

The Ferry only runs through this weekend so check it out!

lol

These kids make me lol (laugh out loud) multiple times a day....here are some examples.
Drinking from the slip n' slide. Even Emmett got in on this action.
The ability Braxton has to coerce anyone who comes over to play to wear his underwear on the outside of their pants Super Hero Style!
Riley was excited to be an outside of the pants underwear wearer!
Adelle's hiding spots. She constantly puts things in little spots. Jeff and I were going to bed one night and he went to set the alarm and we found the peas she had picked earlier that day from the garden!?
On a different occasion I went in to put the clean sheets on our bed and found this
handy dandy drink holder Adelle had discovered and made use of.




Yes I did have a turn. Yes it did make me laugh hysterically. Yes I did get dropped by my dear husband. Yes he will be improving his upper body strength so to never drop me again!!

sweet summer

Ultimate Frisbee is one of our favorite games to play as a family. Jeff is the best ultimate frisbee player on the planet. It's fun and exhausting and I'm so glad we finally got a game in this weekend.
Adelle got her first pedi thanks to her great aunties (that makes them sound really old but look how hot they still are) who love her so much. Her big toes have hand painted lady bugs. So sweet. What a little princess!
Emmett learning to scoot. My baby growing up so fast.
Two year olds learning how to play frissbee for next years season. Peter kept coaching them with, "arms up, arms up!"
Love this stance of Carson's. He's been watching.....his dad? uncles? not sure where he got that stance but hopefully not from me.
Sunsets at the beach. Bare feet. I think we live in the most beautiful place on earth.
Cousins visiting from Arizona and playing so hard!
Braxton "going easy on Riley" or so he says. What a boy!
Braxton mastering the scooter by running this course at Boulevard over, and over, and over....
Jeff determined to conquer the rubber ball over, and over, and over.:)
Bathing suit bums. There is something so stinkin' cute about the back of Adelle!
Brothers lounging. I can't wait for these boys to be buds.
Fresh blackberries from the bushes
Cousin's lovin' life!
Picking apples from the neighbors tree to make applesauce.

Summer is so sweet.

Potty Progress?

So this book is a hoot! Potty Animals! I, personally got a huge kick out of it so even if you aren't potty training I would check it out. We found it at the library yesterday in our quest to motivate lil' miss.
The progress is slow. I know what to do. I need to wait until she's ready and she initiates it. Then it will be easy and painless.
I am compromising. I'm not pushing her, nagging her, forcing her to go on the toilet. I'm just encouraging her with lots of talk about being a big girl. Painting her finger nails, coloring pictures, learning poems...big girl stuff.
And one day, this will all be in the past.
For now, I'm not taking any responsibility. I've decided it's the Huggies Manufactures fault. I am convinced it's a conspiracy and they've done something to the diapers that makes them addicting to little kids bums. Really, doesn't that sound like a possibility in our crazy society?

"Adelle, does your bum hurt?"

So we (by "we" I mean Braxton and I) are potty training Adelle. Or trying to, anyway. Adelle is really not interested but she is a big girl and it's really expensive having two in diapers. Let's just say we are trying to encourage potty training in her case.
So yesterday I told Adelle that if she went potty on the toilet we could have ice-cream. I also told Braxton that if we was really positive and excited for Adelle and helped her then he could get in on the ice-cream deal as well.
This is what I heard all morning:
Braxton, "Adelle, do you have to go potty?"
Adelle, "No."
Braxton, "Adelle do you have to go poopoo?"
Adelle, "No."
Braxton, "Adelle, does your bum hurt? If your bum hurts it means you have to go poopoo."
Adelle, "No, me bum don't hurt me."
repeated 700 times

So we will be patient.
Also, in the picture above Adelle is loving life. We had just read a book. She had Braxton as her cheering squad right next to her. Then with no luck he asked if he could bring her a cup of water.
So he brings in the cup with the straw with this logic,
Braxton, "here Adelle. I got you a big girl cup (not a sippy) because you are learning to be a big girl and I got you the heart straw because I love you."

He really adores his sister.

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Oh what do you do in the summertime when all the world is green?
Do you...

swim in a pool
drink limeade
forget to do laundry
bar-b-q
eat lots of watermelon
live in your swimsuit
sleep with a fan
play with your cousins
go barefoot
beg makeup
go boating
eat fresh crab
take long naps
learn to swim
make up funny water challenges
sing songs
go on walks
forget to grocery shop
eat outside
get stung by bees
eat fresh veggies
watch the sunset
sun bathe


if that's what you do....so do we!!

My friends and I

I often reflect on how it seems like the more children you have, the more friends you fail to keep in touch with. Not because of lack of desire to have/be a friend, but more because of life and busyness and keeping up with all that you "have" to do. I've found that it's easier to pack up three kids, picnic, buckets, shovels, cars, boats, diapers, 7 changes of clothes, camera....and go to the beach on impulse than it is to call a friend and plan a play date. I mean, what if:
the weather doesn't cooperate
the kids are sick
Emmett is napping
I'm not in the mood for adults
Jeff is home
sometimes it's just too stressful for me to plan ahead amongst all these factors that could come up.

I've found that every single day I am with my friends, and they are with me, and we are happy.
Don't get me wrong, I love play dates too!
These are two of my friends. Braxton and Adelle. They are so fun and so easily amused. They love the beach and Braxton has a gigantic imagination. This is him and his car, boat trailer, and boat that we took to Birch Bay a few weeks ago. He used the rope to tie the boat trailer to the car and then backed it down the whole beach into the Bay. This boy amazes me and is so much fun to watch him strategically do everything with such order.
This is Adelle. She was my date to Costco the other night. She brought her purse and we got a smoothie to share. She dressed herself in her "pretty" and we sang Miss Mary Mack in the car the whole way. We both had hot pink fingernail polish, her pick. She loves hanging out with me but prefers her brother still. I can't blame her.
This is Emmett. He's super chill and loves to watch our other friends play and play. I'm glad I have Emmett to be my beach buddy and to work my arm muscles when I carry him down to the water to find crabs with the other two friends. No pictures, it was either Emmett or the camera. I couldn't carry both.

This friend is super handsome very entertaining. Jeff makes me laugh so hard everyday. He makes even 3 hour border waits worth it.
I love this picture of me because it expresses my genuine happiness. I can't even remember what he was doing to make me laugh (or maybe I'm just choosing not to post it) but it was funny.
This picture is priceless. I carried Adelle back up to the grass and we forgot her shoes on the beach. Without hesitation Braxton walked back down to retrieve them from the shore. He is the best big brother, one day she will appreciate him, today she was just interested in blowing bubbles.
Here we are at Boulevard enjoying the sun, water, rocks, crabs, and each other.
My friends will grow up. Make more friends. I will most likely be replaced for a time, except for in Jeff's case:) But I know we will always be friends, these special people and me. We are creating memories to last a lifetime.