Snoqualmie Falls

Thursday we went on a family adveture to Snoqualmie Falls for a day of fun and a picnic. The falls were the biggest we've seen in a while from all the snow melting.

The kids were amazed at how loud the waterfall was and how big.

Afterwards, we had a picnic at the park near the falls. As we sat eating, the girls suddenly turned around and started shouting, "Squirrel! Squirrel!" This well-fed squirrel began circling our table.

How cute, we thought. Until he kept coming closer, and closer, and closer. Suddenly he was only about a foot from the kids side of the table - staring up at us from the ground waiting for his share of the picnic.

Now, I like a good squirrel here and there, but when I have shorts on and those little claws are close enough to reach out and get aquianted with me, I don't like squirrels anymore. The girls were getting a litte nervous, too, so I decided it was time to be the tough father and scare away the big, fat, scarry squirrel.

I stood and walked around the table to shoo it away, thinking it would scamper off like all squirrels do. I was wrong. As I came within two feet of that beast, instead of fleeing to higher ground, he took a step towards me, as if to taunt me and say, "Wha'cha gonna do now?"

Now I have to admit, for a second my heart started beating double-time as I pictured that rabbid monster nibbling away at my legs like they were ears of corn. But I quickly regained my compusure and, determined not to mar my reputation as the protective daddy, held my ground.

With arms flailing (and other park-goers laughing, I'm sure) I put that squirrel in it's place and sent it retreating for safety. That's right, I stared danger in the eyes and lived to tell about it! With our comfort zone re-established, we finished our picnic in peace.

Picnic completed, we headed to the old logging town of Snoqualmie and walked along the old train tracks. It was balance beam skill testing time for some...

And just adventure time for others...

We had a great day!

Too cute to keep to ourselves...

Here is a sneak peek of the girls trying on their Easter dresses. You will see more soon!

Music to my ears...

There's always time for music

Notice anything different?

School days...

Last Friday I got the chance to help out with Jadyn's class at school. It was fun to see her so proud to have Mommy with her- making sure everyone knew that I was there just for her.





Here she is with some friends outside. Notice that most of them are boys--her favorite to hang out with "because they are not afraid to be loud and try things they aren't supposed to."









Here she is posing for me.












Swinging is always easier when your tongue helps you get going faster!

Here is the whole class giving one of her teachers a "get well soon, we miss you" banner. She had surgery and has been out for a few weeks. She just happened to stop by to visit that day!

Just checking in on you...

At night, we have this silly parental habbit of "checking in" on our little girls before we turn out the last lights and head to bed ourselves. One of us (or sometimes both) will crack open the doors to their rooms and peek in to make sure they're covered and sleeping soundly. I know... it's silly, and I'm sure we're the only parents in the world who would do such a thing.

Well... one night last week I went in to Jadyn's room and pulled the covers up to tuck her in again. Only this time she woke up. Rubbing her eyes, she asked in a groggy voice, "Daddy - why are you in here?" I replied, "I was just checking in on you and tucking you in." Her sleepy curiosity satisfied, she said, "Oh," closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.

The next morning, I headed off to work. As Julie and the girls sat at the table eating breakfast, Jadyn asked, "Mommy... why do you come in my room while I'm sleeping?" Julie replied, "becuase we love you and we like looking at you and seeing that you're safe and sound asleep." Again, that answer satisfied Jadyn's question.

Later that night, Julie put the girls to bed. As usual, she checked in on the girls, and then turned out the lights and climbed in to bed.

Now, any parent knows that you develop a sixth sense about your kids as time goes on. As Julie dozed off, she suddenly had that feeling that someone was in the room. No noise. No words. Just a feeling. She looked over, and sure enough the door was open a crack - about the width of a four-year-old. As she scanned the room, her eyes still fighting to adjust in the darkness, she picked up the silloutte of our Jadyn standing motionless at the foot of the bed.

"Jadyn," Julie asked, "Do you need to go potty?" This, of course, is the usual reason for a midnight visitor.

"No," came her reply.

"Is something wrong, Honey? Why are you up?" Julie asked, a bit puzzled.

"Nothing's wrong," Jadyn smiled. "I just wanted to check in on you."

With that, Julie had to get up and give her another goodnight hug. "I love you, too." she said, and sent Jadyn back to bed.

Precious moments~

Another fun day

Yesterday morning, we took advantage of Mark's day off and went to the local mall for some family fun. The girls loved the carousel there. We had it all to ourselves!






Jadyn got to ride on a cat that "pounced up and down over and over!"

Karina chose the dragon-horse instead. It is the most colorful one they have!

Here are both girls getting ready to take off.

We also spent time on a lot of other climbing toys/rides that are around the mall. Jadyn called this one Lightning Mcqueen's sister.

And, of course, we have to try out every fire truck we see!

After lunch and nap, we picked up a neighbor girl and headed back out to a park in Bellevue before going to church for dinner and Discovery Kids/youth group. It was a very fun day!

Jumping at the Supermall

Oh, how we love our camera's continuous shooting feature! Here is a sample...

Where broccoli really comes from

In the car the other day, Jadyn and I got into this drawn-out conversation that all started with chickens. We were discussing the different kinds and the various noises they could make if they were feeling different ways.

Then the conversation took a tough turn: Jadyn wanted to know why the chicken we eat had the same name as the chickens we were talking about. I , as kind as I could be, explained that they were the same, and that in reality, we eat many things that come from animals. So, on and on the conversation went. We were discussing every animal you could name and what we may or may not eat/get from it.

Then the back seat got very quiet. Usually, when that happens, Jadyn is pondering some big, profound question in her head that I am going to have a hard time answering. This time, however, when I inquired about what she was thinking so hard about, the reply I got was:

"Mommy, I was just trying to figure something out. What animal does broccoli come from? I am super sure it is not something we should eat from."

That is, by far, one of the most creative excuses I have ever heard someone come up with to try to get out of eating broccoli for dinner.

Lots of fun!

I pulled out a small fold-up mat today for the girls to play with. They literally used it all day long! Here are couple of my favorite uses they came up with.Jadyn is pretending to be a gymnastics coach here. Karina and I got the privilege of being her students. She is a tough coach with very high expectations. We had to smile and giggle at least as much as she did!
Jadyn showing us her skills!
Karina preferred to go another route: a house built for just one! "Can you find me now?"

A little extra rest

Jadyn came downstairs after her 2 hour nap yesterday and then proceeded to lie down on the kitchen floor. When I asked her what she was doing, she said that she must not have had enough sleep; her body decided she was not ready to be up after all. I tried to get her to at least move to the couch or somewhere more comfortable, but I guess when your body makes a decision, the discussion is over. She stayed there for about 25 minutes!

Another first...

Karina tried chocolate pudding for the first time tonight. Obviously, it was an instant attraction! Now we are just working on taking smaller bites. Yummy stuff!

Random Entertainment for your next coffee break

Do you remember being young and having too much free time on your hands? Well, a few guys from our church recently made a pointless music video that you might (or might not..) enjoy.

No really... you'll have to laugh when you see this!

Swimming in March

We spent tonight at the community pool. We had almost the whole pool to ourselves - it was great! The girls are both natural born fish!









The pool had large pieces of foam board that the kids could float on. Karina loved it!








It's been several months since we've been swimming, but both girls were surprisingly comfortable in the water.








We especially had to keep a close eye on Karina. When she was out of the pool for a second, she would head straight back and go to jump right in... with or without anyone to catch her.

We caught a little of the attitude here on camera...

It was a great night!

Small space, big fun!

This is what Jadyn calls a "baby-quick tent" which means it can be made without having to move the furniture all around and it is quick to make and clean up. Just big enough to fit both girls inside. Always a good time!

Gymnastics

Jadyn loves to go to gymnastics class every week. It is even better now that her good friend Emily was able to move into her class again. (They have been in different classes for a while because we switched to a different time.) Encouraging friends definitely make things more fun!

Here they are "walking up the wall" together -engaged in lively conversation the whole time.

Saying goodbye after class.

I'm Yummy

We were all having breakfast this morning when Jadyn looked down at her leg and noticed a little red dot. Did she worry...? No. She knew where it came from... you'll see...

"Mommy - I think a bug bit me last night while I was sleeping.
I think he thinks I'm food. I'm yummy, I think!
But he wasn't really eating me... just tasting."

Storytime

Jadyn loves to read stories to her Karina. And when Jadyn reads them, the words change a little each time which makes it even better!

New look?

Last night we had a Jr. High event at our church called Kodak Kommandos. The students were put into small groups, armed with a camera, and told to go to various malls in Bellevue in search of the volunteer staff members. The catch was that all of us staff were dressed up in some way to look different from normal, but not dressed up so much that we didn't blend in with regular people around us. It is a fun event that our staff goes all out to get in character for. (Some staff even shaved all or part of their heads!) Here are a few pictures of what we looked like:Mark had several layers of bedding wrapped around him to give him that amazingly large look. I just borrowed a high school girls' soccer uniform and added a duffel bag and jacket. It was surprising to have so many groups of students that we know well just walk right by without noticing who we were. Apparently, we blended well.
Here's a small sample of some of the other staff ladies in costume. Next to me, there is Kristin, Abby, Tami, and Christy. Quite the assortment of friends to see together in one picture.