Family Vacation

We got to go on a great getaway this week with our friends Chad, Cindy, Andrew, and Nicholas. We went up to Birch Bay by Bellingham for 4 fun days of great sunshine.

We played on the beach, making sandcastles, hunted for shells and crabs, and threw rocks into the ocean. Jadyn and Daddy had good boots for walking, but Karina only had a short pair. We thought she might be a little timid at getting wet in the giant puddles left during low tide, but we were wrong! She trudged right on through!

Of course, we swam a bunch in the pool at the condo - the girls had a great time with the boys, and Jadyn really liked trying on Chad's snorkel mask and breathing tube. Chad even did Karina's hair for her with some sunscreen - what do you think?

All in all it was a great getaway! Thanks to the Carlsons for a great week together!

New scooter!!

Jadyn has been working VERY hard for about 9 weeks and has finally earned her new scooter! She had to earn the money doing various chores around the house. Each week we would count up the nickels she had earned and she got to color in her Scooter chart for the corresponding amount.

Once she had it all colored in, she would have earned up the money ($10 US) to buy a scooter. This week she finally made it, and here she is the day she got the scooter!

Is it ever okay to be the boss?

I was shocked to hear what was coming out of my Jadyn's mouth as I came downstairs a couple of days ago. She was all-out bossing and demanding someone to do things her way and in her time frame. (It was not shocking to hear it, but shocking to hear so much of it at one time coming from her.)

Things like: "No! You can't go there! Stay right there until I tell you to move!" Or: "I told you, you are not allowed to play with that! Put it back where I put it!" Or my favorite of all: "God made me the boss of you- you don't have a choice!" (Multiply this by about 10 statements, and you will get the idea of what I was hearing.)

Now, being the concerned mom I tend to be, I run in, expecting to rush to the defense of my little Karina, who I am sure is cowering in some corner somewhere. Instead, I find Karina happily reading books by herself in the playroom, and our poor cat, Wicket, trapped in the living room with Jadyn practically sitting on top of her.

When I asked Jadyn what in the world would make her think it was okay to talk to anybody that way (even the cat), she said: "But I have to be able to be the boss of somebody! Wicket is the only one that God gave me. I am not allowed to boss Karina or you or Daddy and the turtles don't listen to me!" Not to worry, our cat made a full recovery and has once again forgiven us for such inhumane treatment.

Our new favorite place!

We just found this brand new park not far from our neighborhood! It has everything we could want and more, as the following pictures will show you. So if there is no rain coming down, this is where you can find us!

Party time

Yesterday, Jadyn got to go to her friend James' birthday party at a local gymnastics place. She had so much fun playing freely on everything there with her school friends!They had a balance beam that was extra wide and covered with carpet. You can see the huge dragon blow-up obstacle course in the background. Of course, no place is complete without a foam pit to jump in!Here is the whole class trying to pose for a picture together.
One of Jadyn's favorite spots was under the

donut mat. You could jump up and surprise people on top.
Here is the birthday boy, James blowing out the candle on his amazing pirate ship cake. Thank you for inviting us to your fun party! Happy 4th birthday!