Fourth of July 2013 Part II

Like last year, we had a big cul-de-sac fourth of July party with friends and family helping us celebrate.  I didn't take a final head count, but it was in the neighborhood of 30 people and kids.  We BBQ'd, had a silly string fight, blew bubbles and of course, let off fireworks and may or may not have caught the neighbors yard on fire. 

It was a ton of fun and, although, most people didn't stay for fireworks, we all still had a great time with awesome company, delicious food, and amazing fireworks.

I have to say though, the afternoon didn't start off too well, Kayden got stung by a bee....on the neck.

 

This was only part of the kids that came, we are missing two others and a five wk old baby, both families left before I thought to get a picture! :(

 

 

We loved being able to have so many friends and family over to help us celebrate the fourth of July!  It was a wonderful day all around.

Fourth of July

Wow, it is July 5th and I'm already posting about the fourth of July, that my friends is a small miracle, considering it usually takes me a week or more to get a post up.  BUT, that is what happens when you are awake and your almost-four-year-old is still sleeping...you get things done!  Haha

So, we had two fourth of July's... kinda.  Every year Emerald Downs, local horse racing track, puts on a fireworks show.  There are several places you can park outside of the track where you can watch and see the fireworks, Kyle and I have been watching them for years.  And as a matter of fact, I use to work at a place close to the track, so I use to step outside and watch them even before I met Kyle! 

Anyway, the last several years we have had a little fourth of July party in one of the parking lots close to the track and it has been so fun, what use to be just me and Kyle, has grown to be more than ten adults and kids.  Each family brings an array of snacks, drinks, chairs and bug spray!  It is so much fun, I love watching the kids run around and have fun.  Their excitement almost too much for them to control. 

Kyle and Dean usually bring sparklers and pop-its for the kids to play with and this year we brought some floating wish lanterns too.

 Even Ranger joined us for his first Fourth of July.  And he did awesome.

The wish lantern.  The kids were so excited for them, and I was too.

 And then the fireworks start.  We don't get the best view, but we get to see them peeking through the trees, and we are happy with that.

It was a late night, but this is our official start to the Fourth of July. 

Relay For Life 2013

After Old Mc Debbie's Farm Kayden and I headed out to support my niece, Katie, during a Relay For Life event, which is an all night even where people walk around a school track as many times as they can in an effort to raise money for The American Cancer Society. 

Katie participated with her Girl Scouts Troop.  I'm not sure how much their "team" collected as a whole, but while I was there an announcement was made that over $40,000 was raised!!!  Awesome, right?

This is the way the event works, the sponsors prepared a booth at the high school, then sell different items to raise money for The American Cancer Society.  Each sponsor makes up a team, then the team raises money, individually and as a team, before and during the event.  In exchange for your donation, the kids pledged that they would walk as many laps as they can.  Katie did 52 laps, which equaled 13 miles.  She did awesome and I am proud of her.

Those who wanted to spend the night, could and those that didn't, didn't.  Katie did spend the night and she had a BLAST she told me.  She was up until 4:30 and loved every minute of it. 

So, here are some pictures I captured while I was there for the short two hours. 

 This is the only pictures I got of Katie, she was too busy socializing to worry about her old aunt. :)

 Ashlie and Kayden having fun together.

Home Depot was one of the sponsors and the table/booth they had allowed the kids to paint tiles.  Here is Kayden painting his tile for Daddy.

 They even had a professional DJ and a dancing stage.  Kayden was lovin' the stage.

Ben Franklin Crafts in Bonney Lake, where I often take Kayden to do Kids Crafts, had a booth there where you could pay to do a craft and Kayden chose to paint this star.  He was so focused on painting it.  I just love watching him be creative.

 

It was a fun experience and I'm happy Katie had such a good time.  She already told me that she IS doing it next year, and I can't wait to see how many laps she completes then!

Old McDebbie's Farm

Last week Kayden and I were invited to go with some of our friends to Old McDebbie's Farm in Spanaway.  It was a rather long drive, but we made it and it was worth it.  The farm had so many different animals, and it was fun to see Kayden get so excited over each of them. 

First up, the camel.  I think Kayden was most excited about the camel, to the parents the camel didn't seem so nice, probably the reason why they don't offer camel rides, eh?  And it cracks me up, because he'll stand next to a large camel, even feed horses, pigs, goats and donkeys, but as soon as the little Chihuahua in a dress came close to him he ran up my leg!  All too funny.

Up next was the animals inside the barn, there were donkeys, miniature horses, pigs, pygmy goats, bunnies, even a three day old bunny (pic coming up), chicks and I'm sure I am missing a few animals.  It was so nice that the kids were allowed to hold the chicks and bunnies. 

They had these "sleeping bag" sacks that the kids got to use to help prevent the bunnies from scratching the kids arms and bellies.  Most of the time the bunnies inched their way out, but it helped for the most part.  Kayden absolutely loved holding the bunny, he didn't want to share!

 Feeding a goat.

 Three day old bunny, which could be easily mistaken for a baby rat.

 Feeding the pigs, all so much fun.

And the thing he was looking forward to the most....riding a horse, whose name, funny enough, was Bunny.  Kayden had a perma-grim the whole riding trip.

And that concludes our trip to Old McDebbie's Farm.  It was a very enjoyable experience, even if it was 95 degrees here and I was sweating like no other.  I absolutely couldn't talk Kayden into shorts either.  He was one HOT boy. 

Katie & Ashlie's Dance Recital 2013

My two nieces, Katie and Ashlie, have been practicing their dance routine for the past nine months and finally got to show off what they've learned to everyone at their dance recital on Friday.  The girls did awesome and I'm very proud of them.  It isn't easy to get up there and perform, but for these two, it comes naturally.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of them during their performance, but was able to capture some before and after.

 

Collin was having a grand ol' time posing with the girls.  He tried mimicking their moves and was having just as much fun with the camera as the girls were.

Great job, girls. 

Fathers' Day 2013

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads. 

We had a great Father's Day weekend.  No plans for most of the weekend and it was so enjoyable.  Yesterday Kyle, Kayden and myself went out on our, new-to-us, ten foot Livingston boat.  We took it out on a small, nearby lake called, Lake Fenwick.  The boys tried hard to catch fish, but they had no luck, BUT the great thing about a three year old is that his happiness doesn't depend on catching fish, it depends on spending the day in a boat...with his dad...and his mom...and a fishing pole.

Then today we woke up and the boys, Kyle, Kayden and Jim, went out fishing again.  Then once they returned we just hung out around the house until our bbq at Jim and Cindy's, which was yummy, then we ended the day with s'mores, yummy again!

We hope everyone enjoyed their Father's Day. 

Fishing

Last year Kyle took Kayden fishing towards the end of the fishing season, and it was immediately evident that Kayden has a true love for fishing.  So when the Federal Way Community Center came out with their Spring/Summer catalog and there was a "Hooked on Fishing" event, I knew I had signed Kayden up right away.  I had talked to a few people who had signed their kids up in the past and they all had positive things to say about it.  So I signed him up and paid the four dollars, then talked Christy into signing Charlie up too.  And she agreed, so we all went...and it was fun...and the kids caught fish.

The event was at a local lake and it has a pretty cool play area too.  So while Christy and I waited in line Kyle watched the kids play on the equipment.  Worked out perfect, since our allotted time slot was after the volunteer's lunch break and it started about 25 min after our registered time.  Which all worked out mostly because of the awesome playground.

When our turn was up, the kids went one at a time.  Kayden was up first and loved it.  Each child was allowed to catch two fish and they gave out bobbers to each child that participated and then gave out fishing poles to those kids who caught large fish, either in weight or length.  Maybe next year one of the kids will win a fishing pole.

 

Charlie was up next and she had fun too.

 

And I, somehow, forgot to take a picture of Charlie's first catch.  :(

 

The kids rotated turns, so after Charlie's first catch, it was Kayden's turn again.

 

And I am apparently really lame because I didn't get a picture of Kayden's second fish either. 

 

And last, but not least, Charlie's last turn. 

After the five minutes that it took both kids to catch their two fish, it was off to weigh and measure them.  And I should have written the info down, but I can't remember how much the fish weighed.  Oops.  Maybe next year I will be more prepared. 

 

We hope everyone is enjoying the start of their summer.