Top of the world...

One more super rad field trip for us to the top of the Space Needle! We had been up visiting my mom and Jeff and his fam were living there temporarily while relocating from ID...and it was Jane's birthday...so everyone came along on the field trip (Jeff gets every other Friday OFF, and it was that day for him)! Oma came too, and we were a big group and had a great time. The weather was super amazing and though I only had my little point and shoot camera, I got a few good shots.

Mom, Bets, me, Molly, Mary, Jeff, Ruby, Sarah, Alice, Jane, Nathan...they will email you the pic they take at the entrance to the space needle elevators! I didn't know that in the past and never even bothered looking at my pictures in the past because I figured they would be sub par and expensive. The pic is sub par...the lighting is horrible...but I'm glad to have the pic!

Sarah and Ruby all posed and pretween in this pic. They are such a pair and I love it when they get to hang out!

Nathan, Jane, Ruby and Sarah on the observation deck.

Looking into the puget sound...

Alice, Ru and Sarah.

The heart of Seattle...

At some point, I discovered a setting on my camera that actually doesn't flush all color from the image. That was a good discovery!

looking toward Lake Union, which is on the north end of Seattle...isn't that a neat city park there on the water?

Ahhhhh...my camera CAN take decent pics! This is looking north west, you can see a hint of the cascades in the distance, the water is the Puget Sound.

Here's the birthday girl at our post needle lunch at Dick's..."Dick's is the place where the cool hang out...Posse up!" Sir Mix-A-Lot is from Seattle, and he likes Dick's, I'm just saying. If anyone else knows all the lyrics to, "My Posse's on Broadway", bring your a-game next time we are face to face, because I will rap circles around you. Okay, sorry Janie. This is Jane, and she's basically the cutest kid that I never get good pictures of. Jane...we need to work on the photogenes. You don't got them. It's you, not me...but I still think you are super cute.

Don't underestimate the power of a good pose, Nathan. Sarah has you beat here, but your effort is worthy for sure. Nathan, Sarah, Janie, Alice, Betsey and Ruby.

What a fun day with extended family! So glad that Jeff and his precious family live closer now...even if it is a solid 3 hours north of here, we have a good meeting place at Oma's and it is WAY more likely to get together than when they were in Mountain Home, ID. Honorable mention to Molly whose birthday was just a day after Jane's.

Kindergarten Co-op

Most of our local homeschooling friends have kids Alice's age! We formed a weekly co-op for our combined 7 kindergartners in the fall and it is going really well! We hosted at our house this week and we learned all about worms (worms are sold where fishing tackle is sold, in my case, Walmart).

We started with a craft where the kids wrote the word "worm" with Elmer's glue and then the kids follow the glue with yarn. They did a good job! If you see one that is really well done, it's probably mine.

We did the gummy worms in pudding joke on the kids and they loved it.

It was nice enough outside for the kids to play outdoors!

Ammon is the oldest kid in the group, and he is Shayla's brother. He is a nice boy and he and Braden are basically bff. They are always twitching with wrestling moves that threaten to emerge from their wrestling-prone bodies. It's almost painful not to let them go to wrestling town...but so far I am 2 for 2 for bloody noses...and that is with no wrestling.

Shayla is her name...isn't she cute?! She and Alice are the only girls in the co-op.

Eli is a great kid. He's very aware of anyone breaking any rules...even extra rules! That is how I was, so I really appreciate that about him. He carries the weight of the group on his shoulders.

I put the worms in a planter and turned the kids loose with shovels and gloves and they began searching for their composting friend.

It was a fun time! We read books about worms and I reviewed a worm fact sheet that I printed and then we did the craft, snack and had some free play time, ending with the worm habitat/mini-composter making.

Ruby and the Blue Stars...

Ruby played basketball for the first time this winter. She became obsessed with the sport after reading the Julie: An American Girl series. I was no basketball player, so I wasn't expecting much from her...but she did a great job!! After a career high when she rebounded at her basket and proceeded to dribble as fast as she could to the other team's basket and shoot, she really got into a great groove. She scored at least one basket at the last four games, even three baskets in one game!

Ruby plays some really intense defense. I know because I got to scrimmage with her team and she guarded me and even being a foot shorter, she owned me!

Daddy was the sideline coach, and usually juggled Bee while I tried to take some pics.

Rebound...

Regroup...

SCORE!!!!!

The coach might appear to be mad here, but this is her "rock on" face. She was always proud of their effort. I actually think that they won all their games, though scoring wasn't part of the fun.

I am so proud of my girl for being super confident, and for trying new things all the time and never giving up. She is a great athlete and she really enjoys learning new things.

Spring...

Only northwest inhabitants can appreciate the euphoria that bursts forth from the soul when the sun shines after loooooong, dark months of overcast monotony. Even as an adult, I find myself thinking about swimsuits and popsicles when it hits like 61 degrees. Such were our feelings last week when the sun came out.

Here are some things we did due to the nice weather:

1. We changed our clothes. You can spot a tourist a mile away here, they are the people wearing layers, long sleeves with their pedicure hidden behind socks and shoes. We wear flip flops, short sleeves and often...shorts or capris when the sun shines, regardless of temperature.

2. We had a text message from our local homeschooling friends saying, "We'll be outside riding bikes all day if you want to come join us!" I felt like she was reading my mind.

3. We rolled the windows down, turned on some Jackson 5 (some music is suited for sunny day drives) and drove a little faster around town.

4. We tuned up the bikes and rode all over the neighborhood LOTS of times.

5. We talked to our neighbors, welcomed them home from work and commented on the blooming trees lining our street. Being a neighbor in the northwest is an obligation only during half of the year. The rest of the year, we just pull into our garages and stay indoors. There's no interaction October through April or so.

6. I got my camera out. It was just so fun to be in the sun outside, I actually took pleasure in some picture taking for once!

6. We even went to Goodwill and got Ruby a bigger bike (not the one pictured here) so that Alice can have her old bike and both girls, who grew out of their bikes over the winter are once again riding a well-sized bike.

Ahhhhhhh, it was nice! The sun has shown up a couple of brief times since then, but not like that day. Now we just take advantage of those nice days until hopefully, on July 5th we can count on three solid months of sun.

Fun pics of my kiddos...

Poor Betsey was sick most of February, and it really didn't fully go away until mid-March. Anyway, I can see the sick in her sweet eyes in this pic. I have to say, I didn't put that tiara on her head. I didn't even hand her the tiara. She was playing on the stairs and I went up to make sure she was safe and she was trying to put this on her head, so I helped her. You can tell she really likes it because she is allowing it to stay there. Kids are amazing! As a parent, I am always amazed to see how much nature is in my kids and not nurture. They just come into the world so who they are and I love discovering their personalities!

Even though Bee probably only rested here on Ruby for a snuggle because she wasn't feeling well, Ruby was thrilled. She stayed there long enough for me to get a picture with my snail, digital camera. Ruby was in HEAVEN.

Should this picture of Alice basically be tatooed on he top of my right hand? Is there any way to see this picture more than I see my own face? I just love it! Obviously, it isn't a technically awesome shot, but it is so my girl. She is sporting her sun hat and the funky glasses Santa got her for Christmas. That straight smile is the final straw...this girl is adorable!