In the Hoods

Here are two of my kids in the hood.  They came downstairs together like this and told me it was raining out - therefore they needed hoods.  I asked them if they were Little Blue Riding Hood and Little Pink Riding Hood.  "No, Mommy, its just raining out!"  Aren't they sweet?

Bowling

Monday was MLK day and the kids didn't have school so we headed into Portland for some fun. We met up with our friends, the Nelsons and headed out to a bowling alley cause it was a little too cold to go to the zoo as was our original plan.  Our kids had never bowled before.  The only bowling experience they had was on the wii so they were pretty surprised to find bowling balls are heavy!  This is Emily sending the ball down the lane (James is next to her bowling at the same time.) 

 We found out Alaina was a great bowler - she beat us all in the first game.  

Lila and Rylan tried out the kids accessories that were available.  This was a ramp they used to send the ball down the lane towards the pins.  (The ramp doubled as a playground slide for the kids as they waited for their turn to bowl.  I don't think the bowling establishment planned it that way, but our kids seemed to think it was a great idea.)

Rylan also discovered the hand blower on our lane divider.  He thought it was fun to stick his head in it and let it blow his hair.  

 It was fun - we decided we would definitely try bowling again someday!

Eating Daddy's Cake

We all had fun celebrating Ryan's birthday on Friday night.  Cake and ice cream - YUMMY!  The kids were most excited to see Daddy open his presents that they helped pick out.  I think their favorite (and Daddy's!) was the Nerf dart gun that they found him.  My refrigerator is now covered with suction cup marks from the darts.  Probably should have used a little more thought before purchasing that particular toy!

Making Cake for Daddy

We made Daddy's birthday cake today.  This picture makes it look like Rylan was eating the cake before we even baked it.  Actually the chocolate residue on his face is from the pudding that he ate just before we started the baking extravaganza.  I will post some more pics tomorrow that show all the birthday festivities - and most importantly the EATING of the cake!

Blowing Bubbles and Slumber Parties

It stopped raining yesterday so we had to get outside and get some fresh air!  We swung on the swings for a long time and then we pulled out the bubbles and the kids had a great time!  Alaina was the official bubble blower and Lila and Rylan were the official bubble poppers!  Friday nights are exciting for our kids because they get to have a slumber party.  They decide which sibling's room they will sleep in and set up sleeping bags and make a night of it.  It is usually a sister thing, but last night Rylan hosted the slumber party in his room.  He was VERY excited to have his sisters sleep in his room!  It was fun to listen to them giggle and talk until they went to sleep.

Happy 2009!

Whoa!  The year just started and I'm already behind!  Thought I better post some pics of what we've been doing!  Here are all the kids in their new pajamas on Christmas Eve.Rylan received some great stuff this Christmas.  Grandma and Grandpa Far Away found him a huge dump truck and digger.  He likes to push the girl's ponies and barbies around in the dump truck.  He also received a bike from Uncle Jim!  Now he won't have to learn to ride on a pink bike!New Years Eve we headed up to Seattle area and met Grandma, Uncle Dave and Aunt Jeannette, Neil, Raquel, John, Amy and Grace for lunch.  Then we headed back to John and Amy's place to spend some time together.  It was fun to have everyone under the same roof - after our Christmas plans to do just that were thwarted by the unusual amount of snowfall this year.  The cousins are enjoying a movie together in this shot.  Heres wishing you all a great 2009!

Sledding

Our lone garbage can lid has served as a great sled for the last couple of days. Today Ryan decided to get out the inflatable we tow behind our boat. It worked great as sled - especially since all four kids can fit on it at the same time. No waiting! There were some pretty big smiles on the slopes today. It was extra special to have Uncle Neil here to push them and catch them at the bottom. FUN! FUN!