February Sun and Fun

We've been enjoying all the sunshine that's come our way these last couple of weeks.  We are supposed to get some rain next week, but are so thankful for the warmth and sun we have had!  Its a nice break in between the gray rainy days.  

We've had fun getting outside for walks, jumping on the trampoline, and even having a picnic lunch.  As for inside fun . . . we bought the kids a little tikes basketball hoop so we could work on our bball skills.  So far they've had more fun playing with the box!  

They used it as a train, as a fort, and the list goes on.  I finally recycled it because I was starting to find bits and pieces of it around the house.

Tetherball and Playground Time

Saturday was an exceptionally beautiful winter day in Cathlamet.  The sun warmed things up a little so we decided to get out of the house for a while.  Byron, Becca, and Owen were visiting for the weekend and they came with us to the school playground.  

 That's Owen trying his hand at tetherball.

The kids had a grand time playing on the play structures.  Ryan and Byron faced off in a couple games of tetherball.  There seemed to be a general consensus that tetherball wasn't as easy as they remembered it being!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Mom and Dad have been living for 2 years now in a travel trailer on their property.  They are now seeing the light at the end of that tunnel!  Half of their house was delivered yesterday and today the other half came!  How exciting for them!  Mom can't stop smiling!  

Rylan and Lila braved the cold and mist (not for very long) to watch the men working on Grandma and Grandpa's new house. 

 Pretty exciting stuff!

Hangin' out with Hansons

We had a great visit with John, Amy, and Grace when they came down earlier this week.  John took some vacation time and we were honored that he would choose to spend it with us.  We mainly hung out at the house letting the kids play and just relaxing and enjoying each others company.   Wii Sports and Mario Kart were our favorite games of the week.  We tried to get John his Pro bowling ball but he didn't get in quite enough games.  Next time, John.  Lila has told me every day since you left that she misses you guys!

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!