Seattle

All of these fun activities in one day! I am so tired, but since I love Heather(my sister) I am adding these photos so she can see her girls while they are here in WA. We went up to Seattle, rode the monorail over to the Pacific Science center, did most of the exhibits, went out to the fountain and got wet and ate lunch, rode the rides at the carnival, rode the monorail back, got some delicious tarts, cookies, and crepes at westlake center, shopped, got some pie at Marie Callenders, and headed home for a sleepover with one more cousin we picked up on the way, Katie! I did drop Tyler off with them so there are still only 8 kids down here. 5 at my house tonight and 3 at Grandmas.

Arriving in Seattle for a day of fun.


The girls minus Eliza and Samantha. Eliza and Tyler offered up the last tickets to the other kids. So sweet of them. Trust me, they didn't miss out on a thing!


Sara too short for some of the rides. She cried...a little.


Emma and Tyler getting off the ride.


Science Center-Tyler and Eliza were pretending to be in the movie.


Space Needle with the 8 kids


Fountain in Seattle near key arena


Emma and Sara enjoying cotton candy and the view.

Life with 8 kids

Tyler is used to being outnumbered, but it has gotten ridiculous. My sister, Heather, sent her 3 oldest daughters out to WA from GA for 2 weeks. Poor Tyler and 7girls! We are finishing off our first week and it is finally becoming bearable. It helped that he was gone for 3 days this week to scout camp.

Here are some of the things we have been doing to make fun memories for the girls and boy.

Seattle Temple visit. We all love to visit the beautiful temple grounds. The kids ran around, reverently of course ;)

Hannah and Emma freezing on this JULY day.

Samantha has always loved the statues outside of the temple. She has hugged and kissed them for as long as I can remember.

Eliza was dancing like a freak to the music from her tic tacs. It doesn't take very much to get a smile like this out of the girls.

Savannah's tic tac dance

Favorite restaurant to go to with the kids in Gig Harbor-enjoying gelato!

Made a swing with a jump rope and stick in the backyard

Emma and Hannah BCF = best cousins forever (at least that is what they have written)

Emma and Hannah handstands

Eliza, Sara and Savannah getting some sun

Hannah floating

We have much more planned, but honestly they would be happy in an empty room if they had each other. They giggle all day long...well, most of the time.

My summer.

Cub scout camp is on my mind. It is next week, and it will be a blast. Tyler is going as one of the scout leaders. I have to tie dye the shirts with the boys. I know about the rubber bands, but I was thinking about spraying the dye on with spray bottles instead of immersing them in the buckets. It seems so much easier. Is that lame of me? I bought RIT dye and I am hoping the shirts aren't too pastel looking with just the spray. Any thoughts? I will try one out later today.
I just finished icing my ankle for the first time ever. I woke up this morning with it popping all over with some pain. I work out all the time so I know it is strong, but now I have to stay off it for today at least. Bummer. Last night I was running through a neighborhood, in flip flops, looking for someones house. There are steep hills and I think that might have set my ankle back. Dumb, I know, but I was determined to find the house, and there was a barrier so I couldn't bring my car with me!
One more hour and Tyler and I are going to see HARRY POTTER. It is our date. Good memories for me and my 11 yr old.

Picture day!

Our new best friend, Kjrsten, took some fun pictures with us last week. We are so thankful for her sharing her vacation time with us.
First off we tried to re-create our engagement picture 14 years later. Can you tell which is which? 1995 or 2009



Kjrsten was so fun with the kids and they actually had a great time taking pictures...imagine that! She is so talented with the camera and with kids.