Last Summer

Rainbow Falls on the Big Island

Ethan swinging on the vines.

Rachael caught up in the vines.

I was looking at pictures from last year and thought the waterfall was peaceful and the ones of the kids had me thinking about how much fun they were having.

One of those moments...

No picture, but one of those moments. Last night in bed Ethan was rolling side to side listening to the water he just drank slosh around inside. Ever had one of those moments? We could clearly hear the slosh, slosh, slosh as he rolled himself side to side. He was getting a big kick out of it. Oh to be 8 again...

Saturday, March 28th

Today was a busy day. Ethan woke up and opened his birthday cards from relatives that do not live nearby. Here he is with one from his Aunt Karen, Uncle Ward, and cousins Cody and Zachary. Then we had to boogie and leave for Bradshaw Veterinary Hospital to meet up with his fellow Cub Scouts. They got a really neat tour! They were shown around the clinic, saw x-rays, how to sterilize surgery tools, saw an ultrasound on a dog, and learned a lot about the different animals that are treated there. We then went to Red Robin for lunch. Tonight our friend Neola joined us for dinner and a good game of Monopoly. Ethan took second place to Dad who won by a landslide. It was a fun day! Happy Birthday to Ethan.

Picture from the past ~ Ethan Sleeping

Ethan sleeping... Mother's Day 2001

Happy Birthday Ethan!

So I am a day early, but tomorrow is a busy day! Here is the announcement for Ethan's birth. Rachael is 2 years 2 months and 7 days older than Ethan (give or take 14 hours). This is a day or two after we brought him home from the hospital. Yes, that does say 9 lbs 5 ounces.

Ethan and his cake.

Here is a picture of Ethan and his cake. His birthday is March 28th but we are getting a head start on it.

Ethan's Birthday Cake

Here is Ethan's Birthday cake. He asked for lightsabers, picked the colors, told me where to put the "sparks" from the sabers and insisted I take the buttons I put on the handles off. It is his cake. He did let me use blue around the outside even though he originally wanted green for the saber, letters, and trim...

Mexican Jumping Beans

Did you know? I looked it up online and you are supposed to soak the beans for 4 - 5 hours once or twice a month (use bottled water as the chlorine will kill them). So here are they are "swimming/drinking". They still jump around a bit while in the water. Years ago we had one "hatch". Other than that they always died.

Happy Anniversary

March 16, 1997

Vacation

Here we are on Catalina Island with the Carnival Paradise in the background. Between Catalina and Ensenada we saw hundreds of dolphins swimming next to the boat. Several were jumping out of the water together. Out of twenty or so pictures the top one was the best.

Towel Art

Every night when we went back to our room after dinner there was an art piece waiting for us. If you go on the Carnival website they show you how to make towel animals. The guy we had for our room was really good. These are made from our bath and hand towels.

:)

And they say Aliens do not exist...

we went out an hour later and they were back the way they usually are...

Spring Flowers

The sun is out. The birds are singing.

Flowers are blooming. Hello allergy season!

Market Day

Today the 4th grade classes at Rachael's school had "Market Day". They were given play money based on grades, attendance, homework... They could then be just a "buyer" or sell something at the market to make more fake money to buy with. Rachael and her friend sold shrinky dinks, cookies, cookbooks and art that they made. I was subbing but when my kids went to recess I had a chance to go and bum some play money off a teacher. I only had fifteen minutes so it was a quick shopping spree. I bought a few cookies from several different sellers, chips and guacamole, a book and pokemon cards for Ethan, a friendship bracelet and a small salad (Cameron sold cookbooks last market day so this time he decided to sell an item from the cookbook). I also paid to guess how many m&m's were in the jar ( I was way off!). The kids had fun, learned about business (partner or not, what sells, pricing, supply and demand...) and were able to buy some fun things. The kids in my class when I picked them up from the playground thought "it was so not fair" that I got to go shopping during recess. Oh well. They are in 3rd grade and need to wait one more year. I know Rachael will miss this activity next school year. Tomorrow is the last day of the trimester and we go off-track. We will be off until April! I actually like year-round school.

Still Saturday, February 28th

Saturday afternoon Ethan's Cub Scout Den went to the Central Library and then to Sutters Fort. I have many pictures of the different rooms throughout the fort which I will post later. It is a neat place with a lot of history. One of those places that we live near but have not visited in a long time.

Saturday Morning

Here Ethan is helping Rachael load Alli in the back section of the vest. Ready for a fun game of dart tag!