Easter Weekend

The day before Easter I was able to help put on a shower for a special Mama-to-be who is residing in our area for a few months. Now she's just waiting for her little Miss to make an appearance. We had a good old time enjoying a brunch, playing lots of creative games and chatting. Aren't those little favors darling (I was not the creative genius who spent her time and energy making them).

The little girls had a blast playing dollies, eating yummies and soaking up the sunshine.

After remembering the Lord in His death and celebrating His Risen state Sunday morning, we drove south to Great-Grandma Kilcup's house for Easter dinner with my Dad's extended family. The kids had a blast (as usual) sitting at the "kids' table". Most of the kids are in their late teens and 20's...and then there's Ezra and Caroline keeping 'em young.

Aunt Cindi sweetly brought some plastic eggs with yummy chocolate and jingling change to hide out in Grandma's front yard for the kiddos. They had a blast finding all the eggs.


Nora opened her first egg, found chocolate and started stuffing. Following you'll see a lot of pictures...I just couldn't pick a couple, they tell the story so well all together : )





Couldn't miss an opportunity with all three kids in dress clothes! Unfortunately, just as I went to snap the first photo--Nora opened her mouth and a river of chocolate poured out.


The kids' favorite toy at my Grandma's house is her treadmill. They make it run by their own leg power. Nora kept trying to do a headstand on it for some reason. Then she climbed under to get Grandma's hot pink hand weights.
And promptly crashed. Sugar's a great thing--makes 'em all hyper for a while, then crashes 'em down into a hard sleep : )

No Girls Allowed

The girls were not actually told that we weren't "allowed" : ) These are just some activities that only the boys participated in. All of the following photos were taken with Tadd's blackberry.

Last weekend the Supercross tour made its stop in Seattle at Qwest Field. Tadd and Ezra got their tickets and spent half the day watching. They got pit passes and wandered around checking out the bikes. They caught a few qualifying and practice rounds. Then they stayed to watch the "Main Event" (the final races).

The girls and I had a nice quiet time without our men. The girls napped while I read. Then we went and looked at some ducks on a pond...doesn't that sound peaceful? We went on a little dinner date. And boy were my little ladies well behaved! I didn't even feel frazzled while eating out alone with them. It really was fun. After we got home we had a little toe nail painting fest and went to bed. Hey boys, thanks for going out and leaving us to our own devices!
When The Millers were here visiting the Dads took the two boys out to North Bend to hike up Rattlesnake Ridge. It was rainy and cold on the way up.

And it was snowy and cold at the top! And Lucas was only in his "everyday coat and shoes" as he explained it to me.
But I hear that these two little guys were real troopers and stayed upbeat and energetic the whole time. What fun they must have had! It would have been fun to be out getting some exercise, but I must say that when I think of carrying Nora in a back pack and dragging Caroline along by the hand...I'm not too sad that I missed out this time.


What fun to be a boy!

Fun Outings

Thursday afternoon we drove into downtown Seattle with plans of a waterfront supper. As I drove past Pike Street I realized what a dork I was for not planning to take them to the Market. Sometimes Locals can't see past the end of our nose. So, we parked as quickly as we could and headed down to look around at Pike Place.
All of our kids sitting on the famous Pike's Pig.

This fish was "not all the way dead" as Ezra described him. Of course, he really was dead...just attached to a string that various workers would pull whenever a child got close to him. It is kind of scary, even when you know what is happening.
Nora watched from a safe distance.
After the market we hiked down the stairs and off to the waterfront.


Standing in age order...if not orderly.
I wanted to keep Mia at my house for always. She is just too cute for her own good--and she does a great job of trying to keep Nora in order. I was impressed that she could pick her up all the way!
Yum! Fish and chips at Steamers. At this point in the evening Tadd got off work and walked down the hill to join us.
After we finished up with supper we drove south to the Boeing Museum of Flight. The first Thursday of the month in Seattle is "Museum Walk" with different museums participating in different ways. The Museum of Flight stays open an extra hour and is free from 5-9 PM. It was jam packed, of course, and I was worried of a repeat of the Science Center. But it was not to be. For one thing, we had the Dads with us this time, making the adult to child ratio much more manageable. And since entrance was free there was no standing in line to get into the museum. The rooms are so huge that it's not nearly as noisy or crowded feeling as it could have been. We looked at what we could fit into a couple of hours and then went home. It's so nice when you don't pay to go somewhere--then you can walk away from all the unseen exhibits without that sense of panic over not getting your money's worth : )


Our little astronauts.


Friday morning dawned sunny and beautiful. There is no where prettier that out on the water on a sunny day in Seattle. We drove down the the ferry docks and hopped on boat to Bremerton.

Mr. Landon brought his Mommy and Daddy along with us for the day's adventure.
Thankfully ferries have huge decks for energetic boys to run around on.

Aren't they just the picture of a loving sweet couple? Can you believe that this coming summer will mark 15 years of marriage for them???
They look sweet and innocent. But shortly after I snapped this shot, they ran away from me and I circled the boat a couple of times before managing to catch up with them.
Once in Bremerton Uncle Nathan treated us to a yummy lunch at a BBQ stand. And the weather was nice enough to take off our coats and eat out in the sunshine while watching the boats on the water. Can't think of a nicer way to spend the afternoon, quite frankly. There were lots of stairs and fountains to keep the kids busy too.
And with the day over our time was coming to an end. Half a day left and then the Miller5 had to fly back to their natural habitat. Hopefully by now the California sunshine has dried them out!