Turkey Day

A little slow to post... ooops! We had a fun Thanksgiving Day with Uncle Stevie and Aunt Betsy. They invited us to join her family in Idaho and the boys were excited about another road trip. The drive itself went pretty smooth even though we didn't have OMA keeping the boys busy. I ran around the night before we left and tried to gather a few toys that would keep their interest on the way out. We thought that we would hit a McD's on the way up to run off a little energy, but apparently there is no McD's from Kennewick to Pullman. Can you believe it? 3 hour drive with NO golden arches! Shocking! Aunt Betsy's sister hosted the feast and made a fantastic meal. My only complaint was feeling like a munchkin around all those 6ft tall people. The kids had fun playing together... 5 kids under 6 years old provides lots of chaos! Believe it or not, I actually took an after turkey snoozer while Ken watched football with the guys. We stayed in a hotel and took advantage of the swimming pool each day. Nate got to show off his swimming skills to Daddy who was very impressed.

Making breakfast

My little guy is growing up! He is now responsible for making his own breakfast (waffles, bagel, or cinnamon toast). He loves making breakfast for the whole family :-) And we always make breakfast a little more interesting by finding something to drink.

Swim lessons

Swim lessons is mostly what we've been up to. Every other day. But we are excited about the progress they are making. Logan is much more comfortable and can get his face wet (finally!). Nathaniel can swim the width of the pool alternating between the crawl stroke and rolling onto his back with "wings and kicks" when he gets tired.

Building projects

The first Saturday of every month we like to drop by the local hardware store and bam-bam-bam the hammer (as Logan calls it). The boys made an exciting pilgrim boat and even got to paint it!

Don't lose it!

When you don't want to loose something you strap it to your head right? Nathaniel did some yard work for Papa Jim and as soon as he could he strapped it to his forehead.... and then proceeded to take his nap.

Halloween Activities

Nathaniel could hardly wait for Thursday to roll around. Tuesday he woke up and the first thing he said, "Two more days till we get to visit Daddy at work!" Hmmm, maybe we should just visit once in a while? No, I think he remembers all the candy he brought home last time from trick-o-treating cube to cube. You can get way more candy in a short amount of time there than going door to door in a neighbor hood. Plus everyone is dry and warm. They also had a little area for activities including make a ghost lollipop, putt-putt golf and pumpkin bowling. We had a fun time. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so no photos :( Afterwards we came home and met up with Kara down the street and knocked on a few doors in the neighbor hood. We didn't last long. Neither of the boys had their naps and weren't going to make it. However, a little rest in the car rejuvenated them for the Carnival at Uncle Stevie and Aunt Betsy's church. They got to shoot dart guns, throw baseballs, go fishing, jump in a bouncy house and paint a pumpkin. We had way too much fun for one day. Both of them had to be carried in from the car and slept in their clothes that night.

Pumpkin Carving

No, apparently we are not tired of carving pumpkins yet :-) Ken's sister and family were in the area for a soccer game and stopped by to carve pumpkins with the boys. They were elated to see their cousins and once they stopped running through the house/wrestling they made some pretty cool pumpkins. We also dyed "pumpkin" eggs because I had 18 eggs that were about to expire :-)

Family Time

It was so good to be home and sleep in our own beds! After Daddy got off work we went to a little Halloween party at the club. It was quite fun with games, inflatable bouncy house and slide. There was a little photo booth station too. I thought our pictures turned out quite well.

Roadtrip - Day 28

The rest of our road trip was spent in the car. We woke up early in Salt Lake City and pulled in late to Portland! It was a LONG day. We (Oma) tried to keep the trip lighthearted and took a silly string break at the gas station. And as for the required license plate game.... We got almost all of the US and Canada on our month long excursion (excluding Hawaii, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island & Quebec). We are sure if the Mt. Rushmore wasn't closed we would have got them all!

Roadtrip - Day 27

Arches National Park was the most AMAZING place to visit! We started at the visitor center and got the boys excited about becoming Jr. Rangers. Then set off to visit the park. We stopped at each turn out and marveled at the rocks. We had to hold ourselves back from taking so many trails to make sure we had enough time and stamina for the hike to Delicate Arch. We stopped and watched some rock climbers and the boys did their best to climb too (without any gear). We drove through the park and made it to Delicate Arch but by that time we weren't all up for the 3 mile hike in :-( We weren't dressed for the warm weather and the possibility of carrying the boys all the way there and back was very high. So we did the one mile hike to see the arch in the distance. It was still impressive. I guess we are going to have to come back someday! Throughout the park Nate worked on his Jr. Ranger booklet and had an eagle eye out for any trash he could pick up. At the end of the day we stopped back in at the visitor center to turn in the booklets and met with a Ranger. She walked the boys through a few facts she thought they should know and FINALLY had them raise their right hand to promise to take care of the environment and present them with their badges. This badge was Nathaniel's prized possession and he did not let go of it for the next 24 hours. Unfortunately, we stopped at a rest stop and the badge dropped in the toilet. The automatic flush went off before I could grab it (yes, I would have stuck my hand in the toilet, ewww) and the alligator tears instantly flooded the bathroom. Nate was soooo sad. I couldn't blame him. The only way to get him to calm down was to offer to call the park and ask that they would send us a new one. Thankfully, they took our address and said it's in the mail. Here's to hoping they follow through!