The Wilkins Family

Christmas Break 08

2009-01-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

Natalie: "CHEEEEZ!"

Audrey

Meg: "What are YEW lookin' at??"

Christmas Day w/cousins

Nice hat!

Christmas morning

Neil

Alan & Ella

where have we been??

2008-12-23T20:32:00.003-08:00

bird bath full of snow!

I've lived in this area for 30 years and we've never had this much snow

view from our cul-de-sac

home sweet home

icicles

Neil's gingerbread house

Christmas lights on our deck railing, covered w/snow

deck furniture (which should have been covered 6 months ago...)

Steve climbing the tree

Our cul-de-sac again, after more snow

Wade shoveling the driveway
a

A view we so rarely see!! A White Christmas.

Alan, measuring our first snow fall. It got up to about twice this much!

Our home

Chaos! U14 President's CupWA State champions 2008

Warming up after the game - it was incredibly COLD

Before the game - up against the greater Renton area team. Soccer should never be played in the snow!

Before the state championship - they are obviously stressed out and concentrating on getting their mind on the game. Not.

Two of our girlies ~ Audrey & Ella

Gansta Alan

Chaos after winning the division title

Neil and Alan, watching Larry play soccer and freezing their little buttocks off

"I don't see you, mother. Get the camera away from me."

Merry Christmas!!!

Wade took the boys hiking on Little Mt. Si.

Thanksgiving at the Armstrongs

Larry. Alan, Jack - Thanksgiving 08

Larry. 14

Wheel 'O Cousins!!

Larry

Jack-o-lantern pizza

Candy jackpot!

Natalie

Nat trick-or-treatin' with Dad

Indiana Neil trick-or-treating!

My brother Tyler has his hands full of girls while trick-or-treating!

Our neighbors are invaded with trick-or-treaters!!

Ella

Nat, not so sure about her costume...

Megan (Velma from Scooby-Doo) and her friend Amanda

Alan and his friend Perry (SO scary with a bloody knife in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other!!)

Audrey, Halloween 08

Neil's class, Halloween

Neil - Indiana Jones

Halloween decorations 08

2008-12-23T20:32:00.001-08:00

Fall Fun

2008-10-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

Neil carving his pumpkin at a cub scout den meeting

The lineup of finished pumpkins -isn't it cool how I don't know how to use my camera and it made this weird effect like the pumpkin faces are projecting??

Dumb alpaca eating the cornstalks I paid $5.99 for! Or maybe it should be: Dumb Stephanie paying $5.99 for cornstalks!

Neil picks the perfect pumpkin

Reading riddles in the corn maze

A very soggy Goalie Megan with friends at a recent soccer game

Great news! Ruby remembered where she buried the pizza. Mmmm, now doesn't that look like good eating??

Larry hanging out at Redmond Jr. High w/girlfriend Katie & friend Abu

Birthday pizza

Alan's football team made the playoffs (which they richly deserved after not winning a single game last year...) Here he is in the huddle (79)

Alan's souvenir from the last game - he left a nice smear of DNA on the turf field at Redmond High School

Alan, Larry, Neil celebrating Larry's 14th!

ruby's blog

2008-10-15T15:36:00.001-07:00

today i found a pizza on the kitchen counter, just sitting there all cheesy and unattended

instead of eating it, i decided to tuck it away until next spring

found the perfect spot...

i'm positive i'll remember where i buried it...

do i have any pizza sauce up my nose?

happy fall, y'all

2008-10-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

"Hey Natalie....gimme knuckles!"

Boom!

Yay!!

World Federation Cat/Dog Wrestling

UNCLE!

Back to School!

2008-09-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Neil - 3rd grade

Alan - 7th grade

Larry - 8th grade

Chaos soccer, back on the field

Larry (right) meeting with Coach Kip

Steve visiting Joe Momma

Catdog

Self-feeding cat

Lake Wenatchee & Leavenworth

2008-08-09T14:00:00.001-07:00

Are we there yet? Camping at Lake Wenatchee State Park last weekend!

We went with the Kappes family - here Molly, Ashlyn, Larry & Neil get the campfire going

New camping toy this year, an ice cream making ball!

Alan and S'more

Neil shows off "the perfect marshmallow"

Nothing like campfire smoke in the eyes! Alan, Molly & Larry

The dads eating dinner

Scary (?) stories around the campfire

Ruby trying to dig a chipmunk out of its den

Enjoying the sun

Fishing...

....with no luck

Henry & Ruby

After camping, we spent 2 days in Leavenworth, a Bavarian-themed town

Live Bavarian music, complete with accordian & yodeling

Horse-drawn carriage

Neil saddling up to hit the (very) dusty trail

Yeehaw!

Looking toward Sleeping Lady rock (because it supposedlylooks like a woman lying on her back)

The very generous Casanas family let us use their awesome vacation house

Mmmmm, root beer

Stratego battle

Back home & tired out

Nat pats the cat :)

happy 8th Neil! and meet Steve the cat

2008-07-09T10:35:00.001-07:00

Neil with his birthday goodies - to the left is the HUGE pinata that my mom & paul brought from California. He is sooo excited to use it as soon as mom gets around to setting up a party...

Yay!

8 candles this year...

Best birthday present - Neil's new kitten. The boys were apparently afraid of him being mistaken for a girly-cat, so they named him Steve.

visit with mom & paul (& family)

2008-07-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

We finally got everyone together! Mom & Pop came up in the RV (which Mom has named "The Other Woman" due to his utter devotion to it!) We met at Paul's son Joe's house in Tacoma and had a very fun day. Here is a cribbage tournament between Mom & Wade...

This is Joe & his wife Janna (the rest you should already know by now)

Tyler, Mom, Wade

Neil really bonded with Joe & Janna's son AJ (and the chihuahua puppy!)

Aawww...

bandon trip

2008-06-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a week of windy fun on a trip down the Oregon coast to visit my grandparents. We stayed in Newport the first night, where we met up with Tyler, Anna and the girls. We spent some time at the tourist traps before heading to Bandon...

We stayed here at the Hallmark Inn. It was a nice hotel, except for the horrible flight of stairs going down to the beach...

Gaaah!

First trip to the beach! Here's Megan after she found an agate.

Neil shedding the shoes & socks

"..Water...water..."

We visited the attractions at Mariner Square - here the kids are enjoying an educational speech about circus freaks at Ripley's Believe it or Not!

My three boys with an elephant at the entrance to the Wax Museum

(smile, Larry!)

Look, Johnny Depp was there!

Oddly-feminine looking Bigfoot

Crossing the Indiana Jones bridge

Poking sea life in the touch tank at Undersea Gardens

Audrey phone home!

Finally we made it to Bandon! We stayed at the Jetty House again

Almost the whole gang - Megan, Grandad (aka GG-pa), Alan, Larry with Natalie, Me with Audrey, Neil, Gram (aka GG-ma), Tyler with Eleanor

Ella visits with GG-ma

Grandma, Anna, Audrey, Alan, Megan, Larry & Neil sprawled on the floor

Having pizza and visiting at the Jetty House

Waiting for lunch in old town Bandon - it was super windy

Alan at the Jetty House

Myrtlewood chair in old town. Tyler loves myrtlewood!

We didn't lock the kids in the dog crate, they crawled in there on their own. Honest!

See?

Larry & Ruby

Alan & Megan

Vrooooom!

Audrey, Beach Babe

Prehistoric Gardens - Neil, Audrey, Alan, Meg, Larry & triceratops

Sitting around on a T-Rex's tail - Ella, Neil, Audrey, Meg, Larry, Wade & Alan

Caw! Caw! Or whatever!

Anna & Audrey visiting a brontosaurus or something

Alan, Larry & Megan goofing

Natalie in her Big Bird diaper, reading up on Myrtlewood (must be a family trait) and listening to music

I don't think our kids had ever seen one of these before

Ella helping with the jigsaw puzzle

Beach bonfire (mini-bonfire?) - it didn't last for long, too cold & windy!

Look at Megan & Ruby huddling together for warmth :)

The ever-popular Bigfoot pose, which our family seems to do a lot more often than the average person...

Packing up to leave - where did the time go?!?

Can't go home without a stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory (OK, I can't go home without stopping at the Tillamook Cheese Factory)

Ice cream! Check out Larry giving his ice cream cone some rabbit ears - weirdo :)

schooool's out for SUMMER

2008-06-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

alan with teachers at the 6th grade moving up ceremony!

we had a "graduation" party for alan & friends

not a very sunny day - the fire was more of an attraction than getting wet!

violating every trampoline safety code ever created

yippee!

kindergarten photos of 6th graders, alan is on the right and his friend kevin below :)

neil will swim no matter the temperature!

neil at his school party

chowing down in the buffet line

oh-so-excited to become 3rd graders! except for ryan (bottom right), who looks extremely bored about becoming a 3rd grader

2008-06-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

happy 12th, alan!

2008-05-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

Taking a nice, dainty bite of birthday cake

Nathan uses his party hat for a unicorn attack on Kevin, Spencer & Alan

Carefully guarding his "Apples to Apples" hand....

Rooooby...she luvas me

Neil in the game room - he's wearing swim trunks because it was our only hot day this year so far.

Alan & Co. having breakfast the morning after his birthday party.

Alan & Natalie

Eleanor, rocking out!

Natalie walking!!!

Happy Audrey!

Wade's new car - it is a Ford Escape :)

happy mother's day!

2008-05-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

my mother's day gift from alan~ a photo of him decopauged (?) onto canvas, with his own words describing me :) Among them is "rich," which he assures me isn't meant in a financial sense.

slugger neil

ruby puts up with so much. neil always asks me if she is ever going to "get married and have babies" ehhhh.....

nat giving me the razzzberry

neil at this year's science center camp-in - hugging it out with some other campers

pretty butterfly who lives at the science center

great shot of alan, which he wants to blow up to poster size (no shortage of self-esteem in this household)

more spring break

2008-04-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

We went to Seattle today for the boys' first trip up the Space Needle...my camera was set on some weird artsy function that made everything black & white except for a few select colors. Hmmmmm.

on the observation deck

checking out the view

looking at the International Fountain...thinking about getting wet...it's 50 degrees and way too cold, but you betcha they got wet anyway.

Alan

Larry & his friend Jacob, when they were still dry.

April fool's! I found this suction-cup monster that you attach to the toilet seat to scare people when they lift the lid. The neighbors could probably hear Larry slam the toilet shut and yell that his mother is "evil." It was a really good April Fool's Day...

spring break (?)

2008-03-31T09:21:00.001-07:00

This is a first - snow on spring break! It started Friday afternoon - here's ruby shaking snow off her head - and Saturday morning we had a couple inches.

Alan & Ruby snoozing

The siblings find ways to entertain themselves on the sidelines of Larry's lacrosse game. Add a couple more kids to that pile...

..perfect!

At red robin after the game, with friends - Spencer, Alan, Neil, Wade, Dan

Jacob & Larry (you can't tell from his face, but Larry is happy because their team won and he made a goal!)

Llittle Larry & Little Jake play with pretty balloons while waiting for a table.

The kids were all silly last night so VOILA - a gallery of goofiness. Ella & Audrey...

Neil

Ella

Meg & Alan

lazy moi

2008-03-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Late Easter! I haven't been taking many pictures lately but here are a few from recent days...

Here are a couple pics of Alan playing lacrosse (in white). This is my new favorite game! It's really fun & exciting to watch them fling the ball around with those sticks - plus they ram into each other and poke other players with their sticks. I don't have any shots of Larry yet (I have to wait for other parents to share them because my camera doesn't do action shots).

Happy 46th!!!!

Natalie - I borrowed this from Anna's facebook page...just cuz it's tooooo cute :)

lake quinault

2008-02-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

we've been visiting the lake quinault lodge since before the kids were born, it's one of our favorite places! we skipped last year and really missed it, so we took advantage of the kids' mid-winter break and enjoyed a few sunny days in the Olympic rain forest.
measuring up at the rain guage...neil, alan, larry and landon - their friend who came along

not a cloud in the sky - in february! in washington! in the rain forest!

our favorite little hiking trail was completely changed this year, after a recent storm with winds up to 130 mph. it used to be very dark and dense with trees, and now the trail is more open, with cut-through trees like these lining the way.

alan's bigfoot impression

...and what I call his "not-so-bright bigfoot" impression

there was even some snow around

we had to climb through and around lots of big craters like this - the big pile on the left is the mass of roots from a huge tree that fell to the left and created a big muddy hole

elk poo! the road we take to look for roosevelt elk was closed due to the storm, but we saw lots of evidence that they are resorting to 'people trails' to get around.

larry, neil, landon and alan

tree hugger alan

the best thing about this year's visit! the sutton family was passing by on the way to their own mid-winter vacation at kalaloch lodge on the coast. we were so happy they stopped by to have lunch and visit

megan can really skip those stones!

we couldn't hold back big laughs when ella kept bending over to pick up rocks and flashed us her little "plumber's crack" :)

natalie's first visit to the lake

the girls in the gazebo

ping pong in the lodge

and chess, too.

neil enjoying the sunset view from our balcony

pool time

the boys climbing on a waterfall

paddle harder, larry!

the lodge's restaurant is called the Roosevelt Room because FDR visited in 1937 before establishing the Olympic National Park. We always request this table because it's where Roosevelt sat. No one can tell us for sure which chair he sat in, but we're pretty sure it was where Alan is sitting, so that's the chair we fight over :)

finally, a snow day!

2008-01-30T09:01:00.001-08:00

neil & dad walked up to the school for some sledding

neil's pinewood derby car, "lightning killer!"

so c-c-cold...

2008-01-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

larry & alan trying a new sport - lacrosse! the season starts in march, but they've been going to skills training practices on sundays.

yep, it was my turn to cook

look out, natalie is crawling! :)

larry, alan, meg, audrey

for some reason my school decided that staff needed to accompany the kids on a field trip to the family fun center...so here I'm waiting with my co-workers to board our 'lunch lady express'

jenny & I blew those kids off the road

happy 2008!

2008-01-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

uncle bill's fireworks extravaganza

elliott, alan & neil wait for the countdown...

toooot!

larry...he's nice like this

merry christmas!

2007-12-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

rudolph-neil & his gingerbread house

christmas eve at grandma mag's - jack adding to the mountain of gifts

grandma & megan

neil, joe, kelli, alan

annette, woofie, derb

darla making the oyster stew, while nick & brad "help!"

christmas morning... larry & alan's new lacrosse gear, handmade with love by santa's elves

larry amidst the christmas morning debris

dad wearing the new golf visor he got from carrie :)

alan's new seahawk jersey

natalie plays with her gift

larry with his new underwear on his head. gotta make sure it fits right...

neil playing his new wii game

more cousins at christmas - meg, audrey, larry

neil at the cougar mountain zoo's reindeer festival

reindeer!

reindeer extreme close-up

we got rained on

neil & alan try out santa's sleigh

ow, quit it!

alpaca with grass on his head. they make me nervous because they always look to be seriously considering spitting in your face...

uncanny resemblance

all tired out ... time to nap on the dog-pillow. we hope everyone had a wonderful christmas!

december madness

2007-12-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

2 more days of school left!

happy Natalie

Alan's basketball team (the little green guys).

Santa making his yearly drive around town in an antique fire truck to collect donations. I thought the older boys might be too cool for it this year.

Wrong - poor Santa was kinda freaked out.

Spencer & Alan eating Christmas cookies with their mouths open, having some kind of fiesta, I guess?

Larry & Co.

Ella & Larry having Sunday dinner together :)

Megan & Audrey

Yay, Pokemon!

karaoke time - oh if you could only hear it.

Aaahh, my ears! turn off the karaoke!

chaos on whidbey island

2007-12-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

This weekend Larry and his soccer team (Chaos) traveled to Whidbey Island for the State semi-finals. I stayed home with Neil, and Wade agreed to be the guest-blogger for the weekend. They played two games, went out for two meals, and had an in-room party of half a dozen kids playing X-Box. Hmmmm...here are the pictures we ended up with....

The TV in the hotel room?? I'm sorry, but....Worst. Guest-blogger. Ever. Chaos didn't win their games so they won't be going on to the State Finals next weekend (bummer, it's in Olympia!), but we're sure darn proud of them for making it to the semi-finals.

Larry & Jacob shared a hotel room...here is Jacob's little brother Henry, all wrapped up in a Henry-Burrito :)

On the homefront, it snowed today! Neil and I baked Christmas cookies and enjoyed the first snow of the year.

happy thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving celebration at the Armstrongs' house this year! Bill, Grandma, Lance, Woofie, Derb. Everything Annette made was so delicious, and I didn't even get a picture of her :(

Renee tries to put shoes on a wiggly Aiden, while Aunt Lizzie helps so much by tickling him

Alan

Lance, Woofie, Lizzie (congratulations Lizzie, you made the blog - what an exciting day, eh?)

Cousin time - Jack, Larry, Elliott, Neil

Curly blonde cuties - Audrey & Aiden

Mari doing the one-armed mom eating position while she holds Chase. Chase & Jacob are sooo cute

Jack, Alan, Larry, Aaron

Because one kind of Jell-O is never enough!

Greg, Grandma, Larry, and an enormous vat of mashed potatoes.

Here are the amazing turkey cookies that Woofie supposedly made himself.

neil's turn

2007-11-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Before! (doesn't that chicken patty look tasteeee?)

After!

alan's makeover & chaos soccer

2007-11-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

Before...

After :)

Last night Annette & Nelson braved the cold to watch Larry's district final game with us. They won! In two weeks they'll go to Whidbey Island for the State tournament.

happy Chaos boys

a larry makeover

2007-11-13T19:49:00.001-08:00

Before...

After!

soccer

2007-11-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Tyler, Meg & Audrey joined us for Larry's semi-final soccer game Sunday night. They won, so next Sunday are the finals!

football

2007-11-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

Alan's football season is over ~ the poor team didn't win a single game, but Alan had a lot of fun & did really well. He made a lot of great tackles and scored quite a few touchdowns.

The coaches named him "Best Defensive Player" and gave him this award. Now he gets a little break, then it's on to basketball!

first november weekend

2007-11-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went to watch Megan's soccer game in Woodinville. She made a goal!

Meg & Audrey

Larry & Natalie

On the sidelines ~ Eleanor is taking a nap in the stroller.

After the game, Neil got to see his friend Elias for a belated Halloween Party. Elias used to be our neighbor, but his family moved to Duvall last summer. Bummer!

happy halloweeeeeeeeen!

2007-10-31T21:07:00.001-07:00

I'm sure the milkman loves delivering to us!

Wade & friend trying to get the fog machine going.

For those of you who go camping with us...we call this: Blooooody in the Woodshed, on a stick!

Larry went to a haunted house with some friends, and Neil went trick-or-treating with his cousins! Sorry about cutting your head off, Tyler.

Cutest. Lion. Ever. (Natalie, 6 mos.)

Neil at his class party

Alan hangs out with friends at the school party (as a giant banana looks on)

Alan, Nathan, Spencer & Michael head out trick-or-treating. I have NO idea what any of them are supposed to be.

Alan's friend Marianna trying to do the "Karate Kid" pose in her sumo costume.

Zach - Cereal Killer :)

Alan, Kevin and Zach (aka Paris Hilton)

party

2007-10-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

Larry decided that he's too mature to wear a Halloween costume this year, but we're still immature enough - we dressed as Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore (and Neil is Harry Potter, of course) for a party tonight. The pink shirt is a nod to the fact that Dumbledore was recently revealed to be gay. You go, Albus.

We brought witch finger cookies ~ BWA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAA!

happy b-day larry

2007-10-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Larry is 13 today! For his family dinner out, he chose the Pancake House, where he ordered hash browns (covered in mustard) and Swedish pancakes. Mmmmm....fancy dinner....

I figured, who wouldn't want to wake up on their birthday with a giant inflatable monkey staring at you? So here it is, waiting patiently for Larry to wake up.

In other news - after 5 years of chasing countless birds, squirrels and rabbits, Ruby finally caught a rat! It's rubber, but we're still proud.

october! our favorite month

2007-10-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Fall is the most absolutely gorgeous season around here - in between storms and sunny days, we have rainbows, red/orange/yellow leaves, foggy mornings, and lots of noisy frogs at night. It's really beautiful.

Foggy morning on the soccer field... here's Larry stealing the ball from some rather uninterested players in the black uniforms.

Shaving?!? Yes, it's true. Larry has always been Mr. Hairy, and we've been bugging him to shave his shaggy little moustache. He made a deal ~ he'd let Wade show him how to shave, but only if Dad shaved off his goatee! Done deal....two pairs of smooth lips & chins :)

happy birthday...

2007-09-30T00:07:00.000-07:00

...dear Grandad/GG-pa. We love you!

Tough hit by Alan

2007-09-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here is Wade's first blog post! One of Alan's coaches made this video. Both Alan and the quarterback are OK!

fall fun

2007-09-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

My view (from the top bleacher, where Neil makes me sit) of Alan and the rest of the Redmond Mustangs. They just recieved a sound whuppin' from the Bothell Cougars.

I work 3 days a week in the kitchen at The Overlake School, and they made us have our pictures taken for the yearbook. A few weeks later they presented us with packets of school portraits, which cracked me up... Yay, wallet-sized pictures of me! I'll be sure to write my name and the date on the back so I can forever cherish the precious memories of being 37.

Kevin and Alan, doing what 11-year-old boys do ~ jamming on the guitar and playing video games.

Neil playing Uno with his friend Carter.

cub scout mom & me camp

2007-09-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

Neil and I went to Mom & Me Camp last weekend!

We had great weather to go with the beautiful scenery.

The cabin we shared with the 10 other mom & son pairs from our Pack.

Learning about trees on the nature hike.

Rehearsing for the campfire skit - Neil & Thomas are airplane pilots, in case you can't tell. :)

Making leather wallets at Arts & Crafts.

This is one of the hills they use for sledding at Winter Camp ~ it's good for running up and down when there's no snow!

Shooting guns ~ a skill no 7-year-old should be without.

At the archery range.

Neil's arrows...he did really well!

Moms getting through the obstacle course. Frances (on the left) is either laughing or screaming in pain, I can't remember which.

Mixing up ingredients for corn bread...

....which the Boy Scout leaders cooked in a dutch oven.

The Boy Scouts know how to make a FIRE

We were up in the clouds...

Our pack of boys

Ready to go home! Me sporting a fashionable unwashed ponytail, Neil with the glazed look of someone who just tried to sleep in a cabin with 20 people. Some of those moms snore like buzzsaws!

first day of school!

2007-09-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

Larry, 7th grade

Alan, 6th grade

Neil, 2nd grade

bye-bye, summer...

2007-09-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Alan's football season started with a Labor Day jamboree ~ check out the new uniforms this year!

Usually you can puree some veggies and sneak them into spaghetti sauce without the kids noticing, but the other day I got too bold and added one bell pepper too many. It practically started a riot at the dinner table! I didn't get a picture of Wade, but he was none too happy either...

Poor tortured child.

Now here's a proud moment for a parent. Neil didn't mind because he eats his noodles without sauce...or a fork.

Speaking of Neil, here is a very rare photo of his bedroom - it's actually clean! Trust me, this doesn't happen often.

kicking it

2007-08-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Larry with his soccer coach after the team's 3-day tournament. They won all 4 games & came in 1st place!

ocean shores

2007-08-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend we packed up the car, sardine can-style, and went to Ocean Shores. We stayed here, at the "Clam Castle." Nice place...definitely more on the clammy side than the castle-y side, but that's OK.

Alan brought his friend Nathan ~ here they are playing air hockey.

They all enjoyed the hot tub on the deck.

Pizza at Dugan's. I don't know what Alan is doing with his head...

The weather wasn't great on the second day, so we didn't spend much time on the beach ~ just long enough to fly a kite, feed some seagulls, and get the car stuck in the sand.

See? It was good & stuck. The boys are all in back getting ready to push. Wade is putting something under the tires to get traction. I pretty much just took this picture.

Mine! Mine! Mine! (this will only make sense if you've seen Finding Nemo)... We got all the way back to the cabin before realizing that we'd forgotten the dog at the beach! Ooops.

She was standing around waiting for us, so we brought her home and made it up to her with a little steak for dinner.

Larry brought his friend Jacob ~ here they are after racing Go-Karts

Neil ponders his next shot at the miniature golf course...

Nathan & Alan

Neil up in the bedroom loft

This deer was around quite a bit the first day, but must've gotten sick of Ruby because we didn't see it after that.

Jacob & Larry

16 days till school starts, not that i'm counting

2007-08-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Larry trying to teach the dog to use the remote.

she thinks she's people.

We went to a back-to-school party at the home of our friends, The Q's. True to Washington weather in August, it mostly rained. Here's Neil with his friend Taylor.

Ginormous water slide

Mr. Q at the barbe-Q (heh)

camping @ belfair

2007-08-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

All the mosquito bites from our last trip have healed, so it must be time for more car camping... Here's the "car" part :) You are now leaving Seattle...

Windy ferry ride

Belfair State Park. We were joined by the Armstrongs & one Milham (Derb)

The ever-popular sport of tent wrestling

Alan

Derb visiting the campground beauty parlor...

Nelson getting ready to fish, with a little help from his Mom

Alan, Neil & Larry swimming in Hood Canal. Brrrr.

Muscle beach.

neil's 1st sleepover

2007-08-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

Neil & T.J. bonding over Gameboy. T.J.'s mama Andrea & I have been friends for going on 20 years, Aaaaaah!

camping @ kopachuk

2007-07-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

On the beach

Tree Monkeys

Alan with a crab

Little crab vs. Big foot

Larry

Neil, Larry & flaming marshmallow!

Neil scooting around

Ruby with a nice seaweed hat

Cribbage lesson from Dad

cooking and other good stuff

2007-07-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

Neil has always loved to cook, and watching the movie 'Ratatouille' really got him fired up to play chef. I had to nix his first few ideas... fruitcake (not in season), fruit soup (? yuck)... then we finally decided on a recipe.

Voila...Ratatouille!!!

Audrey & Meg. I love that Audrey wears her tiara at all times, even while swimming :)

Larry & Natalie. Soccer practices start for Larry this week, no more slacking off!

Neil: "Hey, I'm eatin' here!"

Eleanor feeding a carrot to the "mouse" :) ... after she beat me twice at Hi-Ho Cherry-O.

shipping alan off

2007-07-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today we put Alan & his friend Kevin on a boat bound for Vashon Island to spend a week at Camp Sealth. I've always had a random (yet heartfelt) belief that all kids should go to summer camp at least once. We sent Larry last year and he had a great time, so this year it's Alan's turn!

That's gotta be one noisy boat...

beating summer boredom

2007-07-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

In our ongoing quest to periodically pry the boys away from all things electronic, we took a little summer road trip, due East. First stop was Ellensburg for a picnic...

...then a little snooze.

Overlooking the Columbia River ~ Alan, Neil, Dad & Larry.

This is the Wild Horses monument near Vantage. If you look closely to the left, you'll see that people can hike up to check out the iron horse sculptures. We, of course, are far too lazy for such nonsense.

Mom & boys overlooking the river.

We spent a couple of nights in Spokane, and visited the Boulder Beach water park at Silverwood Theme Park in the northern Idaho panhandle. Here Alan shows off his scrawny gams while applying sunblock. Even with 50 spf, we all got burned! So sad.

A Three Boy pile-up in the bumper boat lagoon.

Log ride! Just like Splash Mountain at Disneyland, except instead of animated vignettes featuring Brer Rabbit, Bear and Fox with "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" playing in the background, the scenery pretty much consisted of a bunch of weeds and one dead bird.

Here I am... on the left. Ha! This water slide claims that you hit 55 mph on the way down, but the truly scary part is how it turns a nice conservative mom-suit into a thong by the time you hit the bottom. Yeow.

Larry, Alan, Wade & Neil, possibly in the early stages of heat stroke.

happy independence day

2007-07-04T19:32:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th to all! We had a wonderful, scorching-hot 85+ degree day (I hear you laughing in southern CA, Mom & Pop) to celebrate Nelson's & Elliott's graduations. We partied at the Armstrongs' place ~ as usual, they were the host & hostess with the mostest!

Neil floating in the pool.

Bill & Wade work on homemade ice cream.

In addition to the graduations and 4th of July, we celebrated Grandma Mag's 88th birthday a couple of days late!

Ryan with his boys, Jacob & Chase

Mari w/Jacob and Grandma Jackie

Uncle Woofie & Lance, who spent lots of time putting up with Neil in the pool. Which was good because it made up for the fact that there was absolutely NO patriotic Jell-O to be found! None!

Uncle Bill & Alan, hangin' out.

Auntie Net-Net was the barbecue chef!

Ryan, Alan, Wade & Annette playing Bocce.

Jackie, Joseph, Derb & Greg by the pool.

Fireworks are technically outlawed in Redmond, due to fire hazards. But surely they don't include...snakes?

...or sparklers??

celebrating birthdays

2007-06-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

We met with Tyler, Anna & girls yesterday at Chuck E. Cheese's for a birthday celebration ~ Neil's 7th, Meg's 9th and Eleanor's 3rd.

Eleanor

Audrey & Natalie

Megan

Natalie ~ hard to believe she's already 2 months old!

Neil had his "kid party" with his school friends on June 10. We have his parties early because so many families jet away on fancy vacations the minute school lets out (must be nice!)

Mom, Dad, Larry & Neil celebrating Neil's 7th birthday. Alan was playing in a baseball game that day.

Neil's party was at the Redmond Pool. This pool is exactly the same as it was when I was a kid and it's always a weird time warp feeling whenever we go!

no more pencils, no more books...

2007-06-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Larry and his teacher at the 6th grade "graduation" last Friday.

Officially a Jr. High schooler and ready to walk out the door!

We had a barbecue with some of Larry's friends to celebrate - yes they're excited!

Brady, Alex, Brett

Abu, Jacob, Larry

Neil & Dad with bubble machine

Joe Momma with leftover watermelon

Wade & I were just talking about how cute it is when little babies fall asleep with their arms flung out to their sides. I guess Neil still has a little baby left in him :)

la vida loca

2007-06-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

After about 3 weeks of summer "vacation," the boys will probably be so lazy that I'll resort to taking pictures of the pets again. But for now it seems like we are hardly ever home!

Here is Alan with his coaches at their year-end party. He got a "Baby Ruth" candy bar for being the only one who hit a homerun all season :)

Alan (in red) chowing on barbecue with his fellow A's.

Neil at the First Grade picnic, ready for the 3-legged-race. The little boy in red looks a bit nervous about being tied to Neil...

I don't even know this kid...but he has a brain freeze traffic cone on his head!!

On Father's Day we went to a "Farewell" party for some friends who are moving to Maine. Their son Jack (2nd from Left) is one of Alan's good friends. Here the boys have just finished a cupcake fight.
After the cupcake fight, they gave birth to some balloons, inhaled the helium...
...and sang "Seasons of Love" from Rent. Weird children!

meg's graduation party

2007-06-17T08:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went down to Olympia for a party celebrating our niece Megan's graduation from high school. She will be going to the Western Culinary Institute in Portland OR... here she is with proud mom & dad.

Her brother Nick came home from Boston University & brought more reason to celebrate: he graduated as well and will be going to Harvard Law. Don't Brad & Darla look totally depressed at the idea of an empty nest?? Cheer up, guys! You can still send them spending money, and that Christmas visit home will be here before you know it :)

Jackie, a guy named O'Leary, Greg and Grandma Mag enjoy the sun.

Annette & Bill with Derb ~ their kids stayed home, so no picture of Elliott yet. The graduations aren't over yet, though! Nelson's is on Tuesday.

Neil, obviously up to no good.

Alan & Larry. Can't just sit still and smile for a picture, Noooo....

Some little birdies flown home to their nests for the summer ~ Daniel from Western Washington U...

Eric home from Eastern Washington U., and Kelli from UW.

finishing up the school year

2007-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

This time of year always feels like major chaos, with way too much going on. Here's Neil with his T-ball coach at the season-end party.

It was pouring rain so we missed the last game, but there was a baseball-shaped pinata so they did get to swing a bat! This is the candy-scramble after it finally broke.

Ruby and I picking Alan up after school on Crazy Hat Day.

Larry and his friends love playing the card game Apples to Apples. Fun game!

Wade & Neil went on his class field trip to the Seattle Aquarium last week.

Neil's favorite thing at the aquarium was the jellyfish!

I'm busy preparing for the school carnival on Friday, and Alan is in the middle of the Little League play-off tournaments. Tonight our nephew Elliott is graduating from Redmond High School! Wade is going to the ceremony at Qwest Field in Seattle after work, but I'm staying home with the boys. We were afraid that Neil would either A.) Implode from boredom or B.) Make those around us explode with annoyance. There are 600 kids graduating! Should be quite the event. I forgot to send the camera with Wade :( but will get some photos of the new grad this weekend.

feels like summertime

2007-06-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness we don't have a real pool, I think every kid within a mile radius would try to squeeze into it.

Neil finally gets a minute to himself.

Larry on the trampoline. They get some pretty serious flips going on that thing...the other day I had to squash their Wile E. Coyote, Super-Genius plan to bounce from the trampoline into the pool.

Alan *after* his haircut...it still looks pretty long until you see how the back looked in his *before* picture... what was that hairy guy on The Aadams Family show? "Cousin IT"??

memorial day weekend

2007-05-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Snoqualmie Falls today. It isn't very far from our house, but Wade & I hadn't been for years and it was the boys' first time. We also walked down to the bottom of the Falls, which I hadn't done before.

Larry & Alan check out the Falls. I was here with their great-grandparents in the 1980's... looks exactly the same :)

Couldn't resist taking this picture through the fence of Alan catching. It was a beautiful day, and the ballpark is such a fun place to be.

happy 11th birthday, alan!

2007-05-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Alan turned the big 1-1 on Monday! Saturday night he had a bowling party with some friends. Monday we went out to dinner and saw Shrek III. I had this big ugly balloon hidden behind the shower curtain for an early-morning surprise, heh heh.

one busy weekend

2007-05-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

Neil and I hiked with my cub scout den on Saturday, up the Little Mt. Si trail. Every review I read about this hike emphasized that it's an easy trail, even for young children. True - it was a piece of cake for our five 7-year-old spider monkeys, but it should be noted that middle-aged women who are out of shape will BARELY make it. Here's Neil at the top, still bubbling with youthful enthusiasm. The boys taking a rest.

A nice view on the way up.

The dads brought energy bars, raw peanuts and raisins, survival knives, matches and first aid kits. I brought these chips...

The walk back DOWNhill was wonderful.

Our young mountain goats climbed anything that was remotely climbable.

Immediately after the hike, I took Neil to his friend Molly's birthday party. The girls are very intently watching the progress of the cake being carried to the table. Larry came too, because the birthday girl's brother is his good friend.

I remember thinking it was so funny as a kid to make a stupid face right before an adult snapped a photo. Karma! My son thinks the same thing is a hoot. Of course, there were no instant online photo albums back then to show everyone how annoying I was. Too bad for Larry and his friends.

happy mother's day

2007-05-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

We had a Mother's Day get-together ~ this picture was taken especially for Grandma & Grandpa Sutton :)

Audrey, Neil, Larry & Megan.

Alan visiting with Natalie.

Larry blowing bubbles with Ella.

Audrey & Neil get comfortable in TV-watching positions.

This is Eleanor sleeping, if you can believe it!

Aunt Carrie & Grandma Sandy came to meet Natalie.

we visited natalie!

2007-05-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

She's so perfect and cute!!! I think she looks a lot like Eleanor did when she was born.

Thought about crying for a minute but changed her mind.

Mommy with her new little one. Does everyone else agree that Anna looks way too good for someone who gave birth the night before?

Natalie weighed the same as Larry did (7lb, 11oz) when he was born in this same hospital 12 1/2 years ago :)

Alan and his newest cous!

happy birthday natalie & tyler!

2007-04-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hooray, our new niece/cousin was born on April 29th, just after midnight. In the "couldn't have planned it if you'd tried" category, it is also her daddy's birthday. We can't wait to meet little Natalie.

camp-in at the pacific science center

2007-04-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, Neil and I (along with a couple hundred other cub scouts and parents) spent the night inside the Pacific Science Center in Seattle!

Our group's sleeping assignment was right next to the naked mole rat habitat. I was a little surprised and creeped out by how close & crowded the eating/sleeping quarters were, but the naked mole rats were very quiet & pleasant neighbors. Unlike at lunch...

Seriously, do men not feel the cool, crisp spring breeze wafting across their exposed cheeks? And no, it wasn't easy taking this picture surreptitiously. Anyway, after dinner we headed to all of the exciting and educational exhibits that the Center offers: the planetarium, the laser show, Imax theater, dinosaurs, physical fitness tests and the saltwater tidepool to name a few.

Right now the Science Center's featured exhibit is one called Grossology: the Impolite Science of the Human Body. Our group was definitely in the target audience for this one; the kids couldn't get enough! And what a treat for the parents...a whole evening of belching, vomiting, and pretty much any other bodily function you'd care to imagine.

MANTIS! Even the stick bugs, giant cockroaches and butterfly house in the insect exhibit didn't distract Neil from hissing, "grosssssology" in my ear, as a reminder of where he really wanted to be.

The meterology display, where kids can pretend to be a TV weatherman. What do you mean, more rain??

Neil and a fellow scout at the International fountain in Seattle Center.

Our view of the Space Needle walking from our night seminar (topic: poop) back to the naked mole rats for bedtime.

Neil at his favorite exhibit, the burp guy. You pump soda into his stomach until he lets out a big burp. Never let it be said that my kids aren't exposed to fine culture.

my sluggers

2007-04-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Alan's having a fun season on the A's - they are undefeated so far, and he is playing GREAT! This year he has started playing catcher sometimes, which he enjoys.

batter up!

2007-04-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Neil had his first T-ball game last weekend :)

happy easter!

2007-04-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

Someone came hopping down the Bunny Trail...

Woo-hoo, candy for breakfast!

Coloring Easter eggs. Larry looks sooooo excited...
Yellow!

Chez Sutton! This is a shot from our car, because I forgot to take a picture until we were driving away. If you click on this picture to make it bigger, you can see Anna waving goodbye and Tyler carrying Audrey like a sack of potatoes.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the kitchen is big with lots of cabinets...it's attached to the eating area with a sliding door out to the....

HUUUUUGE back yard! The girls have already made neighborhood friends, and I think this yard's gonna be the hopping spot this summer. It's a really great house!

Audrey with her slightly-late birthday gift - Happy 5th!!!

Easter Brunch at Grandma Mag's ~ Look at the adorable bunny bread loaf I designed and baked (I mean, bought at Safeway)!

Another masterpiece from Uncle Woofie... bet you've never had 10-layer Rainbow Ribbon Jell-O before! What can we say? The man's a genius with gelatin products.

Nelson & Meg

Larry (working on a big bite of something!), Alan & Uncle Bill

Some Little Guys - Aiden & Jacob!

Some Big Kids - Joseph, Kelli, Alex & Daniel

Meg and Chase, who has the greatest baby-mohawk EVER.

finally feeling like spring

2007-04-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

Quick-- grab the sunblock before our pasty skin starts to burn, because the sun is finally out! The boys are on spring break this week. Alan & Neil spent some time throwing the baseball around. Larry has been spending time with friends and playing computer games.We haven't made it over yet to celebrate Audrey's birthday, so here are our birthday pets for now... Ruby turned 5 last month; here she is playing with her favorite toy (bubble wrap).
Remember our old pal Scratchie?? Yeah, he's still alive. He turned 16 this month (!)

april fool's!

2007-04-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

Happy 45th Bday Wade!

2007-03-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry, you're still a year older even if you murder the cake. We had our St. Patty's corned beef & cabbage dinner on Sunday the 18th, along with this birthday cake. I'm now noticing how little time I took to decorate

that lovely green blob... Eleanor :-)

The Belly....that kid just keeps growing!!

Wade went for an overnight birthday clam dig (yummy!) on Saturday. The boys and I visited with Andy (who has been a wonderful friend of mine for longer than we'd care to admit!!) and her son TJ. We hit McDonald's, not knowing that Ronald McDonald was scheduled for a visit. I think the whole town of Redmond was there - it was totally weird. Here are Alan, Neil & TJ.

Carrie is 23!

2007-03-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Sis :)

Ready for spring!

2007-03-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

After a little more snow, it's finally feeling like spring! Alan & Larry are done with basketball, and will soon be starting guitar lessons. Alan has started baseball practices, and Neil's T-ball team will start up before long.

Last night was Neil's spring music program...I was too far away to get a picture, but here he is before the program with his teacher. She's ready to have her 2nd baby soon!

King TUT. The 6th grade teachers seem to be cramming as many projects as possible into the kids' last few months of elementary school. Larry told me last night that he needed to dress up like King Tut this morning. I felt slightly better when I ran into two other highly irritated moms at the thrift store & fabric/craft store. This was my best shot (there's no way that big elaborate mask thing was gonna happen.) Some eyeliner and a pair of my sandals completed the ensemble. He may look more like a deranged hairdresser than King Tut but hey, we do what we can.

Happy Valentine's Day (Yesterday)!

2007-02-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry I'm late, hope everyone had a sweet day :)
If your mommy works at a party store, this is how you might wake up on Valentine's Day (Alan's under there). Funny how they appreciate these efforts less and less the older they get.
OK so they're not that old yet!
The Suttons came over for dinner; here's The Belly! Only two months to go (just don't say "only" to Anna!)...woo-hoo!
Alan and Megan dipping stuff in chocolate...
Awww, how cute... Audrey & Tyler. Neil is that little blur of sugar-buzz in the back!
Eleanor pretending to be shy, hiding behind The Belly.
Visit to Olympia, Feb. 11th
Here's grandma! The pot behind her is full of navy beans, and Steph & Derb are frying spuds and slicing homemade bread. This carb-fest was one of Wade's dad's favorite dinners.Neil, cousin Jack and Alan getting in some cousin-ing.
Meg is resting between shifts at the Red Lobster, and Larry is just on the nap phase of his weekend nap/eat cycle.
Neil in the tree!
Dad in the tree!

My Tigers

2007-01-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

Here's Neil (on the left) and the rest of the Tiger Cub Scouts in my den, performing a skit with the scoutmasters at a Pack Meeting. Saturday was the Pinewood Derby races (I didn't get any pictures because I was selling concessions). Neil's car didn't do so well, but at the end of the night, 3 of the top 4 winners were from our den :) Not bad for 1st graders!
P.S. I thought we could use a little more color, hope you like the new layout!

More snow!

2007-01-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

Just as we recovered from the windstorm and power outage, we had another big snowfall (which translates to "a few inches") and then the temperature went down into the teens overnight. Throw that down in a region where you can't go a half block without encountering a HILL, and we're pretty much housebound. This has been the strangest winter. I guess the locusts are next...

Whee! The older boys spent all day, every day, sledding with friends on the school grounds. Neil made do in the backyard.

So did Dad.

Neil warms up with the guinea pig, "Joe Mama." He just lost his front tooth last night! The Tooth Fairy sure hates it when kids lose teeth right at bedtime and the only thing she has in her fairy purse is a $10 bill.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all the best in 2007! I can't find the memory card with our Christmas pictures, so here are photos from New Year's Eve. We stayed overnight in Ocean Shores and spent New Year's Eve clam digging, bowling and swimming at the hotel. On New Year's Day we had fun on bumper cars and Go-Karts ~ it was cold but still a great way to ring in the new year!

Wade & Alan on the hunt.

Aunt Derb, she is so INTO IT! Zzzz!

Big D and Jackie are into it too... we had excellent weather for digging, the storming didn't start up until the next day.Uncle Greg. This clamming thing runs in the family.

The clam hunting bounty. Euw! I mean, "yummy!" Look at that Spam Car Go! Neil did great on the Go-Kart course, but got carsick on the way home while using the laptop computer. Oh well...as the boys put it, "that's the first puke of the year!" Yeck.

Alan wiped out a lot. I'm worried about his driving test in 5 short years?

Larry, looking a little too comfortable behind the wheel.

This is News?

2006-12-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

We finally got our power back today after it went out last Thursday night. November was a record-breaking month for rain. This left the tree roots unstable, and last week's windstorm pushed a LOT of them down. Being without power for 5 days was an experience I don't care to repeat; however I did learn many valuable lessons.

First lesson: Sleeping "puppy basket" style by the fireplace is a great way to stay warm. Also, when sleeping with 3 sons and a husband, don't serve chili for lunch.

Second lesson: If you will need to wake up at 4:00am and go to the bathroom in pitch black with nothing but a little candle to light the way, do not read Stephen King books at bedtime.

Third lesson: If you can see your breath inside the house, wear a hat, gloves and scarf to bed. Your family will laugh at you...ignore them!

One of our neighbors had a close call ~ this huge tree missed their house by a few feet. The roots on the left popped their driveway up like a piece of cardboard. All over our hill there are huge trees down, many of them crushing houses, cars and fences. The scariest were the trees that fell on power lines and were left dangling over the street....

Fourth lesson: It takes 2 days of putting on makeup by candlelight until you decide that it really doesn't matter if anyone sees you without makeup.

Fifth lesson: $5 candles from Safeway will light a room just as well as $30 Partylite candles.

Sixth lesson: Monopoly games almost always turn into a game of "Let's rip off Neil."

Seventh lesson: Eating beanie weenie (cooked on a campstove), cookies and apple juice for dinner will make you queasy. Through the hill's grapevine, we heard that the neighborhood a couple streets up got together to make a cooperative bonfire and worked together to cook and share all of the food in their refrigerators before it went bad. After hearing that I felt really queasy. I bet none of their perfect kids were even fighting.

Eighth lesson: My kids will fight about anything if they're bored enough. Some examples that come to mind are: Who Gets to Lay by the Dog, Who Gets to Hold the Cheetos Bag, and His Leg is Touching Me.

We were so fortunate to escape any damage, other than some minor fence crunching (which we're going to ignore and let the neighbor fix). This branch in our front yard was interesting, though ~ it was speared into the ground like a javelin. Glad I wasn't standing there. That could take an eye out!

Ninth lesson: As soon as you freak out, break down and spend $100 on Game Boy items to keep your kids occupied and not fighting, the power will go back on. In about 2 hours and 33 minutes, to be exact.

Tenth lesson: I am so lucky to have such a resilient and good-natured family. They hardly even complained at all. Of course, I complained enough to cover for them. Above all, we are lucky that this is not our house....

Chief Howling Wind

2006-12-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

Alan in a school social studies presentation ~ his class voted on which explorer actually discovered America. Columbus was there too, but had a wardrobe malfunction (his shirt was on backwards) during this photo shoot. It was determined that Alan and the other Native Americans were, in fact, the first people to discover America.

Woof

2006-12-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

~Snow in November~

2006-11-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

As usual, a couple inches of snow pretty much shuts us down around here. The kids are on their second snow day, and there are still abandoned cars scattered over the hill we live on. It has been so cold (in the teens at night) that ice is the main problem...great for sledding though, the kids are having a ball.

The view from Larry's window into the cul-de-sac. Neil's little friend Elias is heading over to our house to play. Not much snow left today....It's supposed to snow more tonight but warm up tomorrow, so that should be the end of our early snow adventure :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-24T02:33:00.000-08:00

It's the Crown Jewel of Woofie's Jello Cookbook....

Kids who used to be little and now are big ~ Kelli & Eric, home from college.

Wade & Roger, Gravy-masters ~ doing their part during the Gravy Drought of 06...

Hangin' at the Armstrongs! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, hope you did too. Thanks for everything and Gooble Gooble, Auntie Net-Net! (Yes that's GOOBLE, not GOBBLE....)

Boy Soup ~ Larry, Alan & Neil in Bill, Jan, Nelson & Elliott's hot tub on Thanksgiving Day.

Neil at his First Grade Thanksgiving Feast. They were served corn bread, corn chowder, pumpkin pie, and apple juice. Neil filled up on apple juice; the rest was DENIED.

That's it for now ~ Happy Thanksgiving! I took some pictures of our Three Amigos ~ the 3 raccoons that visit our porch each night and clean up the rest of Scratchie's cat food ~ but the camera isn't cooperating. Hope to have some pictures soon because they are so cute, and everyone is going to think I'm imagining them. Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Halloween 2006!

2006-10-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

My little rat pets fighting over their maggot pasta dinner... they don't photo well, much more disturbing in person :)

2006-10-31T21:42:00.000-08:00

Larry's award-winning costume :) This goofy clown outfit won him the class prize for best costume.

2006-10-31T21:37:00.000-08:00

Neil with his Halloween booty! He was dressed up as Super Mario. Ruby the Hellhound had to stay in her crate during trick-or-treat hours, otherwise she'd escape and terrorize the neighborhood. Probably by leaving "treats" on the lawn.

2006-10-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

Alan the Killer Zombie Doctor by our inflatable ghost decoration.

Alan again, on the right. On the left is his friend Nathan (aka. Alice Cooper!) They went trick-or-treating together.

Trick-or-Treat Gals

2006-10-31T21:22:00.000-08:00

Audrey the fairy, Meg (Nancy Drew), and Eleanor the fairy. It is tough to be a fairy in 30-something degree weather without freezing. Ella made it for about an hour till her little lip was blue & quivering...

Oooga Booga.

2006-10-31T21:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T20:39:00.000-08:00

This year's Jack-O-Lantern display ~ note the adolescent touch of knives sticking out from them. How precious.

Happy 12th Birthday, Larry!

2006-10-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Fresh Paint & Ready to Haunt...

2006-10-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

Wade wanted to make sure I followed up to let everyone know that he did actually finish painting the house! And a fine job he did... Just in time for a good dose of Halloween-izing. Here are a few scenes around the house; we also do lighting & sound effects, plus a fog machine :)

The entry is covered in a brick-pattern wall covering to look like a dungeon. Ruby the Hellhound fits right in... Ack, vultures in the birdbath!

In the end... it's all about the candy, baby.

Work in Progress

2006-09-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Wade's in the process of painting the house ~ a convenient Indian Summer heat wave was nice enough to cooperate! The new color is close to the old, but a little more blue than grey. He got about half the house done in one day, then took the boys bowling. Any bets on how sore he might be tomorrow??

First Day of School 9/5/06

2006-09-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

Ready to go on the first day of school. Neil: 1st grade, Larry: 6th grade, and Alan: 5th grade.

Happy Labor Day

2006-09-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

Darling little Ella! We had a Labor Day BBQ today with Tyler & the girls (Anna wasn't feeling well). Here's Eleanor, a bit soggy from the sprinkler. Behind her is Uncle Wade.

Audrey playing on the deck ~ what a doll!
Here's Megan swinging on the Zip Line in our back yard. Note the green stripe that resulted from the pool leaking...otherwise it's as brown as can be! This was a very hot, dry summer for the Seattle area. Meg is now in 3rd grade ~ so beautiful & very grown up!

Here are 2 of my boys ~ their friend Alex is on Larry's computer. Alan's (10) on the left, Larry's (11) on the right. They are very excited for school to start tomorrow! I will post photos of the first day of school. Until then....

Camping at Penrose, Aug. 18-20

2006-08-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

Here's Ruby, "guarding" the campsite! The weather was hot, and the kids kept busy swimming, fishing, crabbing and their favorite activity, poking sticks in the fire.

Alan, his friend Kevin, Larry's friend Jacob, and Larry (can't put that Gameboy down!), sitting around the fire.

Neil and cousin Nelson goofing around... other cousins Elliott & Joseph were there too, but I didn't manage to get photos. It was a fun trip to squeeze in before school starts - only 2 weeks to go!

2006-08-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Alan had his first football practice today - here he is looking tough! They have a pretty rigorous practice schedule, every day for 2 hours until school starts. Larry has soccer twice a week and works just as hard.... he's in the top division this year and the coach keeps them busy with running stairs and lots of drills. I'm glad sports are starting up, it's nice to have them exercising and away from the TV and computer.

Bandon Trip, July 31 ~ August 4, 2006

2006-08-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a great trip down to Bandon, OR to visit my grandparents. We stayed at the beautiful Jetty House right on the beach with Tyler, Anna and their 3 girls. With 6 kids and 1 dog in the same house, it was lively. Pictured above, L-R back (Tyler was taking the picture): Uncle Dave, Aunt Cyndi (who DROVE from Wisconsin!), Carrie, Me, Wade, Larry, Anna with Eleanor, Grandma, Grandpa, Megan, then L-R front, Alan, Audrey and Neil.

This year we got to celebrate my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary! Cyndi & Dave organized a nice luncheon at the Bandon Boatworks restaurant for family & friends. This is the happy couple, ready to cut the cake...

Carrie was able to make it too, even though she just graduated from the University of Oregon and is busy settling into "real life." Here she is on the dock in Old Town Bandon with the boys (notice how Larry, at 11, has already caught up to her in height!)

The weather was great - sunny, but the wind made it chilly at times. That didn't stop the kids from getting soaked or burying themselves in wet sand, though. They also enjoyed building campfires on the beach at night, dropping crab pots off the dock (we ended up with 3 crabs that were big enough to keep), exploring the shops in Old Town, and picking blackberries out behind their great-grandparents' house.

The last few photos were taken at the West Coast Game Park Safari, which Tyler & I have many fond childhood memories of. Neil really loved taking pictures and feeding the roaming animals (especially the goats!). We all got a laugh when we learned that the ugly, unfriendly and extremely ill-tempered baboon was named Larry :-)

The Wilkins Family

Christmas Break 08

where have we been??

Fall Fun

ruby's blog

happy fall, y'all

Back to School!

Lake Wenatchee & Leavenworth

happy 8th Neil! and meet Steve the cat

visit with mom & paul (& family)

bandon trip

schooool's out for SUMMER

happy 12th, alan!

happy mother's day!

more spring break

spring break (?)

lazy moi

lake quinault

finally, a snow day!

so c-c-cold...

happy 2008!

merry christmas!

december madness

chaos on whidbey island

happy thanksgiving!

neil's turn

alan's makeover & chaos soccer

a larry makeover

soccer

football

first november weekend

happy halloweeeeeeeeen!

party

happy b-day larry

october! our favorite month

happy birthday...

Tough hit by Alan

fall fun

cub scout mom & me camp

first day of school!

bye-bye, summer...

kicking it

ocean shores

16 days till school starts, not that i'm counting

camping @ belfair

neil's 1st sleepover

camping @ kopachuk

cooking and other good stuff

shipping alan off

beating summer boredom

happy independence day

celebrating birthdays

no more pencils, no more books...

la vida loca

meg's graduation party

finishing up the school year

feels like summertime

memorial day weekend

happy 11th birthday, alan!

one busy weekend

happy mother's day

we visited natalie!

happy birthday natalie & tyler!

camp-in at the pacific science center

my sluggers

batter up!

happy easter!

finally feeling like spring

april fool's!

Happy 45th Bday Wade!

Carrie is 23!

Ready for spring!

Happy Valentine's Day (Yesterday)!

My Tigers

More snow!

Happy New Year!

This is News?

Chief Howling Wind

Woof

*~Snow in November~*

~Snow in November~