Frist Day of 2nd Grade!

We are all excited that school has started again!

Elissa picked out her first day outfit. It would not had been my first choice, but it shows how she is trying to look grown up.

This Summer she had a good friend on our loop move away and then we were blessed with another friend moving to our loop just 2 weeks later. So now her friend, Kendall, lives right across the street. Kendall is also on the water, so Elissa has had that added bonus this Summer.

So we went and waited for the bus with Kendall and her brother. Not sure why I didn't get a picture of the two of them standing there, but I didn't. You can see Kendall's outfit from the back. It was so cute. :-)

They were happy to have  Tiffany back as their bus driver.

When she came home and I asked her how her first day was, she replied "It was fine. I met a new friend." I love how any other time she would want to tell me a long story.

Her first homework of 2nd Grade was to bring in 5 items that represented you. Here is what Elissa brought.

I asked her why she picked these items and she said, "I love stuffed animals and this one is really cool because it flashes. I thought the kids would like that. A harmonica because I like music. A sea shell because I like collecting shells. A baby Zhu Zhu because I like Zhu Zhu's. And my necklace because I like jewelry." I thought she did a great job!

**2nd Day of 2nd Grade**

I picked out her outfit today and I think it is so much more cute. :-)

Here she is with her spot at the very back of the bus - the place to be. :-)

Converting....

Some how Darin finally talked me into converting from Windows to Mac.

If you don't know this about Darin, he is a "one brand" guy. When he had a Toyota truck, he was all about the Toyota Nascar racing team. Now he has a Ford truck and continually tells me I need to get a new Ford Explorer (no thank you!). So when Verizon finally got the iPhone, he was one of the first to get it. So now he is an Apple guy. Then he got me an iPhone. Then he got the kids iPads. Then he got the kids an iMac. Now he convinced me to switch to a MacBook Air from my Sony PC.

I have complete faith in him that this whole "technical" set up he is making for us is going to be awesome.......in the end. He is figuring out a way for my pictures to be double backed up and eventually sitting in a "cloud" where I can access them anywhere without having to sit on my hard drive. Very awesome!

But right now, I'm FRUSTRATED!

It is a big learning process and maybe a bit more increased due to Darin's complicated (but great!) set up. :-)

This was supposed to be a post for the First Day of School, but maybe that will come tomorrow.

I love you Honey!

P.S. Darin wants me to mention that we finally got it worked out before going to bed. It will be a cool solution, but just need to work out the kinks and very large learning curve.

Note from the Teacher

I love that Elissa received this in the mail yesterday!

It looks like it is going to be a great year!!

We have what the school calls "Eagle Day" on the 31st where you come and meet your teacher and see your classroom and all of that. We start school on Tuesday, Sept. 6th.

Happy 60th Mom!!

Saturday, August 20th

Mom's birthday was July 30th, but we were not able to celebrate as a family until today.

In the mean time we gave Mom a little make-over.

What girl doesn't want to be styled and personally shopped for and given a new hair & make-up look?!

During the month of July Mom met with a stylist from Styled Seattle and she came and went through Mom's closet and showed her what to keep and what to throw away and made a list of which items she should add to her wardrobe. Then they met at Bellevue Square to shop together for several hours (a little grueling) for new pieces to add to her wardrobe. After that she went to a hairstylist "for the stars" and had a make-up/skin consultation as well as a cut & color. It was quite the whirlwind!

The stylist didn't quite meet all of Mom's needs, so then we had to go on another shopping trip. :-)

Mom, we hope you enjoyed your pampering!

Mom, you are a gift from God. You made (and still make) us feel like there is nothing more important in this world then Chad and I (well maybe now your grandbabies!). You support and love us unconditionally and I know now, that you put your heart and soul into raising us. As much as I would roll my eyes and think you were crazy, I looked forward to you recounting my birth every year. Calling and telling me how you felt when I was overdue and the false labors and Dad fishing when you actually did go into labor. All the little things you do to make us feel special and immensely loved. Thank you!

I'm so very thankful that my children get to have you as one of their grandmothers. As Lissy says, "Grandma loves us too much." She knows you would do anything for her. It's special. Unfortunately, it's rare. You are a treasure!

We had a great day celebrating you and enjoying being a family - dysfunctional, but so blessed!

Golden Gardens Park, Ballard

It has to be said that Mom and Dad got to the park at 6AM to get just the perfect spot!

We arrived at 11am.

Dad BBQ'd enough food to feed an army.

At 3pm we were kicked out of our spot because it apparently was reserved.

We still got the great fire pit area on the beach.

Several little crabs died in order to keep the kiddos entertained.

The water was way too cold to get in.

The line to the bathroom was 20+ minutes long.

I don't think the kids have been any dirtier. They HAD to take showers before going to bed.

In the late afternoon when we were packing up some things we were approached by 5-10 people to see if they could take over our fire pit area. We could have sold it to the highest bidder.

We did have a fire on the beach.

A gal came over and wanted to video tape our fire because we had the best one on the beach.

Two girls were very excited that they did get our fire pit when we decided to leave at 8:30pm.

It was a wonderfully long day.

The kids didn't want to leave the house the next day. They were exhausted.

Everyone was covered with soot that is mixed into the sand. The kids were a dirt pile!

But the view was spectacular!

We love you Mom & Grandma!!

Ocean Scenes

There are so many amazing views at the ocean.

It is hard not to continually click away.

I had a bit of an obsession trying to get some pictures of the pelicans that live around this beach. I don't remember seeing them last time. I could never get a really good close up.

Fast Facts

Type: Bird  Diet:  Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:  10 to 25 years or more

Size:  Body, 5.8 ft (1.8 m); wingspan, 10 ft (3 m)

Weight:  30 lbs (13 kg)

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Dory boat returning to shore - full speed onto the beach.

My favorite scene.

A beautiful ending.