Dress up

Most kids, when they play dress up, are content being a princess, or whatever superhero they were for Halloween. Typically they use old costumes. Well my kids have decided to branch out a bit lately. Now, they prefer to "dress up" as Mom and Dad by stealing our coats and shoes.

This is Cami in my coat, hat, and shoes, dressed up as Mom.

Sean usually dresses up as Dad, but this time Cami convinced him to dress up as Cami, which he did. He's wearing her pink cowgirl hat and coat. Pretty!

Not content with having Sean dress up as her, Cami then insisted that I dress up as her. So I put on her coat, which hopefully didn't get stretched out too badly. It's still a picture of Mom and Cami! Cami is the taller one in this picture though, which she probably actually will be by age 10 or so.

Dressing up as your family member= always good for a few hours of entertainment :)

Chess tournament victory

Here is Sean at his first beginner chess tournament with his trophy. Of the four games he played, he won two, but in the mind of an 8 year old it's always a victory if you get a trophy!

As someone who loves to play chess I was a very proud parent. Good job, Sean!

Zoo field trip

I love going on field trips with my kids. Sean is in second grade now, and I have been on every field trip so far. It's fun because the kids all know me, and Sean loves that I always come. Cami has had several preschool field trips so far, and I plan on continuing the habit of attending every field trip with her.

Anyway, this particular field trip was to the zoo. Sean got to spend the time with two of his good friends. It was a slightly rushed trip because there was a lot to see and little time, but we didn't waste a minute of it!

Sean being a tree in the rainforest during the initial presentation. He is an emergent tree in case you can't tell.

Then we got to look at some animals!

Here are some of the wildest animals that were in the zoo that day:

Sean's hand is smaller than a Gila monster's. Who knew?

Bus ride home! Looks like Sean had fun! Mom had fun too :)

Sean's Harry Potter party

Sean turned 8 this year. That is an important birthday, so we decided to have a huge birthday party. The party was Harry Potter themed, since Sean has read all seven Harry Potter books recently and loves them. Our house was temporarily transformed into Hogwarts castle. 

These balloons may look innocent, but they are actually evil dementors. Fortunately, the "wands" had sharp points on the end. The wands were ONLY used for dementor popping...not for poking other children or eyes.

Shoes of the partygoers. 14 boys counting Sean and two girls counting Cami.

Potions class! Dry ice, Sprite, and food coloring is always fun. At the end we fed the potion to a toy frog. Luckily everyone had made their potions correctly.

Sean opening his presents. There were a lot of Legos this year, which he was VERY happy about.

Cami thinks that she is a queen and this is her knight.

The shop they could visit at the end of the party.

All in all it was a good 8th birthday :)

Cami's birthday

Someone is happy to be four!

                                      

She went to the bakery with Mom and picked out her own cake this year. Normally I make them but thought it'd be fun to do something different.

Eating some birthday cake.

It's been four of the best years a mom could ask for. Happy birthday to my Cami! Love you more every year!

Snow days

This week we experienced a snowstorm. The Seattle area accumulated about 8 inches of snow, to my dismay and Sean's delight. Here are some of the things we did while the snow was here:

Sean and the first of many snowmen he built in our back yard:


We are about to go sledding and since I am a notorious wimp when it comes to snow and cold, we are all bundled up like we are going on a trek through the North Pole.


Starting down the hill:



Slowly but surely:


They made it down the hill!


My angel making a snow angel:


Sean working hard on a snowman:


The next day, mommy was spoiled and stayed in the warm house while Dad took the kids out to play in the snow. They all look very happy to be outside, except for the snowman.


The aftermath of the ice and snow storms. Poor trees. It was worth it for the amount of fun the kids had though.

Museum of Flight

During Bryant's Christmas vacation time, we took the kids to the Museum of Flight. They both had a lot of fun.

Pilot Cami:

Pilot Sean:


Cami in a helicopter:


Sean in a helicopter:


Sean the astronaut:


Cami the air traffic controller: