Yurting

A couple weeks or so ago we headed to Ft. Stevens with a group of friends to do some yurting. I've been camping a handful of times in my life but have never tried yurting. I'm a big fan of being clean and taking showers so I've never felt the draw to the whole camping thing. But after this experience, yurting I can do.

There were five families, all with two kiddos. Each family had their own yurt which were all pretty close together. There was a big sand pit for the kids to play in. At one point I hollered out for any of the kids who wanted to go play in the sand to get in line behind Jordan for him to take them. And they did. So he marched them over to the sand pit. He's the best.

The sleeping arrangement was really the biggest downfall for us. Jacksen was really hit or miss sleeping in the pack and play, the first and third nights being horrible. With us all sleeping in the same canvas tent of a room it was a little rough and I felt terrible for our neighbors, but we made it. Lucy loves sleeping in bunkbeds and claimed the top right away. There weren't bathrooms in the yurt but they were a short walk away, showers included.

We had figured out meals ahead of time and mostly ate together which was super fun. Once the kiddos went to bed we had grown-up campfires and just talked, ate lots of really unhealthy food, and played ridiculous games. Really good to just have time with friends.

It was great getting to see all of the kiddos running around together. Whether it was riding bikes or chasing the abnormally overweight squirrels (one which they named Cakey), it was just special to see them being friends.  Speaking of chasing overweight squirrels, the menfolk may or may not have fashioned a homemade trap from a cardboard box with a pull-string attached and muddy buddies as bait. And we may or may not have all sat around while our kids napped waiting for the squirrels to show themselves. Seriously though, the squirrels were crazy. Coming like inches away from you and even stealing paper towels. Little stinkers.

One of our days there we went over to the actual Fort at Ft. Stevens which is an old military base so that was cool to walk around and explore. The kids loved climbing in the old jeep and giving us all heart attacks as they took turns venturing way to close to the open ledges.

Another day we made a trip to the beach. You could drive down onto the sand and there was a super old shipwreck there. The kids were all having a blast (and so were the adults) and it was just the best. Seriously, smiles all around. Sand toys, kites, and wet clothes from running around in the ocean. Definitely my favorite part of the weekend.

The beach is also the perfect backdrop for jumping pictures. 

Even ones that are photobombed.

I loved our little yurting trip and am so glad we went. Hopefully it becomes a yearly tradition. Its these kinds of moments and experiences that remind me how blessed we are to have such great friends.

Last Day!

Today was Lucy's last official day of preschool for this year. She will be doing a Summer school program they have which extends the year for a couple more weeks, but this was her last day with the class she's been with all year.

Lu has had a great year and I have been so impressed with the program, teachers, everything. Having a lot of experience in the preschool scene myself, its such a great feeling to walk into a place and feel confident leaving my child in someone's care, knowing that she is cared for, loved, and safe. When I picked her up today the hallway was lined with goodies for each kiddo along with all the stuff from their cubbies to take home. All the kids were so excited! It was important to me and Jordan that we send Lucy to a faith based preschool to help lay a strong foundation. She's a tough customer when it comes to spiritual things but we know that God is working in her little heart and we are so excited to see where she goes from here.

This is a picture of Lucy's first and last days of school. I think she looks pretty much the same. Equally as excited in both. I asked her some questions about herself that first day and asked her them again today. Her answers from that first day are here and there are her answers from today.

Favorite color: Light Pink

Favorite animal: Giraffe

Favorite Food: Mac and Cheese

What do you want to be when you grow up? Nothing anymore. I just want to be me. :)

Her answers were all pretty much the same except for the light tweak to the pink. That last answer was different though, what she wants to be when she grows up. She always gets a little uncomfortable when I ask her that question but I think she had a great answer, at least that last part. I just want her to be herself too. Can't wait to see who this little lady becomes.

Date Night

A few posts back I wrote about the date night exchange we do with some friends. This past Saturday me and Jordan went out for one of our dates. We pick the actual days awhile in advance but they always seem to sneak up on us and then we never know what to do. This time around we wanted to switch it up a bit. We debated for awhile and finally ended up with a plan.

After dropping off the kids we headed out to Monkey Subs. Since we drop the kids off in the Beaverton area I looked for restaurants somewhere in that general area. I found some reviews on this place and we decided to try it. Super good. We love sandwiches and these were some great ones.

Next stop? Driving Range. I had never been before so I was super excited. Jordan is not a sports guy but he was totally up for this. We got a large bucket of balls and borrowed some clubs. There were two tiers to hit from and we chose to go for the upper level. Honestly, I was just giddy about the whole thing. We teed up and starting hitting, trying different drivers and clubs (is that even the right terminology?!) There were several instances of balls ricocheting off of the roof and railings and even more complete misses, but it was so much fun. At one point I even hit the ball picker-upper truck, although I did feel bad afterward and waved at the driver. (And no I wasn't actually aiming for it.) We finished up and both decided that we would like to become golfers.

After we headed over to Well and Good Coffee House. Its a great space and we had fun looking at all the fixtures, sipping coffee, and finding things we thought Jordan could recreate for us.

On our way back we made a quick stop at Target and then off to get the kiddos. They were happy as always and ready to go in their jammies. We both agreed that this was one of our most fun dates lately. So fun to try something new together and just be silly and goofy. Seriously though, I want to be a golfer.

Easter Egg Alphabet Matching

Every Holiday brings with it its own stuff. Birthday banners, Christmas trees, pumpkins, and plastic eggs. Easter isn't Easter without plastic eggs. I never know what to do with them after and always end up buying new sets every year. This year I decided to change it up. After looking at Pinterest I found a really fun idea on how to turn those plastic eggs into a fun Alphabet Matching game. This isn't an original idea from me by any means but super easy to do.

I cut the hinge on the eggs and wrote a capital letter on one side and a lowercase on the other. Lu has gotten really good at capital letters but we haven't done much with lowercase so I thought this would be a fun way to start. This site used sticker letters but I just went with permanent marker. 

After writing out all the letters you make a bug jumble and then the kiddo go to town trying to find the matches.

Here's what they would look like all matched up! I'm planning on adding this to her Busy Box. She really liked it, by the way, but I can already tell the activities are getting old. The first time we brought it out she was really excited but every other time she seemed to be expecting something new and when there wasn't anything else in there she was unimpressed. Hopefully this will turn things around! If you're interested in more ideas like this one head to Pinterest and just search Easter Egg Alphabet. There are tons!

Easter 2014

We had a great time celebrating Easter this year. After Jacksen's 15 month doctor's appointment (still can't believe he's that old), we hit the road headed to my parents' house in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Traffic turned our usually 2 1/2 hour trip into closer to 4, but don't worry. We broke up the time with Disney movies and McDonald's.

The day before Easter was really chill. We did some shopping and had a family movie night with Grandma and Grandpa. They had never seen Frozen and asked us to bring it. Of course Lucy was more than happy to oblige. After the kids went to bed, we went to work on the Easter baskets. Its always my goal to make it fun and special but to not go crazy. I like the things in their baskets to actually be usable. Not just like cheap plastic bunnies. We ended up with some candy, beach toys, and other fun things. And yes, they each got a bunny. From my Mom.

The kids woke up and Jacksen went right for the ball and truck. Lu was happy with her goodies too. Her Easter basket was actually a basket for her bike. It even has blinking lights. Score.

After church while lunch was cooking, me and Jordan set up an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Lucy could hardly contain herself and was peeking out the window trying to plan her egg hunting strategy. We gave each of the kids a sand bucket and led them outside and let them loose. Lucy was on the move right away. Jacksen was pretty confused. We had to put the eggs directly in front of him for awhile and then he started to understand what to do. They were both just so sweet to watch. 

Once the eggs were gone, we tried to take a picture of Lucy and Jacksen, but Jacksen wasn't finished. He continued filling his bucket, but switched to rocks.

After the egg hunt, we all had a great meal together. Lu even threw in a "He is risen indeed!" It was a great time celebrating Jesus. So relaxed and just so great to be together. Loved it. 

A Busy Box for Lu

Lucy and independent play have never been very close. She'd much rather be entertained then figure out how to do the entertaining herself. I finally decided to try to help her along. First stop, Pinterest. Of course I hit the mother load of ideas, even some I could handle. One that I kept seeing was a Busy Box. These are little boxes filled with art or activities that the kiddo can do all on their own. I plan to make it a special thing so she feels excited when she gets it out. I found a few of my favorite ideas and some that I thought Lu might like and headed out to the craft store to pick up supplies. I chose a couple from here and found this one on Pinterest too. Now I'm not the craftiest person on the block and you could definitely take a more creative approach but here's what I ended up with.

This one is a Number Wheel. Lucy can definitely count past ten so once she gets the hang of it I'm going to make an 11-20 wheel. The idea is to count the number of dots in each section and then match it with the right numbered clothes pin. Pretty straight forward to make with a wheel printable, card-stock, contact paper, and clothes pins.

Lately Lu has been interested in trying to sound out words so I thought this would be a good one for her. I took some notecards and added small words along with a sticker with the picture of what the word is. I picked up some plastic letter magnets and used contact paper to laminate the cards. Lucy will pick a card and then search for the letters to spell the word.

This one is another number and counting one. I taped the numbers on the end of pipe-cleaners and got some fun beads. For this one Lucy will just read the number and then count out the right number of beads and put them on the pipe-cleaner. Lucy likes beading and pink is her favorite color so hopefully this will be a winner.

I bagged all the activities into their own Ziplocs and added a Coloring/Sticker book and some modeling clay. My plan is to add in new activities every so often to keep it interesting. I am hoping that this will be a hit but you really never know. It could last for a few minutes or best case scenario she will ask for the Busy Box again and again. I will keep you posted!

Date Night Exchange

Newsflash. Date nights aren't just for people who are dating. They're for married people too. They can also get expensive. Especially when you have to add in the cost of a baby-sitter. Enter the Date Night Exchange. Awhile back I talked with a friend (find her here) about setting up a monthly date night exchange. My husband and I go out one night, they go out another night, and we watch each other's kids. I think we've had it going for 6 months or so and I seriously love it. Not only do we all get to have date nights but our kids get to hang which is just the best. We set ours up so the dates are a bit on the earlier side so all of our kids get to sleep in their own beds and go down at a reasonable time. Sometimes scheduling can be a little tricky with random snowstorms or sick kiddos, but we have managed to make it work. It feels really great to be making that time a priority in our marriage and to help our friends have that quality time too. On our last date night we went to Elephants off 23rd and then headed to a coffee shop for some serious Scrabble. We are crazy I know. I will admit that Jordan did win. For maybe the second time in our relationship. Meanwhile, we know that our kids are hanging with a great family having a great time. Seriously people, date night exchanges are where its at.