Friday, July 1, 2016

Summer and a Turtle

Summers finally here!   Sad news, the hermit crab died :(  It lost it's big claw one day and the next it was dead.  Ronin was very upset about it and we had to have a crab funeral for it.  Immediately following the burial Quinn announced that "I'm so going to dig that up later!"  ha ha!!






I did a really long (16 miles?) hike at Eagle Creek a little while ago, it was so pretty :)  It was on a super hot day so I couldn't wait to get to a waterfall to cool off each time.
















On one of the warm days we got the slip and slide out and one of the kids started a little mud puddle.  I was tired of telling them NOT to get muddy so I started chasing them with mud and all the kids got in on it.  haha!


So muddy!






Pretty messy!


And Ronin FINALLY got his wish, to have a turtle.  One of my friends at work asked if I wanted it and of course I had to take it since it was the only thing Ronin said that would make his life complete. haha  I figured it would last a lot longer than a hermit crab as well. Ronin named him Titan, and I call him Agent T.  He's actually really cool!  He doesn't smell and it's a lot of fun to watch him eat worms.








Ronin's note saying "Fun Fact- I need a turtle" and "My life will be complete" if he gets one. haha!


His favorite pet.


Hanging out with Titan on his lap.


Titan the turtle


Ronin and I went rock wall climbing one day after an early-release Friday.  It was a lot of fun and I think we'll go back soon!










Happy faces!  It was a pretty good workout!



One weekend Fort Vancouver was having a "Get Outdoors" weekend and I took the boys for lots of free fun! 


Goofing around with the camera...




Smokey!


They wanted to saw a log the old fashioned way!



Quinn did NOT enjoy climbing the wall...



I took them to Joe's Crab Shack afterwards for lunch.  This is their dessert - a rice crispy treat with chocolate, caramel and strawberry sauce to "paint" it with.


School is out and Ronin will be in 3rd grade soon!  We went to the end of the year school party, it was a lot of fun with a D-Jay and food and a dunk tank...


Last weekend the boys and I had a "Will it Chocolate?" party at our house.  We melted chocolate and then dipped various foods in the chocolate to see how it tasted.  There were Cheetos, pizza pockets, pineapples, marshmallows, and hot dogs.  They had fun tasting everything and them mostly just ate the chocolate at the end.




Ronin even made a chart with the different foods and how people liked them.


Quinns new hair cut :)


We went hiking on Round Lake (by Lacamas Lake) on Sunday - it was a fun little hike around the lake, ending in a play structure :)


























Ronin's been drawing a lot lately.  So I've been getting a lot of notes :)




I like that he played on words with "Unicorn" being "YOU nicorn" here. haha




Some monsters he drew...
Math dragon is super boring I guess.


Momma dragon is not deadly at all.  Not even a little bit.  haha!


Gigi and I went to a southern breakfast place a couple weekends ago where I finally got to try chicken and waffles!  We sampled pretty much everything.  The gravy was the best! 


I made a little backpack for Ronin to take to Disney with snacks and a bottle of water.  I need to make Quinn's next!   And I ran out of parachute cord so the colors don't match... oh well!


Nothing too exciting going on yet.  I leave for Ireland in 2 weeks!  And then the countdown to Disney will begin! 

















Thursday, June 2, 2016

It's been a YEAR since my last blog!


Wow, it's seriously been FOREVER since I last blogged about my boys and me!   My biggest excuse is that this platform wasn't working well with my work computer, and when I'm at home I rarely get on a computer.


What's going on now?  Ronin has a new hermit crab named Hermie!  We got him last weekend, I hope he lives a few months before kicking the bucket.


Quinn has a black eye from running into a metal post at the boat house.


The divorce was final last fall.  I'm going to Ireland in July with 3 other ladies.  I'm taking the boys to Disneyland in October for their first time :)


It's going to be hard to catch up on the last year, so I'll start with now and try to keep it updated. 


School is almost out and Ronin will be a 3rd grader this fall!  He's growing so fast!  He's so smart and so creative :)  He's finally gotten into reading and sometimes we'll just read to ourselves at bed time.  He's decided he wants to be a veterinarian instead of a scientist.  I think this is a likely choice since he loves animals so much.  I remember having a big heart for all the animals when I was younger.  Not sure if I grew out of it or my heart got a little colder through all the trials and tribulations I've had dealing with the people type of animals...  :/


Quinn is... well... a typical 4 year old.  Full of energy and temper tantrums at times.  But always cracking us up!

I'll start the photo's with Quinn's 4th Birthday last November...   soooo many photo's!









Quinn's first Kindle :)













January snow park visit

 
Quinn kicking a snowman... haha

My 20th year recognition at work.

Neighborhood gang





He wanted cheesecake for his birthday :)

Superhero event!


Le
St. Patrick's day!

School Dance

At Ronin's school


Easter!

Portland for lunch with Crystal and Gigi!

Gigi and me

On our way to Nana and Papa's


Karaoke with Alesha

Hiking in the gorge

The gorge



Devils punch bowl
Ronin wanted a school sweatshirt :)

Swim class

Our new pool

Quinn being Quinn

Inside the Ape Cave


For mothers day we decided to go on the Yacolt train ride.  The boys enjoyed it and it was a nice day for it :)






There's a woman who makes southern food about twice a week and you have to reserve your spot early.  Two of my coworkers and I went one Monday evening, the food was soooo good!

Crystal and me
Mae's food-- it was soooooo good!

Dinner companions




Ronin drew me a cat and left me a note :)

Mothers day from Quinn

Mothers day from Ronin

Hiking at Lewis River

Brandee and me being silly





Craft night, we made tshirts :)

Quinn at the playground

Hiking with the boys at Latourell Falls







Ronin REALLY wants a turtle, and somehow he talked me into a hermit crab last weekend.  So here it is.


Quinn making sure his eye was still functioning after getting his black eye.  haha!