the ride...

... up the escalator?!

Silly kids! This cracked me up but the first time I wasn't fast enough with my iPhone (buried in my purse) so I made them go back down and up again based on the pretense that I thought I forgot something in the car but in actuality I wanted to see if they'd do it again without me asking ... and they DID! 

And I love this photo. 

I love that they are entertained by the simplest things. 

And I love how they do this together. 

simply adorable.

both of them...

Oh, the kids are home and I love it ... 

both of them gave us enormous hugs when we picked them up... 
both of them were at times unbelievably quiet and then super chatty... 
both of them were filled with stories, excitement, smiles and bags full of dirty clothes

both of them noticed the new light in the kitchen and liked it.

When I told Jaiden that Daddy isn't sure he likes it, he asked why? I turned on the light, and said "he can see the lightbulb in the glass"

Jaiden rolled his eyes and said "so picky (shaking his head)... what a girl!"

both of them make me laugh, and I am really glad to have both of them home.

down under...

Besides coaching and assisting Jaiden's baseball team's playoff games this week, we have been eyeball deep in a lot of planning, designing and choosing a shower pan, bar and bathroom cabinets, back splash, tile, lighting, paint... pretty much everything but the manual labor part of it! I tried to take some photos before we went to Cape Cod so I could compare during the various stages of this project. Here is the first round, now that we have passed inspection and are moving towards drywall next week. These are great photos but they should give you a good idea of what is happening down under!

First set is essentially the media room/play room/ all purpose family living space. Not a lot to it but there are some design features in this space such as the tv being mounted into a recessed wall space. Similar to our old basement, there will be a tray where LED lights are installed (last time it was simple rope lighting but this time it is multi-color, multi-beat LEDs that are under the guise of being added for the kids?!)

Before:

 After:

This is looking back into the room from where I stood to take the first two photos. On the left will be a small wet bar and to the right of the wet bar is unplanned at the moment... maybe a counter top table with chairs or an organized wall unit for kid's toys... no idea yet but we do need to keep it open because to the right is the sub panels and sprinkler shut off stuff.

Before:

  After:

The next space is huge but is primarily a closet, a nice bathroom and a big room for Dennis' office and VEX robotic meetings.

Before:

  After:

Same space but looking for the window corner back towards the media room. It is also where the furnace and hot water heater are housed creating the challenge of breaking up the space between the two rooms. To the left of the hot water heater and furnace is where the bathroom will reside. You will see that start to appear in the after photo.

Before:

  After:

And this is that space left of the furnace/ hot water heater where the bathroom resides.

Before:

  After:

 Huge sheets of drywall are planned to arrive today or tomorrow with the actual drywalling process to begin next week. From there it will get a little harder to photograph the bathroom since it is such a small and dark space but I think it should be quite bright when all is finished despite not having a window. 

So I figure the next few stages take a lot longer to maneuver through and probably won't have anything exciting to add for another few weeks... even then I am not sure it will be all that interesting but I will try to remember to come back and share.

deaf fish... kiss a fish? coolest fort?

How we are spending our time without the kids... Dennis coaching and me helping in the dugout at Jaiden's baseball playoff game tonight without Jaiden there! As you can see, it's been really exciting here ... waiting for camp updates, running errands, dealing with contractors and inspectors and choices for the basement, waiting for camp updates, cleaning and of course, going to Jaiden's baseball team's games... did I mention waiting for camp updates? Pathetic, isn't it?

But alas, here is the update that came in today (Wednesday!)... and Jaiden is in the 4th photo with tan shirt and green shorts but again, no sign of Alyssa except that her cabin (Alpine) was up to mischief...

Wonderful Weather Tuesday!

What a glorious Tuesday, parents!  The weather up here today is absolutely amazing.  Sunny and warm with a nice mountain breeze.  The pool was a hot spot!

Well, the middle school and high school campers left for their rafting/camping trip this morning SUPER EARLY.  This group of campers goes with a special Outdoor Educational Center for an overnight rafting trip during our camp week.  The OSC always does such a wonderful job with our older campers!  This year they are doing an adventure course that takes them through the safety aspects of rafting, leadership skills and maybe even a paddle race!  We are so excited to tell you parents that our own, Dr. Marilyn is with the OSC campers during this trip!  We are so lucky to have such an amazing physician who also loves the outdoors and without a doubt-GETS CAMP.  Dr. Marilyn has been the head of many of our programs so I, personally, am honored to be part of her legacy with our kids.  We love you, Dr. Marilyn!

Back here at camp, we had ZERO fun.  Man, nobody enjoyed FISHING or SWIMMING or HORSES.  Absolutely nobody.  Okay, obviously the alien has messed with my brain because WE ARE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!

Alpine made me kiss a fish today (pretty brutal), Ponderosa got to eat lunch with  camp director (super lucky), Frontier has already made a couple of music videos, Meadowbrook rode horses (with style I might add) and Rainbow continued to cause trouble wherever they went.  Aspen made the COOLEST fort I have ever seen.  Like…it beats the Leadership guys fort.  Like…a lot.  No seriously, look at it. The coolest thing ever.  Right?

No seriously…look at this thing.

We enjoyed a glorious afternoon and in the evening we had a drum circle!  These crazy drum people showed up and brought ALL THESE DRUMS.  Our kids rocked it OUT.  Seriously rockstars.

Tonight is camp-out night.  If campers sign up and want to, they can sleep out at PUSH camp or OUT camp with their cabin!  Smores, campfires and camp songs all night!  Can’t wait to hear their stories at breakfast!

Have a wonderful night parents and remember to check our Facebook page for the most up to date pictures and stories from our adventures!  -A

aaah, camp updates...

I was so excited to find out my spy is back at camp and blogging again this year with some pretty awesome photos too! I did change her words a little bit but only a smidge... and just to remind you when she refers to Leadership these are the high school boys. The middle school boys are part of another group that actually do some remote wilderness kind of survival, outward boundish stuff that sounds really cool! And don't forget, Jaiden is in the Aspen cabin... he also is in the first photo behind Thomas on the far right... zoom in and you will see him!

My faithful camp spy is back blogging and facebookin' it. We have spotted Jaiden a few times but no sign of Alyssa yet. If you want the link to the actual blog, please email me but here on my blog, I will be editing slightly. A few reminders from years past:

Leadership = high school boys who mentor the younger ones

OSC = outdoor survival camp for the middle school kids

HTC = hemophilia thrombosis staff including their hemophilia doctors!

Jaiden = Aspen cabin

Alyssa = Alpine cabin

Here is Tuesday's update! Oh, and the part about everyone FREAKING OUT? We are quite certain that must be Alyssa...

Camp Blog Commenced!

Well, parents, you made it.  Are you home?  On vacation?  Drinking coffee by poolslide with NO KIDS?  Still a little weepy from the drop-off yesterday?

We…are not having any fun at all.  It’s not fun here EVER.  We are so BORED and CRANKY to be up here.  Um…NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!

Camp 2013 is off to an AMAZNG start!!   After we assured you people we’re going to have a great time and get in absolutely no trouble at all….we all got into a bunch of trouble.  It was great.

Opening intro skits were great!  Several cabins danced the Harlem Shake and Meadowbrook attacked their princess dressed counselor.  Pretty brutal.  But then after skits…came the real drama.  Not sure if you parents heard….but we have an alien on the loose at camp.  News crews have been hovering yesterday and today.  All of our campers have given interviews.  It’s been intense.  Today he was spotted on the hill right before breakfast.  Last night he was spotted running through the music stage.  Everyone is FREAKING OUT.

His space ship was found near the horse stable and we all took a field trip last night to see it.  They had quarantined the area and some campers almost got to close!  We heard that some campers mentioned they hoped the alien was found before they went to bed.  : )

Infusions today were pretty amazing.  The HTC staff does an amazing job of pairing a camper learning to self-infuse with a Leadership teenager.  We had some great stories today…first time pokes!  Poking a Leadership teen!  They were all so brave and it was really great to watch.

I got a personal call today about a prank the OSC girls wanted to pull on the OSC boys.  That is never a good sign.  Something involving saran wrapping toilets?  I okayed it. : )

Tomorrow will continue to rock, parents!  Stay tuned!  Follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date photos!

yea camp

today was the day that the kids have been eagerly waiting for, today was the day I was weary of, today was the day (I think) Dennis was also eagerly waiting for... 

today was camp day!

 it takes almost the 3 days to pack for camp but when it was all set by the door this morning, I had a serious longing for the week to be ended before it even started.

 camp traffic!

 this pretty much sums it up for the campers, the counselors, the hemophilia clinic staff, even most of the normal parents and families

 of course, it started to rain so I made Alyssa stand under her cabin sign. she gave me two very quick poses (this is her first year!)

 and the 3rd pose was "hurry up and go mamma- I have things to do!"

 Jaiden willingly stood in front of his cabin for me but was mobbed by his counselor from last year. I love this photo and I have one by himself but this photo just sums up how awesome camp is and how very grateful we are to have it for our hemophilia community.

 then he, too, was off...

to build who knows what but he and his counselor (far right) were very busy moving that partial tree (branch) onto this quasi-tepee?!

as for Dennis and me? we came home, I walked the neighbor's dog while he sold the oven, then he was in the basement wiring his nifty LED lights and various stereo/home theatre wiring while I cleaned bathrooms and the floors... 

uh, yes, sure... yea camp!

deaf fish

Finally getting back in the groove of being home and almost ready to finish out my favorites from our last few days on the Cape but in the meantime, I must... I absolutely have to share this conversation I had with the kids. 

But before I start, have I ever mentioned how over the top, crazy clumsy Alyssa is? Did I mention that on day 1 of Cape Cod, she slipped in the shower and cut her toe on the drain... that I maybe should have taken her for stitches but used this awesome clotting stuff I have called QR? (and it worked beautifully) What about Day 2 when she slammed the car door on her right thumb? I am quite certain she broke the tip of that poor finger, and the nail should fall off any day now. Day 3... I think she made it through that day with minimal injuries but day 4 involved a scraped knee? Or what about our first day home, she stapled her fingers? I mean seriously, how does one do THAT? 

Well, today, we had to run to Lowe's to double check a shower kit I had just purchased and verify they didn't have this other model that I had meant to pick up. I park quickly ... next to a cart return... jump out of the car, notice Alyssa go out on Jaiden's side so I shut her door. Walk around the car and there she is climbing over the cart return while holding on to a rolling shopping cart? Seriously? 

I nonchalantly say "Alyssa, do you have a death wish?"

Jaiden starts giggling... no downright laughing because he, too, knows all to well where this will end. He probably has already conjured up an image in his head of Alyssa tangled up with one foot hung on the cart return, the other mangled in the shopping cart, hanging upside down, screaming and crying... seriously, these things happen around here.

Alyssa replies "Mom, that's a compound word!"
Me: "No it's not!"
A: "Yes it is. Listen (said emphatically) - death fish, see?"
M (laughing): "No death WISH. And it's two separate words."
J: rolling in laughter
A: "Deaf fish? What does THAT mean?"

happy 4th... belated post but on time celebration

Hope everyone had a  wonderful 4th of July... ours was amazing and very unexpected. It started with a classic hometown parade in Chatham, followed later by a BBQ from my dear peep, Viv and her family and then off to the Crosby beach for a bonfire, roasting marshmallows, and a hopeful viewing of some fireworks around the Cape. Everything started out beautifully... a lovely bonfire, a slight wind to keep those sand fleas off of us, kids playing and digging in the sand, a few fireworks seen as far as P-town and then we started to roast marshmallows. During that time, a  large crowd of people started to take over the space next to us and in the dusk we could see them carrying large boxes within moments of them moving in, serious fireworks left the ground and for the next 20 or so minutes, we were treated to  our own private fireworks show right there on the beach!

The other super cool thing that happened was my Opa leading the Edmonds 4th of July parade as the Grand Marshall. Photos of that to hopefully come soon but in the meantime, he was on the front page of the Herald and led their online front page story. Here is the link if you are interested: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20130704/NEWS01/707049907#Among-the-last-of-his-kind

And here are a few of my favorites from yesterday!

you light up my world...

Okay, okay, fine... cheesy enough, right? But it is late and sometimes I really just need to go to bed but I am on a roll and I present day 4 or is it 5? Oh dear, I have vacation brain .... so day whatever but here are my favorites from today!