Springtime fun in the sun

We've had some amazingly warm and sunny days this spring.  The kids have been very helpful with chores and yardwork.  Our yard is looking fantastic!  That's one plus to this social distancing situation.  

The kids are really itching to go camping, so Lance set up the tent in the backyard and the kids did a little faux camping.  They even roasted hot dogs and smores.  

I came home on Mothers day to a clean house, homeade cards and coupons and the kids all dressed up.  They are pretty cute.  😍

The kids have spent a lot of time together during this quarantine and have become really close.  They are so creative and really use their imaginations when playing together.

They are still doing home schooling- one more week to go.... woo hoo!  We are all ready for a break.

They have been spending a lot of time outside, riding bikes, playing on the neighbors trampoline and swimming in the neighbors pool.  Rylee watched the Hunger Games and is in love with Katniss.  Lance helped the kids make homeade bows and arrows.  They are pretty cool!

Lance has taken the kids fishing in the boat on Lake Tapps multiple times.  They haven't caught much, but they just love being out on the water.  They've even been swimming.  Brrrrrr!

Life in Quarantine

Life has been a little different for the past couple of months around here.  No school, less work, waaaayyyy more free time.  Trying to manage home school with working from home, and trying to keep the kids busy and not trying to kill each other.  Challenging times for sure.

We've had some absolutely beautiful and warm spring days, which has helped immensely.  We've gotten tons of yard work done.  We've weeded and barked the front yard and backyard, sold our play set, cleaned and organized the shed, and lots more.  Lance just ordered the cable railing for our deck, so that will be an upcoming project as well.  We've been taking walks/ riding bikes everyday to get some fresh air and enjoy the weather.  I think Coulee is in the best shape of her life!  🤣

One day we had a crazy hail storm.  The hail was as big as marbles!  

The kids have been doing well with the homeschooling, especially now that the teachers have a weekly calendar for them to follow.  They have been getting creative with legos, doing science experiments, baking lots of cookies, and playing with toys they haven't played with in years.  They love being home all the time.

We've allowed the kids to keep playing with one of our neighbors since they've been playing together since the beginning of all this and haven't left the neighborhood.  Thank goodness for their trampoline!  Its kept the kids entertained for hours.

So many things to be thankful for during this time with so much unknown.  We are trying to enjoy the extra family time and are grateful for our families good health.  

We are also thankful for our awesome school and teachers who have been doing everything they can to make this process easier for us.  Video chats and messages, emails, free lunches at the school, and yesterday they even did a parade for the kids!  It was so nice to see all the teachers!  We definitely miss them so much.

We're trying to hang in there and stay positive.  Little things like this definitely help put a smile on our faces!

Easter 2020

 Easter looked a little different this year due to the quarantine and stay at home orders.  I worked half a day at the hospital, and then came home to enjoy a beautiful spring day with the family.   We decorated eggs, went for a walk and did an Easter egg hunt in the yard.  The kids were bummed that we didn't get to go to the beach house this year, since that's our normal tradition.  They love the egg hunt that Papa puts on.  We'll have to do a belated Easter celebration once this is all over.  

Happy Easter!

Tulalip 2020

 

 Last weekend was our annual girls weekend at the Tulalip Casino.  We had so much fun.  Room service, pool time, eucalyptus steam room, dancing, our favorite Asian restaurant, shopping,  spa masks, mani/ pedis.  I love this tradition.  There's nothing better than spending quality time with your best girlfriends!

Winter Basketball

Carson and Rylee just finished their basketball seasons.  Carson had a great team this year with a coach that taught them a lot.  He was on a team with his friends/ neighbors Bryce and Weilan, so that made it extra fun!  They had a great season and Carson improved a lot.  He was a little bit of a ball hog, but who can blame him.  He wanted to be the one to score the points!

 Rylee had a fun season too.  Her team definitely didn't get in as much practice time as we would have liked, but she learned so much and improved a lot.  This was the first year where they actually went by real basketball rules.  The girls were so aggressive!  It was fun (and stressful) to watch!  I didn't get any video of her because the games were too fast moving.

Winter Concerts and Art show

 Carson just had his 2nd grade winter concert.  They sang songs about winter and snow.  My favorite song was called "Snirt" (snow and dirt).  It was adorable and he was very proud of himself.  😃

 Rylee just participated in an all district choir festival.  It was all the elementary, middle and high schools from our area.  It was a great concert.  Rylee was in awe of the high school choirs.

Here's a little snippet from the performance...

 We just went to the kids STEM fair and art show.  Little did I know that Carson had two pictures on display and one won an award!  Proud mom right here!  😍

Happy 8th Birthday Carson!

 Instead of a party this year, Carson decided to invite his two best buddies on an overnight getaway.  We started the day at the Family Fun Center in Tukwila for some video games, laser tag and bumper cars.  

 After the fun center we went to a hotel for some McDonalds and pool time.  The boys were so well behaved.  It was a little calmer and quieter than the usual sleepovers I do with Rylee and her friends.  The boys had a great time!

 On Carson's actual birthday, he woke up to fresh baked cinnamon rolls and a room full of balloons.  Talk about spoiled!

 I brought him lunch (Subway per request) and ate with him at school.  It was fun to see his friends and watch the class sing to him.  He requested to bring doughnuts to share with his class.  He told me later that night that his favorite part of his birthday was having his mom visit him at lunch.  Be still my heart!! 😍

After school he opened presents.  He was very excited to get his Nintendo Switch.  "Best Birthday Ever!"  We celebrated his birthday dinner at Applebees (his choice).  Such a fun and special day for this little man!