{this moment}

My new cub scout, doing some reading. He loves to wear his uniform!

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85

My mom had a big birthday coming up this year. She asked me to come to Victoria for the weekend to celebrate birthday #85 with her. A big shout out and thank you to my husband who took care of transporting the boys back and forth to a soccer game, a birthday party, and school so that I could get away. It was great to be in Victoria without any wind or rain. :)

look at all those cards!

The Clipper trip was gorgeous, both ways.

On Saturday Mom and I shopped and chatted. I found an amazing Christmas present for my hubby but it's a surprise. I'm pretty excited about it, though. No trip to Canada is complete without a visit to Swiss Chalet for some roast chicken.  I got to check out my parents' fancy lodgings which they moved to in March of this year. They are well taken care of with two meals provided in the dining room and breakfast items provided for them to eat in their suite.

Saturday night is movie night in the common room.We watched Love's Enduring Promise. It is a Hallmark movie. Not my usual taste but it was pretty good.

Sunday was full of celebrations. At church, I met many of my parents' friends. Since I can't seem to remember their names, I took a photo of a few of them.

For lunch, we took the bus downtown and went to Murchies. I had a delicious turkey and brie sandwich. My mom was pleased to find fresh strawberries and blueberries to buy at the farmers market just out the back door.

There was a chalk art festival going on. This is a replica of a painting of Queen Victoria. How appropriate. :)

In the afternoon, Mom and I sat outside in the courtyard at Shannon Oaks and enjoyed the unseasonably warm day.

I was impressed with the friendly staff and the atmosphere. The flowers around the building were beautiful.

For supper, we took the bus to the Blue Crab at the Coast Hotel. My mom and I both had salmon while my dad had trout. We were able to watch many boats and planes go by and see the sunset. Such a gorgeous spot.

Here's a funny photo of my dessert which looked like giant marshmallows.

On Monday I said goodbye to my parents and Victoria and returned to Seattle on the Clipper.

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"It was awesome!"

My son said his party was awesome! 

We had his 9th birthday party at the Family Fun Center in Edmonds.

Laser tag was the first activity.

Next was bumper boats which should be called spray boats. Perfect for such a hot day. I think the high was around 80 degrees.

I didn't plan on driving a go cart at the party. My main job was photography. The height restriction for the go carts was surprisingly tough. Four of the boys weren't tall enough to drive the cars. Thankfully one of the dads was sticking around so he could drive his son, my youngest son said it was "too frightening," my hubby drove the birthday boy and I drove another boy. I think I'd like to go back and drive the go carts again.

The bungee trampoline - which only some chose to do.

The ropes course. My son surprised us by doing this one and enjoying it.

In this photo you can see the height of the ropes course and the bungee trampoline.

The roller coaster simulator. Only two boys were brave enough to try this. You wouldn't catch me in that thing!

Bumper cars. This one probably should have had a height restriction since some boys complained that the safety strap was painful on their necks.

After 2 hours at the Family Fun Center (aka boy heaven!) we drove all the boys  (minus A's tall friend who attends a church that meets on Saturday nights)

to our house for otter pops, present opening, and cake.

I asked Sherri Felman to make the cake for me. A's favourite animals right now are wolves so the cake is a wolf's head. The frosting looks like fur.

Since some of the boys didn't know each other, my hubby asked each one to introduce himself and say how he knows A. One boy said he wasn't sure. :)

Today, the playroom floor is covered in Lego but I'm fine with that.

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{this moment}

Matching missing front teeth. 

The only way I could get them to show their teeth was to ask them to make "scary" faces. :)

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First Day of School 2012

One of my sons is super excited to begin school again. The other is reluctant.
If you know them, you can figure out which one is which. :)

Here are my boys on Day 1:

check out the adorable gap in his front teeth

C looks so happy because he was laughing. We discovered that his pants were on backwards.
He thought that was pretty hilarious. ;) Don't worry - we fixed that.

I love first day photos! I even take a last day of school photo, if I can remember.
You homeschoolers should do first day photos as well!

I hope today goes well for them and their teachers. It sure seems quiet in the house.Pin It

Northwest Trek

More summer adventures!

Another thing on my summer bucket list was going to Northwest Trek. One Sunday afternoon we didn't have any plans and the weather was great so we decided to go for it. The drive time was about 90 minutes. It is located southeast of Seattle in Pierce County, south of Puyallup.

There are two sections of the park. One is the walking tour area where the animals have large enclosures. The setting was beautiful - so many trees and shrubs which were labelled if you wanted to get landscaping inspiration. On a hot day this park would be the perfect place to enjoy some shade.

My favourite from this section was the beaver. The way it moved its head it looked like a bobble head.

Badger

Raccoon - I prefer they stay here rather than invade my backyard. :)

Wolverine

Skunk

A's favourite animal right now is the wolf so it was very important that we spotted those.

Bears

In the other section of the park the animals are all herbivores and they can roam freely over 435 acres. Visitors ride in a (free with admission) tram to view the animals. The trip lasts 50 minutes.

We saw so many animals up close.

My favourite was the deer and the fawn.

The park has an interesting history. 

From the website:

In 1971, Dr. David and Connie Hellyer decided to donate more than 500 acres of forested land to Metro Parks Tacoma. They wanted to create a park that would display North American wildlife in their natural environments to people of all ages.

The weather was absolutely perfect. My oldest son would love to come back again. The entry fee was $60 for the four of us so we'll probably wait until next spring or summer to return.

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