Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Police Camp for Megan

Megan had the opportunity this year to go to a Madison City Police Camp.  This is a program that is set up for 5th and 6th grade.  It was for one week and she went from 8 am to 3 pm.  I have to say, I think it was probably the best $50 that I have spent for her all summer long.  She loved it and the kids learned some very important things.  She came home every day with some great stories to tell.  On the first day of camp SWAT came in.  They got to go in there trucks and look at all their SWAT weapons and tools.  They listened to stories about SWAT and they even had a helicopter land right on the field for them.  The second day, they went swimming and had belly flop contests.  OUCH!  The third day K9 came with their dogs.  They watched the dogs find drugs around the school (that were planted of course by the police officers in charge)  They looked at all sorts of kinds of drugs.  Some included, weed, cocaine, crack, meth, and maybe some others.  They learned what they looked like and they learned all about the consequences of using them.  Not good.  Megan said they looked really gross and she couldn't understand why anyone would want to use them.  That's my girl.  Keep it up.  Megan loved the dog, of course.  His name was Timber.  The kids were told not to play with the dog.  He was working and on serious duty.  They watched him train with his partner and she was in awe.  The fourth day, they played in the mud.  Mud fights, tug-of-war, and other mud things to do.  Let me tell ya.  I had to throw those clothes away.(We knew that before the day started though)  When she came home, she said she could play in the mud all day.  YUCK!  On the last day, they learned all about crime scenes and investigations.  In their teams, they were suppose to look at a crime scene set up, follow procedures, and solve it.  Points were taken off for mistakes and at the end of the day, they told the kids which team had the most points.  Megan's team came in second.  Just 2 points away from first.  She also got to drive drunk.  OK, not really, but they had provided golf carts and drove with drunk goggles on.  Megan had said that she crashed into tons of cones without the goggles let alone with them.  I said that perhaps she should just not ever drive.  One can dream, right??  They also had many other in between activities through out each day.  I went to a program at the end and saw a slide show of all the activities.  I could tell that the kids loved every minute.  If you live here in Madison, you ought to look into it when your child gets into 5th grade.  They will love it.  I thought it was a great week for her and she loved every minute of it.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Happy Birthday Kids!

Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays.  I have been blessed with three wonderful adorable children.  I will have to say, that they are some of the bestest of the best.  Now, I'm not sure what I was thinking , except for that I taught and so I always went for a summer baby.  What do ya know, all my kids were born at the end of May and they happen to be all in the same week.  So, for us, the end of May is like Christmas!  Now, they don't all have parties every year.  They take turns and this year it was Emilee.  Her birthday is the last of the three, but since it landed on Memorial Day this year, we decided to do her party the week before so we will start with hers.  She turned nine.  WOW!  I can't believe it!
Emilee looked on the internet all by herself and came to me with the idea of having a "Rock Star" party!  It was so much fun.  We had the girls dress up as rock stars plus I had a bunch of things here they could dress up in and whatever they chose to use, they could take home.  I asked a friend to pant their faces, we made guitars,  and we had Kareoke singing going on.  I even made up a stage area with a backdrop curtain.  The girls loved singing.  Watch Out American Idol!  Your future is ready to sing for ya. 
I wish I could take credit for this cake.  I want to so bad, but I can't.  My good friend Marie made it for us.  I didn't want to cut it, it looked so good. 
Emilee has always been a little crazy, but we sure do love her.
There they all are, Rock Stars and all.  It was a fun day and I'm sure Emilee will always remember it.


Next up was Megan.  Her birthday is actually the first of the three.  She turned 11 this year.  She had a party last year so this year it was strictly family.  She got to pick where to go eat dinner and of course she chose a Chinese Buffet.  She always asks to eat a a Chinese Buffet.  She will say to me, "Mom, I really feel like Chinese food tonight so can we go?"  Ya right!  So we packed up the presents and cake and went on our way to the buffet.
I think I have mentioned this before, but Megan loves cinnamon rolls.  This year she asked instead of having a cake, could we have cinnamon rolls instead.  I didn't see why not.  I was going to make them for her, but then her next request was if they could just be from Cinnabon.  Well, I didn't see why not except the only Cinnabon I knew of closed down and then I remembered they had one on the army base.  Guess what?  I can get on base so off I went to pick them up and that was her birthday cake.  Fun, eh?
I have to laugh.  The waitresses were so funny.  They gave us decorations and a candle to decorate her cinnamon roll.  I love it!

Now that is a girl who loves cinnamon rolls. What a mess!



Last, but of course not least is my little Hunter Man!  He turned seven this year and his birthday
 actually lands right in the middle of the two girls!  I can't believe it!  My youngest is getting to big.  He also had a party last year and so his as well was strictly family.  On his birthday he actually had a father and son campout with the church, so we had to celebrate his day the next day when they got back.  He asked to go to Cici's Pizza and was so excited to get a Harry Potter ice cream cake.

Hunter is hilarious.  He is always asking for a tuxedo.  I don't know why except he wants to impress I guess.  So I had found this T-shirt and thought it was perfect for him.  He loved it.
Whew!!  Another year done and gone!  It is always a little stressful, but we always get through it.  The great thing is about having all the birthdays in the same week is that I'm done!  I don't have to worry about it for another year. 

I love my kids so much!  They are tons of fun, most of the time.  I wouldn't change a thing.  I know it is a little late on the blog, but Happy Birthday kids!  You are so the best!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Seattle, WA

How do you think I ended up in Seattle, WA?  Jeremy had work to do there and of course, I just had to tag along.  Woo-Hoo!  I have never been to Seattle and I have wanted to go for along time so when opportunity comes we go with it.  Jeremy sometimes gets sick of the travel that he has to do, but I will say that I think this is the best part of his job, besides the being able to support his family that comes out of it.  I mean, that's a given.  Well, I had expectations of Seattle.  Some were met, some not even close, but all in all I had a good time, despite all the rain that I endured.
First day I was there, I ventured out by myself.(Of course I always do this on these kinds of trips.  I love it)  As I asked the front desk lady at the hotel about the city, she was in shock that I would actually go wandering around a strange city all by myself.  Hmm, I guess she doesn't get out much.  Well my first day was a rainy rainy day.  As I walked down the streets of Seattle with my freezing feet, I noticed I was the only one wearing flip flops and carpi's (at least I had sense enough to wear some sort of rain jacket.)  Can you tell I might be from the dessert?  This is also what I mostly packed.  Well, I got soaked from the days events was cold and by the end of the day I  made my way into the Old Navy, found some other clothes to wear and bought a pair of tennis shoes from the Ross down the street. Remember folks:  If you are going to Seattle in mid May, bring the appropriate attire.  It will probably rain and be cloudy and cold and if you're lucky, you might even see a few vampires.
This is a must see, though I have to say, I think it might be over rated.  It was kind of fun to see the fish being thrown from worker to worker and they were funny.  I even liked how there were endless shops through out the building and tons to look at.  But like most things like this in other areas, it is a definite tourist trap and not cheap.  I thought most things were very overpriced.  Fun to look at though, music to listen to, and I found the bestest and biggest maple bar.  Mmmm it was so good, I had to go back another day and buy another one.
This is where I saw most of the fish being thrown around.  I have seen this on the travel channel and other places.  It is fun to see and quite entertaining.  Some of the fish that I saw was huge.  If I lived in Seattle, I would buy fish from there all the time.
I love tulips.  I have always wanted to plant them, but I am not a gardner and from what I can see, they don't last long.  Here at the market they had thousands of tulips you could buy.  They were beautiful.  If I lived here, I think I would come down every day and buy more tulips. 
I just love big buildings.  I truly am a city girl at heart.  I thought I would hear more music around the city though.  You know, a lot of great music and bands come from Seattle.  Perhaps it comes out mostly at night.  I usually made it back to the hotel before 6 pm.  Because Jeremy was working, our hotel was not in the city.  We had to stay more where he could get to the facilities he needed to be at.  Most days were cold and rainy.  We did get a couple of sunny days.  I think Seattle is nice and all, but I am not cut out to live there.  I value the sun to much.  I did love the cafes, old used book stores, and the pioneer square that is a great place to read a book.  (when the sun is out)
Jeremy use to live up near Seattle for a few years when he was a kid.  He lived in Kent which is not too far from Seattle and even closer to where we were staying.  We decided to head out to go see his old stomping grounds.  His family left Seattle when he was about 14.  They moved around a lot, but Jeremy did like this area.  This was the house that he lived in.  He was amazed how close things seemed, 'cause as a kid, everything seemed so far away.  He also couldn't believe that hardly anything looked familiar, but he did find the house, his school (middle and high school), and the church he went to. 
Of course, how can you go to Seattle and not see the Space Needle and look, it is a nice sunny day.  It reminds me of the Stratosphere's little brother (even though the Needle was way before Stratosphere)  Every picture you see of Seattle has the Space Needle and so it is a must see. 
After we were done with the Space Needle we decided to catch a ferry and drive through the Olympic Rain Forest.



I have been on many ferries, but I have to say, that this was the first time I had ever driven the car unto the ferry and parked and then drove it off the ferry.  It was kind of fun.
I have decided that I love the Olympic National Forest.  It is quite the sight to drive through.  I would love to just find a cabin here and stay for a couple of weeks.  That would be wonderful.  The water and trees were beautiful and the waterfalls were right off the side of the road.  I loved it.  Of course though, as we were driving that would bring us right through....OK Twilight Fans, hold on to your seats....Forks, WA.  Ya you read that right.  Forks, WA.  Let me tell ya, It is not much of a town.  One street pretty much is it.  We did eat there though, and I did see the high school, which is under construction, and the people of Forks have truly embraced the Phenomenon.  As we drove into town we saw a hotel sign that said, "Edward Cullen did not Sleep here"  HA, funny right??  I even got to see Bella's truck.  Ooooo, I know your jealous now?
La Push is not too far.  We were going to head there, but we missed our turn.  Oh well, but here is a pic of one of the beaches near it.  Cool, right?
The next day, we just relaxed, did some shopping, and went and saw the Seattle Temple.  Of course, it was raining.  It would have been nice to do a session, but it didn't work out that way.  We went and walked around the grounds anyway and took some great pics.  
I thought this was pretty......We had a nice time.  It was fun to see the sights and spend time with Jeremy.  Stay tuned, coming next up:   Three kids birthdays all in the same week for the last week of May.