A Little Crispy around the Edges, but Still There

I just realized that I forgot to post these pictures from our Memorial Day hike with our friends to the Dishman-Hills Natural Area. We hadn't been there since last summer's bad fires, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

This was last summer.

We were delighted to find it only a little black here and there. Much better than I expected. We did a great hike to a pond. The boys had a rough time there. Max fell in the water doing something unwise and Tanner got his knees stuck in the guardrail surrounding the pond. I think Tanner started to worry when even his parents couldn't get him unstuck. After five long minutes and the loss of some skin, something gave and he was able to get free. I had visions of us carrying him down the trail, suspended by his knees from the detached section of railing.

Max, Tanner Christensen, Camille, Elise and Katie Christensen. Cameron refused to leave the trail long enough for a picture. Natalie and Garrett were riding in style in the backpacks.

Natalie and Dad. Too cool!

We ended up meeting another family from our ward back at Camp Caro for a picnic dinner and a game of wiffle ball. A nice day.

Fathers and Sons (and Mom and Daughters) Outing

This weekend was the annual Fathers and Sons Outing. I love this tradition. Like Christmas, birthdays and the 4th of July, it is one of those times that kids love and remember forever. Ours was at Camp Easton this year. The boys swam in the lake, shot at things with the wrist rocket, looked at a captured frog, played in the dirt, stayed up until 11pm playing ultimate frisbee with a glow-in-the-dark disc, and ate lots and lots of junk food. They grilled brats, drank orange cream soda from a bottle, ate cookies, chips, smores and Hostess fruit pies. I'm not sure how, but no one threw up. I think there is no digestion as tough as a little boy's!

Brett had Cameron wear his light-up hiking boots. It was a good thing he did because then Brett could always find him in the dark. He wanted to wear his boots to bed, but Dad wasn't having that. A late night and an early rise and they were back at it again. They had dutch oven french toast that sounded so good I'm planning on getting the recipe. Some of the boys got a bit macho about sunscreen and refused to put any on. You could tell who they were today because they were the ones with their dress shirts untucked and who were walking very gingerly down the hallway.

Not to be outdone, the girls and I went clothes shopping. Then we gathered with other moms and (mostly) daughters to eat pizza, talk and play. Once Natalie was in bed, Elise and Camille made smores in the microwave and got very sticky and chocolate-y. We played the longest game of Uno Attack I've ever experienced. Every time one of us got down to one card the dispenser would shoot out eight more. By11pm Elise was begging to go to bed, so we started playing cooperatively and a delighted Elise had won in less than five minutes. Camille opted not to sleep with Elise and I in the tent in the living room. That was probably wise. It wasn't a great night's sleep, but it was worth it to see how excited Elise was.

Sadly, there aren't pictures of any of this. I thought Brett had the camera. He left in charging in the office and forgot to bring it along. We'll do better next time.

Would this work with the dishes?

Whenever Brett walks out the front door, the kids are right behind him. This tag-a-long tendency goes into overdrive if he turns a hose on and goes stratospheric if he's using the hose to wash a vehicle. But, the best and most fascinating of all possibilities is Dad washing his truck. Instant kid party.

Cameron and Elise volunteered to scrub the bed liner. Any excuse to climb in the back of the truck is welcome. With the tailgate up, we call it the world's largest playpen.

Even Natalie got into the spirit of things.

Elise stuck around long enough to help with the waxing.

We kept finding Cameron in the cab of the truck and couldn't figure out how he was getting in. We don't have running boards and the door handle is way too high for him to reach. We watched him for a while and saw him run up to the truck with a bicycle helmet on and dragging the hose. He used the stiffness of the hose to hoist the handle of the spray nozzle over the door handle. A quick tug on the hose and the door popped right open. Ingenious little bugger! He wasn't happy when we locked the doors.

"Mom! Stop taking my picture."

A soaking Natalie spent the rest of the evening picking flowers.

I love summer evenings like this. You get to be with your family, working and playing together in a beautiful setting that you've all worked together to create. The warm temperatures and bright colors just sink into your soul. These summer evenings are what make the hard Spokane winters worth it.

Fifteen years and counting.

We celebrated our anniversary a day early yesterday by going to lunch, then hitting every furniture store in Spokane looking for something to put in our empty living room. I learned the valuable lesson that it is unwise to indulge in 'bottomless' huckleberry lemonade before spending the rest of the afternoon shopping. I had to sneak past the customer service desk at one store because I was too embarrassed for them to see me hitting the bathroom twice within fifteen minutes! At least we finally found something for the living room. Last time we did this it took us eight months. This time it was only five. Do you think we'll ever figure out how to make up our minds?

Today, our actual anniversary, was a 'family birthday' celebration with the kids. We grilled steaks and corn on the cob and had french bread, asparagus and the kids favorite jello salad. During dinner we did a family trivia contest, which was pretty fun. Then we played a board game with the three older kids. It was a gorgeous day, so all the kids ran out to the back yard to play before bed. It was one of those parental payoff moments to watch them eating ice cream cones and playing together barefoot on the swing set.

Brett's sister Melissa has graciously agreed to come and watch (wrangle?) our kids while we go to Leavenworth for a couple of days next month to finish off the celebration. Other than hospital visits, I've only been away from my kids overnight four times in fifteen years. So, this will be a neat opportunity for us. We're looking forward to hiking, German food, golfing, German food, swimming and a little more German food, just for variety. I'm curious what it will feel like to have a shower uninterrupted by wails or pounding on the door.

A Fish by Any Other Name . . .

. . . would still smell like a fish.

After a couple of weeks with the generic moniker 'Fish,' Cameron's Beta now has a name. It is now called Dorothy, or in Cameron-speak 'Door-tee.' Yep, he got the idea from Elmo's fish on Sesame Street. And, yes, the beta is male.

Running to (Not) Stand Still

1:57:40

Brett ran the inagural Windermere Half-Marathon on May 16th. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for running. Doug, Natalie and I cheered like fools along the way in hopes that it would provide some kind of encouragement to Brett, Melissa or Stacia.

Go Brett, Go!

Stacia McKee, Brett Clark and Melissa Stoker

All three runners did great. Brett trimmed ten minutes off his time from the half-marathon he ran in March. It helps when you don't have the flu! Melissa, the ironwoman, knocked thirty-five minutes off her previous best, coming in at 2:05 with Stacia right behind her.

Melissa at the finish.

So, now this crazy guy is talking about a marathon. He's thinking about the Newport, Oregon marathon in May of 2010 or possibly the full Windermere marathon next year. Anyone else want to come along?

Slippery When Wet

Yesterday morning, while Cameron was taking his bath, I walked into the next room to get him some clothes. Suddenly I heard a splash followed by a cry from Natalie. When I ran into the bathroom, this is what I found.

Yep. Natalie was sitting in the tub, fully dressed in her pajamas and soaking wet from head to toe. She didn't appear all that upset initially. She had already started playing with the tub toys. But, as soon as she saw me, she started howling. After all, any offense is more dramatic if you can complain about it to someone else!

So, like the good mom I am, I didn't pull her out of the tub . . . I ran for the camera! :>)

By the time I got back, she was seriously mad and letting me know all about it. I guess she's learned the lesson that you can't let your grasp for a tub toy exceed your ability to keep your feet on the ground.

"Aarrrgh," went the Birthday Boy

Today was Cameron's fourth birthday. It began way too early for our tastes. We heard him chattering away in his bedroom at 5:30am. When I stumbled in, I found him sitting up, cross-legged on his bed. He was wearing his pirate hat, waving a pistol around and saying something about a 'woe-boat' (translation: rowboat). So apparently buccaneers start plotting with the dawn. "Cameron," I whispered. "Shhh. You'll wake Natalie up." Oblivious to my message, he looked up at me and said cheerfully "Oh, good. Breakfast."

The piratey-theme pretty much dominated the birthday scene. Cam insisted on wearing his hat nearly the entire day. Max and Elise indulged him by playing pirates before they went to school. I think Elise got tired of being the girl that gets drug off by the pirates. I don't think she minded so much until the dragging part. Notice Max and Elise's 'buccaneer sneer' in the above photo. Cam was just having fun.

Lunch with Dad at Dairy Queen was great. Cameron had chicken strips, fries and root beer for lunch, but liked the dilly bar best of all.

After lunch we went to Petco and Cameron got to pick out his present from Grandma Borders. He liked lots of the beta fish, but was really jazzed about this one. I was jazzed about a beta tank that had a latching lid!

It doesn't show up well in the picture, but Cameron's beta (so far creatively named 'Fish') is actually purple on the body. I think that is why Cam chose this one.

Yep, more pirates. Cameron wasn't the only one that liked his present. He fought Natalie off pretty much the entire night. I had to order Camille, Max and Elise to stay in the other room so Cameron and I could play with it by ourselves. :>) It was a very cool toy, after all.

Cameron had requested a pirate-Nemo-letter-dinosaur-Star Wars cake. I did my best with a pirate cake with Nemo fruit snacks stuck on the side. I didn't post a picture because I didn't have much time to assemble it--and it showed. Luckily pirates don't get HGTV and aren't really into the whole aesthetic thing anyway. Cameron was pleased, so I was, too.

Not EVERYTHING was pirate-y. Cam was excited about his dinosaur puzzle. He went nuts over a set of washable markers. When Camille gave him his cake and ice cream he turned her down so he could go draw. When he opened Grandma and Grandpa Clark's card he called out "Moneys!" He also loved his 'Saggy Baggy Elephant' Little Golden Book. That was one of my favorites growing up. Good call Grandma B!

I think the best part about the day was how content and happy he was through the whole thing. He felt very special. That is what it is all about more than the presents and the cake. It was HIS day.

Happy Birthday little man. I sure love you.

Happy Belated Easter

I realized that I forgot to post some pictures from Easter. So, let's just pretend it isn't May and that I'm not nearly as forgetful as I really am. I think Brett fears for my brain . . . at least the parts of it that are left!

We had our Easter egg hunt with Brett's sister Rosalie, her husband Ken and their two daughters who were visiting with us. It rained a lot that day, so the Easter Bunny had to be really sneaky and hide everything inside. Luckily for him, the kids were all out on the wet lawn cleaning up their toys. Wow, that rabbit is good!

Here the kids line up outside the door waiting to begin the hunt. No pictures of the hunt itself since they all moved too fast for the camera to take the picture. A secret source tells me that the bunny man himself hid 150 eggs in the house, including a couple camouflaged eggs in the dishwasher silverware rack!

'Can we come in yet? Can we? Can we?'

I love Elise's expression here and the grin on Lily's face. They are all SO ready to go.

'Whoa! That is a lot of eggs.'

You snooze, you lose.

This is what happens at our house when you walk away from your dessert for just a minute. Apparently Natalie likes the banana cream pie we had for Easter dinner.

This picture isn't from Easter, but I loved it and wanted to share. We had just gotten back from Costco and I had stacked the items that needed to go to the storage room into one of the boxes they sent my groceries home in. Apparently, to Natalie they looked like a car because I found her in the box, sitting on a multi-pack of spaghetti. She was content to play in the box for a good 15 or 20 minutes. They really do like the box better! She had a cold, so yes, her nose is running. I still think it is a cute picture.

Picnic Lunch at Manito Park

Nishinomiya Japanese Garden

We had a great day today. Ryan, Ronica, Xander and Landen came up to visit. It was a beautiful day, so we took a picnic lunch to Manito Park. Everyone had a great time. The kids watched the catfish swimming in the duck pond, played on the toys, walked around the Japanese garden, scared the koi in the koi pond half to death, rolled down the hill at Duncan garden, chased seagulls off the grass and tromped energetically through the greenhouse. Most of these pictures were taken in the Japanese garden.

Not 'Say Cheese' but 'Say Chuck E. Cheese'

When we told Elise that there was a banana tree in the greenhouse, she said 'Bananas do NOT grow on trees.' Did she think they grew in produce boxes? They were all pretty excited when they saw the big green bunch of bananas hanging from a tree. They also really liked all the varieties of cactus and the giant aloe plant. Duncan Garden (a formal English garden) wasn't planted yet, but the kids ran up the path anyway to play in the big (dry) fountain and look at the gazebo. The rose garden was really bare, but the boys were highly impressed with one bush that had massive thorns on it.

Ronica, sleepy Landen, Ryan and Xander.

During lunch Xander said 'Aunt Kim makes the best food ever.' I just don't get that reaction from my kids when I make peanut butter and honey sandwiches! I knew there was a reason I loved Xander. PB & H. Who knew? We hadn't even gotten to the brownies made from a mix yet!

My favorite picture of the day.

I love how kindergartners are so unselfconscious about holding hands with their buddies. Elise and Xander are such good friends.

Watching the turtle and the koi.

Nothin' is better than Dad.

Landen got sleepy before we were through. He was so contented to snuggle up with Ryan. What a cute little guy he is. He is getting so big and his face is starting to lose the baby look.

The only reason I posted this is that it is a great example of picture taking with my kids. Elise (and Xander) sit quietly. Max, two fingers extended, is ready to make bunny ears. Camille, feeling responsible and not wanting bunny ears, tries to smile through her grimace as she holds Max's hands down. Cameron holds is hands up in semi-claw shape while he shakes his arms and says 'cheese.' Why the shaking arms and claws? I have absolutely no idea. It is one of those things that makes Cameron who he is. At least he's sitting sort of still for the picture. Most of our pictures show him half out of the frame as he escapes or trying to wiggle out of Camille's grasp.

Thanks for the visit Ryan, Ronica, Xander and Landen. It was sure great to spend time with you guys.