week 28 in pictures

busy, busy week, with a weird twist…

sunday: meet “carrot guy”. micah is way into making his food into people or flowers, or some other such picture lately.

monday: on the train at “rumblinger” farms with MOMS Club friends!

tuesday: new use for the clothesline: it’s a cat run! toby did eventually wiggle out of his harness, but he only went as far as the garden. he so desperately wants to be an outside cat.

wednesday: while running birthday prep errands for her and shane’s impending birthdays, it became quite apparent that layla was NOT feeling very well. sore throat, cough, and what turned out to be a fever. she finally fell asleep on the way home in the back seat and stayed there for at least an hour after we got home.

thursday: with most of her birthday plans thwarted by illness, we had a mellow day at home that eventually included opening gifts and having her requested dinner of french toast. she wanted brownies for her birthday dessert.

friday: AND… another birthday! shane’s 14th was great. he got to go go-karting with his friend, grant and then we had KFC for dinner and he requested cookie dough for his dessert. it was awesome. we put candles in it and sang and everything. then he got the whole tub to himself. (don’t worry, we had a second tub for the rest of us.)

saturday: start of the STP! shane, dave, kat, and cole (plus noah and luka) all rode this year. they were quite the entourage.

and some skinnies to stick in center pockets:

1. layla still has her mad wii boxing skills
2. last day to be 7
3. she’s 8!!! (with a birthday bowl of lucky charms
4. shane’s last day to be 13 (10 fingers + 3 paws)

  

and then some instagrams:

when micah butters corn:

I was out all day the day before in like 3 different grocery stores and target twice… couldn’t manage to remember that I needed dishwasher detergent…

crawly made a cocoon while we were in california so we have been patiently awaiting what was going to happen next! he made it! he’s a moth! and layla decided that his name should now be “fluttery” instead of crawly.

layla, julie, and all the other julies at the american girl store, spending some birthday $$ from grandma and grandpa.

julie got herself some rollerblades!

layla stuck this on my back. awesome.

and some big collages from all our busyness.

2 from remlinger farms:

and 1 of birthday celebrations:

I’ll add book shots once I get my pics back and into the book.

shane’s 14th birthday

night before, posing for the official ‘last day to be 13’ picture. it has been interesting, trying to make his work, as he’s gotten older. after 10 has been challenging. each year, he comes up with something creative.

this year, toby helped, by lending 3 paws to shane’s 10 fingers. doesn’t he look thrilled?

the next day, shane and his friend grant went go-karting. apparently, if you are over 14, you don’t have to take the training course, which costs like 30 bucks. AND, if you buy a pass, which shane wanted anyway, you get a free race on your birthday. he was stoked.

after he got home, we had his requested dinner of KFC, and then he opened presents from his siblings.

micah got him a new set of seattle skyline socks.

and layla got him a fun t-shirt.

then it was time to sing happy birthday.

his dessert of choice this year?

cookie dough.

so awesome! he got a whole tub to himself, but it was okay, because we got another one for the rest of us.

I seriously can’t believe I have a 14 year old. wow.

layla’s 8th birthday

so… layla had a slight bummer of a birthday this year.

the day before, as we were out running some birthday prep errands, it became quite apparent that things were not quite right with her.

she said she was fine, just tired, but she was totally dragging. she eventually admitted she had a bit of a sore throat, but on the way home, she passed out in the car and stayed there, sprawled across the back seat for over an hour.

sure enough, she had a fever.

but, a little bit of tylenol had her ready to pose for her ‘last day to be 7 picture.

the next day, I wasn’t sure what to expect. we had grand plans to go downtown and go out to lunch with daddy, and then visit grandma and grandpa who were sending her on a shopping trip to the american girl store to get some stuff for julie. that’s not really how it happened.

in the morning, she was still not feeling super, but eventually decided she wanted a bowl of her special birthday breakfast treat, lucky charms.

but she still had a fever, so we had to postpone everything else.

later in the afternoon, she got to open her presents from her brothers.

micah got her a my little pony beach towel.

shane got her a flower headband and a pair of hello kitty sunglasses.

she still wanted the dinner she’d requested (french toast) and her brownies.

she was fever-free the next day, so while shane was off celebrating his birthday with a friend at a go-kart track, we got to take julie up to the AG store to find some new stuff. she wound up with ‘nutmeg’, julie’s pet bunny, and a rollerblading set. pretty fun.

although I will say, shopping at the AG store with a limited amount of money is excruciating!

“rumbling”er farms: 2013 edition

we have this local ‘farm’ that is actually more country store/amusement park than it is farm. they do have u-pick berries seasonally, and a pumpkin patch/corn maze thing in the fall, but my kids have always liked to go for the rides. it’s definitely aimed at the preschool-lower elementary crowd. it’s actually called remlinger farms, but shane started calling it “rumbling” farms when he was little. layla subsequently adopted it as well, so we have always just called it “rumbling”. now, apparently, she’s picked up on the “er” part at the end, and added that. I’ll be sad when everyone actually calls it the right name. we probably will have outgrown it by then.

a groupon came out in june for 2 for 1 tickets, and it got put on the MOMS Club calendar, so we made plans to go on monday. layla and micah had a blast.

pony rides:

these are actually lined up in front of a stagecoach the kids can climb into.

on the train that takes you through the whole park.

the canoe ride.

the swing carousel.

roller coaster.

selfie on the flying pumpkin ride.

across the ride. micah rode with his friend.

at the pedal go-karts. layla was SUPER excited that she was finally big enough for this ride.

of course, they were not being very particular about the size of the kids they were letting on, and micah got to ride, too. the size requirement is to make sure you can reach the pedals to navigate the course. he got stuck at one point and had to be pushed.

there’s an old school bus and and old fire truck the kids can play in.

they have animals there too. this mom and pop peacock had 3 babies!!! I have never seen peacock babies before and they were adorable. I want one.

the antique cars.

the petting farm.

back on the train w/ donkeys in the background.

more pony rides.

and one last turn on the roller coaster. micah had really wanted to ride in the front car. he was ecstatic.

it was not very crowded, so the lines were all but nonexistent. the kids could pretty much ride as many times as they wanted. the weather was awesome and we had a great time with our friends. we stayed until the park closed, and then went in to the country store for ice cream cones.

it’s kind of expensive, so we usually only make it once a year, if that. but the kids are already planning their next trip.