A Snow day in Washington

It is unusual to have snow in Washington...it is even MORE unusual to have snow in Washington in February. In fact, according to the news, the last time it snowed this late in the season was in 1993...and it has only snowed this late 5 (now 6) times on record. Because it doesn't snow very often, it is cheaper for the area to simply shut down rather then invest in snow removal devices and drivers for such things. Which is why a little bit of snow can become a big problem. And when I say "a little bit", I really mean it.

In New England, we would call this a "dusting". But, in Washington, this much snow means NO SCHOOL.
See the joy on these faces? This is what happens when 3 little kids go to bed with their pajama's on backwards because they were told it would result in a SNOW DAY...and, as far as they are concerned, it worked.
Cass was *almost* able to build a snow fort. Instead, she settled for a small corral for the squirrels she is determined to catch. New Englander's will probably get a chuckle at how debilitating this much snow is for the folks out this direction, but when you just aren't accustomed to such weather...well, it's better to just stay off the roads and instead spend the time scraping together every little inch of snow in your front yard just to construct ONE snowman. That's dedication...or desperation...we haven't decided which. And we don't really care. Today was a snow day, and that's all that matters to my 3 little happy monkeys.

Why we LOVE having a garage:

The "Lightning McQueen" car is a remote control vehicle that seconds after this photo was taken was guided to smash and knock down all of these structures. Over and over and over again. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Great Wolf Lodge or "Hooray for Presidents"

Guess what happens when "Groupon" and "President's Day" collide: For our entire family (ALL the Harmon family grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in WA), it was a wonderful and thrilling weekend at GREAT WOLF LODGE. Below is a photo journal of our weekend.

This is actually a big bear, sadly the head didn't make it into this photo. When we first arrived, the girls looked at this and declared, "This is just like Grandpa's campus!" Well, the decor is certainly Campy and would compliment "campus"...but, check out the water park:

This is a wave pool. Maybe Cassidy's favorite place (above)
Brogan got a kick out of blasting others...wasn't always thrilled to be on the receiving end of things though...
If you look at the top of this photo, just above the huge gushing waterfall, you will see a gigantic bucket. It would fill up to the top and then tip over and dump gallons upon gallons of water. It was loud, and Brogan insists that it scared him.



These little jet ski's were a favorite for Brogan. Unfortunately it was impossible to photograph EVERYTHING. There were some exciting slides (the TORNADO was exceptionally thrilling, especially in the dark), a wonderful hot tub (that wasn't TOO hot, so the kids could all go in), a sport section with floating basketball hoops, and a huge anchored floating snake to climb on. It was truly a memorable experience. We are so glad we got the chance to go and hope to make one more trip before leaving the Northwest.

Valentine's Day prep

Well, the girls are old enough this year that they wanted to create their own valentines for their friends at school. Cass started weeks ago. I kept asking her to wait and I would help her, but she had other ideas. She cut and glued hearts on a piece of paper, gave the heart a face and hands and legs...then informed me that we needed a piece of candy for each hand of each heart. She wrote "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY" on the bottom of each one as well. She was quite pleased with the result and I have to agree that they are very cute and very personal.

Kalya, on the other hand, had grand ideas but needed help executing them. She wanted to make cupcakes with trains on top and a smoke stack that had a puff of smoke that said, "I choo choo choose you!". Everyone helped with the assembly and creation of KK's valentines. They were cute but I made her promise that next year things were going to be a bit simpler. Oi.

Busy Boys

This is how Brogan and Brian like to spend mornings these days:

From the moment the girls leave the house (KK and C for school and mom for the gym) these 2 construct and build amazing lego creations. What can't be captured on film is the fact that while they are doing this, they listen to inspirational music. You know, the good stuff like "Indiana Jones", "Star Wars", "Rudy", and "Last of the Mohicans". Brogan is fond of making construction vehicles and buildings that will service these vehicles. He populates them with musketeers. They drive the vehicles, and run the shops/buildings that are created. Some day, these 2 will start filming lego animation videos. Can't wait to see those mash-ups.