Jack Turns 2

One of the great things about living on the West Coast right now is that we get to spend a lot of time with family. For the first time in a long time we are here for birthdays and other big events in each other's lives. It's been pretty awesome. On Wednesday, March 30th, we celebrated Jack's birthday. His birthday is actually March 31st...so is his Dad's...and so is Mine. Cool, hu?

What kid party is ever complete without a pinata? Check out the faces and stance on these 2 boys (Jack, above...Brogan, below). We didn't have a stick so we used the tube to a vacuum cleaner. Clever, right? Just not as effective as one might hope. Although it was eventually busted.

Jack's current love is "DRAGON" more commonly known as "How To Train Your Dragon"...one of our family's favorite movies too. So we did a Dragon cake. Check out "Toothless". Did you know that there are NOOOOOO H.T.T.Y.D. promotional toys out there? Nope. Nothing. The shelves are Toothless and Hiccup bare. Bummer. 'Cause this little boy would have loved his very own stuffed Toothless.

Happy Birthday, Jack. We love you!

Green Eggs and Ham

Mom and Dad got the pleasure of joining Kayla for brunch today in celebration of the great Dr. Seuss. And, as would be appropriate, we dined on Green Eggs and Ham (which was NOT green). KK started out a bit of a skeptic....

..but eventually gave the green eggs a try...and to her surprise, she LOVED them. (There was a day not so long ago when no amount of cajoling or bribing could have gotten her to do this.)
In fact, we ALL loved them. Mom especially loved KK's Dr. Seuss hat and may choose to borrow it someday.

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.

Brogan is a Tiny Tiger!

Brogan attends first martial arts class today! Welcome to Tiny Tigers!

Brogan got his uniform and stretched, ran, bounced, and tumbled with a group of three- and four-year olds this morning. Miss Gi Gi (who also instructs Kayla's class) had a busy and active class. Hooray for someone else tiring out our Boy on Saturday mornings!

Suiting up.

Stretching out.

Chop-Socky!

Go Go Cassidy...

Cassidy has started gymnastics. She goes every Wednesday. There are about 9 girls in her class and she is the tiniest one in her group, but she is also one of the strongest. She has a lot of power packed into those little legs. This past week she got to try some of her very favorite "events". It was her first chance to jump on the trampoline. They were instructed to do 5 seat drops....pretty sure she was able to squeeze in 10 before the coach noticed and encouraged her to move on to the next station.
She also loves to do the uneven bars. She has no problem walking right up to the bar and giving a big jump to grab on (most of the girls use a folded up mat to reach the bar). Last week she was the only one who was able to do a full flip and this week she was asked to show everyone how high she could swing getting her knees up way over the bar but not going all the way over.

Cassidy also really enjoys the beam. She is a little hesitant when she is up higher, but she never gives up. She is conquering the beam and with practice she thinks she will LOVE it as much as she loves the other events.

L-O-V-E

I have an amazing husband. It's true. And just to prove it, this past Sunday he (with the help of my sister and sister-in-law) managed to whisk me away and spoil me at the beautiful and secluded vacation get-away called "THE RESORT ON THE MOUNTAIN" on Mt. Hood.

The night we arrived, we were treated to a couples massage. SOOOOOOO nice. I was pampered with hot stones (totally recommend it) and Brian was given a pressure point for "sporties" one. We both left feeling like warm jell-o. Then slunk our way to the resort restaurant and consumed delicious food (I had mushroom risotto and Brian had a pan seared trout). Feeling full and relaxed we headed back to our room and passed the hot tub on the way. It would have been a waste not to embrace the opportunity, so we quickly changed into swim suits and indulged. Have you ever had the chance to sit in a hot tub while cool little rain drops pepper you? It isn't half bad.

The next morning we got up and went for a walk. Brian is impressed by the amount of moss that grows in the Pacific Northwest. This tree trunk was on the losing end of the battle and had succumbed to the moss completely.

Brian also got a kick out of this sign:

Boring, Oregon. Hmmm.

Thanks to those who helped make this evening possible. My mother, who stayed with our 3 little monkeys and helped get them packed off to school in the morning and my sister and sister-in-law (and their hubbies) who are responsible for planting the bug and planning most of this. Brian was left with the task of creating a convincing story to get me out of the house. It worked. I thought we were going to an art show...and when the GPS indicated that we would be on a specific road for 30 miles, I questioned Brian. He handed me a paper and requested that I double check the address. But there wasn't an address written on the paper. Instead it said, "Surprise! You aren't going to an art show tonight....". It was a lovely surprise and we both appreciated the peaceful quiet time together.

Fun in the Sun

When we told people that we would be relocating to Washington State for a year, we heard a lot of "You know it rains a lot in Washington, right?" Yeah. We know. BUT....it is also beautiful and sunny jacket weather in January. As evidenced in the photo below:

This very cool little plane is in Grandpa and Grandma's back yard. It can comfortably seat 7, which is perfect because there are 7 little cousins regularly running around this back yard. And so, while our friends and family are reporting FEET of snow and bone chilling temperatures in the NEGATIVE digits, we are enjoying sunny comfortable days that are occasionally interrupted by a cloud burst of rain. We think we might have the better deal. What do you think?

Game On Kayla!

Daddy plays Halo: Reach. Every day those clever folks at Bungie (the makers) post a set of Daily Challenges; complete them and earn high scores, piles of credits, and acclaim from thousands of your 18-35 year-old virtual friends.

Each Monday morning a Weekly Challenge is posted, always tougher than the Daily Challenges and often difficult enough to send scores of teen gamers crying to momma. The other day Kayla helped daddy earn the "Legendary Friends" Weekly Challenge by completing the Nightfall Cooperative mission in the campaign on not Easy, not Normal, not even Heroic, but LEGENDARY difficulty.

If that doesn't communicate anything to you, imagine giving a six-year old a gun and asking her to follow you into Mogadishu for some jogging.

Closing seconds of Nightfall mission:

"Alright Kayla, that's the end up there, we just have to get on the other side of those rocks."

"Are there too many bad guys? They keep shooting me!"

"There's not that many, we're going to run, stay right with me-"

"RAWR!"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no! Run! Run KK!"

(BANG!) "Daddy I got him!"

"No just run-"

(BANG! BANG!) "It's okay, I got another one!"

"No you just- What?"

"Look out Daddy, one more!" (BANG! BANG! BANG!)

"I got him!"

I'm so proud!

VROOOOM

Can a boy have TOO many match box cars? We don't think so. And neither does our boy. They get sorted (according to style, color, size, etc) and lined up like dominos fairly regularly at our house.

1-11-11

Just wanted to post today....cause the date is just that cool! This past weekend Kenneth and his boys drove up from Vegas. We had a wonderful weekend together and were fortunate to host them at our place. We spent Friday at OMSI. This place is quickly becoming a family favorite!

Their drive home was a trial. They were involved in a roll-over accident and miraculously all 3 walked away without injury. The car was totaled. We are grateful that they were protected.

We've had a busy start to 2011 already. KK and Brian have started martial arts (see post below). Cassidy begins gymnastics this Wednesday. Brogan has been busy creating, building, playing and potty training. We're almost there. We all go swimming together frequently...Cassidy and KK have really improved and Brogan shows very little fear (if any at all) when in the water. I continue to go to the gym every morning alternating between circuit classes, step aerobics, and a class called "pump it", which is basically 50 minutes of free weights. We all enjoying having more activity in our lives. Additionally, Brian will start a Photoshop course at the Portland School of Art later this month and still enjoys volunteering to teach art once a month in each of the girls' classes. Cass and KK continue to enjoy school and the friends they are making there. We spend a lot of time with our family here in Vancouver and are loving every moment of it. Slow preparations are already beginning though for our return to NH. We've registered Brogan for preschool and have started the long process of getting our girls re-admitted to their old school as well. Soon we will be involved in the SPS housing process. For now, we are enjoying our moments here on the West Coast....very much.

**This particular post is more for the historical documentation this blog serves for our family. Some day soon I'm going to have to print it all up.

HI-YA!

Kayla tested for her first belt in karate today! I was very proud to watch her block, kick, and punch her way into a white belt (yeah, this school makes you earn the very first belt).

Daddy is recovering from his first week of Krav Maga training (Google it, if you dare) and looking forward to some rest this weekend.

Listening to her sensei

Wearing her new white belt!

Sensei writes "Kayla: Awesome kicker" on her first broken board.

Happy New Year...welcoming 2011

We rang in the New Year with family this year. Earlier in the evening (before all the little ones fell asleep) we decided to light some fireworks that may or may not have been purchased in Wyoming during our drive out West this summer. Below, the kids have taken cover in the new amazing play ground Grandpa bought for Christmas (it should be noted that although the directions indicate it will only take 10 hours to build, this puppy took 5 men and 3 days of cold hard effort. The pieces were miss-labeled...some were missing altogether, and at one point they were assembling under a tarp with the BBQ running in an effort to heat the small space they were working in while hail and snow fell outside. They were dedicated individuals.)

Brian was the master of the flame tonight. He was temporarily blind after the flash from this photo. Sorry!
Our 3 little monkeys posing for a photo. It was freezing!
Cass waving around a 2 foot super sparkler....
Abby taking her turn while KK watched and waited....
What New Year's Eve party would be complete without balloons? And if they can be shaped into animals and swords, all the better. The hats came at the end of the festivities and were pretty basic creations.
Brogan really gets into the spirit of the festivities...
The kids had napped for 2 hours earlier in the evening and were all awake to watch the ball drop on TV. It was awesome to get hugs and kisses from each other for the FIRST TIME EVER as a family. Shortly following this shot KK was out! Cass followed and Brogan was the last man standing.
Our family tradition of "Father Time" presents continues even today. The kids set out a shoe and magically, that shoe is filled with presents (Usually only 1 or 2...3 tops and NONE of them too expensive or big). The kids know this is something the parents do for them, but they still call the gifts "Father Time" presents and pretend that Father Time himself delivers them. Cass is convinced that he is Santa's brother or some other relation.
All in all, it was a wonderfully fun night. As I journal this (because I made the mistake of drinking some Dr Pepper earlier tonight and the effects have yet to wear off...) my sweet little family is spread out all over the living room floor in front of a roaring fire and sleeping soundly. It is a perfect way to end 2010 and begin 2011. All together. All peaceful. And all very happy and blessed.

Over the River....

....and through the woods, to Grandmother's House we went. And stayed for a couple of nights. We visited with Aunt Carrie, Uncle Peter, and sweet baby Madeline. But sadly, we weren't all healthy. The camera got forgotten at the bottom of a packed bag, and little ones were kept apart in an attempt to keep all healthy. Brogan had been running a fever and we had determined that Mom and he would stay home in Vancouver while Brian and the girls went to Sehla. But, when it came time to hug good-bye...it just didn't feel right to be apart. B's fever seemed to be in remission, so we quickly grabbed the previously packed bags and loaded everyone up in the car for a 4 hour drive. By the time we arrived, the fever was back (but not as high) and the boy was cranky. But we snuggled together on the couch while presents were passed around....books, necklaces, clothing, and more were exchanged. We had a yummy dinner and then, at 6:30 KK approached and asked if she could go to bed. Not a good sign. Sure enough, the next morning KK was running a fever (but Brogan's was all the way gone). While the other's left to do some gift exchanges and brave the world of "After Christmas Shopping Sales"...mom, KK, and Brogan laid low at home and rested in hopes of speeding recovery (and maintaining it, in Brogan's case). The group returned home, we watched "UP" together (all dog lovers really should see this film), and then turned in for the night. It was decided that since Carrie and Peter would be leaving the following day, we too would head home. It was a short visit, but it was wonderful to spend time with Grandma Reynolds, Bob, Carrie, Peter and Madeline. So sad that the camera never saw day-light....but the memories are still securely tucked in.