Toothless

Caleb lost his first tooth tonight. We tried so hard to do the whole "slam the door using a piece of floss" thing, but couldn't get a slip knot on his tiny tooth.

And the tooth fairy forgot to pay up, but with a little slight of hand, we managed to solve the problem before he caught on.

Children's Museum

This summer has been, ahem, a non-sunny summer to say the least. In my many, many summers as a Seattlelite, I have never been so underwhelmed by day after day of 60 degree weather. I don't think we had two days of 80 in a row until late August. We never had to bring out the air conditioner.

So what do you do for excitement when you can't do your normal outside stuff? You take four kids by yourself to the Children's Museum at the Seattle Center. The insane stuff I do to keep the house clean for the day.

Actually, such trips are getting much easier with Caleb and Matthew being pretty reliable and independent. Kristina and Hudson still try to wander off, but it is much easier since they are generally attracted to hanging around with their older brothers.

A general height comparison of my children, though Caleb is making sure Hudson doesn't catch up too quickly.

Exploring...

The Legomaster.

Traffic jam.

Fun at the outdoor garden...though the beauty bark gave us a million slivers in our flip-flopped feet. Too lots of soaking in the bath to get them out. And we had to walk back to our car (through Seattle Center) barefoot.

Someone was tired.

Matthew's Teddy Bear

So this is simply just one of those "I want to remember how sweet that was" posts.

Months before we got Matthew, when we knew he was in Tam Binh 2, and we were unable to see him, I had hoped to find another family completing an adoption there that could take a toy to him. So I bought him this teddy bear that has (though you can't see it too well), a plastic frame on his chest for a photo. My intention was to find someone to give it to him with a family photo in it for him to see what we looked like.

Well, we never did find someone to give it to him, but I gave him the bear when he got home. But never did get a photo in there.

Well, he loves this bear (not to the piggy-obsession like Kristina), but he loves that bear. One day, he carefully described that he wanted me to sew him a fabric heart to put in the plastic photo holder. "With the same stuff you used to fix piggy"...meaning thread. So I took on my first sewing project as a mother and sewed him a fabric heart.

I just thought it was adorable that he was so specific on what he wanted me to make...of course, I had to oblige.

Bathtime

Seafair Sunday

So sometime early summer, my cousin sent me a "save the date" for Seafair Sunday to be at her house on Mercer Island. Oh yeah! I'm soooo there!

In Seattle, the Blue Angels do an airshow Seafair weekend (first weekend in August), and the *best* place to watch them is from Mercer Island. But normally traffic/parking is enough to keep this momma of four far away from even the most amazing aeronautical displays.

But her house is just minutes away from the air display, and it was spectacular as always. The kids are a lot older than the last time we did it, and no one freaked out due to the noise. Phew! Even Hudson seemed to enjoy it.

But the best part, of course, was spending time with my two cousins, Keri and Tina, and their truly amazing kids. Their kids are older than mine, from teenagers down to 9, they were built-in babysitters. And we had such fun catching up and enjoying a lovely day.

Riley made this cake, which I ate at least 3 times as much as I should have. It was delicious!

And the trampoline was a hit from Daddy, down to Hudson...

Cama Beach - 3rd Annual Trip

So what began as an idea from a Sunset magazine in 2008 has turned into a major group annual trip. This year was our third year at Cama Beach. And this year we had 17 families come.

I had started to get *really* nervous at the beginning of the summer, "What are we going to do with over 60 people?" And guess who got to solve that problem? In the immortal words of Miss Piggy, "Moi!" Actually, I loved being able to coordinate the ins and outs of meal planning, event coordination, etc. It is stuff I relish doing, and in the end, every single person had a great time...what a rewarding thing (and relief) to see!

I cannot tell you how fabulous it was. The cabins are perfect. With water, a fridge, power, lights, heat, and a microwave, it had a touch of home comfort, but without a bathroom or stove, you were kinda camping. My two older boys stayed in my sister's cabin, making our cabin feel like a spacious beach bungalow.

Every day the kids had a blast beachcombing, playing with friends, finding snakes (ewe), doing crafts...but most memorable, biking. I'm sure Caleb and Matthew biked miles every day just weaving around the cabins.

It was great to just let the kids go and play...other than Hudson, I just let them go and occasionally do a headcount.

I especially enjoyed having time with friends to strengthen relationships, develop new ones, and enjoy the sweet days of life, full of memories, smiles, giggles...and the nostalgia thinking that we might all be here again in 2021 with our teenagers.

Mike helped coordinate a golf tournament, which was a hoot and a success. Congrats to Matt W. for a great game, although I know Mike is already hoping to engrave his own name on the "trophy cup" in 2012.

And crabbing was a huge success. I'm sure our group managed about 40 crab overall. Quite insane, and quite yummy, I might add!

Sunset on Sunday evening.

Boats at the Center for Wooden Boats...who rent out various boats, esp. the kind for crabbing.

Kristina beachcombing.

My husband has mastered how to make "The Perfect S'more"

Caleb eating his...

Matthew happily making a mess of his...

Our cabins

Kristina playing with "The Big Ball"

Flowers that Sarah had brought for all the families...such a delightful gift.

Caleb cruising around...

My Hudster...

No one make a mess of s'mores like my Kristina.

Look at those eyes...

Full on dirty all over, and happier than ever...who said girls were cleaner?

One day a bunch of us decided to braid our hair. I have to say, I love the french braid, so out of the way, and easy to do...(especially since I did it at least a thousand times as a teenager.)

Chilling with Dad

Watermelon At Sunset

A very happy Matthew

The brothers.

A group photo (and this wasn't even everyone!)

The best approximation at a family shot as I hope to get for years to come.

Kristina and her friend, Maxwell

The four kids, including the one about to be dropped on the beach.

Kite flying

The two headed monster, the Andaleb

The "2011 Shoe Shot"

Happy happy times.