The view from my Saturday

Shout and sing the sun came out on Saturday morning!

 Little lady was rockin' sweet hair and equally sweet morning breath as she made her appearance downstairs.  Everyone (except for the Mr.,  and a tentative Cole) was all smiles for today my friends... was race day. I had been looking forward to this day for months. A family 5k was on tap for the morning. It was time to spend outside together being active and healthy....sounds sublime! 

My Morning Kate ready to start the day. I do love a good pair of rain boots. You really can pair them with any outfit....so functional. Especially since it has been raining 85% of these last 2 summer months, but whose counting?!

My thrilled and supportive hero!!

 Never mind my mess of hair or the fact that I wore the

 "gigantor glasses that take up half your face...." the entire time,

focus on the fact that my darling other half agreed to run our little town's annual 5K with yours truly and our older fellas.  This wasn't the funnest thing ever for him but he did it for me simply because he's cool like that. This was big, it was huge...he's not a "public runner."  Neither am I for that matter but I've learned to get over it. It helps if you wear gigantor glasses that take up half your face....no one will see you! -Be still my heart.




Then we came home all tired and sweaty. The sun was still shining..this too was a big deal, so I ventured out and picked a bowl full of beautiful from my garden.

Now that was just a plain old fabulous day!  

Cousins

I love that my kids have cousins that live close by. I love that my kids think it's parTAY time whenever our families get together.  I love that my kids have a certain cousin that shoots a pink BB gun while wearing a pink cowboy hat. I love that my kids and their gun 'totin cousin take pictures like this when not a single adult is around. 

The Runner....

Cole is my sweetheart. He's the most obedient, kind, easy going and pleasant kid to be around. Kyle and I agree that if all our kids were like Cole...we'd have 5 more. 

Cole fun facts: He's a gamer..... Cole+Wii= LOVE.  He prefers the indoors 98.3% of the time. He likes sitting and/or walking.  He's lovingly referred to as "molasses" around these parts.

 Keeping those facts in mind- might I present to you Cole.."the Runner."

 Since school began he has completed 25miles. My little gamer has been running  laps at lunch recess....by his own accord!!  He qualified to run the final 1.2 miles at the Seattle Children's Marathon and was adamant about doing it so by all means............WE RAN!! 



The running club crew at the starting line....



Multi-talented Cole's action shot....he runs AND smiles!



Finish line is in sight........




That's right....this kid who reeeeaaaaaallly enjoys sitting indoors and playing anything and everything electronic just completed his marathon!!! What a fun day to spend with my boys. Jack was an allstar as well but this was Cole's first race so all props to the newbie! I loved every moment running with Cole..his toothless smile oozing with pride.  This was a good... good day!!






Picture of the day...

It rained a lot today. Sometimes it can be a real bummer, kinda puts me in a grumpy-ish mood. Well I came across this little beauty on my SD card and by golly....I am all smiles once again.

Thank you very favorite sister who drove up with her crew this summer to visit yours truly. Thank you for going to the zoo, spying this very- very sleepy miniature boy/man who was literally asleep sitting up....just pooped..... and posing for me! The toe kick was an added bonus!

*other honorable mentions of the day at the zoo.....

It was a long one.....a long weekend that is....

This is the face of my teething 11 month old I have endured with complete love, patience, and looooong suffering this ENTIRE weekend....

These are the faces of 2 pooped runners who completed a 5K together!!

And finally, these are the faces of little boys whose mother had been flyin solo for 3 days and finally gave in to their pathetic whiney whines and let them eat their own authentic...not some Safeway knock off....."Drumstick!" -Yes, they gave a "Cheers" to that!

And cheers to the fact that my co-PARENT will be returning home sometime tonight!

Hole-y Birthday lunch Batman....

Jack has a June birthday along with 7 other classmates. Just to make things quick and easy and not have 175 cupcakes over a 1 week period his smarty pants teacher had a pizza lunch for all the June birthday kids...brilliant! We were all invited and quite excited.

Can you spy what 3 year old found some random scissors, cut a hole in his shirt and then proceeded to cover it up with his arm....just for kicks?! Grrrrrrrrr. Totally NOT COOL!

Can't we all just drink a Capri Sun, maybe eat a carrot stick or two and put the scissors down?!!

"Because it makes your mother happy...."

And with those 6 words....we were off to Spokane. Off to Spokane...WHY...you might ask?! Well, let me tell you that WE and I mean ALL 6 members of the Thomas crew left our humble abode at approximately 5:38 a.m. so we could cross thee entire state to make it for the 10:00 a.m opening time at the Farm Chicks gigantor antique/vintage sale at the fair grounds in Spokane. I adore shopping for antiques, not junky old lunch boxes but cool old pieces that mix with new stuff. It's fun and relaxing for me... visualizing where a piece could go in my house. I'd love to take an empty room with an endless budget and mix the old with the new. I was suuuuure hoping this was going to be worth it.

My good sports in the car. Everyone chose 2 movies, had leapsters, look and find books and treats a plenty. Notice that Kate's seat has been permanently moved to face forward. She was the least good sport and thus got to switch around and watch "Toy Story."

Jumping Jacks at the rest stop in the middle of nowhere. Kyle purchased homemade cinnamon rolls from the local boy scout troop selling goodies....by the bathrooms.....for a fundraiser. I probably would have opted for something a little less..."homemade by strangers" but hey, he was driving me 5 hours to find 'junk" so no complaints here.

Just trying to keep her content: playing the "What's in mom's camera case?" game.

We made it to the parking lot at a very impressive 9:54 a.m. What was not impressive was standing in this monstrous line.


3 VERY excited boys ready to navigate throngs of crazy ladies looking for rusty stuff.

Kate lasted about 10 minutes and was out for a good 1/2 hour. Kyle took the boys to eat and I was alone with this little lady to search. "Oh look at that...he's out cold!"
"Oh, his neck must hurt...good thing he's asleep...." "Oh, your little guy is tuckered out...." -Just a few of my favorite quotes during nap time. Now tell me, does she really look like a boy? Do boys wear strappy jumper tops with embroidered flowers? She takes out her hair bows........

It was seriously, painfully crowded which was a total bummer. People come from across the nation for this show and I think they were all there. I get real annoyed at large crowds so it took all my energy to keep a positive spin on this insane trip I planned. Kyle was an all star and camped out in the corner while I looked. You couldn't navigate 2 strollers and 4 kids without getting crustys a plenty so it was just easier to...well, stand in the corner. I left them the first time looking like this. By the time I got back.......



it looked a little more like this! JACK: "Why are we here...this is so dumb?!" And this was when my doll of a husband uttered the now infamous phrase: "Because it makes your mother happy!"

However, it was time to go.

We loaded my treasures (yes I found a few very cool things) and sat in the car drinking capri suns with dry diapers and feelin good!

We found a Red Robin on the way out of town and drank our troubles away/geared up for the almost 5 hour car ride back home.

Trip review:

Would I go again?

Only by myself or with Kyle.....it was almost torturous for my kids...almost.

Was it a good show?

I was bummed at how many people were there and how cut throat/kinda rude people were. Granted I had 4 kids in tow but still I would have loved to have searched all the booths but I simply couldn't get in...there were too many ladies and I was too packed with off spring.

Are you glad you made the trip...all those hours in the car?

It was fantastic family fun. The boys for the most part were just great. Jack and Brody each had separate break downs...Cole just wanted to know if it was time to go yet...and Kate just wanted to be held...the entire time..... especially in the car from about Vantage ALL the way home. Since Kyle has been known to fall asleep at the wheel I took over the helm in Moses Lake. He took a short nap and then when Kate's crying could no longer be avoided....he was up. He read to me as I drove, she cried, we ignored her, the boys played leapsters...... it was wonderful!

Favorite quote of the day... As we walked out of the show with treasures in hand a lady stopped our family and said, "Oh wow.....4 boys, look at that!"

It was awesome!

Speaking of awesome....getting pulled over on Snoqualmie Pass and having the nice patrol man remind me of all violations I was committing and all the money he' s saving me because he would only give me a warning...this time. I could only smile, nod, and apologize because you see...I was exhausted....I got up at 4:00 a.m. and took all 5 other members of my family to Spokane.... to an antique show...because it makes me happy!