Amusement Park Tour

BJ just finished up with one of, what I think, is the best summer camp ever. Bryan took a bunch of YMCA kids around the sound and to Idaho to check out different water parks & Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho.

On Monday the group hit Wildwaves in the south sound, Tuesday they hit the Waterslides in Birch Bay and then headed out on Wednesday for a 2 night campout in Idaho before heading to Silverwood Theme Park on Thursday.

From what I hear from Bryan & B, Thursday they were at Silverwood from pretty much the opening of the park to the closing. Bryan also mentioned all the kids were pretty much exhausted! Friday they loaded up and hit the road for their 6 hour journey back home.

I'm pretty sure it's a week B will never forget and he's really hoping they do it again next summer.

B In the Kowabunga River

Slidin' off the slides at Birchbay

Tubin' down the slide @ Birch Bay

At Silverwood with a friend from camp

The whole group outside of Silverwood Park

Trains, Trains & Waterfalls

We had the chance to meet up with some friends today at the
Northwest Railway Museum. We took all the kids on a train ride for the first 1 1/2 or so and then explored the museum and some of the old rail cars.

The little ones had a great time going on the train, it was very old school and the kids were able to hang out the window a bit. It does make one a bit nervous when the two year olds start hanging out though! We had to keep a super close eye on them. The train moved pretty slow and BJ was not terribly impressed with it's speed. (This coming from a kid that just came back from an amusement park camp week though!)

Elsa and I were chatting a bit and it hit us that BJ is only 2 years younger than we were when we met. We're coming up on 20 years knowing each other. Funny how when you're young 20 years seems like an eternity and then looking back at 20 years when you're older, it just goes by so fast.

After the train museum & train ride we hiked down to Snoqualmie Falls. It's really not too bad of a hike, but with a couple of tired 2 year olds, it takes a little longer than expected. Ah well, all in all I think the kids had a great time and I know I did. Elsa, your family is incredible & I can't wait to see you guys again!

Brennen hangin' on the window

Curt, Brennen, BJ & India on one of the old yellow engines

5 kids between our 2 fams .. Sammy, Curtis, BJ, India & Brennen

Soccer Season Begins

Soccer Season is just starting to roll around and we had the opportunity to take the Sharks to the Lake Stevens Jamboree over the weekend.

The boys started off hot, beating their first team but fell a tad short in the next two games. Bryan and I were so proud of the boys though 'cause they had only one practice and two of the boys that played hadn't yet practiced with the team. So, as coaches, we'll take that!

BJ had a goal in the first game and two in the second. I was so happy to see him out there hustling and his shot has come a long way since this last spring. He's got some power now to go with the accuracy!

It was definitely kind of a crazy weekend though ... all three games were completely different, weather wise. The first game was pretty warm and B actually got a tad sun burnt. The second game on the same day started getting colder and the rain and wind greeted the end of the game. The last game (Sunday) it decided to pour down rain. The fields were soaked and one end had nothing but puddles! I still think the boys liked it though and luckily it wasn't too cold!

Check out those puddles ...

B setting it up for the corner kick

Waves running Wild

Spent the day at Wild Waves in the south end ... it was really sort of wierd. The last time I was there was probably the summer of '96 with a group of kids. It's changed quite a bit, but it's still the same place it was 10 years ago. There were even traces of what it used to be back in the days when I was just a kid.

Now it's crazy to think, all these years later, it's a place I'm taking my kids. It's days like this where you take your kids and say,"when I used to come here, this was here" or "when I was little there was a petting farm." Then your kids look at you and say ... "Geez, you're old."

Yeah, it's that awesome. But I still feel (and some say look like too, although I can't agree) that 18 & 20 year old that used to bring groups of kids ... that weren't mine!


























Daddy gettin' it from the Dragon










Ah, Brennen, ya got me!

Terrible Two's

When BJ was a little we took him for pictures all of the time. From age 10 months to about 2 years he was in, probably 1 a month. It helped that I worked at a picture studio and it was free.

With Brennen we have had a much better camera so we take tons more casual pics. When you don't work in a studio, prices are waaaay too expensive to go in all the time. We have a few, but he hasn't been in since he was about a year.

Since he turned two in June, I figured we should get him some studio portraits. I got a flyer for a cute kid contest and a free pic so I thought why not? We headed on into the Studio on Saturday, we got about 3 pics into it and it just went downhill from there. It was a disaster so we decided to come back another day.

That other day was Wednesday. He walked in and started screaming, and refused to even go in the studio. Bryan held him while he was screaming, handed him off to me and said, "He's yours, I'm done." We both agreed it was one of those very "normal" but very embarrassing things for us as parents.

We went with two of the first five and decided, WE'RE DONE with studios for a while. At least we got two pics out of it. When the contest goes up, you guys will have to vote for him, just as pity for our experience!

Hangin' at the Park

Today we decided to visit one of the neighborhood parks that we hadn't yet visited and it turns out it's a great park! The boys got to run around and get a little bit of energy out. There was a crazy type "Monkey Bars" type thing on one of the play toys and after many tries he finally conquered it! Well done BJ!

Brennen is quite the mischievous 2 year old and at times the boy really tests the patience of his parents. On the same token, he's such a funny kid who lights up a room whenever he smiles. He has no fear and decided not only can he go down slides, he can climb up them and go down on his stomach. Oh boy, we're in for it with this one!

Beginning of August

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate Brennen's friend's 2nd Birthday. Brennen & Jake hung out for a while, but like all 2 year olds, the attention span is very short. All in all I think the boys had a great time & BJ was such a trooper for hanging out & trying to entertain a couple of 2 year olds!

Soccer Camp

BJ just wrapped up his one & only week of soccer camp and I hope he had a good time, I think he did. I think it got him thinking more about soccer and more excited for the upcoming soccer season that will be kicking off here in the next week or so.

I know he'd still rather be doing Basketball, which hurts my heart a little, but I know he still enjoys soccer!

His team, the Northshore Sharks, have a couple of jamborees coming up here in the next few weeks so look forward to some pics from those!