Ice Cream Stand

The girls wanted to earn some extra money this summer, so we came up with the idea of buying cheap ice cream bars and popsicles and selling them for less than the popsicle man.  All the kids in our neighborhood are always buying ice cream from the popsicle man, so the girls knew this would be a great idea.  I told them I would buy the ice cream but they would have to do everything else and would have to pay me back before they could start making any money.  One of our neighbors was throwing away a big cardboard box, so the girls asked if they could have it and turned it into this really cute stand using duct tape and an umbrella.  They even started hiring other kids from the neighborhood to work for them.

To get business they take turns riding their scooters or bikes around with this sign and shouting out the popsicle man song or yelling "Ice Cream, Ice Cream For Sale.  Only one dollar!"  They actually sold about $25 worth the first day.  

They brought out Joshua's chalkboard so they can write down their hours and also their specials for the day.  Every day they have different specials.  I think Breanna decided to name their shop "Enjoyable Ice Cream".  Yesterday she set up chairs all around the shop for the customers to relax in and also brought out little dixie cups and water for them to enjoy.  I think she is also planning on doing some kind of entertainment for the costumers one of these days.  I thought it might only last a day or two before they were bored with it, but they are going on the 4th day now and still loving it.  All the neighborhood kids are enjoying it and love taking turns working for the girls and especially splitting up all the money at the end of the day.  I don't think any of them are really making much money after they split it all up - maybe a couple bucks.  Then they just turn around and buy ice cream with it.  Breanna has been wanting to do a lemon aid stand for as long as I can remember, but I think she is enjoying this even more.  I guess we'll see how long it lasts.

4th of July

Joshua loves noises, especially loud ones, so it didn't surprise me that he loved 4th of July.  He loved watching the fireworks.  He ended up falling asleep in my lap some time after 10pm while we were outside watching the show.  Eva fell asleep just a little after him and Breanna stayed up for the whole thing.  I think her and her cousin Jeffrey were the only kids who made it that long.

Since we had all the cousins together for the day, Jason's parents really wanted me to take some photos of them all together and then each kid separately so they have some new prints to put up on their wall.  We lucked out and ended up with such a beautiful day, so we found a nice shady spot in front of their house that ended up working out nicely.

The kids favorite fireworks were the parachutes.  We ended up getting quite a few of those this year.  I think we ended up enough for each kid to get one.

Uncle Jordan chased down and caught most of them but then Eric and Jason decided to race him for the last couple.

Joshua did not like sharing his new favorite chair that Aunt Megan brought.

We even managed to get a nice sibling shot for Jason's parents.  It has been quite a few years since they have had one taken.

The line up of chairs all ready for the big show.  I was pretty impressed with the amount of fireworks you could see surrounding their house from different areas.  It was a really nice show.

Joshua really liked the sparklers, but he did try to touch the flames several times.  Luckily Jason was helping him out.

It was a long day, but I think everyone had a really great time!

Petting Zoo

Today we met Jeannie and her kids along with Grandma and Grandad at the petting zoo at Forest Park.  Joshua loved it, even though he threw an epic tantrum right before we left the house and pretty much all the way to the park just because he saw me packing up some snacks and I wouldn't give it to him right then.  Once I got him out of the car he was just fine and ready to go explore.

He really loved the horses.  One of them came right over to the fence so the kids could all pet him.  They loved that!

I love this picture and it was just by chance I was able to get it.  They were all looking at the horse and I asked them to turn around so I could take their picture.  Joshua was just walking away at that moment and just happened to look up at the same time as the girls.

I think the girls might be getting a little too old for the petting zoo.  They got bored pretty fast, but I think they still had fun wandering around for a little bit.

Joshua really didn't like the goats after one got right in his face when we first walked in, but from behind they were a lot less frightening.  He kept grabbing their tails and patting their behinds.  I told him that they were eating, so of course he had to reach down and pick up a piece of hay to try.  The ground looked pretty soggy too.  I'm just hoping it was from the rain and not something else.

I think his favorite animals, besides the horses, were the pigs, bunnies, and the chickens and ducks.

Joshua's First Time at the Beach

Jason's sister is in town and invited us to join them at the Mulkilteo Beach last week.  Breanna had Activity Day's Day Camp that day so she couldn't come, but I was able to take Joshua and Eva.  It's been so cold and wet here all spring that we haven't had the chance to take Joshua to the beach yet, so it was fun to finally get to take him and see what he thought of it.  He loves rocks, so I figured he would like it.

You would never guess that he use to be terrified of water.  He just walked right up to the water and stepped right in.  He got kind of scared when the waves started coming in and it was a little bit too cold for him as well.

Eva had fun showing him how to throw rocks in the water, which of course he caught on to really fast since he loves throwing things.

He decided he better taste some of the rocks which he actually enjoyed, probably because they were salty.

He loves putting things inside of bottles, bowls, or cups and then carrying it around, so he ended up carrying this little green cup around all day with a handful of rocks he kept adding to it.

He loves scrunching up his nose, which is funny because I do the same thing especially when Jason kisses me with his scratchy beard.

Joshua really likes his new baby cousin and hanging out with Grandad.  He also enjoyed walking up to all the little old couples who were walking by with their walkers and canes.  They all thought he was the sweetest thing ever.  He would walk right up to them and reach out his hand to them to shake.  It was pretty cute.  I'm not sure what it is about old people, but he really likes them and will go out of his way to go say hi to even complete strangers.  He is such a social little guy.

Slumber Party

I let Breanna have a slumber party on the last day of school to celebrate the end of the school year.  This was actually her first slumber party ever - she has never even gone to one before.  Needless to say, she was pretty excited about it.  I only let her invite 3 friends and they were all really good, polite girls.

They started off with sleeping bag races down the stairs, but that got a little too crazy so we decided to have dinner instead.

For Dinner I let them each make their own mini pizza and then they got to watch a movie on our big projector movie screen.

I don't think any of the girls slept very much.  I think they were all asleep by 11pm when I went to bed but then they all woke up around 2am and I don't think they ever went back to sleep.  They didn't wake us up until around 6am luckily.  I think that was just because they started getting hungry.  I think they all had a really great time, but we sure had some grabby little girls to deal with all day the next day after the party was over.

Last Day of School

Eva's last day of school was yesterday and Breanna's is today.  We took the kids out for frozen yogurt last night to celebrate graduating from kindergarten and the 2nd grade.  Eva actually graduated from speech also.  She still has a little trouble with some sounds and rhyming but not enough to qualify her for speech anymore.  There was a time I didn't think she would ever be talking, so this is quite the accomplishment for her.  She has come a really long way in the last couple years.  I am amazed and very proud of her.  We were also celebrating Breanna getting into the Highly Capable Program at her school for next year.  She qualified for both reading and math.  Next year she will be placed in a regular class but will be clustered with the other 3rd graders who qualified and then they will be pulled out for those subjects that they are more advanced in to do accelerated work.  We are very proud of her and know she will do really well next year in the program.  Tonight Breanna is having her first slumber party with a few of her best friends from school here at our house.  I'm not too worried about it because they are all very sweet, well mannered girls.  I'll try to remember to take some pictures tonight to post later.  Here are a few I took last night at the Flirt frozen yogurt place:

I think Joshua really enjoyed sharing Daddy's frozen yogurt.  He especially loved the chocolate and strawberries.  He doesn't get sugar very often, so he got a little crazy after he ate it but he crashed pretty hard a couple hours later and slept really good all night.

Girl Scout Bridging

The girls had their bridging ceremony last night for Girl Scouts.  Breanna bridged from a Brownie to a Junior and Eva bridged from a Daisy to a Brownie.  It was a short little ceremony and then they got to enjoy some treats.  The girls have really loved being in Girl Scouts.  I volunteered this past year to be the Brownie co-leader and will continue on next year as the Junior co-leader.  I have had a lot of fun getting to know all the girls and watching them grow throughout the year.

Here's troop 42167 in their new uniforms.  Breanna was hiding in the very back.

Joshua enjoying a treat!  He also enjoyed the ceremony - well I should say he enjoyed running around and trying to get up on the stage during the entire ceremony.

Some of the Brownies enjoying some brownies and other tasty treats.  They get to go to a backyard campout next week at one of the leader's houses and then they will be done with Girl Scouts for this year and will have to wait until the Fall for it to start back up again.  I really wish they did activities during the summer, but I guess we will have to find other things to do to keep ourselves busy.

Father's Day

For Father's Day this year we surprised Jason with waffles for breakfast.  I haven't made those for a really long time and even though they were gluten free, I think he enjoyed them.  Joshua sure enjoyed them and was upset that he didn't get more for lunch later that day.  We also surprised Jason with some fly fishing gear from Cabelas and a hammock from REI.  I think he had a good day even though he had to give a talk at church.  The girls made some really nice cards for him too.  It was Joshua's first day starting nursery yesterday, so that made for an even more relaxing time at church for Jason and me.  He loved nursery too, which made it even easier for us.  We celebrated Father's day with Jason's family the night before, so we just had a nice relaxing day with our little family at home.

Health and Safety Fair

We went to the Lake Steven's Health and Safety Fair today.  Last weekend we went to the Get Movin Kick Off event in Marysville and there were a lot of the same vendors.  There were a lot of different organizations from around the community and different businesses sharing what services they have to offer.  Some had activities for the kids to do and some had things to handout like pamphlets and stickers and other random things.  We brought home so much stuff.  I'm still sorting through all the stuff we brought home from last weekend.  They had a big bouncy house there for the kids to enjoy.  Joshua wasn't too sure of it, but he had fun as long as Breanna was holding him.  

The Fire Department was there.  They brought their Fire House for the kids to try out.  It simulates what it is like to crawl through a burning house filled with smoke.  The girls thought that was so much fun.  They also got free hats and their faces painted from the fire department.

The kids also got to go inside a real firetruck, first aid car, and a police boat.  They really liked that but their favorite thing was the smoke house.  I thought that was funny because last week, at the Get Movin event, their favorite thing was getting their vision and hearing checked from the Lions Club who were offering free screenings.  It's nice that it doesn't take much to entertain my kids.  I'm glad that I have been able to find so many free things in the community to take the kids to.  I'm hoping this summer there will be even more things to do so I don't go insane having the kids home with me every day.  We're still waiting for some nice weather to show up here.  I'm hoping we will have a nice summer so the kids can spend a lot of time outside playing with their friends.  They are lucky to have so many friends in our neighborhood to play with.