Mariners Game

We were lucky enough to be gifted some Mariner's tickets and were able to go down for a game.  We drove down to Everett and hopped on the Sounder and then to Seattle.  The boys were thrilled about ALL of it and we had a good time.

It meant for a long day though... were in the car at 9:30 am and got home around 7:00 pm.

4th of July, update, and lots of pictures

We spent 4th of July my sister's this year. We had a wonderful time, but it wasn't without some interesting curves. As many of you know, I have had quite the time this past week. Nothing traumatic or anything, but it does seem to continue and am hoping that this week brings complete and total calm.

Any traveling is to say the least a routine buster. We traveled for 7 hours on Thursday in 2 vehicles to get all of us over to the Southeast corner of the state. We arrived safe and sound with no mishaps whatsoever - no complaints :)

We continue the next day with lots of treats, great food, fireworks, etc., but.... the day was interspersed with not 1, not 2, but 3 of the children from my household getting sick and throwing up. Of course, I won't go into the nitty gritty details, but I know most of you know what its like dealing with up-chucking children.

As I said, I hope this week is CALM, so without further ado, I would love to share some photos:

Here is the view of the left side of my sister's backyard.
And the right side with some of us visiting.
Hunter, Kevin, and Will
Bryson and Will playing at the side of the pool.
Nate and Will
And traveling always disrupts nap schedules so this is Will falling asleep on the couch while eating crackers.
Bryson, Jordan and Nate
Afternoon yard games. This one was new to us and a lot of fun. Similar to a bean bag toss with some fun rules.
And Nate cuddling up to Emylee during the fireworks.

List of Players:

Renz Family - Me, Kevin, Nate and Will (2 1/2), Hunter (8 1/2) and Jordan (14) - Kevin's sister's son who had been staying with us.

Gobel Family (hosts) - Mira (my sister), Mike, Bryson (12), Emylee (14)

My Mom (Karen), my sister (Eden), one of my brothers (Miles)

Mike's parents Walt and Gwen

Until next time...

Some time with Mom for her birthday

Today was Mom's birthday and we went down to visit - it was a surprise. My younger sister also came down from Seattle and picked up one of my brothers as well. We had a good time while visiting and Kevin made a lovely shrimp fettuccine dinner for all of us. Here are some pictures of our day.

Here's a picture of Mom helping Nate slide down the staircase. By the end of our time, the boys were sliding down no problem.

Me, Will, my brother Miles and Kevin (doing the cooking of course)

Will spent quite a bit of time playing "blocks" with the cans of dog food.

Another time occupier was the new doggy door and in this case the "twins" door.

And I just like this picture. Its Will and me. He has started this thing where he "tickles" my face. Works well until the "tickling" gets a little rough.

And in the end, I didn't get any pictures of my sister... of course :)