Ada Turns 6!

Ada wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party this year, a notably different theme from her princess party last year 🙂 She invited her closest friends and had lots of fun. This is the first year the party seemed to fly by, I think the kids all enjoyed playing together and keeping busy. Todd also came up with a tower building challenge involving dry spaghetti, marshmallows, tape, string, and scissors. The kids played in teams of two and tried to get the tallest standing structure in the end.

We did make the centerpiece cake again, all rice krispie treats and fondant. I am no sculptor, ha, but Ada liked the funny turtles I made (she made the shells) and pizza 🙂

The picture below is from Ada’s actual birthday dinner the night before her party. It is her favorite sushi restaurant because it comes around on a conveyor belt 🙂

Christmas Fun

It’s been a busy holiday season with lots of family and snow! My parents drove up to spend 5 nights with us for Christmas and then for New Years we spent the weekend with Todd’s family. We unusually had snow both holiday weekends!

Tree Farm

First is started with the wet weekend cutting down our Christmas tree. It’s a tradition to go tree hunting with our friends who also live right across the street. Ruby had fun running around with Breanna chasing her.

Eagles

A couple days before Christmas we drove up the mountain with my parents hoping to see a few eagles. We saw about 2o that day!

Christmas Eve

After our Christmas Eve church service we opened stockings. This has always been a tradition for us.

Christmas Day

After breakfast and the Christmas Story (read from the Jesus Storybook Bible) the girls enjoyed opening their gifts. We also exchanged gifts with my parents this year. That evening we drove around to see a few Christmas lights.

New Years Fun

The kids had lots of fun playing together. It gets better every year! Ruby was fun to watch this year, she would scream with excitement while opening each gift 🙂

Seattle Zoo: Pt 2

A few more pictures of the very full, but fun day.

The last picture is what we found when we got back to the hotel. They turned her nightgown and blanket into a swan. Ada loved it 🙂

Tropical Asia

Wetlands & Temperate Forest

Tropical Rainforest

Bug World/Family Farm/Reptile House

Seattle Zoo: Pt 1

Our every-couple-of-years trek to the Woodland Park Zoo. It’s always fun to see animals we may have missed on other visits (usually all the cats are sleeping or hiding). Plus, this was Ruby’s first time to a zoo. She was old enough to enjoy/get excited looking at the animals 🙂

Australasia

Northern Trail

African Savannah

State Fair

At the beginning of September, right after our return home from vacation, we decided to turn around and spend a weekend in Seattle. We went to the Washington State Fair one day and the Woodland Park Zoo the next. Ada & Todd also enjoyed the indoor pool after returning to the hotel each night. Ruby enjoyed staying up late since we all had to share a room 🙂

Ada went on a handful of rides all by herself this year. She is getting more and more brave doing things all on her own. Growing up…sniff….sniff 🙂

Last Day

Our last full day took us to Cannon Beach, Fort Stevens, a shipwreck and then home! We had a fun , maybe slightly chaotic, 2 weeks on the road. The girls actually did very well, probably better than me 😉

The seagull above flew next to us for a little bit, right at eye level 🙂

Oregon Coast

The drive up the 101 was gorgeous. So many beautiful beaches, light houses, and scenic overlooks! We stopped at one of the dunes and hiked down about a mile to the ocean. Ada played with the sand crabs while Ruby enjoyed stretching her legs. We ended the full day with a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We had dinner, samples, and then ice cream 🙂

Trees of Mystery

Back to blogging…

We continued our journey up the 101 where we saw the beautiful redwoods and some wildlife. We also spent a few hours at the Trees of Mystery, a fun roadside attraction with giant statues of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. It was fun to listen to Paul talk to the crowd, he even said a few words to Ada as we took pictures on his giant boot. We also enjoyed the tram ride and hiking through the trees as we imagined speeder bikes and Ewoks nearby 🙂

The night before, we ate dinner at the old Samoa Cookhouse. It was a neat family-style experience but a lot of food. I only had my phone, but Ruby was too cute eating her meal 🙂

Burney Falls & Sundial Bridge

We said our goodbyes the night before then headed to Burney Falls State Park the next morning. The falls were beautiful with a nice little mile hike around them. Afterwards we headed to Redding to see the Sundial Bridge. It’s a basically a giant sundial that spans the Sacramento River. It was pretty hot that day, so we made it a quick visit 🙂

Virginia City

After church on Sunday we headed with my parents to Virginia City. Matt and the family had to head home early that morning, so it was just the six of us. We enjoyed beef jerky, walking through the historic downtown, and hiking through a beautiful old cemetery. On the drive back, we caught a glimpse of wild horses grazing in the canyon below.