March 19 [it’s all fun and games until…]

Katie and Drew are good little buddies, but it seems that recently they are getting on each others nerves more often.  Either I’ll hear Drew screaming because Katie isn’t cooperating with his wishes or Katie will be crying because Drew took matters into his own hands and likely threw something at her.  Yesterday they were playing in the small, cramped coat closet.  Apparently Katie wanted out and Drew didn’t want to allow such a thing…

When I let Katie out Drew was crushed

But since he had my attention he decided to show me what fun hiding in the dark closet can be.

Until something caught his attention outside

And then we moved on 

March 18 [7th grade band concert]

Last night was Abigail’s mid-year band concert.  The drive there was lovely.  Yep, just driving to the school is absolutely beautiful.  We passed Snoqualmie Falls, the sun was shining, the trees were in blossom, and Pandora was playing the perfect music.  As we drove along the river near her school I couldn’t help myself; I had to pullover and take a picture of the trees in blossom along the river.

The concert was long – three grades and two jazz bands performed.  Our school has a great music program though (aside from not offering orchestra) and the kids did a great job.

After the concert Abigail and her friends were hanging out near the bake sale and asked to have their picture taken.  I was happy to oblige.  So grateful for good friends like these.

March 17 [2nd grade concert]

Last night was Jason’s second grade concert.  Thankfully, his baseball practice was cancelled because of wet fields so we didn’t have to juggle leaving practice early and changing in the car; however, our evening was still busy with lacrosse practice and youth night so it was just me and him that attended.

He told me where he’d be standing on the risers and I found myself a great spot where I could watch him perform.  As the kids filed into the gym you could watch all of them trying to locate their waving parents out in the audience.  I was one of those waving parents and Jason was sure looking around, but no joke it took several minutes for him to finally spot me.  He kept turning to his neighbor and saying he couldn’t find his Mom.  I wish I could have captured his huge smile when he did finally spot my hand waving through the air.  Love that kid!

I haven’t been too successful posting videos, but I’ll try anyhow…

It was great to see him up there without any reservations and truly having fun with the songs.  Hopefully that will be something he’ll continue to be comfortable with as he gets older.  Cause let’s face it – my little boy is growing up.

March 16 [ground breaking]

When I dismissed the thought to grab a drink for Drew on the way out the door yesterday I was asking for disappointment.  Leaving the house at 1pm, smack during his usual naptime is chancy even with proper provisions. I thought it would be fun to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new elementary school being built in our neighborhood.  I wanted a picture of my two happy kiddos standing in front of the wooded site that may be their future school.  I hoped that although the ceremony would be primarily attended by city and school officials that it would be brief and somewhat exciting for my two youngest.  I expected the same treats and drinks provided at last year’s groundbreaking ceremony for our neighborhood park – I was sadly wrong on all accounts.  We lasted about 20 minutes before Drew became increasing frustrated that I was ignoring his clear sign for a drink and we had to leave.  I didn’t get the picture that I’d hoped for, just this one…

Great Wolf Lodge

At the end of last summer, Justin issued a challenge to read the book of Mormon individually in 6 months with a reward being to take the family to the Great Wolf Lodge – an indoor waterpark/themed hotel.  Clearly Katie and Drew weren’t in on the challenge (just the reward) and Jason was able to read from the Book of Mormon stories (which he did FIVE times).   The fall/winter is such a busy time for our family that I was really impressed with how well the girls stayed on track.  There were some weekends they each had to do some serious catching up, but it ended up being a positive experience for our family.

We decided we’d redeem our reward over President’s Day so Justin would only have to take one day off of work and the kids had the entire week off for mid-winter break.

Drew was excited to get packed up and ready to go.

In typical Fletcher family fashion, food always plays a factor in pretty much any outing.  We planned our drive so we could try Costa Vida in Federal Way for lunch.  I have some friends that claim it’s better than Café Rio so we had to try it for ourselves.  It tasted great and is definitely a close comparison, but our preference still lies with Café Rio.

Our last (and first) visit to the Great Wolf Lodge was in 2009 - six years ago when Jason was the same age as Drew is now.  Taking five kids to a waterpark isn’t at all relaxing for me.  I knew the kids would love it, but for me personally it wasn’t my thing.  I spent most of the time counting heads and making sure no one was drowning and that we hadn’t lost a child.  We were able to check in at 1pm and immediately start using the waterpark.  Each of the kids were issued their very own wolf ears.

Being a family of seven we couldn’t get by with a normal room so we had to upgrade to the Wolf Cabin Suite.  Our room had a cute little “cabin” with three beds in addition to a regular bed and sofa bed in the main room.  For as little time as we spent in the room in didn’t actual matter at all, but still cute I suppose.

The kids took full advantage of the waterpark.  Justin and the three oldest stayed til it closed at 9pm and were there when it opened at 9am the following morning.  I was happy to stay back with anyone that needed a little extra sleep or downtime whenever necessary.

The waterpark has a wavepool, an activity swimming pool, a kiddie play area, a large play structure with two slides, 2 traditional tube slides, a large group tube slide, and the exciting ‘Tornado’ waterslide for the older guests.  Plenty to enjoy.

Drew love, love, LOVED the water.  He is absolutely fearless.  Had no issue getting his face fully submerged.  He was so fun to watch.

Over the course of the two days we had access to the waterpark, Drew probably went down this slide over 100 times.  At first the kids wanted to do it with him, but he had no reservations making the climb and decent completely on his own.

Keeping an eye on Drew was a full-time job.  He moved fast and had no reservations taking off on his own.

Katie was disappointed she couldn’t go on the ‘Tornado’, the largest waterslide.  She was tall enough to do everything else though so long as she had a parent with her.

My favorite part of the day was the 20 minutes I got to sit outside by the hot tub – alone - and enjoy the sunshine.  It wasn’t particularly warm, but the sun felt wonderful and it was great to get out of the crowds and noise of the indoor park.

To avoid overpaying for resort food we brought sandwiches for dinner, homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and lots of snacks to cover anything in between.  Our package included a $25 resort credit so we used that to buy a couple pizzas for lunch on our second day.

Checkout is at 11am, but guests are able to use the waterpark until it closes at 9pm.  Sure that’s great, but the major disadvantage is that you don’t have access to a room to change or shower and with little ones – to nap.   Drew has gotta be our most flexible napper though cause he had no problem laying down in his stroller and taking a nap in the hotel lobby.  He slept for several hours while I watched shows on my iPad.  A win win.

Drew and I hung out in the lobby until Justin dragged the kids away from the park around 7pm so we could head home.  As we drove home Justin predicted that the next Great Wolf visit won’t be until Carly’s in college.  Definitely a fun experience for the kids, but not something we want to do often.  Next time Drew will be old enough to do go on everything on his own.

March 15 [meat and potatoes]

I grew up with meat and potatoes for Sunday dinner.  The meat varied, but potatoes were pretty much a weekly occurrence.  Without a doubt, potatoes were my absolute favorite food.  My least favorite food was meat.  I spent many, many Sundays sitting at the table long after everyone else was done eating until I could swallow down whatever meat had been placed on my plate.  Often that could only be accomplished with lots of ketchup and milk.

Yesterday, Justin cooked up some steaks for dinner and we baked potatoes.  Crazy that we haven’t baked potatoes in well over a year, maybe even two? {gasp!}  The potatoes were yummy.  I can’t vouch for the meat, but Drew had thirds or fourths so it must have been pretty good.  After everything was cleared away this scene made me laugh.

Katie wasn’t digging the meat on this particular day and decided it was worth missing out on the brownies our home teachers brought over rather than finish her dinner.  Capturing this moment makes me smile!

March 14 [pi day]

I had high hopes of celebrating pi day properly and deliciously with my family on Saturday.  Unfortunately it was another busy weekend and I didn’t get around to making anything for us to enjoy.  I am however counting the free pizza Justin and I shared after the adult session of stake conference as a good enough pi for this year.  

Yum, yum!

March 13 [youth fundraiser]

Last night was our second annual youth fundraiser.  I LOVE the way our ward has started fundraising for youth programs.  A Café Rio style dinner is provided (by ward members – I cooked up a huge pot of chicken) and everyone in the ward is invited to come enjoy a delicious meal and hopefully find something they would like to purchase to take home.  All proceeds go to the help fund girls camp, scout camp, high adventure and primary activities.  It’s a whole ward event and we had a incredible turn out.  There is a silent auction for services donated by youth and adults in the ward – I’d guess there were nearly 100 services – babysitting, yard work, photo sessions, golfing, car detailing, sounders tickets, tennis lessons, art classes, piano lessons, etc…  Desserts are also prepared and donated for the live auction at the end of the evening.  All the young woman are encouraged to bring a dessert in addition to offering a service.  Abigail wanted to decorate a cake for the auction so we came up with some cute ideas and I had the cakes and frosting ready for her when she got home from school at 1pm.  She spent the next 4+ hours frosting those two cakes.  To her credit, for some reason the red frosting was a bear to work with and even I had a really hard time working with it.  You’d never know how frustrating these two cakes were by looking at them.   They turned out so cute!

With each dessert we had to provide a 3x5 card for the auctioneer to read.  I thought ours were pretty clever:

This scrumptious chocolate ladybug cake is sure to delight even the youngest of bug fans.  Nothing to squirm about with this BUG! 

Don’t BEE silly and miss your chance to take home this BEE-utiful and delicious chocolate BEE cake!

Abigail’s bee cake sold for $37 and the ladybug sold for $25 (even with a finger swiped across it’s face from a curious kiddo).

I had my eyes set on this beautiful cake and some yummy looking lemon macaroons.

Unfortunately I got outbid on both (the cake went for a whooping $125!!!) and we came home dessertless – but with several services we're excited to redeem.  Such a fun night!