August 7-14

We started off the week with having friends over to play.  We had four extra kids over on Monday (bringing the total to 10!) and three over on Tuesday.  I love having extra kids over.  Then our kids actually play outside instead of playing video games or watching DVDs.  We bought the $10 "Summer Camp" deal from Blockbuster which allows us to rent an unlimited number of kid and family movies throughout August.  The only restriction is you can only have two movies checked out at any given time.  Once they're done watching them, they can exchange them for new movies.  With Blockbuster within walking distance, they are getting a lot of use out of that $10!  Elizabeth also has a packet of coupons for free items at McDonald's that Dode bought for $1 in the spring.  Each time she gets a movie, she makes a stop next door at McD's for some food.  She's quite enjoying the process of making several purchases that don't cost her anything!

Wednesday:  Isaac's new cast and a boat trip
On Wednesday, I took Isaac back to the orthopedic doctor for his follow up appointment after surgery.  A lot of the padding in his initial cast had fallen out and they were able to give him a new one.  This time he was able to choose the color, green.  As soon as the new cast hardened up, he was already complaining about it being uncomfortable.  We go back in two weeks for another checkup.

Isaac with his new and old casts

They left this image up on the computer screen when they left the room so I quickly snapped a photo.  The break is close to the arrow at the bottom of the screen.

Wednesday was also our first boat trip of the season.  Every season, the boat needs repairs.  This time, it was one of the freeze plugs that had popped out over the winter.  Once that was fixed, we were ready to play!  It was sure excellent foresight for my parents to buy that boat 20 years ago.  We've had a lot of fun with it.  Once Dode got home from work, we loaded up and headed for Lake Stevens.  The day had been overcast and cool so we basically had the lake to ourselves.  That made for nice smooth water for knee boarding. 

Anastaya got right back up on the board after a year away from it

Elizabeth can knee board while the boat is going so slow

(this picture shows the speed she knee boards at)

Miriam's first time knee boarding (or body surfing!)

She loved it!

After everyone was done knee boarding, we blew up the tow behind tube and added William to the mix.  We slung them all over the place behind the boat until they were good and dizzy.

Thursday: Aquarium
Thursday we headed down to Seattle to visit the aquarium.  They have a new educational program where you get to catch plankton from the Puget Sound and look at it under a microscope.  It sure makes you not want to drink water from streams and lakes when you see all the microscopic creatures swimming around in it!  After the aquarium, I embarrassed Anastaya by taking her to Title Nine to be fitted with some support garments as she gets ready for a new Cross Country season.  It was my duty as a mom to make sure she was ready!

We brought Miriam's friend Paige along with us.

our plankton net

checking out the plankton

Friday: Employee Day
Friday was Quil Ceda Village employee recognition day.  Dode works for the Tulalip Tribes.  There are three main departments within the tribes:  Government, Quil Ceda Village, and the Resort/Casino.  Dode works for the GIS department which falls under Tulalip Data Services which falls under Quil Ceda Village.  Quil Ceda Village is an actual city which encompasses a lot of the retail space on the reservation.  The boundaries have been intentionally drawn to preclude any residential areas within the village.  This allows the tribes to have full voting rights to any policies and procedures for the village.  The resort and casino are located on the village which means that most of the money making enterprises for the tribes happens in the village.  Each department has an annual day to recognize their employees.  This year families were invited to attend.  Leading up to the event, there was a lot of grumbling at work about the event.  "Why don't they just give us the day off as a thank you?", "It sounds like it's just for kids."  (last year they grumbled that families weren't invited!)

The red "A" is the village

They have lots of plans for the area to the west of 27th Ave.  Bring on the indoor water park!

The party happened at the Tulalip amphitheatre.  It is an outdoor space where they bring in many musicians for concerts.    On Friday, the space was dedicated to families.  They had lots of activities for the kids.  Miriam and William had a blast with everything.  Isaac wished he'd stayed home!  Most of the activities were for younger children.  Elizabeth had at least 10 free snow cones!  Our family was there from beginning to end, about 4 hours.  The younger children had a blast.  Us grown ups, not so much.  They had four different entertainers, two musicians, a juggler, and a reptile guru.  Everything was at a very loud volume that hurt my ears.  I'm not much of a loud music kind of person.

view across the amphitheatre

resort hotel in the background

Miriam on a pony

William on a pony

See that white thing in my hair?  It's a needle!

There were needles in my hair, the base of my neck, my arms, and my ankles.

Acupuncture! 

My verdict? 

 I started with a headache, and ended with a headache. 

Oh well, at least I didn't get hooked on something our insurance doesn't cover.

We stood in line to get our caricatures

(The girls went twice)

When Miriam saw this, she thought it was Dode and I.  Nope, it's Isaac!

He captured William's crooked grin perfectly.

(And the mischievous twinkle in his eyes!)

Elizabeth got to be the display stand for the snake

mini golf

airbrush tattoo

massage

It hurt so good!

My first ever professional massage.

entertainers

flowers were handed out at the end of the event

(Anastaya made sure to stand on her tip toes before I took the photo!)

Saturday:  fun and projects
Earlier in the week, we were given some playground equipment.  A friend of ours is the head of his homeowner's association.  He is remodeling their park and had a load of things to take to the dump.  We heard about it and said we'd be happy to pick through it.  We ended up with a park bench and a slider toy.  Dode was able to install the slider to the underside of the tree house bridge.  He's still brainstorming some sort of stool/ladder so the little ones can reach the handle.  We stuck the bench in the lawn facing the tree house.  My thought is, if I'm sitting there reading a book, maybe the kids will actually play around me and play with the tree house.  So far, it's working!

Elizabeth on the bench

riding the new toy

under view of the bridge

During William's afternoon nap, Dode and I snuck away to the Pilchuck Tree Farm for some mountain biking. Some of the trails were a bit overgrown (it wasn't a wise choice for me to wear shorts!) and some were sandy but there were some nice hard packed trails through some pretty wooded areas. I think a spider snacked on me while were were on the trails. I felt something on my arm and brushed it away. Later, I saw the evidence of an insect bite. Today, that area is hot and sore with a hard spot about the size of a walnut just under the skin. I think Dode was riding behind me laughing at some huge hairy spider attached to my arm. (just kidding!)

Some crazy guy spent hundreds of hours riding the trails so he could map them!

Then he posted it on the Internet

Over 1,000 downloads of his map!

Sunday:  banana bread
Sunday Elizabeth and I made banana bread together.

Miriam pronounced it delicious!

I taught the lesson today in Relief Society about marriage.  I showed this video at the end.  I think it's really great.  (When I made sure we'd burned it to disk correctly the night before the kids didn't get it at all.  I had to explain each scene.  The ladies at church figured it out!)

Moments that matter most