Grandma and Grandpa Walker's Visit

Last weekend, Jonathan's parents came to visit for a few days. The boys get to see their Walker grandparents a few times a year and cherish every visit. Dawson was Gary's little sidekick all weekend.

We took them, my sister Monique, and her kids to the park for a picnic and to feed the ducks.

The Walker grandparents in all their glory.

The boys had such fun feeding the ducks. The day is always a success when no one gets bit by a goose.

Cutie Lincoln

Dawson and Gary ran all over Winco, literally. Dawson kept taking Gary over to the donuts and asking for one.

Jonathan was able to take his dad to a Mariner's game

Can't pass up 5th row seats!

Gary kept the boys happy Sunday morning by taking them on an adventure in the backyard and playing with stickers. This grandpa rocks!

Jonathan took our kids and Shelby's kids to feed the ducks again the other day at a pond close to our house. He got all the kids for the night while my sisters and I took our mom out to dinner for her birthday.

Dean likes to feed one piece of bread to the ducks, then eat one.

Mya, the oldest granddaughter and "mom" to many of the younger cousins.

Sydney, second oldest granddaughter and the best big cousin any kid could ask for!

Hanging out in the back of the van before feeding the ducks.

On their way to McDonald's for happy meals. Jonathan is the best dad/babysitter ever!

Pool Party

Last Tuesday was the nicest day we've had this summer, I think it got up to a whopping 75 degrees outside. But since we live in Washington, anything weather above 68 means pool party! I blew up our pools and invited my sisters over for a cousin pool day. They had a great time. Their favorite part of the day was being squirted with the hose by Mya, the oldest cousin.

Everyone took their turns jumping in. This is Britton.

Evy

Dawson

Sydney

Mya

All the kids doing their surfer pose. Dawson, Mya, Dean, Britton, Evy, Lincoln, Roman, and Sydney

Popsicle break, thanks to Auntie Shelby

Britton's and Dean's silly faces

Dawson's "don't take a picture of me" face.  He was not very happy about me trying to get him to smile for the camera.



Summer, so far...

We've had a few nice days thus far in our summer, but most of the time we stay indoors. Dawson and Dean love to play games on Jonathan's phone.

The other morning I got out one of our science projects that I had done as a swap with other moms at Dean's preschool. This one was making shapes out of toothpicks and marshmallows. The boys absolutely loved it.

Dawson actually just loved to eat the marshmallows.

Time with daddy playing on his phone

Doing haircuts on our boys has always been a trial. We decided that maybe they'd think it was more fun if we did it on our porch, which actually just let the whole neighborhood hear the scream. Literally, my sister that lives 4 houses down could hear them. But, I'm never above giving bribes so they got a prize if they were cooperative, which they were, kind of.

Dawson showing off his prize for being a good boy.

Dean's turn. He's the more difficult one. He started off happy, but soon took to crying, which caused hair to go into his mouth, which made him mad. So I found a solution... 

                   

  Stuffing his mouth with a washcloth. It worked!

 And there he is with his prize. Yea, we get to do it all again in another few weeks.

 I think we have found our next American Idol:

Soccer Game

Dean and I recently attended a Seattle Sounders game together. I thought it was definately time to take my first born to a major sporting event.

Soccer games are loud and the fans are crazy! We were in a tame area and didn't have to stand the entire time.

Our tickets got us access to the all-you-can-eat buffet before the game and during halftime. I enjoyed the ribs and wings, Dean was just thrilled that they had strawberries and cookies. 

Dean eating his strawberries and holding his Batman.

It was fun having some one-on-one time with Dean. After 20 minutes into the game he got bored and asked me if he could play video games on my phone. Oh well!

Bike and Hike with Mike

I recently went on a Saturday outing to Mt. Rainier National Forest with my friend Mike Dorman and his brother Austin. 

It started out as a bike trip but we quickly ran into trouble with these huge trees down all over the trail.  We ditched the bikes and turned it into a hike.

 I only had my camera phone to take pictures, but was pleasantly surprised at what amazing pictures it took of the scenery.

Thanks Mike for an awesome time!  The truth is, it was supposed to be an Elder's quorum activity but we were the only ones who showed up. Everyone else missed out big time.