Happy Birthday Parker!

Hard to believe that this little guy was born six whole years ago!  

(He really was quite purple at first, amazing I wasn't totally freaking out at the time.)

Parker has turned out to be such a fun-loving active big kid.

We started the morning with chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream.

We went to the toy store for the morning, then went to Taco Time for lunch. 

Parker has been asking for a Seahawks helmet for months, so we finally got him one for his birthday.

I made cake pops for the birthday party, so we had a few to celebrate Parker's actual birthday.

Some serious birthday cake making going on here

By the end of the weekend, I think I'd made four kinds of cake and three kinds of frosting.

#FreeCarWashDay

We were fairly busy all day and only made it through once.  I have a friend who washed her car FOUR times today!

Cute Face

The kids are showing off their "cute face"

Beach Day

After my experience of feeling trapped on Jetty Island last year, I decided to plan ahead this year and get reservations.  It put it up on my Mom's facebook page to see if anyone wanted to join me.  I ended up reserving 31 tickets! (if you do the math, I think that's about 8 moms and all their kids)

They'd projected the weather to be cool-ish but not rainy, so I don't think it was as crowded as it can be.  As it was, the weather was perfect, not too hot with just a slight breeze.

The kids had a blast and were completely filthy by the time we got home.

Since I'm tired of being a pack animal and camp cook, I packed each kid a backpack with all their lunch & snacks for the day and made them carry it themselves.  It was a glorious day of not having to hear "can I have a snack" every 15 seconds!

I think we wore them out!

Bethany North Campout

Last year, we left in the early afternoon, it took us 20 minutes to drive to Lake Stevens and we got there an hour early.  This year, we left around 5pm and we barely got to the camp before dinner ended at 7:30.

But, at least the kids were entertained.

Looks like the first day went well:

This, and the swimming pool, are where Cecily & I spent almost the entire weekend.

Parker didn't want to go on the go-karts, so Keith rode with Josh Setalla

Cecily, on the other hand, was not at all afraid.

I didn't think she'd be big enough, but she LOVED it!

It was crazy hot this weekend, so Cecily's fudgesicle didn't last too long!

BFF's ready for the camp photo:

It's amazing how much more enjoyable the campout is when it's not crazy-windy and pouring buckets.

Edmonds Spray Park

They opened a new spray park in Edmonds this summer.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we didn't make it there until late-August.  Spray parks are a little overwhelming for me with all the crowds and children running wild, but the kids loved it.

They had a big dumping bucket that Parker loved.

Most of the time we were there, the park was in the shade, so I think the kids probably got pretty cold at first, but they warmed up eventually.