Lots of fun in Seattle, packed into two little days

Friday, DAY 1: Science Center, Carnival, Dinner at the Space Needle, and Swimming.

We had a great time in Seattle this weekend with the kids and our nephew Kayleb. Our first stop of the day was the Science Center. The kids always have a blast there with all of the interactive exhibits and games, dinosaurs, butterfly garden, fountains and much much more.

There main exhibit right now is Animal Grossology. It was hilarious! Each station had a different gross animal fact and an activity to do. The kids really liked this room.

 

We made it to an IMAX showing of Night at the Museum while we were there. The whole family loved it. (It’s BrUndon) Ha Ha!

On our walk over to the Space Needle we ran into all of the carnival rides and had a little time to kill before our dinner reservations so we stopped to play.

  

The Space Needle was super spendy for a family of eight but the experience was totally worth it. The kids loved looking out the window as the whole restaurant moved slowing in a circle during dinner. They wrote notes on their drink coasters and propped them up in the window sill  to see if we would make it back to them by the time our dinner was done.

One of the best parts of dinner was to watch the kids faces as their dessert was brought out to them. Oh, the excitement! They had lunar sundaes. The ice cream sundae dish sat suspended over dry ice which made smoke spill out of their desserts covering our whole table. It was quite the presentation.

By this picture you can tell we had done a lot of walking today. When stepping off the space needle elevator my flip flop broke. I tried to keep it on my foot by squeezing the middle piece of strap between my toes and sliding my shoe along the ground but it just wasn’t happening, so I got to finish our walk down the city street and to the parking garage like this :) Sweet!

A little hotel swimming to finish up our evening. 

Saturday, Day 2: The Aquarium, Puget Sound, Curiosity Shop, and the Woodland Park Zoo.

We headed down to Pike Place Market and the Sound to start out our adventures for today. We walked down to the Aquarium and had a lot of fun looking at all kinds of fish and underwater creatures. I think the family’s favorite was watching the octopus swim around.

We walked around down by the ocean, walked through a few shops and ate lunch at Ivars. (Here’s Kayleb’s purchase from the curiosity shop. A Whip. Like a real Indiana Jones Whip. I asked him what he was going to use it for and he told me, “ To keep his mom in line, make sure she doesn’t  give him any lip :) Yeah Right.

Dan kept all of our little ducks in a row down the busy Seattle streets. (Hut 234)

We finished out the rest of our day at the Zoo. The kids two favorite things at the zoo were feeding the giraffe’s (So Cool!) and playing inside of all of the different animals home’s. Lots of fun!

   

After all of this fun packed into two days it was time to head home. Great Vacation!

My little Nose Pickers :)

One of Hudson's favorite things to do these days is...pick his nose. I guess I wouldn't really call it "picking" because he actually just likes to stick his finger in his nose. The more I tell him to take it out and stop, or the louder I react (usually by laughing or telling him yucky & gross) the further he shoves his finger up his nose. He thinks it's hilarious!

He's even tried one-upping himself by throwing a second finger in the mix. I tell him, "Hudson, that's so YUCKY." And he replies back to me," No Mom, izzzz YUMMMMEEEE."

The other day he was calling me from his highchair for about 5 mins. while I was down the hall getting the kids ready and off to school. All I could hear was, "Mom look, Mom a funny. Mom look, a nose. A funny." So when I walked into the kitchen this is what he wanted to show me.

Again, he thought he was hilarious.

Immediately this picture I had received in an email a few years back, flashed through my head. Not so funny Hudson, Owieeeee!

Hudson's favorite time to stick his finger in his nose is when I get the camera out to take a picture. This pic is from a recent family vacation. Right before I snapped the shot there were no fingers in the nose. But, he's a quick one! He did it just for my picture.

Also on our trip, I tried taking a picture of him doing really silly things with his knees and feet, but when he saw the camera he stopped immediately and...

you guessed it. Did this! 

(We may be skipping family pictures this year)

I know exactly who to blame for this "finger in the nose" obsession...

His dad, Dan the "Nose Picker" Ostler.

 

I don't know if Hudson has actually ever seen his dad stick his finger up his nose, but it definitely runs in the genes.

In about 50% of Dan's pictures his finger is in his nose. I don't really know how it all began. It could have been his strong dislike for taking pictures, I think he actually thought that sticking his finger up his nose would ruin the picture and therefore not be used, but when he does that in all of them you end up having to keep a few. (Or hundreds) 

Maybe it's just something that has been past down from generation to generation in his family. Here's Uncle Mike and Uncle Scott teaching him the ropes.

And so the corruption begins.

Weddings weren't special enough to break away from tradition.

This habit continued on through his mission...

and then on into married life. Still picking away.

Dan likes to mix things up, and gets a little festive during the holidays.

"Well", you say, "surely those are all old pics. Certainly Dan has matured by now and changed his ways." 

OH NO!! This picture was taken last week while testing my camera out in our home office. "Pose for me", I asked him......And, here is what I got. 

So, from 1976-2009, Not a whole lot has changed. Therefore, I submit to all... My son is doomed for life to be a nose picker. It is most certainly in his genes. :(

(No boogers were eaten or harmed in the making of this blog post)

Teacher Appreciation Night

Tonight for mutual our Miamaid class was in charge of a Teacher Appreciation Night. Each of the youth invited their favorite teacher to come for a night of ice cream sundaes and fun. 

This event was a little hard to plan for, not knowing how many youth would actually invite a teacher, and not knowing how many teachers would actually show up. (A little stress was definitely involve in the planning of this activity) But out of the 30 youth that attended tonight we had 10 teachers show up . The night ended up being a big success!

Today my time was spent decorating... 

Shopping for as many sundae toppings as you could possible think of...

and finishing up these frames that we gave to all of  the teachers as gifts.

For our program we had the bishop speak. He talked about President Hinckley's "B's" one of them being "Be Smart" and about how much our church values education. The kids had pictures taken with their teacher and then ate ice cream sundaes with them. I printed up a little questionnaire for the kids to ask their teachers while they ate and then after dessert they brought their teachers up front to tell a little of what they had learned. A lot of the kids found out some really funny things about their teachers.

To finish out the evening the Youth sang the EFY medley song. I loved it! They did awesome. 

Thanks for all your help on this activity Kim.

Now it's on to our next one :)

4th Grade- Salmon Summit

I was able to go on Alaina's 4th grade field trip today, The Salmon Summit. It was alot of fun! The 4th graders have been learning all about Salmon for the last few months. Over the past couple weeks their class got some real hands on learning by raising salmon of their very own.

  

Here's Alaina's baby Salmon she has raised since it was a egg.

Today was the big day. Time to set them free! Back into the Wild.

Here's a few girl's in Alaina's class. All of them sad, to see their fish go :(

We had a great time down by the Columbia River. The class moved from station to station learning different things about salmon, the river and nature. We made salmon life cycle bracelets, learned about forest fire fighting, how rivers and dams make electricity, Lewis and Clark, swimming safety, hydroplane racing, water pollution, and then all of the kids got to go inside of a giant salmon to look at the murals painted on the inside of it. It was really cool. All of the presenters made it really fun for the kids. Great field trip!

Mother's Day...

Tonight as this Mother's Day is coming to an end, I've got to say...my family pulled it off... I feel honored :)

It all started late last night when I arrived home from working at a Highschool prom. As I walked up to my front door I noticed a little note taped to it which read... "Happy Mother's Day! Come on in and see if you can guess what your very first Mother's Day gift is." As I opened the door I saw a perfectly clean house. YIPPEE!!! It felt so good to come home at the end of a long day and see the house spotless. Thanks Guys!

This morning Dan and the kids let me sleep in until 9:00, while they whipped me up some breakfast in bed. YUM! Along with breakfast they brought in all of their gifts and surprises they had made at school, which are always my favorite, especially the papers they write where they fill in the blanks about mom. (A couple of the lines in Alaina's card read... Who generously gives hugs, loving kisses, and lots of chore. A Lover of her family, rabbits, and my DS. Who would like to see New York and a clean house.) Too Cute!

The kids took turns giving me their gifts while Hudson accidentally stepped his foot in my eggs and then ate my toast. (It gets a little crowded, even in a king size bed, with 1 mom, 5 excited kids, 5 gifts to be given, and a breakfast tray.) Here's a picture of all my Mother's day loot.

The kids spent the next few hours in the playroom planning and rehearsing a Mother's Day skit to preform for me. It turned out really cute. They went all out, with costumes, sound effects, refreshments and everything. After their play and lunch it was off to church and then home for dinner. I thought my Mother's Day was pretty much over at this point but there was more...

Lately I've been wanting to take some cute spring pictures of the kids, and what better day to request some picture taking cooperation, then on Mother's Day? Tonight after dinner all of the kids let me take a few snap shots of them, and they turned out great.

I thought it would be fun to mark this Mother's Day post with a few "then" and "now" pics of the kids. I grabbed a picture of each of them when they were around 2 yrs. old and then the pictures I was able to take today. I just can't get over how big and grown up they are getting. I know everyone says this but, it is amazing how fast time goes by. I remember bringing each one of them home from the hospital like it was yesterday.

So here's my babies... and my not so babies.

Probably my favorite part of today was right before bed when Dan called all of the family into the living room for a little Mother's Day family home evening. They all sang me a Mother's Day song, and then we played a "get to know you game" revolving around "How well does the family know MOM." Questions were asked and answered about such topics as what my favorite color was, what my dream vacation would be, where was I born, my most embarrassing moment, what sport do I like the best, which of dads features did I fall in love with when dating, and the list goes on. It was fun to see the kids guess at the answers and then to discover the correct answers on those they got wrong. Then Dan conducted a silly song to get the kids wiggles out and after settling them back down took a moment to give a really good message about how to treat and take care of a Mom. He first read this poem to the kids.

I love you, Mother,” said little John;

Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on,

And he was off to the garden swing,

And left her the water and wood to bring.

“I love you, Mother,” said rosy Nell—

“I love you better than tongue can tell”;

Then she teased and pouted full half the day,

Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play.

“I love you, Mother,” said little Fan;

“Today I’ll help you all I can;

How glad I am that school doesn’t keep!”

So she rocked the babe till it fell asleep.

Then, stepping softly, she fetched the broom,

And swept the floor and tidied the room;

Busy and happy all day was she,

Helpful and happy as a child could be.

“I love you, Mother,” again they said,

Three little children going to bed;

How do you think that Mother guessed

Which of them really loved her best?

Dan took a moment to talk about the difference in just saying I love you, and in showing love and appreciation to moms through our actions daily. I totally agreed with that message :) I feel so loved and appreciated when my kids actually do what they've been taught, when they go the extra mile, give service and are kind and loving to each other. I can't think of a better gift to give a mom.

Dan then went on to relate thoughts from a Thomas S. Monson ensign article about how Christ took one of his last breathes by uttering the words "Behold thy Mother". It was really special because when he was talking to the kids and bearing his own testimony about the importance of treating their mom with the same kind of love and respect that Christ showed his mom a couple of the kids got a little teary eyed during his message and made some very sweet comments.

It's impossible to put into words how special this evening really was. I'm hardly doing it justice. But the point is... I was really touched. I really appreciate that I have a husband who would take the time, on his own initiative to teach and train his kids to respect, love and honor their mother.

I am so blessed! I adore my children and as hard as it is to let them grow up I really do enjoy seeing them learn, grow and develop. Using the things we've taught them and going off and making choices for themselves each day. I am the luckiest wife ever to be married to "Dan the Man". Today I feel re energized and re focused on being a better mom.

Thanks for an awesome Mother's Day!

What am I going to do with all of this free time on my hands?

Today the kids soccer season came to an end.  Ky and Hailey both played in a soccer jamboree today and now 6 games later, 8 hours out in the sun, t-shirts, metals, 1 tailgate party with Ky's team for lunch, and 1 pizza party with Hailey's team for diner tonight, it's all over. 

Ky played his 3 best games of the season today. He was the super star of the team! It was awesome!

GO TEAM!

Hailey had a great season and can't wait to come back for more next year!

Good Game! Good Game!

Alaina's last baseball game will be next week. So I'll be loosing 5 practices and 3 games per week. What am I going to do with all of the free time on my hands??? :)