Point Defiance Zoo

We went to the Point Defiance Zoo with a bunch of homeschool friends last Friday even though it was cold and rainy (we even saw a little bit of snow falling). Luckily the zoo has a new, fun aquarium, so we were able to spend a lot of time inside keeping warm. Plus most of the animal exhibits have an inside viewing area.

Mackenzie wanted to wear Coleman's old coat, even though it didn't have a hood and is a little small. I tried to convince her to wear her coat, but she told me she brought a hat. Apparently she left the hat in the car, so her head was soaked by the time we got back to the car that afternoon. 

Touching an armadillo. 

Jordan and the giant walrus. 

Mackenzie, Phoenix, Coleman, Lauren, Eden looking at the puffins.

Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day, although the kids thought they shouldn't have to do their tasks and homeschool because it was a holiday. We got the kids a big bag of candy and a love note.

He got Cinnamon Toast Crunch instead of candy.

Kenzie and Jackson gave everyone valentines too. It was sweet watching them try to find something to give/make their siblings :)

February Picture Dump

Doug and the boys played a very long game of Risk one Sunday afternoon. They've played a few more since then. 

Doug picky about water. He doesn't like to drink if from the tap, and has always claimed to know if water is from the sink or the tap. I decided to put it to the test. I poured him 4 cups of water: one directly from the fridge dispenser, one from the fridge dispenser that had sat in the fridge for a little bit, one directly from the tap, and one that had been sitting in the fridge for a few days. He guessed correctly on the first three, but after tasting the fourth one, he second guessed his original answers and switched them around. I think the only one he actually got right was the one that from the tap, but sat in the fridge. He claims it was because the water from the tap was so cold since it was freezing outside. 

 We recently watched the 4th-6th Star Wars with Kenzie and Coleman for the first time. Kenzie loved dressing up as Darth Vader the next few days. She said he was her favorite character. Coleman's is Yoda and then Darth Vader. 

Before she watched the last one, Kenzie said she hoped the Dark Side would win.

Snow Part 2

We had a second round of snow the weekend after the first snowfall. It was supposed to snow a ton (and it did!) and stick around for awhile so everyone was worried they were going to be stuck at home for a long time. The grocery stores were running out of milk, produce, meat, and a bunch of other things. I normally pick up my groceries from Fred Meyer on Friday morning, but that day I worried there wouldn't be enough milk for us. Luckily there was plenty of milk, and we only didn't get some of the produce we had ordered.

This was soon after it started snowing again. It stuck really fast this time around. 

Mackenzie and Jordan got to work making a huge snowman. 

Coleman tried to help them put the middle part on the bottom. I eventually had to help them. 

Coleman played a little basketball. 

Jordan snowboarding. 

Jordan helped Coleman snowboard for the first time. 

I told Jackson he couldn't play video games so he came out to play in the snow too :) He had a snowball fight with Kenzie. 

It's so beautiful! I love all the snow on the trees. 

Saturday morning Doug got up and used a shovel from a neighbor. 

Kenzie and Jordan were jumping in the snow. 

Doug got ho shoveling. 

Doug stood in the flower pot for awhile. I'm not sure why... Maybe he just trying to see over the fence? 

Doug and the boys played football. 

Kenzie made a bed. 

We went up to the school at played football. 

And Mackenzie and Jordan made another snowman. 

The kids were done playing in it by Sunday even though it lasted a few more days. It was fun having so much snow, and having a good excuse to stay home for several days :)

Kenzie's News

I woke up to Kenzie's news on my nightstand. She had been taking notes on the groundhog (from Groundhog's Day) so I asked her if she was going to make a newspaper. She loved that idea and made one when she woke up the next day.

Ground hog

did not see his shadow

name: Kevin (Kenzie's favorite name right now)

age: 2 (she found out groundhogs typically live 14 years and she didn't want it to die soon:))

lives in a hole

best friend: Bunny Boo

favorite color: green

type: boy

address: 219356

favorite food: apple cake

birthday: Feb 2

skin color: light brown

SNOW!!!!

There is snow in Kent!

Snowman in the backyard!

It is really cold! So dress warm, and don't wear summer jammies like that Jordan boy!

Snow Day!

We woke up to several inches of snow Monday. All our plans for Monday and Tuesday were cancelled and we just had some nice stay at home days.

Kenzie has wanted to play in the snow the most. She wishes her brothers would play outside with her more. 

In her fort

 The snow was really dry on Monday and didn't work well for snowman making. Mackenzie managed to make a couple small ones.

Mackenzie making a snow angel. 

The boys played football. 

So pretty! 

I looked out my bedroom window and saw Jackson climbing on Jordan's back. Apparently he wanted to climb on the shed. Surprisingly, that didn't work.

So he grabbed a table and a chair and tried that.  

Once he was about to add a stool on top of the chair, I called down to remind him that it was too icy to drive the hospital if he broke something. He didn't try much more after that:) 

Doug had all day meetings on Monday and Tuesday, which he was able to call into from home. He was happy to home during them. The Monday one ended early so the few people who went into the office could go home. That meant Doug could play outside with the kids for a little bit. It was freezing outside so he didn't last too long :)

Mackenzie decided to make snow cones out of snow. I think she said she had 6 or 7 on Monday. Then she had more on Tuesday and Jackson and Jordan had one or two each and so now all our  snow cone syrup is gone. She also has had a few cups of hot chocolate. 

Tuesday, the snow was much wetter and Mackenzie, Coleman, and Jordan made this cute snowman.