Our very first PROM!!

Let me start by saying...prom dress shopping wasn't very fun, it was hard!  In fact, there was a time when both Jordan and I were pretty certain she wouldn't find a dress:(  When we were in Canada, we went shopping with Becca and she found her dress right away...it took Jordan another 4-5months to find hers!!  There weren't even very many that she "kind of" liked!!  She just HATED all of them...Jordan is one picky girl!

Here's Becca with her dress...Jordan's in one of the rejects

Another reject...

Another reject...

When we finally went back to Samila & Co (a place Jordan had already been) we went through the entire store and she only found 2 dresses she was even willing to try on.  We were both SHOCKED when she liked the first one, and even more SHOCKED when she liked the second one even more!!!  

 The night before Prom, Jordan and her friends got spray tans, got their nails done then slept over at our place.  They did a Starbucks run and I made them waffles for breakfast.  

Once they were all ready...we headed to pictures at Bellevue Botanical Gardens.

Jordan's date Jacob was very sweet...she picked a good one:)

We took pictures for over TWO HOURS!!  The whole time I kept thinking about how lucky Jordan was to have so many good friends to travel through High School with!  Such a great group of girls!!  I will miss having them at our house when they are all off to college.

 

Summer made it into quite a few pictures!  

I think she got individuals with most of Jordan's friends, but then she was also in the background of a lot of other pictures...wandering around in the gardens--hahaha!

The actual Prom was at the Seattle Aquarium.  

I think everyone had a great time...except for Jordan's feet!!

Summer turns 5 and a snake comes to her party!

Summer's 5th birthday party turned out absolutely perfect.  She was on cloud 9 the ENTIRE time and just had so much fun!  When I put her to bed that night, she said she wished she could have her birthday again tomorrow because it was the best day ever.  

Before it happened though, I wasn't sure the party would turn out so well....here's why:

-Summer's birthday was on a Sunday...the Sunday right after activity day camp that I was in charge of !!  So I did basically nothing to prepare for the party but pick up a cake and buy hot dogs (and barely enough buns)

-it was such a busy weekend yet somehow everyone she invited was able to attend

-Mike was scrambling to finish assembling her new play structure we had bought just a few days before (he got all but the twisty slide done for the party)

-Our tractor broke right before the party and we had to cut the entire lawn with the push mower

-there was rain in the forecast but it turned out to be a beautiful day

-since we couldn't have family stay with us (since I was busy with AD camp), I thought Eric wouldn't be able to come, but Lisa and her family drove down all in one day just for the party!!!  

-one of the kids brought a SNAKE!!  Who knew everyone at the party would be fine with that....yikes.

Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures.  There were SO MANY people there...even the older kids' friends came to celebrate.  I don't think we've ever gone through so much of a Costco cake at a party before--hahaha.  This is one loved little girl.  Happy Birthday, Summer!!!

 

Activity Day Camp

If there's one calling in the church that I've secretly wished for, it would be Activity Day Leader.  They get to plan activities (only twice a month) for girls ages 8-11.  I just love this age of girls...so excited to be there and learn new things...not yet at the stage where everything is boring or lame.  Well, early in the spring I got an Activity Day calling, just not the one I wanted.  I got called to be the STAKE Activity Day Leader, which meant instead of planning an activity twice a month and hanging out with these sweet girls, I had to plan ACTIVITY DAY CAMP for the entire stake!!!!  And boy was it a TON of work!  The good thing is...everything went great, the kids had fun, and now it's over:)

We started off making shirts

Then we had a variety show

Saturday was filled with archery, outdoor cooking, canoeing, outdoor education, yoga, bracelet making, and making blankets for Seattle Children's Hospital.

How are we going to top that next year?!

Preschool Graduation...it's a real thing!

Preschool for Summer was such a great experience!  

Here she is on the very first day...

She surprised us all by going in with no crying or having to be ripped away from Mom.

She absolutely LOVED her teachers!

Picture day was a bit of a disaster...she ripped the clip out of her hair and refused to have her picture taken.  Somehow the photographer snuck this pic, which is actually kind of cute:)

She brought home adorable art projects!

She sang sweet new songs!

She made new friends!

She played with new toys!

And now, she's done!  Something inside me wishes she could stay in preschool forever...it's so sheltered, small and sweet.  But I am super excited to watch this feisty little girl grow and see the amazing kid she will become.  

Now I just need to convince her that she really is going to Kindergarten in the fall!

Wish me luck with that one:/ 

California--Odds and Ends

Did I mention we DROVE all the way to California?!  18+ hours in the car...and I drove the entire time (by choice--I am not a good passenger)!  

Our first stop, 7 hrs in, was In n Out:) SO GOOD!

One of the first places we stopped once we drove into Westchester was the softball fields (and our old house which we didn't get a picture of).  Being at the softball fields almost made me cry...we spent so much time there cheering Kya on!!  

The snack stand!  Tyson got Otter Pops for old time's sake:)

 The first hotel we stayed at on our drive down, was great.  Although, right after we checked into our rooms, there was a HUGE hail storm...way bigger and harder than anything I had seen before and we were trying to drive to dinner in it!  The streets were flooding and I was sure our car was going to be damaged beyond repair.  Thankfully it was short-lived and we all survived the ordeal!!

 The hotel we stayed at in LA is a story in and of itself...the room didn't have enough beds and only one bathroom, the swimming pool incident on the first night we were there (500 screaming kids), the huge breakfast every morning (including the man with a prison shirt and the lady piling up dozens of plates to take back to her screaming kids), the free snacks and drinks every night, the fish Summer named...

We managed to stop by and visit a few friends
(The Davis Family, The Stayners,  and The Jones Family)

 

We went to a few of our old favorite parks!

Polliwog Park had tons of turtles out basking in the sun...everyone was sunburned and HOT so we didn't stay too long.

 We had to go to "Teletubbie" Park!

 We even recreated a picture from 2011

 

 Mike took the big kids to Universal Studies...I was sad to miss out but didn't think it was worth an extra $300 for Summer and me to go.  From what I heard, it was also a ton of fun!!  

 What a great trip we had.  I hope we don't have to wait another 6 years before we make our way back to the Sunshine State!  I miss it already.