Mariners FanFest 2010

I have NEVER seen so many people lined up to attend a pre-season Mariners event in my life. The line was (no joke) a 1/2 mile long, wrapping all the way around Safeco field, across the street, and then around to Quest Field. There were THOUSANDS of people there wanting to get autographs from current and past Mariner players. There is such a buzz surrounding this season... I have a great feeling about it. Can't wait to get a sneak peak at the M's in action at Spring Training in March! (here's Carter ready to RUN the bases!)
My three little Mariner fans.
Cristian standing on 2nd base
Ava on 2nd base.
Carter caught in a run down between 2nd and 3rd :)
One of the newest Mariners signed this year... his Mariner gear is waiting for him in his locker already... Chone Figgins.
A sneak peak inside the locker room! We also toured the clubhouse, the weight/training room, and the diamond club. My camera battery died shortly after we got there, so these are the only pictures I took.

Basketball Game

Cristian has been playing basketball since January and has really enjoyed learning a new sport. Basketball doesn't come as naturally to him as every other sport has, but he has been working hard and has really improved. He's playing on a 1st, 2nd grade boys team. He sure hustles down that court!
Defense
Dribbling the ball down the court... bummer the ref is kinda in the way :)
I was snack mom on Saturday, so Ava was enjoying a juice on the sidelines while cheering her brother on!
Cristian loved having both grandparents and Auntie at his last game to cheer him and the entire Panthers team on!

Happy Birthday Larry!

Saturday night Kyle and I got to celebrate my father in law's birthday at Daniel's in Bellevue. It was a treat for us too because we rarely go out without the kids. It was nice to have an evening where I didn't spend my time picking up crayons off the ground, or feeding children while my own food got cold, or getting up to take someone to the bathroom 3 times during the meal.
Here we are with Kyle's parents and brother
My Father in Law's good friend from High School (they were actually in a band together back in the day) plays piano at the bar in Daniel's Restaurant. He is quite talented and plays (and sings) every song from memory. So, after a nice, relaxing dinner, we got to enjoy his music for a couple hours! Larry- we hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration as much as we did!!

The Great Outdoors

We have had an unusually warm winter this year. It actually doesn't even seem like winter because it's been about 50 degrees (or higher) most days. We've been getting a lot of use out of our new bikes!
Carter loves his 4 wheeler, you can tell he feels like such a big boy driving it all over our driveway all by himself.
Carter... say Cheese!!

2 Birthday Parties

Ava was invited to two birthday parties in one week, both little girls from her preschool. The first one was a Princess Tea party, all the girls came dressed up as their favorite princess :)
All the Princesses enjoying their tea and snacks
Ava and Emma watching Hayden open up her presents.
Hayden's mom went out of her way to make sure all the snacks at the party would be safe for Ava. She even got Ava her own little personal ice cream.
Ava also went to Emma's Strawberry shortcake party. She was THRILLED that she won the "pin the jewel" on strawberry shortcake's crown! She has been playing with her playdough set every day since the party!
Ava and the birthday girl Emma! And also, thank you Stacy for having a "peanut free" party for Ava too :) We are blessed with friends who are so mindful of our little Ava's allergies!

First Place!

Last weekend, the girls that I have been coaching at Roach Gymnastics had their first meet of Spring Season. (they also had a season in the fall). Since September, Tara and I have been working hard teaching the girls their routines and perfecting them so that they can SHINE out there on the gym floor :) These girls have improved so much in the past 6 months, it's amazing and so fun to watch! Here are Tara and I with our Level 4's, who WON their first meet EVER as a team!! They were so excited and the parents were singing our praises. Tara and I are so proud of them and how hard they have worked! What an accomplishment, especially considering they only train 2 days a week and most girls their level are training atleast 3, maybe 4 days.

Great Wolf Lodge

The first thing the kids wanted to do when we got the Great Wolf was play the magic wand game. Here's Cristian playing the MagiQuest wand game at Great Wolf Lodge... trying to find all the clues so he can battle the dragon and become a Master Magi.
Ava finding some treasure
Collecting more items to complete their quest.
Then we went to the water park! Ava was brave enough (and tall enough) to go on one of the bigger slides this trip.
Auntie playing with Carter (who just LOVED the water park!(
Close up of Carter
SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH
Jet ski water guns
Swimming Carter
Every time Carter went down the water slide, he'd point to it and say AGAIN! So, we went on it over, and over, and over :)
Kyle with the 3 kids
Carter emptying out our suitcase...
...while the other two played DS
Ready for day 2 at the water park
Our family... one of the advantages to having younger kids is that they wake up around 7:30-7:45 on the dot every day. We got to the water park right when it opened at 9:00am and had the place almost to ourselves for about an hour!
Mommy, Ava, and Carter going into the wave pool
Carter found these water fountains very entertaining
Mommy and Cristian going on the big water slides!
The 5 of us going down Carter's favorite slide
SPLASH
Cristian coming down the water slide
Back to the MagiQuest game. They're ready to battle the dragon with their new stuffed magical creature friends.
Battling the dragon with Auntie's help. They all defeated the dragon and are Master Magi's!! (again:)

The 5 of us outside the resort.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Wednesday we went to my parents house for dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday. Our original plans of going skiing/sledding over the weekend had to be postponed due to some extremely sick kids and some unusually warm weather. Hopefully we'll get a chance to do get out in the snow soon!

The kids love watching people open presents! They get so excited to give people gifts!!
Always nice to see our Mia dog... and she's looking so pretty with her scarf on :)
Singing happy birthday to Grandpa
Blowing out his candle. (had to get Carter in the picture too :)
The VERY delicious cupcakes from Indulge Cupcakes. (a peanut/tree nut free bakery in our town, very exciting for Ava! One day a week they even bake gluten free. We'll definitely be going back there and supporting their business!)
Carter loves to be spun in circles on the hard wood floor.
Spinning Carter