First Day of Kindergarten

The girls started school last Wednesday. They are in PM half day kindergarten, which works best for all of us (Madison and I aren't morning people). We got into the school we wanted and they have a great teacher. Anna was very excited to start school, so she could have homework and ride the bus. The Renton School District has a 90 minute late start every friday, and the AM/PM half day kindergarteners alternate going for the full day every other friday. So the girls went all day last friday and they have it off this friday. This is nice because I have 6 hours to myself (on those fridays) and they get to have lunch at school on those days also, which will help prepare them for next year.

They rode the bus home all three days. They rode with our neighbor, so that reassured me they would get home safely. I took them to school last week, but we will try the bus this week. They have matching princess backpacks, Madison's is pink (of course) and Anna's is purple.

They are both excited, we were 15 minutes early for school!!!

Madison posing in front of her class.

Anna contemplating whether she will have homework!

We went to Ocean Shores and Long Beach, WA this past week. We had a great time, the weather was typical beach weather, although we had one sunny day that was 70 degrees. We were actually staying in Copalis Beach, which is just north of Ocean Shores. We would usually go to the beach in the morning and then we would spend time in the pool after that and again in the evening. One day they spent 4 hours in the pool. They are already looking forward to it next year.

Anna liked drawing pictures in the sand, smiley faces were her favorite that day. (the picture didn't load right)

Dave flying a kite on the beach.

Anna in the hot tub with her life jacket (just in case).

Madison in the pool with Dave. Usually the girls use floaties, but they didn't allow so they used life jackets, which they discovered were better. Madison found new freedom with the life jacket. She jumped in the deep end, swam all over and had a great time.

Madison running from the waves.

Anna flying her Dora kite.

Anna liked to build sand castles rather than play in the water, it was pretty chilly.

Madison posing strangely in a tide pool.

Anna and Dave in the pool. Anna finally strayed from the shallow end by the end of our stay.

Anna in the wading pool with her life jacket.
After spending 5 days in Ocean Shores, we went to Long Beach for two nights. We went to the beach right after we got to Long Beach in the afternoon. It was the peak of high tide, so there wasn't much beach.

Madison with another strange pose on the beach.

Anna and Madison running on the beach during low tide the next day.

After the beach we explored Long Beach. Anna and Madison rode the carosuel in downtown Long Beach.

Posing for a picture while I'm shopping.


We went to Cape Disappointment and walked to the Lighthouse and around the Lewis and Clark Museum. This picture was taken at Dead Man's Gulch.

Madison posing by a large tree on the path to the Lighthouse.

Wallace, ID and Silver Mountain

We went to Wallace, ID - the Silver Capital of the World. The park in Wallace highlights the mining history of the area.

Anna is posing in the mining cars that took the miners down the tunnels.

Madison is doing a stripper pose on the drilling exhibit.

We took a tour of the Sierra Silver Mine outside of town. It was really interesting and the girls did really well, although they got sick of wearing their hard hats.

Madison in front of a mining cart.

The girls after the tour, they were glad to be outside again. It was about 50 degrees in the mine.

After the tour we had lunch in Wallace and then we decided to take the Gondola up to Silver Mountain. The ride lasted about 20 minutes and the views were beautiful.

Grandma Marilyn, Myself and Madison on Silver Mountain.

The girls on a bench on Silver Mountain (made out of a snow board), the only picture they cooperated for. Anna fell at the playground and got a large scratch on her leg, so we took her to Ski Patrol and they bandaged her up. It was an eventful trip.

Anna & Madison turn 6

The girls turned 6 in July and we went to Spokane/Couer d'Alene to celebrate their birthday. We arrived in Spokane on Wednesday and stayed with my Aunt and the girls woke up on their birthday very happy to finally be 6. Madison thought she looked a little taller.

Mom & Dad came up on their birthday and we met them at Riverfront Park in Spokane. We spent the rest of the vacation with them. More pictures will follow of Couer d' Alene adventures.

Anna on the Carosuel at Riverfront Park.

Madison posing with the vacuum garbage goat in Riverfront Park.

We went to Silverwood, which they had been looking forward to all summer. It was a perfect day, not too hot. The girls both went on their first big wood roller coaster (goes through three tunnels very fast) and Anna loved it. Madison thought it was too fast and opted not to go on the other wood roller coaster. She stayed with Mom and Dad while we went on it. I don't have many pictures of silverwood, Dad took more pictures so I will post those later.

Anna on the train ride through Silverwood Amusement Park.

Spring????

Well, since spring weather hasn't arrived yet - it snow/hailed on March 30th - we haven't done anything eventful. Although, we did celebrate Dave's birthday and we went to the Woodland Park Zoo on a rare sunny day.

The girls couldn't decide on a chocolate or white cake, so we got bought both kinds. The Friday after his birthday we went out to dinner in Seattle with friends and family. The girls did really well considering we were out for almost 5 hours.

We went to Woodland Park Zoo on a Saturday to bask in the sunshine. Everyone else had the same idea, it was very crowded. We saw most of the animals and rode a refurbished wood-carved Carousel (opened last year).

Dave's birthday with both cakes (Anna had white cake & Madison had chocolate)

Anna on the back of a gorilla

Matter of Fact Madison

Diva Madison

Grain storage - in the african village

Anna Lost her First Tooth

Another important milestone happened Tuesday evening. Anna lost her first tooth - the front tooth on the bottom. Dave noticed it when he was putting them to bed. We have no idea where the tooth is, we assume she swallowed it while she was eating. She didn't complain once about it hurting or being wiggly. The permanent tooth was already erupting, so it probably pushed the baby tooth out. Dave and I both expected this milestone to occur much later, because they got their teeth late (about 10 months), so I thought they would lose them later too.

Anna was very excited that the Tooth Fairy was going to leave her something, even though she had lost the physical tooth. The tooth fairy wasn't sure what to give her, but she came up with 2 dollar bills. Anna was very excited about the money the next morning.

The permanent tooth was erupting behind the baby tooth, so I called the dentist, and we went the next day. On x-rays taken during previous dental visits we knew that their permanent teeth were much larger than their baby teeth, (they both have my mouth) so some teeth would have to be pulled to make them fit. My fears were confirmed, Anna will have 3 teeth extracted to make room for the front two bottom teeth (the other front tooth is trying to erupt, but it is caught on the adjoining tooth). She did great during the dental visit and x-ray, but she has no idea what is in store for her. Hopefully, between valium and laughing gas she will cooperate.

Bowling

The family went bowling on a rainy Saturday. We went to our local bowling alley and it was really fun. We didn't realize how popular it was, other families had the same idea we did. We had the bumpers up the whole time, which helped Dave and my scores. Although, my first game was pretty sad, I did better the second game. Madison has a different technique, we call it Diva bowling, she always poses after she bowls. In the beginning, Anna would walk to the line and then drop the bowling ball, and then it would take 45 seconds to reach the pins. Although, by the end, she was running to the line and then throwing the ball. They used a 6 lb ball, which is a 1/5 of their weight.

Diva Bowlng - Madison

Anna Bowling