Enchanted Forest

 July 1, 2013

Meeting my great niece for the first time.
***

Mom, Dad, the boys and I drove out to Enchanted Forest to meet my niece's Adrienne, Renae, her daughter Rainey, and their mom Brenda, who were in town from Alaska.

Taking in the show - Pinocchio

The plays at Enchanted Forest are always silly and fun. 

Kaden was a little embarrassed after "the hug"...I think mostly since I photographed it.

Enjoying the kiddie rides.

Kaden and Paxton rode the frog hopper, while Versii and Rainey took a leisurely train ride.

Kaden is tall enough to drive his own bumper car!

But sadly, Paxton was too short even to ride with an adult.

Adrienne and Rainey.

Rainey and Pinocchio's "Blue Fairy"

Kaden getting ready to brave the haunted house with his cousin Renae.  "There's a difference between a scream of terror and a yell in horror!" --According to Kaden

This slide was a big hit with all the kids.

They went over and over again.

Renae, Rainey and Kaden on the log ride.

Adrienne, Versii, Paxton and I on our ride.

Check out the huge splash we made!

We were soaked!

Renae, Rainey, Paxton, Dad and Kaden!

The first and only ride Dad went on.

Here's a stop motion clip of their ride.

The Bob Sleds.

Top: 2nd Car-Rainey and Renae

3rd Car-Kaden, Paxton and I

L to R:Kaden, Rainey, Renae, Paxton and Adrienne.

Versii wasn't so sure he wanted to go at first,

but he did end up riding with Kaden and Renae.

The boys with their cousin Renae.

Pax and Versii with Rainey.

Cookie break.

Dad and Adrienne.

Adrienne, Rainey and Renae.

Adrienne, Brenda, Rainey and Renae.

Mom and Dad with Rainey, 

their great granddaughter.

Kaden saw this wooden gun in the General Store and he just couldn't leave without it.  He even spent his own money.  Kaden's not big on spending his own money, but he said "I've never seen one like this before! And it has a strap! I have to have it!"  

Paxton spent his own money too on a smaller gun, Versii picked out a set of cars and Rainey left with a Pirate set.

***

We had such a fun day at Enchanted Forest!

It was great to spend time with family we rarely get to see!  

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us!

Kado's New Bike

 Kaden with his old Huffy.

I love the camo gear.

June 28, 2013 

Yesterday, Josh found this gem of a bike, a BMX Mongoose Ravage, at a garage sale for $40.  It's only been ridden a few times.  Kaden is starting to learn tricks and this bike will be perfect to assist him in perfecting his moves.

Splash Fun!

 June 27, 2013 

I just love the ideas you can find on the Internet.

I saw this idea on a blog called HowDoesShe and decided the boys would love these!

I went to the Dollar Store and picked up 6 bags of sponges (10 per pack), 3 plastic bins, and a bag of rubber bands all for $10.  Then I started making these awesome splash toys. They were so easy and quick to make.  It only takes 2 sponges per toy, so each bag made 5 --So now we have 30 of these little balls of fun.

The boys were so excited!

We filled up each bin with water and let the water works begin!

 

These splash toys are so great!  

They're better than water balloons, since they're reusable and you don't get the broken up balloon mess all over.

And they're better than squirt guns, since they can often be hard for the little guys to fill up and take awhile to reload.  

My boys loved them!

Passed Out

June 26, 2013

The boys like to stuff their footy pajamas and run around the house like little sumo men.  This is how I found Paxton in the middle of the afternoon --Passed out on Versii's bed, "half stuffed".

Kah-Nee-Ta

June 25, 2013

Mom and I took the boys to Kah-Nee-Ta Warm Springs.

The water is normally 92 degrees, but in the summer they cool it down.  The water was still warm, maybe just a touch hotter than lukewarm.  At Kah-Nee-Ta, you're allowed to bring whatever blow-up toys you want and they even provide a handy air station too.  Makes blowing up that huge whale very easy.

Having fun in the kiddie pool.

Venturing into the deeper waters...the 3 foot deep kind.

 The boys with their Grandma.

We had thought that we could escape the rain in Portland, by driving out to Kah-Nee-Ta.  The rain caught up with us about an hour after we started swimming.  The boys didn't seem to mind much.  The warm water offset the cool rain well.  And the boys used the whale as a rain shield.

Here's Versii pouting that he cannot climb on the whale by himself in the deeper water.

There's not a lot Kaden loves more than swimming.

Near the end of the rain storm, Paxton wanted out of the pool. And about 10 minutes after we were dressed, he wanted to get back in.  So I let him dip his feet into the edge of the pool.

...Then a second rain storm started.

Even in the rain, the boys didn't want to leave.

If it weren't for the fact that they were getting hungry, they may never have climbed out of the pool.

When we were deflating the whale, Paxton just kept saying, "Do we get to take this home with us?  Can we keep it forever and ever Mom?  Forever?"  

On our way home, we came across these wild horses on the reservation.