LEGO fanatic

Parker is now a LEGO clubber- only he doesn't know it! At the end of August, he turns 5 and he will celebrate with a LEGO birthday party. A couple months ago, I signed him up for the $50 LEGO club and he receives a great LEGO magazine, every couple months, with a new LEGO set. Only, he won't receive all these LEGO sets until his b-day. So, for now Parker is loving the magazines.
I, also, signed him up for the free "LEGO club Jr." magazine subscription and it has been perfect for his age-level. And, did I mention it's free!?! This LEGO club Jr. magazine has a "LEGO creation competition" for each issue and 5 lucky LEGO fanatics win and receive a $100 LEGO gift card. So, here is Parker's own "Sky High Creation", he named it the "Alaskan Winged 4-wheeler"! He combined legos from 2 of his LEGO 3-in-1 sets to make this. I do hope he wins because we sent this picture to the LEGO company, yesterday, and he has already asked me TONS of times, "Mom, do you think I won?" Ah man, it would be so hard to tell him "no"... the protective mommy in me wants to write the LEGO company and encourage them to choose Parker!!! I, of course, think his li'l creation is the best! Even if he doesn't win... it's a good life lesson and he will still be pumped about each issue's competition. I'm sure we'll try every issue! If you want, you too can sign up your LEGO Jr. fanatic, or checkout the LEGO website. Have fun!

PS: Sis, I already signed up Colton! ;)

sweetness in seward

Here we are enjoying every minute on the Seward shores! We were blessed with blue skies and seventies for 2 full days- which, if you're not from AK- is unheard of in Seward!!!

7 children in Seward made for many new fun memories. This was our 3rd trip to Seward with the Bacons but it was, by far, the most beautiful trip that gave us all new tans!

The Seward rocks offered hours of discovery and playtime for our oldest children. We

sure loved seeing some sea lions and seal swim by.Gotta love the panoramic mountain view! So, Savannah is a cutie but she was not a great camper!!! I guess it's a little hard for a 14-month old to sleep on a bunkbed... in a camper... without a crib... with her family! Let me explain... the adults finally had all our kiddos tucked in (so we hoped!) and we were trying to enjoy the campfire and some s'mores. But, our campfire got more humorous as both sets of parents took multiple trips back to our camper and tent to "lay down the law" with our children. Then at 11pm, we were freaked out by Savannah's scream... she had climbed over the bed gate and landed on her brothers in the bottom bed. Kep went to rescue her and brought her out with blood streaming out of her mouth because her upper teeth bit through her tongue :(. So, we got her cleaned up and settled down. Then, she puked on our bunkbed after swallowing some blood. So, finally at 12:30... I got her to calm down and she would doze off for 20 minute increments, then scream (she has a very healthy set of lungs) and flail all over the bunk, doze, scream/flail all night... until we finally gave up at 7am. Good thing we were in our camper so she didn't keep the rest of the campground awake. So, I adore my li'l girl but that was an extremely frustrating night and we WILL find a way to fit her pack'nplay into our camper before our next trip!!! ;)

#1 pilot Bapak- this Noah's for you. Doesn't that driftwood look like a propeller?

Savannah and Annika exploring on their own! These two are only 2 months apart and they are so cute together. We look forward to many more Seward trips watching the cuties bond.

OK, if the view isn't amazing enough... our campground was right next to this bike path that kept our boys riding, non-stop!

And, there was a bike/skate park right next to our campground. This is Parker's new/used bigger bike and he spent many hours riding up and down those ramps. Then, in between this skate park and our campground... was a brand-new humongous playground. This campsite is a "dream come true" for children (and parents)!

Parker, Gavin and Morgan are savoring every bite of their Gelatto. We look forward to eating Gelatto every summer in Seward... but, this was the first year we had to hurry and eat it before the glorious 75 degree weather melted our treats.

And, here are our favorite camping buddies, the Bacons. You guys are the best- we can't wait 'til our Seward 2010 trip! Thanks for the 3 years of memories. You can see many more '09 pix by visting their Seward post.

campin' menu

Summer is here and the campin' begins! When, Kep and I got married... we loved to go campin'. Now, 7 years later, we still like campin' BUT it's a whole lot more work and the memories are more funny, a few days after the trip- when we've recovered from the lack of sleep! So, in order to make campin' with 3 munchkins a tad-bit more enjoyable... we gave in and bought a cabover camper, we bring a lot more "stuff" to maintain sanity AND we must make our menus more kid-friendly and quick!!!

So, I wanted to share a few "campin' menu websites" with those of you who also like to camp. These 4 sites offer cool, yet simple, recipes other than hotdogs or heated up leftovers. Like... pre-made omelets in Ziploc bags and the bags are then tossed in boiling water. I am all "for" pre-made meals and easy clean-up... cookin' eggs on a campfire pan is messy! So, we will be tryin' out a few new recipes, this weekend, as we venture down to Seward. I'm excited to see how they taste- we'll keep ya posted! Hopin' for... dry weather, yummy food, pleasant memories, and happy toddlers!

Campin' recipe site #1
Campin' recipe site #2
Campin' recipe site #3
Campin' recipe site #4

random pix-mix

On Memorial Day we went to Eklutna Lake, my FAV lake in Alaska, for a family bike ride. Noah got glacier silt on his finger and spread it around his mouth- classic Noah look! This lake is always a great spot for exploring and throwing rocks in the creek/lake!

Kroon clones! This picture doesn't do the lake any justice... in person, it is bright blue with mountains jetting out of it!

Parker rode 4 miles on that li'l bike and as of today... he's a real biker! He finally convinced himself to take the training WHEEL off! For the past couple months, that silly guy was riding around with just one training wheel, even though he was able to balance on the 2 bike wheels. He wanted to keep the training wheel on "just in case he lost his balance"!!! And, for some reason, today was the day he woke up with extra confidence and randomly asked me to take his training wheel off! So, it's off and he's riding around like a champ! Today was... #5... Parker's last day of Li'l Kickers. We had so much fun spending the last 12 Friday mornings with our friends. All our kids got a lot more aggressive!

Savannah's sportin' a new Pebbles due! Her hair is finally long enough to hold a little clippie! She needs practice holding her head still but it's pretty cute once mommy wins the head-bob-shake-clippie-battle!

Ryder is a DAD!

A 3 1/2 year old dad! We got to go visit Ryder's little girl today and she is adorable. She is only one week old and she was soft, sweet, tiny and clean. If only her dad could be some of these, too! Actually, Ryder is a fabulous dog and great with our kiddos.

Here she is, she has Ryder's exact coloring- it was kind-of spooky to see a tiny version of Ryder. Noah wouldn't get within two feet of this cute thing... she scared him!!! I guess Noah prefers the huge/slobbery/stinky ones!

So, I have to share Parker's li'l innocent conversation with me while we were gardening last Friday... it was so cute and I love how my 4 1/2 yr. old is so naive, we'll keep it that way for a while:

Me: Hey Parker, I forgot to tell you that Glacier had a puppy last night.

P: I know that mom, I heard you tell Miss Janelle. She had a girl but the owners wanted a boy and she looks like Ryder. (hmmm, I didn't know he listened to every single word while I talk on the phone!!! ;)) So, mom is Ryder a dad?

Me: Yep, Ryder is a dad. (oh know, was he going to ask more questions on this subject, I wasn't wanting to explain the process, yet!!!)

P: Hmm... so, that means Ryder is a dad and Glacier is a mom, and they have a puppy. That means they are a family. So, why doesn't Ryder live with his family? Families live together!

Me: Parker, you are right... human families live together but God made animal families different.

P: Oh!

And, that was the end of that! Whew! I just thought it was so sweet and innocent that he was confused why Ryder was not with his family!

We are triathletes

I can not believe I am a triathlete! I have never competed in any true competition, so this was a huge deal for me. About 2 months ago, a bunch of us from MOPS and church decided we would "try" a triathlon! We named ourselves the "Valley Rookies". So, most of us joined the gym and started "training" as much as possible. What a blast! Then, we met at the bike course 2 weeks ago to see what we had gotten ourselves into. Here's the practice crew with our Pastor Coach Larry:
Then, we went and set up our bikes and gear, together, the night before the race! We were all a bucket of nerves but it was definitely better to do it with friends!

Here's our long-anticipated wait to jump in the pool. It was such a "kick" waiting there with my teammates, still all-nerves, but the music was fun and we all just wanted to "GO"!

This is me on the bike home stretch and that is Parker cheering me on! I love this picture because it was so fun to have my little guy there- he was all smiles and waves, whenever I came by!

Almost done! What a thrill to enter into that finish line area! Every part of the day was perfect, especially the weather... blue skies, 70s and NO wind!

girlfriends... the only reason I did this race! We all had matching "09" shirts from Old Navy and they were quite the hit with the other triathletes. Everyone looks the same out on the bike course, so it was fun to see your orange teammates from a mile away!

FINISH... that was my favorite word I read all day!

Kep and Parker, my pit crew and pack horses... these were my favorite people I saw all day! I love how my li'l family was so encouraging throughout this whole process. They gave me plenty of time to train- thanks fam.!

So, every part of this triathlon was definitely exhilarating, but this is one of my favorite parts... the shirt, number and cap that you keep at the end!

Go "Valley Rookies"! Now, we have to think of a new name for the 2010 Gold Nugget Triathlon, since we are no longer rookies.

proud of my spandex ridin' hubby!

This is the summer of racing for our li'l family. Kep has always loved to road bike, so this summer he has joined the Arctic Bicycle Club and he is competing in as many road bike races, as possible.

The kiddos and I are excited to be his cheer squad. Parker is daddy's official water boy! Only the first race, the water bottle got dropped so we'll have to practice the bottle hand-off before this week's race.

We are proud of you, dad!

I am in LOVE...

with our weather! We have been blessed with a gorgeous week of blue skies, buds on trees, HOT sunshine AND it hit 75 today! Yippee! This week of weather brings out a different person in me and I suppose that's to be expected since I did spend the first 12 years of my life in the tropics. I am a "native" to warm weather!So, we have been to 3 different parks this week and our swing-set has more hours into it, this week, than all year!

After a full afternoon of sprinkler and pool fun... the boys got their first "Drumstick" ice-cream treats. I thought it was comical how our 2 boys' faces looked so different. That's our Noah... he savors every bite and tries to put the whole thing in his mouth!

Bunny hunters

Kep and the boys went post-Easter bunny hunting last night! I am "such a mom", as Kep always tells me! I can't imagine shooting an adorable, sweet, white, fluffy bunny... especially, after "he" delivered treats last week! But, the boys had a blast!

We bought a camper back in February and Kep has been dying to take the boys out on their first bunny-hunt-overnight. Unfortunately, he forgot to take our camera so we only have these photos in our driveway. They only saw 3 bunnies on their morning hike and shot all 3! It was so cute to get Parker's call on their way home (aren't little kids' voices so sweet on the phone!?!). He was pumped to tell me they shot 3 bunnies and that one was really bloody. I, of course, was "that" mom and asked my boy "Did that make you sad to kill a cute bunny?" But, Parker made his dad proud, "No WAY, it was fun, mom!"

So, Parker and Kep are figuring out how to skin these bunnies so they can hang one or two of them in the garage (where they belong!).

(I told them to do something "silly" and Parker opted to stick out his tongue- normally we don't do that!!! Oh, and notice Parker is wearing gloves, yep, that would be our "first-born"... didn't want to touch any possibility of blood!)

Savannah is UNO

I can't believe our little girl is now 1! Here she is with Parker opening her first present from her cousins! Presents were definitely a hit for our sweet one-year old and her brothers were a big help.

Savannah's kitchen made with 3 1/2 hours of love from her 3 boys! Parker and Noah love playing with it, too!

Savannah's first tea set, it sings and makes cute noises!

I wanted to have a flower party for Savannah. My favorite pie is French Silk Pie, so I had a grand thought of helping Savannah, too, LOVE this pie starting at 1! So, this is my attempt to be creative and make a flower out of mini-pies with a pink whip cream center.

Savannah wasn't too sure what to do with the sticky fingers.

Now, she's OK with the mess- it's yummy!

French Silk Pies make for a great 1st year photo op!