Date Night!

We actually went out for dinner tonight. It was a thing of beauty. Full disclosure, it was the annual CMBell holiday dinner, but that totally counts. We got to go to Whitehouse Crawford and enjoyed a wonderful meal with great company. Zeke was not excited about us leaving in the evening, but since he had Mishayla with him, he wasn't going to complain.

Walla Walla County Fair

 The baby chicks are always popular with the kiddos.

Trying out the deep-fried zucchini.

This ride is a little slow for the boys.

The fair has been going since Wednesday, and we finally got around to dropping by. Mostly, we just wanted to get some deep-fried zucchini, but also Zeke wanted to see the animals and we thought we might see if he liked riding the rides.

Success on all fronts! Zeke specifically requested seeing the pigs. The food was great, and we didn't eat too much, so that made it even better. He was tall enough to ride some of the kiddie rides, so Robb took him on three. First they tried a little "hot air balloon" ride and it was pretty slow and Zeke appeared to have a good time, but was maybe a little bored. He really wanted to go on the Raiders one because it had a huge slide at the end, so they did that one. Then they rode on the RockinTub and both had huge smiles on their faces.

Zeke's Birthday Surprise

Helping daddy fill the pool is part of the fun.

The inflatable friends try out the slide first.

Since they sustained no visible damage, Zeke gives it a try.

For his second birthday, we got Zeke his very own little wading pool with slide. After playing in Kennedi's all morning (and crying when we left) I told him that he would have to ask his daddy for a pool. He practiced all afternoon saying "pease, dada. immin ool" and got pretty good.

So, this morning we set it up and let him have a go at it. It isn't quite his birthday, but I'm not sure that mattered to him as he frolicked and splashed.

At Home Waterpark (Take Two)

First time down the slide.

Zeke kept trying to drag the little wading pool in with him as well. Apparently he had some plan for a more complex pool...

Kennedi got this awesome whale pool for her second birthday and invited Zeke over for a play date this morning. (This may be a few steps classier than our Front Yard Waterpark from last summer.) The kids were so adorable splashing and playing. Zeke had a pretty hard time leaving. Thanks to the Terrys for sharing their fun!

As You Like It

We got to catch part of a play today. Everett was in a production of As You Like It. Okay, so he was technically in the chorus or something, but it was fun to see him all dressed up. Zeke liked all the costumes and music and action on stage and then ended up drawing pictures for the "boring" talking parts of the play.

The Wild Bunch

 McKenna shows off her chalk skills.

Robb was hanging out with the kids on the back patio when the rest of us started noticing a strange phenomenon. Little people with bizarre face art kept running in to look at themselves in the mirror. I guess they got bored of coloring the concrete and moved on to the fence. When that was no longer interesting, the moved on to cuter canvases.

Impromptu Floatery

Getting a late start Friday we wanted to get on the river real quick like. going down the frigid river until we were shaking in our boots. Setting up camp in a frozen rush Corren got a fire blazing while I set up the tent. That next morning with ice clinging to EVERYTHING we ate beautiful fluffy pancakes with sweet, sweet maple surup. Once the sun warmed stuffs up a bit and after the river otters checked us trespassers out we were on the river once again. With our stomachs full of wonder and our bodies feeling like non ice cubes we were off! And 6 hours later we were off again! Home that is. It was really fun.

Mahurin Shake-Face

We were excited to have the Mahurins over for a fun Saturday night. And somehow, we ended up with a portfolio of shake-face pictures. Love you guys.

Disney Magic Birthday

Beast, Chip and a very surprised Belle.

Bert, Tinkerbelle, and pirate and a princess.
And a mini Captain Hook and his underling, Smee.

Belle poses with some of her besties; Jiminy Cricket, The Big Bad Wolf and Pocahontas.

And Cruella De Vil, Woody and Tinkerbelle.

For Nelita's 30th birthday party, David choose a classic Disney theme. We all scrambled to come up with the right costumes, and then assembled to surprise Nel tonight. There was some great food and treats from the Patisserie. athen some hilarious Just Dance 3!

AquaDoodle!

Zeke got to play with Kennedi's AquaDoodle last week and was hooked. Since he loves to draw, he is always trying to get his hands on pens and pencils, but he can't be trusted with them. This is the perfect solution, a refillable water pen that "draws" on a plastic mat.

Robb ordered one right away and it go here today. I admit I had a hard time giving up the pen to Zeke. It's fun.

Hurricane Simulator

After golfing, we spent some time in the arcade. Zeke and I decided to check out this hurricane simulator and he was really brave.

Adventures in Mini-Golf

Jordan gives us some competitive attitude.

Zeke loves holding the club.

But his favorite part is retrieving the golf balls.

If I have ever been mini-golfing, I can't remember when it was. But this was pretty fun. Ezekiel was way better than me, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't done it before either.

Windy Days

Oh, how he loves him some slides!

And anything that flies in the skies.

With the wind picking up and the trees bending by the force not everyone scurries for cover. There are a few people out there that get really excited about flying a kite. David is one of those people and I'm okay with that, being a little weird myself. I think the boy might be a little tweaked as well.