Week Seven....Not Much Rhymes With Seven

I know that we are actually entering week nine, but let's take a trip back in time. (Precisely two weeks to be exact.)

Our activity for the week was Balloon Ping pong. Instructions say to tape a popsicle stick to a paper plate. Well, I thought a paint stirrer might be better, but we could only find the HUGE paint stirrers. Therefore, we had massive paddles. It was great fun.

Oh, let's take a closer look at those snazzy glasses Robyn is sporting.

She is the first one to try glasses without nose pads. They are cute, but I don't see her wear them often, so I'm guessing she prefers the nose pads too.

K. Back to balloons. (Can you see the epic battle in the background?)

Ivory blew up her first balloon by herself. She was so proud.

Pearl was working really hard. It won't be long before she can do her own. (I leave inflation to the kids because I still am not very good at it.)

Our field trip was to the pool for Daisy's big day. (Not pictured.)

The next day we did chalk drawings. The only problem was the heat. We tried going out early in the day and taking hats.

But it still got hot quickly and most people ditched after putting in some effort.

I still liked our creations. June did snowflakes. (She must have been wishing for a cooler setting.)

Daisy made a nice scene. I really like her kite.

Ivory opted for one of the favorites: The train city. You can see she labeled all the stops, such as gas, clothing, ice cream, etc.

This astronomy scene, done by Robyn, was fantastic.

Pearl worked hard in her area. She is getting much better at drawing recognizable objects. (Just maybe not here.)

I had my own section as well. Can you tell what it is?

I can see the lion, but then again, I drew it. Tyler could only see a fire. No creative imagination, I tell you.

June went out to draw one more snowflake later on and I took a picture because I was not sure how the sidewalk would fair in the evening with the sprinklers.

Sure enough. The sprinklers wiped out almost everything. You could see a little of Robyn's and Ivory's, but all else was a blur. Note to self: Draw in the driveway next time.

Thursday our treat was Butterscotch Fluffernutter Krispy Bars. Whew, that is a mouthful. But a mouthful of deliciousness. They have a peanut butter cookie base, a layer of gooey marshmallow, and then butterscotch krispies on top. It was tricky to get the krispy layer on top of the marshmallow. It was like a weird water bed.

And there were pockets of marshmallow when we cut it into bars. The kids loved them.

Friday we watched The Lego Movie. Everyone loved it and I still hear the kids quoting it. Not to mention, I sang 'Everything is Awesome' for a week straight. Really, it is catchy. As Emmett says, "I could sing this song for hours."

Other things that happened this week:

Tyler tried to fix the camera.
(+) He got a cool new toy to use in the fixing process.

(-) It didn't actually work. We are pretty sure he installed the new LCD screen correctly, which means that there might be more damage to the camera than originally thought. Blub.

We also went to the Bean Museum on a whim one night. Tyler had not been, so we packed into the car and made it just in time for their animal show. We learned many interesting things. We also got to see Cuddles, the snake, Topper, the hinged-back tortoise, and Gwen, a tarantula. They let everyone touch the snake on the way out. (Thank goodness Gwen remained in her cage.) We don't want a repeat of this.

We explored after for a bit and I asked Tyler where he wanted to take a group. Why...by the happiest taxidermied animal in history, he said.

Would you like a closer look at the exultant arctic fox? He really is feeling no pain.

Then we played on the gargantuan elevator.

Tyler tried to look like this statue.

But this guy did a better job. (Tyler took this photo on the sly, and I laughed and laughed when I saw it. Pretty good likeness I say.)

And thus ends another week in the history of Cazier. August is right around the corner. School supplies are in the stores. We can't stop playing yet....

A Daisy By Any Other Name Would Be As Sweet

Daisy is such a delightful child. I am so happy that she is a part of our family. I do have slight guilt about her summer birthday woes. (I don't think she has had a friend party yet. She has friends at school, but I am too lazy to find people during the summer.) I guess there are good and bad things about summer birthdays. She never has to go to school. And this year, we actually went swimming on her birthday. (Like I promised last year and never delivered.)

But I get ahead. This needs a little back story. I try to make sure that I am ready a week before a birthday arrives. I like to know what I am making (or buying) cake wise. I like presents to be on sight. I like to have a plan of action. Depending on what occurs directly before a birthday, this doesn't always happen. Like, take for instance, going on a huge vacation right before a birthday. It may be that I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been this time around.

I had gotten some of Daisy's gifts beforehand, but I was still missing a few when we came back from WA. I jumped on Amazon and ordered a few things on Sunday, but I missed my window of opportunity and they were scheduled to come a day late. Phooey. So we divided her presents up and had some early, some on time, and some late. (It makes sense in my head.)

DAY 1

My parents had brought over a huge farm set. I finally put it together for all the kids, but I bought Daisy some magical crystal horses to use with it. We set it up during the day and wouldn't let her go downstairs. Then we blindfolded her for the big reveal. (Great blindfold huh?)

Ta-da!

She had a great time playing with the horses and waiting for her real birthday to arrive.

DAY 2 (Actual birthday)

Measured birthday girl first thing in the morning.

Any guesses on which kid will be the tall sister? In fact, I've mentioned before that Daisy is catching up to Ivory rapidly. Well, Daisy put on Ivory's heels that morning and suddenly they were the same height. I give it a year and I think they will be the same size.

Daisy is such a great kid. I can't believe she is already six.

We went swimming for Daisy's birthday. It was really fun and we all had a blast. I was in the water too, so no pictures. But we did stop for balloons on the way home.

Daisy requested brownies instead of cake.

Oddly, this candle looks very familiar to last year. I was suddenly worried that I had never made her a real cake, but you can all rest easy. She had one of my most elaborate cakes back in the past.

I think Daisy requests the number candle because it is much easier to get your wish.

Present opening again. Beanie Boos are a huge hit at our house right now. Daisy named her sea turtle 'Squiggles' and she loves him.

Ivory got Daisy a to-be-colored-bag. If I weren't so lazy, I would go find it and take a picture so you could see how cool it looks currently. But the broken camera thing is really cramping my style. (Oh, and I'm lazy. Did I mention that?)

DAY 3

What? More presents? Will it never end? Daisy loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So we got her some figurines.

And Grandma Dargan got her some coloring books. She was thrilled.

I think Daisy had a great birthday covering three days. Next year I think I will try and do a friend party for her. It is about time.

(p.s. Someone remind me please.)

The End of the Line

Our time in Washington seemed to go by too quickly. We had such a good time with my family. We played lots of games, commandeered plenty of electronic devices (thanks everyone for sharing) and enjoyed spending time with everyone.

Miranda was especially fantastic with the kids. I'm not sure if they ever left her alone. There was almost always someone on her computer or down in her room. She was so generous and nice to the kids. (How many games of ping pong did you play?)

Tim and G'ma played lots of games with us. (Actually, so did Miranda.) The last night we played until it was absolutely necessary that I go to bed. (Or pass out driving the next day.) Thanks again G'ma for letting us take some games home. Forbidden Island has been a big hit.

Thanks G'pa for taking out time for us as well. I know you are busy, but your grandchildren will never be these ages again.

I was terrible about taking pictures at the house. I think the only one we got was this one, while I was dutifully blogging. (Notice that Tyler took it.)

Like I mentioned before, we took the early bird route home. Tyler had us on the road by 4 am. He drives the early shift and I take over around breakfast time. I do get bored while he sleeps, even though the kids make plenty of noise. I did strange exercises while we drove and checked the Odometer for matching numbers.

Also, look how well I have been doing on the license plate game. (Although I got Kentucky since being back.) Tyler designed it for me.

Sometime in the afternoon we stopped to see our weird thing. It was a wall of 1000 pennies. The original design was put up high, but people have added below it.

There is a sign saying you can make a wish and put a penny on the wall, and if someone takes your penny off they need to fulfill your wish.

We didn't have any glue with us, so we just checked out the other designs. It was down an alleyway and gratefully in the shade.

On the way back, we stopped by this bull. Ha ha, June looks like she is meditating.

It was super hot, so we didn't stay long, because the metal was burning our skin.

We made it safely to Idaho in time for Pie with J.R. It was his birthday that weekend and Jami made pie for everyone. It was delicious and great to play games with family again.

We didn't take any pictures until it was about time to leave the next day. Look, everyone is happy even though we are getting in the car....again.

Thanks (other) G'ma and G'pa for letting us crash there whenever we visit or come through.

There was another new addition this trip. (I've lost track of how many dogs the Cazier's have had over the years. Some last longer than others.) This is Pipsqueak.

She is a cutie and much like Gizmo. (Who has been there a long time.) I'm thinking she will fit in nicely.

And then (after 3 and a half more hours) we finally arrived HOME!! Hello house. Hello weeds. Hello bed. We have missed most of you. Sure is nice to be home. (You know...except for the part where I broke the camera. Plan on a lot of phone pictures for a while.)

The Neilsen's and The Seattle (a.k.a. I Had a Hot Date)

I have pondered off and on (on this blog even) the status of my adulthood. I am raising children. I pay taxes. (Through my husband.) I clean up puke. I do laundry EVERY. DAY. I have white hair. (Lots.) I think most of these things qualify me as an adult.

I like most of the things about being an adult. (Not so much the laundry. You would think cleaning up puke would come higher on that list, but usually the two are related. I'm not sure I have ever had a child full-out puke without hitting something that needed to go in the washing machine moments later.) I can tell you one thing I don't like: being responsible. (Well, I like that most of the time.) You know...you have kids, then you have to feed and clothe them. This usually means keeping a steady income and guys tend to move where they can get a good job. Sometimes this means that people you love move away--hundreds of miles away. That stinks.

Not that this didn't happen when I was a kid. I had friends move away. But I wasn't as close to them, and it wasn't their choice. (Their evil responsible parents made them move.) Now when people move, it hurts a bit more. Added to that is the knowledge that we won't be as close. Not just physically, that is obvious...but there is something about living nearby that connects you. You see the same people, you shop at similar stores. You hear the same things on the news. (Assuming you ever watch the news.) You see them at church. (I miss that.)

About a year and a half ago, the Neilsen's moved. Here is Camille in the middle with me.

They moved far away. Sad. But they moved to Washington where my family lives. Happy. If you can't see someone anymore, the next best thing is when they move somewhere you are bound to visit.

So, you'd better believe we went to see the Neilsen's while we were in Washington. Eric now works for a little company called Amazon.com. He lives right in the heart of Seattle. They were so nice to invite the whole family up to swim and have dinner. The girls had a blast.

We played 'chicken' once or twice. Camille snapped a photo while Robyn was still sitting on Tyler. (Many of these pictures were stolen from Camille.)

Check out this cute Neilsen family. I miss them all.

We chatted away, but eventually kids had to be in bed. So Tyler and I made plans to come back the next day, just the adults (oooh, there is an adult perk) and hang out again.

Thanks to my parents (and Miranda) for taking the kids for the afternoon/evening and letting two tired parents have a night out on the town. We went and bummed around Pike's Place.

The bustle of the crowds is unfamiliar now, but I still love the fresh flowers. That is always my favorite part. I wish they had something like that here in Utah.

Pretty incredible view as well.

After perusing the market, we went down to the pier. It was really a lovely day. (Seriously, sunny skies the whole week.) I stopped to chat with a squid.

If we had had more time we might have taken a voyage around the harbor. Instead, we just took a picture by the water.

We walked and talked. It is nice to still be in love with the man I married. Sometimes it doesn't matter where I am. It just matters that I am with him.

We eventually met up with the Neilsen's to have dinner. They took us to this great Indian restaurant. Delish!

Then the plan was to go sailing. I'm amazed with how easily Camille and Eric can navigate the city now. They seemed right at home. We jumped on a train and rode it to Lake Union.

Sadly, we got there right after they closed the boat rentals. They stop rentals at a certain time and then request boats to be back at the docks an hour later. We just missed it. And we could have gone on one of these.

That picture is not in Washington, to be clear. That is just what a paddle board looks like. Guaranteed I could fall off one of those easily. Eric was really going to take us true sailing. He has been taking classes. I stole this picture from Camille too.

Doesn't it look fun? We'll have to go next time we're in town. I'm already making my bucket list for my next WA trip.

So, with sailing out, we opted for dessert instead. It was Eric's birthday, but somehow we ordered the most chocolatey thing on the menu to share. (Eric doesn't like chocolate.) The company was sweet enough. I know it looks like we are in a bar, but it is a restaurant and we just happened to take the picture by the liquor wall.

Then it was time to say goodbye. It was hard, but made sweeter by the fact that I know next time we get together, it will be just like old times. (It is always easy to jump right back into a conversation with the Neilsen's.) Plus, they are coming our way in August...so I really don't have to wait that long.

We didn't get to stay as late as we liked, because we were leaving the next morning to head back to lovely Utah. (That meant another 4am departure time.)

Wow. Almost back to real life and the normal schedule. (As if anything is very normal around here.)