"Explorer Spirit…Servant Heart…"
Jul 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
Grandpa Randy and Grandma Margaret’s house was a tween boys dream this year. Grandpa brought out his homemade bows and arrows and the boys got to practice archery, (along with dramatic deaths…). They also got to set up a tipi and sleep outside while we were there!
One our trip back to Seattle, we had dinner at our friends, Scott and Liann. Stopped by Snoqualmie Falls to see how they are running during this hot summer….
Jul 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
We have a tradition of having a family weekend over the 4th of July at Lake Chelan in WA state. It includes a themed costume party based on a state. This year’s was ‘Washington’!
Due to an incredible warm summer, the lake was the perfect temperature. Refreshingly cool, but not cold. Here is DH and ‘A’ in the lake…
All the boys and video time….
My awesome cousins…
This photo is one of my favorites. (Almost) all the adults are in the lake, including my (fully clothed) aunt, who spontaneously jumped in!
Party time
‘R’ was a Seahawks fan….
‘A’, a literal ‘Space Needle’…
Our Starbuck mermaid, and a Seahawk…
Our little rain cloud…
Seahawks representing!
Sleepless in Seattle, and a cherry picker…
Husky and Pike Place Market Fish man!
A house divided 🙂
Starbucks latte and Seattle Sounder!
Heeeere’s Jimi!
The Mt. Vernon Tulip Fields and Jimi Hendrix…
All the boys…
…and the girls…
Jul 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
First stop on our annual WA/ID summer trip was to visit my family on my Dad’s side. My uncle Bob and auntie DeeDee hosted an amazing dinner (the halibut filet was the size of a decorative pillow!) at their condo. These are views from their property. It was a gorgeous evening, and a sweet time reconnecting with family.
Jun 17th, 2015 by leigharev2
DH had a convention at the Disney Dolphin. Hmmmm….should the family join him, we ask?
OH YEAH!!
At first, we thought we might just join him for the few days that the convention ran. Then, our wheels started turning….
…what if we transferred our Maui timeshare to Orlando?
…what if we used air miles for the boys’ air?
…what if we stayed the maximum dates we can at the convention hotel rate?
Then, we started looking at our not so little boys and realized this was the perfect time to take them to Disney…
…they were old enough to handle long days and a lot of walking…
…they were still young enough to appreciate the magic of Disney…
Before we knew it, an epic trip was planned.
Our flight had a quick stop in Seattle; enough time to have a dinner with Dado and Dada. We met at Anthony’s Homeport on the waterfront and had terrific dinner and sweet, albeit quick visit.
The first place we stayed at was the Sheraton Vistana Resort. This was the exchange we made for our Maui timeshare. We were able to get into a lovely two bedroom condo. This is the view from our screened in balcony.
We started our adventure with two days at Universal Studios. The rides were intense!
Entering Harry Potter’s World Hogsmeade…
Yum! Butterbeer! (This is the beverage Harry Potter and friends drink. It’s like a caramel cream slushie with heavy whipping cream on top…
A talking wishing well.The boys had quite the conversation with him.
Humidity hair…
A mama duck and her babies were nestled at the foot of our stairwell…
The Blues Brothers jam!
Oh, the excitement! Getting ready to enter Diagon Alley!
Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, and yes, more Butterbeer…
The dragon hovering over Diagon Alley…
After two full days in the muggy Florida heat, sharing space with half of America, and walking an average of eight miles a day, our bodies were beat! But, we were having a blast!
Paul and Kelly joined us for the rest of the adventure. Paul works with David and helped him with the convention. Kelly works for a company that got us a great deal where we paid for three days at Disney and got four free, including the hopper (ability to go from park to park), and the two Disney water parks!
Welcome to Magic Kingdom!
Princess Ears!
Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse…
The boys in the Mad Hatter Teacups…
Antee Sara and her boyfriend Charlie, joined us for the weekend. We attended during the Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios and got to see our fill of Star Wars characters! Hollywood Studios has a drawing class you can take and make a Disney character. We all took the class and made ‘Sith Donald’, (in honor of the Star Wars weekend…)
Paul and Kelly, heading toward the Tower of Terror (one of the best rides EVER, (imo…)
My other set of ears! 
Charlie and Sara in “San Francisco”…
Antee Sara and me!
“These are not the droids you’re looking for…”
Animal Kingdom!
The magnificent Tree of Life; a decorative tree that is at the center of Animal Kingdom.
Back at Magic Kingdom for Fireworks and Electric Parade…
Paul and Kelly with a huge ice cream cookie sandwich…
Epcot. Getting ready to for on Mission: Space….
A huge eel at the ‘Seas’ exhibit…
Getting ready to go into Spaceship Earth at Epcot.
Lunch at Fulton’s Crab House at Downtown Disney. ‘A’ and I shared a seafood platter. ‘R’ wanted nothing to do with it…
‘A’ and I took a walk along the hotel grounds of the second property we stayed at…
the Disney Dolphin. We enjoy hanging out in some hammocks until awesome thunderstorm hit.
.
Epcot Test Track. The boys worked together to create a virtual race car, then competed agains other racers. They did great!
Visiting Epcot’s World Showcase. Here we are in ‘France’ and ‘Japan’….
…pretzels in ‘Germany’…
Take a look at these two photos of Kelly. They were taken one second apart. She had a multicolored flashing ice cube in her drink!
Another round of Hollywood Studios and the Tower of Terror!
Waiting for the Indiana Jones Action Show to begin….
We needed a vacation from our vacation, but it was tooooottttaaallllyyyy worth it!
May 30th, 2015 by leigharev2
I was getting back on track with running. My friend Crystal and I had built a good routine of running, and weight training at a local gym.
While running back from a workout, I tripped and went down…HARD. Face planted on concrete. Scraped and bruised my knees; but my face took the brunt of it…
Right after the fall…
Day two… whole left side of face swollen, including lip…
Day five…I went into the doctor on day three to make sure I did not damage my eye. Everything looks good. I just need to heal the soft tissues.
May 30th, 2015 by leigharev2
Tim and his boys joined us for a week over Memorial Day weekend. The boys spent the week plain video games, and collaborating on making movies. We saw the movie ‘Tomorrowland’ in the theater, and had a great time just hanging out!
Congratulations to ‘A’ and ‘R’ for receiving their ‘Candidate” belt. They are now candidates for black belt. We anticipate this will happen in a year.
May 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
My guys indulged me and went to see the Broadway production of ‘Cinderella’. ‘A’ kept reminding me that it was pretty “girlie”, but we all agreed that the amazing quick costume changes, and set transitions were worth watching. This is a picture of us, with my friend Christie, and her girls next to her. My other friend Stacy and her family were on the other side of us…
Here is a You Tube video of the Cinderella quick costume change. Pay attention!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-lEAHwCaS4
May 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
I love her. She gets a kick when I chew gum and blow bubbles. Now I need to keep gum with me so I can entertain her.
May 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
My wonderful friend, and our homeschool group Activities Lead, Carrie, arranged a weekend camping trip to Collins Lake! We had about 13 families join. It was a terrific start to summer fun!
DH started the day with a devotional on Saturday, (Danny C. took care of Sunday).
Here is Carrie, explaining the rules of the Scavenger Hunt..
TEAM TACO TOOK FIRST PLACE!
Two of the dads, one kids, and a fish that one of the girls caught!
We love our friends, Chris and Shanti!
The extremely talented Miss ‘E’ (standing R), did special braids for us…
Skit night. The boys faces are dirty as a part of their characters. Carrie had made a bunch of ‘skit kits’, which just contained about five random items. The teams had to incorporate these items into the skits. It turned out amazing! The kids were so creative and the skits were unique, and hilarious!
S’mores bar. We roasted marshmallows and Peeps and served with a variety of candies and cookies. The kids spent the rest of the evening running off the sugar, wearing glow stick accessories!
May 29th, 2015 by leigharev2
My fine fellas said I could do anything and go anywhere for Mother’s Day. My response…I want to do Nothing, and go NOWHERE.
I spent the day watching movies and catching up on TV episode. DH handled all the meals, and the boys waited on me hand and foot! It was such a treat to step out of all the activity of our life and just have a “down” day, without being sick or feeling guilty!
Some sweet notes…
