HAPPY 33RD BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

That Time of Year Again

It's that time of year again where Pete heads out of state for a work convention while I am left behind to be a 'single mom' for a week. This Sunday we will drop Pete off at Sea-Tac so he can attend AWWA, which is being held in Washington, D.C. this year. He'll be there until the following Wednesday at noon. Shortly after that, my dad will then drive out there to pick him up and take back to Virginia to visit with my dad and siblings. I'm a bit jealous of this in particular. Not only would I love to go visit D.C., but also visit with family who some I've only seen once my whole life, and some who I haven't met at all. I told Pete to take lots of pictures. He'll then fly back home that Saturday. I need to work this week on making sure everything is packed and ready to go for him. It sucks too that he is leaving this Sunday, which happens to be our wedding anniversary. I was hoping we could at least celebrate it this Friday or Saturday, but we don't even have a babysitter lined up to watch our kids to even think about planning something. Oh well....

We had an amazing day today! It was another hot, sunny day for us. We decided to pack a picnic lunch and head to the beach for the day. After being cooped up in the house with rainy weather for the longest time, we finally felt 'alive' as we bathed in the sun! We took a walk on the beach, looking for sea life and sea shells. Searching for sea shells is one of mine and Kristjan's favorite thing to do at the beach. There was a low tide today so we lucked out and found lots of shells. We all played in the water and in the sand. Between yesterday and today, we all got a bit of a sunburn. The boys look really good with finally getting some color on their face and bodies, and their hair is already turning a lighter blonde. After the beach, we came home to bbq some steaks for dinner. This was a great end to a great weekend. It's so exciting that summer has finally arrived!!

Such a beautiful day and a gorgeous view!


Eating our picnic lunch, and then getting sprayed down with some sun screen.


Going on a walk down the beach









I caught a shrimp!
Some type of fish we found swimming in one of the tide pools on our walk. Took a quick pic before we let the fish swim away.
Star Fish!

We found two live crabs! This was exciting because we always find dead ones on the beach

Party Time at the Nielsen House!

Saturday we had a bbq party with friends and family to celebrate Pete's 33rd birthday. I forgot to pick up some batteries for my camera, so sadly I wasn't able to take pics (though our friend Michelle did. I'm working on getting a copy from her). We had a blast. The weather was fantastic: sun shining and over 70 degrees out! Daniel 'n Jessica with boys came, as well as Gordon 'n Michelle, Michelle's sister Jessica, and the Parker brothers, Nic 'n Nate. Aunt Janet and Franie stopped by for a short visit. It was so nice to see them! The food was delicious, as always. Pete smoked a whole chicken, and Daniel brought 5 or 6 racks of ribs for Pete to smoke as well. I was in charge of the side dishes, which everyone must have liked because there were hardly any leftovers. For dessert Pete made two strawberry chocolate eclair fantasies (they were the size of a pie). We sang 'Happy Birthday' while Daniel brought out one of the desserts with a candle on it. The outside pool opened for the season this weekend, so a majority of us went swimming (it was refreshing after sitting out in the hot sun all day). All the boys ran around playing outside, and had a blast playing and rough housing with Nic and Nate (both brothers are single w/o kids, but they were surprisingly awesome with the kids, even with baby Donavan). We socialized late into the evening. We put kids to bed way past their bedtime, then the adults watched 'The Hangover 2" (we had it downloaded). The party finally ended after midnight. We had so much fun and loved hanging out with an awesome group of friends.

The link below is to one of the pictures Michelle took and uploaded to her facebook. It's Pete holding his birthday gift from Gordon and Michelle. It's so Pete won't burn his hand again :)

(sorry, you might have to copy and paste the web address. blogger is being finicky for me to turn it into a link)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150202980915108&set=a.10150202978810108.314551.722225107&type=1&theater

School Carnival

Last Friday evening at Clifford's school was the annual Carnival. Earlier in the week I sent Clifford to school with $6 to purchase carnival tickets during the presale, where tickets were 5 for a $1 (whereas 4 for a $1 the night of). We ate dinner there, enjoying some hotdogs, pizza, nachos and pop between the four of us. We gave the boys fifteen tickets each to do what they like. They played some games and jumped in one of three bouncy houses. We bought some kettle corn to munch on (which was delicious!). There was also a silent auction to help raise money for the new playground equipment, though I didn't bid on anything. The carnival was a three hour event, but we only stayed for an hour. While I talked with another parent, Pete took the boys in to cash in their 'winning' tickets from the games they played for prizes. I took a few pictures, but I didn't realize the batteries were about to die, so the quantity and quality aren't the best. But you can see how much fun the boys had from the smiles on their faces :)

Kristjan's watch "dog"

This is what we saw when Pete and I went into the boys' bedroom to check on them before we went to bed ourselves. Kristjan's stuffed porcupine with a glove on its head, sitting on top of the bedframe watching over Kristjan as he sleeps. Maybe only Pete and I can find the humor, but this is so typical Kristjan, doing something silly like this. We cracked up laughing.

Kindergarten Concert

We went to Clifford's school for his open house and kindergarten concert. He showed us around his classroom, telling us about the different stations he can pick from during 'free play', as well as some artwork he recently did. Since we arrived a little early, Pete and I were able to talk with his teacher Mrs. Castelle for a bit. She had all good things to say about Clifford, telling us again how smart and popular he is. We also had a chance to meet Bella's (Clifford's girlfriend) mom and grandmother. When we introduced ourselves as Clifford's parents, both were like "Oh, we know all about Clifford." All Bella talks about is Clifford. And come to find out, Bella has made two books at home detailing about her marriage to Clifford!!! How cute!!!! I was able to get a pic of the two 'lovebirds'.

The concert itself was a hoot, as you can imagine watching a total of four kindergarten classes singing together up on stage. Some of the other kids were entertaining to watch. Sadly, after observing Clifford, he has no rhythm (haha)! But he still did an amazing job singing. I really can't believe that we're already going to our children's concert performances at school. I can remember attending my own concerts as a kindergartener. And wasn't it just yesterday that he was a little toddler, running around in a diaper?! Time is flying by. Pete and I are enjoying the new adventures with our boys, such as this.

Clifford as we arrived at the school for his open house and concert. Such a handsome young man!
Clifford is explaining his 'job' in the class. He grabs hand wipes and wipes down the tables after lunch.
Clifford and (girlfriend) Bella!!! Isn't she cute?!
Clifford with his teacher Mrs. Castelle. She is such a wonderful teacher. And I know she thinks highly of Clifford. I requested her for Kristjan's teacher next year. Keep fingers cross!
Here is Clifford walking into the gym with his class. See how the kids are clasping their hands? They were instructed not to wave but to just smile at their families. When no one was looking, Clifford did quickly wave at us. It was cute, though, watching all these little kids trying so hard not to wave.
Here are some pics of Clifford up on stage. Sorry the pictures aren't of the best quality. The camera we brought with us doesn't do as good as a job as our other one.

Father Son Bonding Time

Here is what a typical evening in the Nielsen household looks like. Pete and boys rough housing. Looks more like Pete 'torturing' the boys :)

Rockin' Out

Here's Kristjan painting his rocks he found and hiked down from camping over the weekend. He harassed me to let him paint his rocks ever since he came home. After we walked Clifford to school I set up my paints for him. It kept him quiet and busy for a bit.