Misc Summer Pics

Kristjan swimming without his life jacket!! (it didn't last long. he eventually put it back on. he's too finicky)
Kristjan looks like a little monkey

Pete and Clifford making some homemade ice cream together
Clifford stirring the ice cream
Some delicious chicken kabobs I made up to BBQ. Yum! Yum!
Clifford and Kristjan having a picnic outside for dinner

Mountain View Blueberries

I'm not a fan of eating blueberries, but I LOVE picking them. When we first moved over to the westside I wanted to take advantage of all the fun activities to do over here. One of them was picking blueberries. Our favorite spot is at Mountain View Farm out in Snohomish County. Every summer for the last three years I take the boys there at the start of the season. We typically pick just one bucket full. In the future, I hope to have enough freezer space to be able to pick more than just one bucket. Last Thursday I took the boys down for our yearly picking. It was lots of fun. We took our berries home to wash and prep them for freezing. The boys like blueberries in their oatmeal, and I love baking fresh blueberry muffins in the fall. I'm hoping to go back to the farm this weekend to pick some more and make a fresh blueberry pie from a recipe I came across.

Moving Postponed

UGGHH!!!! We were suppose to move in today, but moving into the new place is postponed for right now. All went well in the beginning. When Pete came home from work we headed down to sign our new lease and pick up keys. With keys in hand, we walked over to the new apartment to check it out. It was GROSS!!!! There's a mile long list of what was wrong with the place. I'll just ramble on some of the highlights.

*The entire place wasn't repainted. On what was repainted, it was repainted a completely different color. Trim wasn't painted at all.
*There was a dead gecko on the living room floor! Plus, as you walked through the place, there were dead bugs stuck to the ceiling and in corners.
*As soon as you walk into the main bathroom, you can tell there was a huge hole in the wall. Whoever tried fixing it did a crappy job. As soon as moisture hits the wall you could tell it would cave in!!
*Sinks, tubs, toilets weren't clean.
*There's disgusting gunk and stains on the ceiling for the boys' room
*None of the shelves in the closet were cleaned. Seriously, they were filthy!! Disgusting!!!
*There was a mysterious puddle on the floor in the master bathroom.

We couldn't believe that maintenance did such a piss poor job. What's even more frustrating was the main guy in charge of cleaning up the apartment was the same guy who lived there and just moved out!!! So after walking through and leaving in disgust, I took the boys home to play while Pete went back to talk the head manager. He had her come do a walk through of the place with him. She was disgusted as well. So come tomorrow, she's going to take the head maintenance guy over there to discuss the apartment and have him fix everything. We're not really sure how long it's going to take. We technically could start moving stuff over if we wanted to, but since they have to repaint, there's no point in moving our stuff over and having it in the way. And I'm frustrated because I planned on moving boxes over this evening and start unpacking. Now I'm stuck with everything in boxes and a messy house.

Dorothy Lake

Here's some pics from Pete's last backpacking trip with Daniel. They hiked in Friday evening. Saturday they paddled over to an island where they stayed and fished until Monday. Looks like they had tons of fun!

Add Fish to the List

Kristjan and Clifford had their check-up at the allergist yesterday. It was also time for their yearly 'prick test' to be done. Since Clifford's allergies are environmental and won't really change, he was spared from getting the test done. Kristjan, however, wasn't so lucky. There were a few new food/environmental ones we wanted Kristjan tested for. We added a few farm animals and all fin fish to the list. We also retested pecan (he didn't pop for that last time), and also added pine nuts. Pete was a little frustrated with the results. Pine nuts was borderline, and Pecans didn't pop again. Kristjan is also allergic to goat, which the doctor also said he was pretty sure then that he would be allergic to horse and cattle as well. As for fin fish-he popped big time, especially for trout and salmon (the others popped too but not as severely). Pete's definitely not happy about the fish allergy. He was actually planning on taking us camping next weekend up to a lake and catch some trout for our dinner (good thing Kristjan got tested before that trip!!). So now the next step we take with Kristjan is have his blood tested for a 'purer' result against peanuts, tree nuts, farm animals, fin fish and shell fish. After those results come in, then we move on to an oral test, where each day for about 2 hours Kristjan will have to go in for each food item to taste test and be observed by the doctor. Fun stuff.

Pete and boys goofing around while waiting for the doctor
Clifford's super happy that he doesn't have to have the prick test done this time around
Clifford being a big brother and holding Kristjan to comfort him

Our New Car

We are proud to say we are no longer a mini-van owner!!! Please don't misunderstand; we are very grateful to have had the van to use. Sadly, within the last month or so, it just wasn't performing properly. So last Thursday while the kids were visiting Pete's parents, we headed down to Bellevue to see about a new vehicle. Our attitude was 'if we find something, fantastic! if not, then it wasn't meant to be". After 5 1/2 hours and many test drives later, we traded in the van and pulled out of the car lot in a 2003 Ford Expedition, Eddie Bauer Edition. This new car is AWESOME!! Leather seats, air conditioning in the front seats, 8 seat capacity, etc, etc, etc. I'm still getting used to driving such a big thing. It sucks to go back to having a car payment, but it's not so bad since we get to drive around a very nice vehicle :)

Alone Time

Both boys have been gone since last Tuesday up in Mt. Vernon having a mini-vaction with their mama and papa. Pete left Friday to go out camping with his cousin Daniel. All three will return sometime tomorrow. I'm lonely. And very bored. Don't get wrong, I love the opportunity to have alone time, especially from Clifford and Kristjan. I feel that when I have a break from them and being able to 'recenter' myself and calm down a bit, I can better mom to them. Same when Pete's gone; I get some space and then when he returns I'm a way better wife. But for whatever reason lately when all of them are gone for more than a few days (it's been a lot lately with Pete traveling out of town for work), I get super lonely and wish I had all three boys around to 'bug' me. I do have plenty to keep me busy. I need to finish packing everything up for moving next weekend, and I have a baby gift to finish for my brother and new sis-in-law. But I slightly miss dealing with a never-ending pile of laundry, fixing meals, and getting after my kids to behave or pick their toys up. I know Pete, Clifford and Kristjan are all having fun doing their own thing. I just can't wait for them all to be home and tell me about their adventures they've been on. :)

4th of July in Long Beach

Our vacation trip to Long Beach, WA for the 4th of July was AWESOME!!! It was so much fun!!! We were there from late Friday afternoon until noon Monday. Daniel, Jessica and their 3 boys came with us. The campsite we stayed at was ok. We set up 'camp' as soon as we arrived, working on getting everything arranged and organized the way we wanted. Saturday we spent the entire day walking around looking at all the different shops. We found a few places that we enjoyed eating at (whether it was just a snack, ice cream, or dinner). The day was warm and sunny, so mid-day we headed to the beach to relax and let the kids play in the sand.



















On Sunday (the day of the 4th), we all got up early to quickly pack up the vans and head out to claim a spot on the beach. Because it can fill up quickly, and we had a certain spot in mind that we wanted, we were there and set up by 6:30am!!! No joke. Seriously, though, other people were arriving at the same time as us, and some were even there staking out their site BEFORE us as well. It was insane (since we decided that next year we'll just camp out on the beach instead of 'renting' a campsite spot, we won't have to worry about getting up so early). The weather thru out the day was ok. It would lightly rain off and on. It would have been nice if the weather was better, but it could have been way worse. During the entire day (and even thru the fireworks!!) Clifford and Kristjan slept. They just sat in their little camping chairs, the hood of their sweatshirt pulled over their face, snoozing the day away (they were really exhausted).

To pass some time during the day, Pete decided to build some sand creations. He started off building a sand castle. When that was done, he moved on to building a turtle. He got tons of compliments from everyone who walked past our site. After lunch, Daniel decided to get in on the action, and the two of them made an octopus with a treasure chest. For their final creation, they built a shark. This was the first time either one of them had ever built a sand creation. They weren't pros at it, but the creations turned out pretty darn good. Everyone who passed us would come take pictures of them and tell them they were awesome. A few even suggested that they should enter the sand competition the following week in the amateur category. I think Pete was actually contemplating doing it next year (it's always the weekend after the 4th). It would be fun to do. Anyhow, later on in the evening Gordon and Michelle finally arrived to join us in the celebration. Shortly after it started getting dark, the fireworks began. It was insane and crazy with all the 'boom' of the fireworks. Everyone eventually stopped setting off their fireworks to watch the fireworks show the city of Long Beach put on (which was good). Once it was done, everyone started back up doing their own. Daniel and Gordon had purchased a lot of fireworks for us to do. Kristjan slept thru all of it, waking up at the very end. He did a sparkler, though he wasn't fond of it. Before Clifford fell back asleep for the night, he shot off some fireworks with Pete's help. I think he liked the sparklers as well. Damien REALLY enjoyed setting off fireworks. It was entertaining to watch him. (And of course, both Pete and Daniel supervised the kids during all of this). The night started to quiet down and people started leaving the beach around midnight. We cleaned up our site and headed out as well around that time. I was so exhausted. My sleeping bag and pillow felt wonderful once we made it back to our campsite. The next morning (Monday) we had a quick breakfast before packing everything up to leave. Since we didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time with Gordon and Michelle, we went out for a small lunch with them before we headed back home.

The entire trip was great. We learned a few things on what we will do differently for next year. So far we're thinking that this will be our 4th of July tradition-vacation down in Long Beach!!!