Birding

Jefferson County does some wonderful nature programs- and on Claire's Birthday we took advantage!

There was a nature hike up in Golden Canyon, and I had never been. It is so beautiful! A naturalist came out and talked to the kids about birding, and then the girls got to go bird watching. Afterwards, they got to build a Robin's nest.

It was fantastic! The only thing is that I wished Ben had been there. Too bad he has to work.

It really was a great time! They do tons of programs, and they are free, so if you live around Jeffco you should check it out- I highly recommend it!!!!

Claire Turns 5!

It is so fun to see how excited the kids get for Birthdays! Very different from their parents.

Claire decided she wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for her Birthday- much to Ben's excitement.

She also wanted waffles for dinner. I made waffles and an egg casserole as well, and Claire doesn't particularly like egg casserole, but I made it for the adults. Claire asked, "If I don't eat the casserole, do I not get chocolate cake?" I told her she could eat her Birthday cake on her Birthday even if she didn't eat the casserole. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Ben's parents came over to help celebrate. After dinner I asked Claire if she wanted presents or cake first. There was no hesitation, "PRESENTS!"

 She got lots of presents! She got a Wii game, clothes, coloring books, a Frozen Backpack, Frozen beach towel, Alphabet learning game...whew.

 And, the cake:

 

Here is what Claire is up to at the ripe old age of 5:

-Year 4 still saw lots of tantrums. Fewer than in year 3, but definitely still there. And year 5 has started strong on the tantrum front. She needs structure, down time, and one-on-one time with me, and it's hard for her to get that in the summer, so her tantrums increase.

-She does tantrum, but at the same time she can be so well behaved and so sweet. At church, for example, Ben is her primary teacher. Claire is the calm one in class! She actually sets the example for the others to follow in behaving well. I think it is because she is shy in crowds- she much prefers small group settings- and so she behaves well when others are around.

-She is still our skinny mini. She is still in the 15th percentile for weight and 50th for height. It might be because she hates to sit and eat. She would love it if she never had to eat meals and could just eat snacks all day long.

-She is very good at puzzles and takes coloring VERY seriously. If she draws something "wrong" (i.e., not up to her expectations) she has a complete meltdown. This can be very difficult for her parents.

-She is excited to learn her numbers and letters and I am sure will be reading soon. I just need to sit her down and teach her and she will take off with it.

-She and Audra can play for hours, and of course they can fight as well.

-Camille loves to pick on Claire. Especially if they are sitting next to each other in the car. Camille will pull her hair and hit her and do whatever she can to make Claire cry, and she is very successful at it. We try very hard to not have them sit next to each other.

-Claire loves Camille despite the torture. She always wants Camille hugs and to make Camille smile. She can be quite sweet with her.

-She is very healthy. She almost never gets sick.

Hopefully this year will see her mellow out and tantrum less. She is a good kid, we just need to figure her out and get her what she needs to be better able to control her emotions. I'm thinking we will sign her up for karate- that might be a good fit for her.

Mini-Golf

Birthday season continues!

Claire chose for us to go play mini-golf as a family. We should have prepared for disaster instead of fun, but unfortunately we only prepared for fun.

We endured a massive tantrum by Claire, run-away Camille, and an impending thunderstorm. We made it out alive, so I suppose that is a success.

 She's checking out the water, and then she's off...

 Claire's got mad skills:

 Here's Camille all proud of herself after she threw her ball into the river:

 And, here's the tantrum- we have no idea what it is about:

 Ten minutes later she is back to normal. Notice Camille running off in the back:

 Pictures to prove that I was there, too:

 Camille loved having Daddy help her golf (after Daddy fished her golf ball out of the pond):

 Look at her smile:

We survived. I think the girls had a good time overall. And, Ben and I got a good nights sleep after all the chasing.

Fourth of July

We had a fun and adventurous 4th of July this year.

Some members from our church organized a float celebrating the importance of families and we decided to walk in the parade. We let the older girls decorate their bikes so they could ride along side the float. We really didn't know what to expect. Ben and I haven't marched in a parade since our high school marching band days (I didn't miss carrying the bass drum this time around!), and we really didn't know how the girls would do. But, we figured, why not?

It ended up being hot, but fun. The girls did fantastic- though Claire did get tired by the end. They both said they had fun. Maybe we will do it again next year- we'll see.

 Camille had to make sure Piggy was OK (Camille LOVES Piggy. It is actually Audra's Piggy- she bought it with her own money, but Camille commandeered the pig, and thankfully Audra was OK with it):

Then that night we let off a few very legal fireworks. The girls loved it- it's nice they are easily pleased at this age! We waited until after Camille was in bed for the fun, which proved a brilliant move.

Art Museum

The first time all the cousins got together in Seattle they decided they needed to make an "Art Museum" for grandma and grandpa. For the rest of the trip, all the cousins could be seen working on art- it was pretty awesome.

 Audra made this piece which she was very proud of: "Oh, eight can you see me or not." And it's an 8 shape that makes the girl:

 On the last day Claire made this note for Grandma:

It's really awesome because this is the first note that Claire has ever written. Audra told her how to spell all the words and Claire wrote it out (except the Love, Claire which Audra did). She made this note several times for Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Melissa.

Dumas Bay

For our last full day in Seattle, we decided to do our favorite thing: Head to the beach- one last time.

It was supposed to be warm- in the upper 70s. And maybe it was. But the wind was awful! Of course, that didn't deter the girls or their cousins, and we all had a great time.

Somehow, Camille lost her swimsuit. I don't know how since she insisted on wearing it or carrying it around most of the time we were in Seattle. But even after I cleaned the house top to bottom and packed up all of our gear, the swimsuit was nowhere to be found. So, she got to wear this t-shirt instead. In reality, it fit her so much better.

A little loving from cousin Alicia

 Claire HATED the seaweed, but loved the water.

We miss our cousins and Seattle already!