Popcorn Night!!!

Ellie loves popcorn night! We have it about once a week on Friday or Saturday night, and once we mention during the day that it will be popcorn night later, she makes sure to re-announce it to all of us several more times throughout the day. Then when we get out the popcorn popper and set to popping she's filled with extra energy, running from the kitchen to the living room and back again to check the progress of the popcorn and report back to her daddy and sisters. Then she gets to have the very important job of carrying the popcorn bowls into the living room for everyone, assuring me, "No spill, Mommy! Ellie no spill."     

And then comes the very best part of all, snuggles with Daddy while enjoying the popcorn!

Let's color some eggs!

The days before Easter were beautiful this year, so we decided to take the egg-coloring fun outside. No worries about the mess that way either. The girls had a lot of fun and Ellie enjoyed her first year of official egg-dyeing participation. 

Having lots of fun

The beautiful finished eggs

And the next morning there was the excitement of finding the Bunny's hidden surprises...

Don't forget the best part...chocolate before breakfast!

Mini-Golf = Mega Fun

We have a much loved new pastime at our house...mini-golf!!! I remember loving this "sport" as a kid, even though the opportunities for playing it back then were few and far between. It was usually something we got to do only when we visited our grandma and grandpa in the summertime. Well, we decided it would be fun to introduce the girls to something new, and there are a couple of fun courses nearby, so we headed out. The whole concept of getting the ball into the hole with as few strokes as possible seemed a little elusive to them at first, so we decided to forgo scorecards and swing away. Personally, I think it's much more fun that way anyway.   

All the clubs were a little too big for Ellie, so she just carried her yellow ball around.

Trying to get this golfing thing all figured out

Maybe it will help if we all get a little bit closer...

Posing with the golf clubs

Swing,

Swing again,

And if all else fails, just drop the ball in the hole!

Getting some extra help from Dad is always a good option too!

High Ho, High Ho, A Camping We Did Go. . .

It's only logical that Jay returns from sea, and we leave to go camping the first opportunity we get. We rented a pop-up trailer from MWR, and headed out to our beloved Olympic Mountains. We weren't about to let the fact that it was April in the Pacific Northwest hider us either. We camped along the beautiful Dosewallips River. And enjoyed every moment of chilliness, drizzle, and fleeting sunshine that we got. The girls rated it as one of the best camping trips they'd ever had, so that alone qualifies it as a success. 

Enjoying the pop-up

Our humble campsite

This was how Buggy looked the whole trip.

Thank goodness I packed many extra clothes!

My grizzled mountain man

Perusing a camping book Daddy had when he was a boy

Hanging out

My official morning coffee maker, bless him!

Thankfully Ellie was prepared for the puddles.

She inspected them all!

Being silly!



Ring Around the Rosie

One of Ellie's favorite pastimes at the moment...luckily her big sisters are more than happy to indulge her...

"Ring-around-the-rosie..."

"A pocket full of posies."

"Ashes, ashes..."

"We all fall down!"

Ready, Set, Dress Up. . .

There's nothing more fun than dressing-up, especially when your big sister is your own personal stylist...

Fishing Fun

One of the first things we did after Jay got home was to take the girls to Olympic National Park. It is so breath-takingly beautiful there, and has always been one of our favorite haunts. We've been going there since the first time we lived in Washington when we were first married. Love, love, love it!!! And now it is associated with so many fun and wonderful memories, that we can't help but to love it all the more. Since it was still March, we just went for the day and brought along a picnic and the fishing poles!

Ellie enjoying the Doritos

Cheesy Face

Kate and her fishing gear

Heading to the river

We didn't have any luck in the fishing department this day, but we were fortunate enough to see a herd of elk as we were driving home. It was then that we realized the girls had never seen elk before. They were a bit stymied as to what these creatures might be. The guesses ranged from llamas to camels. We won't let our Wyoming relatives know that our children were unable to identify elk. Grandpa would be shaking his head...