Kameron had Senior Prom the same weekend as Easter. It was crazy! He went with his girlfriend Abbey and they had such a fun time! They triple dated with Kam's best friend, Jonathan, and his girlfriend, Paige, and with another one of Kam's bestfriends, Caleb, and their friend Ellie. All of these kids with the exception of Paige are in the trumpet section of Wind Ensemble. Ellie is the daughter of their beloved band teacher too! LOL.
It was fun to experience Kam getting ready for Prom. Different from watching Reilly get ready which was an all day event with hair, nails, make-up etc. but it was still fun to watch and document. While doing so I had a huge lump in my throat. I was happy because this is an exciting milestone and life event and sad that my little boy has grown up so fast and will be graduating in a few weeks.
The last part of kids senior year is really heart tugging for moms! I just look at Kam and see the man that he will be. I am so proud of who he is and yet sometimes I desperately miss the little boy that he used to be...full of crazy laughter, tormenting his sisters, and running around like a maniac. It is bittersweet.
Kam was dressed and ready about a half hour before he actually had to leave to go pick up Abbey. So I got to snap pictures of him unaware. Pro-tip for you younger moms: silence your phone, make it look like you are scrolling through Instagram, and secretly be snapping away! (Or not so secretly!)
All of the parents and families met at Jonathan's house. He lives out in the country on this really cool farm. It is a pretty place to take pictures. It was fun to celebrate these great kids that we have watched grow up together! Reilly and Hunter came too and all of the families were having as much fun as the kids!!
The most challenging part of the night...trying to put on the boutonniere!! Why are they so hard?!?!
Success!!
Kam picked out and ordered Abbey's corsage all by himself. I saw the notes that the florist took when Kam called and it was hilarious and specific... "Classy". Ha ha! He did a great job and it turned out really pretty!
The boys picked up their dates and brought them out to the farm. Paige's mom is a photographer and she took a bunch of pictures. Most of the ones that I will post are pictures that we took although I have added a few of hers. It was fun to have all of the parents and siblings there celebrating this great group of kids who have been such good friends for so many years!
Jonathan and Paige, Caleb and Ellie, Kam and Abbey
Wind Ensemble's AMAZING trumpet section!! LOL.
The band kids with their beloved Mr. B...their band teacher and Ellie's dad.
Also, Susie and Nick (Jonathan's parents) love to host things at the farm so they talked to the boys and they decided to have dinner and to do many of their activities there. The boys had quite the long and detailed itinerary. It was hilarious. The parents and families were all invited to stay for drinks and appetizers. It was a lot of fun! After all the parents finally left.... the party got started. I love all of these pictures!
Here is a snippet the *infamous* itinerary texted out by Jonathan...LOL:
The kids all had a spectacular time! And there was even one BIG SURPRISE...
Jonathan and Paige were shocked to be crowned Prom King and Queen!!
Kameron and Abbey had a fantastic time and Kam got home around 3:45 am and collapsed into bed...only to have to get up a few hours later because it was...EASTER!! :)
I love this picture and caption that Nick posted on FB of the three boys a few days ago:
Don't Blink
(Pictured: Nick, Ellie, Jonathan, Kam, and part of Caleb)
To celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary Tyler and I went on a three day getaway to Seattle. We had such a blast!! We left early on a Friday morning. Ailey and Bryn were picked up by Jordin and Ramon for a big cousin weekend at their house and Kam and Reilly were doing their own thing. We were so excited to getaway for a few days.
We also wanted to do some shopping for Sisters Creed so we made a few stops on our way...in Moses Lake, Thorp, and Ellensburg. We ate BBQ in Ellensburg, checked out the college and campus of CWU, and then headed on into Seattle. The sun was shining and the weather was absolutely GLORIOUS!! We also explored the Lake Sammamish area. Pretty!
Tyler booked us a super nice room at a luxury boutique hotel in Redmond; which is such a cool area. Our room was so pretty and modern. I loved it! We ended up having a repair issue in our room so they upgraded us to a full on suite with a separate bedroom, kitchen, and balcony. It was amazing!! That area is so cool with Microsoft located there. So many great restaurants, parks, walking trails, waterways, and all kinds neat places and fun things to check out. We loved it!
We decided to do our Sisters Creed stuff the first day so that we would have the other two days just for playing and having fun. Many of my fellow vendors and Sisters Creed customers had recommended places for me to check out that had great vintage items and furniture. We could've filled up our vehicle and a trailer about 10 x over!! I found so many great things for Farm Chicks!! We had the back of our vehicle open with the seats taken out...this picture was after stop #2. By our last stop Tyler had to purchase a measuring tape and was jenga-ing everything in like a master!!
We drove all over and went to all of the recommended places and then decided to grab some dinner at Thai Toms in the University District. Thai Toms had a line a mile long outside the door and an hour and a half wait so we walked around and found another great Thai food place... Somtam Thai...and ate dinner there. It was fantastic!! I love Thai food so much.
It was really fun to be in the University District on a Friday night! So many people and so many things to do and see. We had a really great time! We got back to our hotel late that night.
The next morning we were up bright and early and had breakfast. We weren't able to go to one of the vintage places that we wanted to go to for Sisters Creed the day before so we went super early in the morning and found a vintage bonanza! It was awesome!! After that we drove downtown and headed to Pike Place Market.
My favorite thing in Pike Place Market are the flower vendors!! Huge gorgeous bouquets for so cheap!! It was stunningly beautiful!! This time of year they had huge spring bouquets and enormous bouquets of lilacs!! My lilacs aren't even blooming yet here in Spokane!
My favorite flowers of ALL-TIME!
This bouquet was very reminiscent of my bridal bouquet. I wanted spring flowers...tulips, lilacs, and roses.
It was so beautiful downtown! We went to Beechers which we love! We also tried a bakery and an Asian food place that had been recommended to us. We were NOT fans of the bakery nor the Asian food place. That was a bummer. But we ARE a fan of Beechers and enjoyed cheese and cheese curds. We also wandered around and bought t-shirts, chocolate covered cherries, and had a great time people watching and basking in that rare Seattle sun!
This big cruise ship was docked and it was fun to see!
We didn't take a bunch of pictures but rather took a bunch of videos because our kids were following along with our trip via Instagram stories. That is a fun side of social media. After that we lined up for the ferry to go to Bainbridge Island. Tyler had the whole day planned out. He wanted to go to Bainbridge and then drive up to Poulsbo, WA which is called "Little Norway" and check it out since he is Norwegian and a huge fan of all things Norwegian. LOL.
The ferry was fun! It was beautiful to see Puget Sound from the water and all of the gorgeous islands and to see downtown Seattle behind us. We were up on the deck outside for awhile but the wind was blowing the heck out of us so we went inside to enjoy the view via the window seats.
We checked out Bainbridge Island. It was pretty but neither one of us could see what all of the hoopla was about. So after some exploring we drove on to Poulsbo.
Poulsbo is a lot like Leavenworth, Washington but Norwegian influenced rather than German. We actually really enjoyed Poulsbo and hung out for quite a while, walking the streets, shopping, snacking, and enjoying the gorgeous view. We had a great time!!
The first place that Tyler wanted to go was Sluy's Bakery. They are famous for having all kinds of Norwegian breads and pastries.
That's a happy man placing his order! We brought home multiple loaves of bread and some of the best lefse!! Wow! Tyler makes an amazing lefse and this bakery makes one just as good! We should have bought a lot more!! The kids have loved trying all of the different breads and having a "toast-test". LOL.
Absolutely delicious Lefse!!
We also stopped for *lunch* at Mora! So good! Tyler had the fresh raspberry sorbet and the mojito sorbet. Delish. I had a scoop of coconut ice cream and a scoop of the pistachio ice cream. Heavenly. Then we attempted to walk it off! One of my favorite stores was Sugar Flower Market which is owned by one of my Farm Chicks vendor friends. It was beautiful! She also has another gorgeous store on Bainbridge Island.
After a fun day in Bainbridge and Poulsbo we decided not to take the ferry back to downtown Seattle but to instead drive in a huge loop via bridges to check out the Kitsap Peninsula and see a bunch of different areas that we have never been to before. We went to Bremerton, Port Orchard, Gig Harbor etc. and then drove across the Tacoma Narrows. It was a lot of fun and we saw some beautiful areas and quaint harbor towns.
Mount Rainier was visible in all of its majestic glory the entire three days that we were in the Seattle area. "The Mountain was Out!"
We got back to our hotel that night and were totally exhausted. We ordered Chinese delivery and kicked back and relaxed! It was great!
So good!
The next morning...the day of our actual anniversary... we slept in. Tyler got up first and slipped out and found a fantastic French Bakery and brought me back breakfast in bed. It was definitely my kind of breakfast!! Ha ha!!
We spent a leisurely morning at the hotel and then checked out at noon. We drove around and checked out the Microsoft campus which looks like a big University. Very cool! Then we had plans to drive to Snoqualmie Falls. I don't know why we have never stopped there before on our trips to and from Seattle in the past but I am so glad that we made plans to see it this trip!!
Lakes and waterfalls are my jam. I cannot believe that we have never stopped with the kids to look at this beauty. It is magnificent!!
Being there was extra special because waterfalls are special to us. We met at a waterfall and so it was fitting that we were at one on our 24th wedding anniversary! We walked around on the trails and went to the lodge. The weather was almost 80 degrees! I loved it! Tyler found and purchased his anniversary gift. LOL.
He has been wearing it proudly ever since!!
We also stopped and grabbed some lunch and did a little shopping in North Bend before we headed back home.
I found my anniversary gift! ;)
Then in was time to get back to our sweet kiddos!! I love that this road trip is a short one. We had such a great time and it was a much needed getaway before all of the craziness of the end of the school year, graduation (already?!), and Farm Chicks kicks in!
No further explanation needed. We bring her home next week!!
2.) Open Water at the Lake
The ice is gone! Summer is on its way!
(Seems like the dock is gone too. LOL. Time to drag it back into place.)
3.) Triscuits
It has been a REALLY long time since I've eaten a Triscuit. I am not a cracker person so I think it has literally been years since I've had a Triscuit. Well... that is unfortunate because they are delicious! We had an assortment of crackers and toppings while we watched GC and at Easter and Triscuits were the hit of the assortments! I'm not saying that suddenly I will be eating a bunch of crackers now but...if and when I do...they will be Triscuits.
4.) Early Bedtime
When everyone was sick we got into the habit of going to bed early and guess what? It was amazing! Clearly we were not getting near enough sleep before! A true 8 hours really does make you feel great in the morning! We instituted something recently..."Quiet House by 9" on school nights. Obviously our high schoolers aren't going to go to bed at 9pm...BUT...we do want the house to be quiet by then. Bryn's bedtime is 8:30pm and she is allowed to read for a half hour but she must be in bed. She very rarely lasts that long and is usually sound asleep before 9pm. It is also the cue for Kam and Ailey to begin preparing for seminary and school the next morning and that it is time to head to their rooms to finish homework or time to shower. Me, I HAPPILY go to bed!! If I can get to bed between 9-9:30 pm I am truly giddy with joy! Tyler is able to have some down time of his own then. He usually watches a show that only he is interested in; but even he is getting to bed now by around 10-10:30pm. This is HUGE for him! He is a total night owl and would go to bed most nights between midnight or 12:30 and then get up at 5am. That is not nearly enough sleep for anyone. Even he is seeing the benefits of getting more rest. We aren't great at it yet...maybe we hit a quiet house by 9 three out of five nights but it is definitely an improvement over what we were doing before!
5.) GOT is back!
I have been reading these books for about 18 years. I NEED to know how this story ends!
I am a stay-at-home mom and small business owner. I have four FANTASTIC kids: Reilly (29), Kameron (25), Ailey (21), and Bryn (17). I have been married to my amazing husband Tyler for 31 years. We are also grandparents to four cute grandkids and another on the way!
