Star Week!

As part of the birthday honors for Charlotte, it was her "Star Week" at preschool. Part of her responsibilities as the Star student was to make a poster about herself so her class could get to know her better. Look at what a great job our girl did! Oh and she also got to bring in snacks all week for the class and donate a book to the school. What a good deal for, um, her.

Didn't she do a fabulous job??? You can click the pic above for a nice closeup to see the details. To avoid any confusion, her age is 4/5 this week, because she turns five on Wednesday so half the week she's 4, and half she's 5. Makes sense, no?

She's FIVE!

Charlotte had her fifth birthday party this weekend, and had a very princelicious time. The girls got their hair and nails done at the local salon, ate cookies, and even paraded around the mall. What more could a little girl want?

From 2009 Charlotte's Birthday

The Big H

The kids had a fantastic Halloween this year. The morning started with Transformer Ryan and Sleeping Beauty Charlotte meeting for a little breakfast with Petey Dah-lion and Bat Nate, among others, followed by some morning trick-or-treating at Parkshore with PapaDon. The kids then hit the park in full costume with Grandma Lee. The night ended with Transformer Ryan and Princess Leia Charlotte hitting the neighborhood for some serious goody gathering, with Grandpa Dick and Grandma Cathy, and a showing of Star Wars to cap it all off. Maybe the best Halloween ever.



(you can click here on the slide show to see an album of the pictures up close if you so desire)

Fall Time Fun

To get ready for the big H, we decorated pumpkins with cousin Connor and aunt Mela. Charlotte has decided that Halloween is the second best holiday, right between Christmas and Easter.

There was also a pretty funny Dad and Kids Fall Celebration at Ryan and Charlotte's school. We ate cookies, played games, and they got to shave me. WOO HOO!

Princess Leia in the House!

Charlotte gets ready for the fantastic Star Wars party at cousin Connor's house... Ryan is very amused, dresses up like Luke, and joins in the fun. But you'll have to read more about it at the woodtimes blog...

OK, I added some more pics. Here's a slideshow of the party (AWESOME TIME!):

Whidbey

We headed up to the cabin for maybe the last time of the year last weekend, to spend a great day playing (and eating) at the beach.

 

 

 

Ryan Turns THREE!

Our little guy had a wonderful birthday party with the family. He got lots of cool toys, and even shared his amazing pickup truck cake with everyone. Way to go RY!

From Ryan's Birthday

From Ryan's Birthday

I gotta feeling

In case you wanted to see a four minute video of our kids spinning in circles to a Black Eyed Peas song, here you go:

Ryan's First Day of School!

I think Ryan was ready, like he'd been training his whole life. He had his bag, he was excited, and he knew how to find the truck toys right away. Mom even held it together until the head teacher asked how it went on the way out of class, and Kara cried "He's not ready!!!" Ryan though did great!

Charlotte's First Letter to Me

Charlotte wrote her first letter to me... all on her own. Best letter ever, but very formal!

Swim class!

Charlotte and Ryan are LOVING their weekly swimming classes with their awesome teacher Katie.

Let's Roll

I took the kids bowling last Friday when Doni had a day off, and we had a blast. We threw some bowling balls, ate a pretzel, (one of us had a beer), and even heard their two favorite songs over the alley sound system, Blue Moon and Margaritaville... perhaps that inspired some singing later on that weekend?

Here's Charlotte throwing rocks (literally)...



And Ryan adds his own stylish Bowling Ball Dance...

The Wood Band 2009

It appears that our two kids have an aptitude for music! Here they are singing the classic Jimmy Buffet song, Margaritaville. Note the genius lyrics at the end.



And another one of their favorites, Blue Moon.

Lessons

Dad reads Ryan the exceptionally funny book: The Bike Lesson

Shoreclub Fun

It's getting hot in Seattle, so it's been great spending some time down at the lake. This past weekend, Charlotte's BFF Miriam joined us in some splashy good times.

Ryan took care of the construction needs lake side, but wasn't so sure about the big waves coming in...




And the girls took care of filling the lake with sand. Everyone had a job to do.

S'more S'mores?

Charlotte, Ryan, and their Whidbey Island friends enjoy and discuss the beauty of s'mores on a nice summer afternoon at the beach cabin.

Charlotte Graduates

Firstly, we have been a little slow in updating our blog. Don't you fret, we will be better at keeping you all up to date on our going on's. For example, did you know that Charlotte graduated from "Pre-pre-K" this past spring? That's right, she completed her 2-day a week classes, and graduates to 5-days-a-week this fall in Pre-K. Oh, and they had an AWESOME concert for us to enjoy on graduation night. See the video below, Charlotte is in the back row, right between the "THE" and the "WHOLE". We are SO proud of her!



Didn't she do a great job??? Make sure you click on "HD" right above here (after you click "play"), to see the glory of high def.

Digging the Beach

Ryan had a blast this past weekend playing in the new sandbox and roaming the tidepools on Double Island.

Best Lemonade On the Island

Charlotte has been planning on making a lemonade stand for a few weeks now, and finally and flawlessly executed on her dream this past weekend on Double Island. Her secrets were low prices (5 cents a cup, fake money accepted), mint leaves, variety (both pink and yellow were available), a dress that matched her product colors, and 100% market share.

Charrrrrrrlotte!

This past week Charlotte started her first of many summer camps, this one was Pirate Camp and boat loads of fun was had by all. Here is a picture of our little pirate from camp, with the pirate-made frame.

Camera lost...

No great pics to share these days as we LOST OUR CAMERA. AHH!! With kids as cute as ours, this is a travesty, so we will have to fix this situation as soon as possible. Try to forgive us and carry on with your lives as best as you can.

Happy Mother's Day

We had a very nice day doting on mommy, and playing outside in the sun.

Play Date

Miram came over for a super fun play date on Saturday.

The girls had a great time swinging, doing arts and crafts, playing Dora saves the Snow Princess, and other girly type things.

Ry post nap today ...

Ryan proves that you can suck a paci and still deliver a look that says "I am going to f*** you up!!!"


But he does have a pretty soft side too ...

TYD2W Day

 

Yesterday was National Take Your Daugther To Work Day. I picked Charlotte up after school (11:30a) and brought her to Microsoft. She attended a short stand-up meeting where she moved stick-its of Mom's tasks along a work board. We then met with Mommy's boss about Fiscal Year 2010 travel budgets and then went to the cafeteria. Charlotte insisted on taking lunch back to the office because she didn't want to miss any work. Charlotte spent her day drawing on the white board, making art, and typing numbers and letters on Mom's spare laptop. She is a good little worker bee.

Preschool Easter Party!

Charlotte and Kara went to the Pebbles Easter Party today and had a blast!  Charlotte had her bunny ears and Easter dress on... she was all set.

There of course was an easter egg hunt...

... but also an EGG RACE!

Charlotte's friend Ella did NOT want her picture taken

A BUNNY HOP RACE!

GO CHARLOTTE GO!