Cheerleader in training

Well, since today is Sunday, it means FOOTBALL. Mike dressed Kira in her Seahawks cheerleader outfit, the sad sad Seahawks need all the help they can get. To complete her outfit, we saved these pom-poms from one of the games last year. She's just adorable. I don't know how I feel about Kira becoming a cheerleader, but I know she's really cute dressed up like one.

After a few pictures, she had enough. She was not going to get her pictures taken anymore.

It's been really fun to communicate with her lately. Her favorite words seems to be "no" and "mine". She can generally answer a yes or no question, which is great. Last Tuesday I took her to the kids club at the gym, I left her there for 35-40 minutes. When I picked her up, she was sitting on one of the caretakers' lap pouting. When I asked her whether she had fun, she said "no" in a drawn out and depressed way, it was so cute. I can only imagine what she's be like when she is 2, which is not that far away... :(

Halloween Prep and more

I realize it's been a long time since my last post, but I've been beyond busy. We tried out a few halloween costumes and I think the kids have finally decided on what they're going to be this year. Jake is going to be Darth Vader, again. Jonah is going to be Spiderman, again. As for little Kira, I think she'll be a litte ladybug. But Mike really likes this little pumpkin costume...so we'll see. She'll be adorable either way.

Jonah as Spiderman.

Jake trying out the Jango Fett costume.

Jake trying out the iron man costume.

She is my daughter. I used to eat watermelon like this all the way until the rind is eaten.

Kira making a funny pose.

"Whatever"...Mike said I make this expression, what do you think?

The boys at the end of September at one of the Mariner's last games of the year.

Great Wolf Lodge

We decided that we needed a little get away for the family. The boys are getting older and I really would like to start planning family vacations on a regular basis. I also think it's nice to get away for the adults as well - though it's a lot of work to pack and travel with little kids. I kept seeing the commercials for the Great Wolf Lodge since they opened earlier this year in Grand Mound Washington. After thinking about it for a few weeks, I finally just booked it for this weekend. Originally only the 5 of us were going, but then my dad saw the Howling Tornado video clip on the internet - so my parents tagged along for the trip.

The front entrance of the Lodge.

The boys on their bunk bed in their "cabin".

Jake and Jonah at the arcade.

Jake at the waterpark.

Waiting to go down the water slide.
Taking off on another water slide.
Jonah at the bottom of the yellow slide.
Kira at the kiddie pool.
Kira playing with the water.
She wouldn't sit down on these by herself, so I asked Jake to ride it with her.
Kira walking carefully.
Kira up close.
I don't think she like wearing the life vest. I wanted her to know that she'll float, but she got really scared every time I tried to let her float on her back. Maybe when she's older she'll be less afraid of the water.
Jake at the kiddie slide. FYI - that is NOT me on the other side of the slide.
Jonah on the kiddie slide.
Kira waiting for kids to make a splash at the end of the slide.
Jonah
Jonah being his wild self.

Jonah in the elephant towel.
Kids waiting for the animated show and night time story.
The Great Wolf.
Kira - just a funny pose that's so her.

Overall I think the 5 of us had a good time there. The boys are already asking when we'll go back again. I think this will be a place that we'll definitely visit a few more times. Jonah wasn't tall enough and Jake was too scared to go on the Howling Tornado - the biggest water ride there. Mike and I went for the first time Friday night after dinner while my parents watched the kids. It was really freaky because the entire ride was pitch black so all you can do is hold on tight. However, when I went on it during the day time on Saturday, it was almost scarier to be able to see and "anticipate" for it. We were able to convince the boys to go onto the less scarier ones of the inner tube ride, but after 1 ride, they were done for. The boys would only go on the tube-less rides. They went on them countless times. In fact, they didn't do much other than go on those slides.

Kira played in the kiddie pool most of the time. The water was the warmest in there and she wasn't all that stable. She liked splashing the water but she wouldn't go through areas where water was shooting out. I took her into the wave pool, she was on me in an inner tube. She liked it at first, but then she got scared as the waves got bigger, plus people were bumping into us an splashing water over her. I don't think she was comfortable laying on my in an inner tube with the life vest on either. Plus, she had some serious bowel issues this weekend which caused her to have the worse rash she's ever had on her bottoms, so she didn't spend that much time in the water.

Well, I do recommend going to the Lodge, it's a lot of fun, especially for older kids. But I do not recommend traveling with your parents, unless you book them a separate room (which I didn't because I was stupid).

Kira is 18 months!!!

Yesterday was Kira's half birthday. It's just amazes me how much time flies. It seemed like we just brought her home yesterday. She's grown so much and has developed her little personality...with a mind of her own, ahh - why do they grow up so fast. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of her on her actual half birthday, so we tried to take some tonight before bedtime. She was so tired and she was such a goofy girl.

Kira acting silly.

I thought this was so cute I had to post it even though she's got blood-tinged snot coming out of her nose.

Kira up close.
Kira's famous open mouth kisses.
Kira laughing at me because she'd lick me when she kissed.

Well, it was a really busy weekend for us. The weather was beautiful, I don't know what's going on (actually I have a pretty good idea that it's global warming), but the weather is really starting to freak me out. Thank goodness it was Mike's long weekend, he was able to stay home all weekend with us. On Friday, Mike took the kids to the school's PTA barbeque while Annie and I went to swimming class. On Saturday, Jake had his second soccer game. He did alright, but he didn't seem to get into the game until the last quarter. Maybe he was hungry or something. We didn't have lunch before the game because Iwas afraid he'd get stomach cramp. On Sunday, Jake went to a birthday party and Mike and I got to go to the Seahawks home opener, I don't want to talk about it :( The only thing I will say is that it felt good screaming at the top of my lung. You ought to try it if you get the chance.

Pics from first soccer game

Soccer and more

Jake started soccer a couple of weeks ago and his first game yesterday. He really enjoyed playing last year and he's really enjoying playing soccer now. He spent some time practicing late summer at the Boys and Girls Club and he's a pretty good soccer player.

The weather was great on saturday - no rain :). Jake scored 2 goals, but unfortunately his team lost to the Black Panthers. There are 6 kids on his team this year, 4 were from last year's team and they played pretty well together. I'm sure there'll be lots more goals to come for him.

Kira at Jake's soccer practice.
Kira swinging.
Jonah at the playground.
Kira driving. Bikini Babe
Jake at the Seahawks second pre-season game.