Lego Builder

Tate had his police station built within two days (after school) of his birthday! He follows the directions very carefully and is so proud when he gets it done. Since then, Katiree, Tate and Zane spend nearly every afternoon playing Legos. They have such fun making things and then making up stories while playing with their Lego creations!
 

Kezia's Birthday Party

Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Chanda, Auntie Marjie and the Blickenstaff family came to celebrate Kezia's 2nd birthday! It was a relaxing time together - the kids just enjoyed playing with each other!

Kezia and Auntie Marjie in her play tent!

Kezia and Henry playing together with her "mud pie" table. This "kitchen" soon ended up inside her tent and she's spent many hours playing in there.

Kezia loves Elmo, loves Sesame Street... much like her older sister did at this age. So, Mama made Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Zoe and Elmo cupcakes. Kezia knew all their names!
Kezia chose "Elmo" for her cupcake! She knew just what to do - and blew out those candles!

March 19, 2013 - Kezia turns 2

Kezia's birthday was special. We had a wonderful day as she colored while we did school, read books with Mama, ate Mac & Cheese... it's amazing how quickly this little precious girl has grown!


She got a water table (for outside). This is her "cheese" face...

This face is just precious. I love her little eyes - and how they twinkle.

Zane found that the box the water table came in, was a perfect hiding spot.

And Katiree found that she could pull him around in the box. What creative minds!

Darling 2 year old!

Evidently, one doesn't need water in the water table to enjoy it! Handles that turn, balls that spin... what fun!

Happy Birthday, Kezia!

 

The aftermath of a cookie monster cupcake on her face!

March 5, 2013 - Tate Turns 6

Tate celebrated before his actual birthday with family and family friends. On the day before his birthday, he went on his "birthday date" with Daddy and Mama. He chose... to go to the zoo, ride the Max train, watch airplanes at the airport, eat at Red Robin and watch trains at the train depot. It was a perfectly LOVELY day! The sun was shining (in March in the Pacific Northwest, this is not a given)! At the zoo, the animals were out, active... and we had so much fun! He saw our zoo's newest baby - Lily, the 300 pound baby elephant, bears, cougars, lions (right after they had been fed), orangutangs, chimpanzees, gibbons... and every animal was out, playing or way more active than usual! We rode the Max Train to Red Robin (and got to go through a tunnel - YIPPEE!)... and had a perfectly wonderful time with Tate!

The next day was his actual birthday which we enjoyed - though we also had school that day. When Daddy got home from work, Tate opened his presents and was so excited to get a Seahawks jersey and his Lego Police Station (which he had been asking for since October).
 

Tate is such a silly, funny kid. These pictures below were as we were singing to him (he has a piece of his birthday cake from his party in his bowl). Looking at the pictures just makes me laugh... he is quite hilarious!

 

 

 

Tate's Birthday Party

We celebrate our kids' birthdays with a "family" birthday party... family being Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins.... and a few friends that have been considered "family" since Katiree was born! This year Travis came up with a few fun games/activities for the kids. The first included stacking marshmallows, then putting the (two) marshmallows in their mouths and saying "Happy Birthday, Tate!"
 

 

The second activity included building "structures" with marshmallows and toothpicks. All these activities were enjoyed by the kids!

 

 Tate wanted a "Lego Train" cake. This is the one he picked out off the internet. It wasn't too hard, either! I certainly enjoyed the fact that it didn't take as long to put together! And thank you, Uncle Stephen for the Train Man for the cake. Tate was THRILLED to have a Lego man grace his cake and make it more "authentic".

Yep - He's SIX!!!! So hard to believe!

 

And yes - he sang to himself while everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He's such a little ham!

Mt. Hood Weekend Feb. 2013

We went up to Mt Hood to meet our small group from church at a lodge that one of the ladies reserved for our very large group (27 children - only 4 were teenagers, 13 adults). We had so much fun playing in the snow - sledding, innertubing, digging, building things and being with friends. It was a lovely way to spend a weekend! Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera out in the lodge. Keeping up with Kezia was enough for me... so I forgot about taking pictures.

We left the lodge on Sunday and went back to our cabin in Rhodedendron to spend some time together as a family, as well. It was lovely - the snow had melted by the cabin, so we were able to trek by Zig Zag River and enjoy the winter (minus snow) at the cabin!


Kids in the cabin

Looking down on Zig Zag River. This guy is an AWESOME daddy!

The kids on the bench above Zig Zag. I sat here with my Daddy when I was little. Some of my fondest memories are at my Grandpa's cabin with my family.

 The kids found a "sticky post" near the pedestrian bridge over Zig Zag River. A few years back, Papa (my dad) would take them on walks and tell them that if they touched these "sticky posts" (his words), they'd be stuck forever. Only he had the potion to release them from sticky posts. Of course, the boys got stuck, but Katiree declared that she had been given potion that lasted forever from Papa so she wouldn't stick to the sticky post. Thankfully for the boys, Mama (I) had the potion Papa had given me for these "sticky" situations. They were released from the sticky posts!!!

Katiree and the boys wanted this picture taken to show how much they love the Randall cabin.

Indoor "Bump"

This year the kids have really taken off with playing sports with Daddy. They've been playing "Bump" or "Pig" on a regular basis in the living room, bringing Zane's hoop downstairs. And so it stays... For breaks from school, they go "practice". We've nicknamed Zane "Longshot" because he has uncanny ability to hit the longshot on a regular basis. Anyway, I hope this is one of those things they look back on and think of with fond memories. It's fun to watch them play and no one ever wants the games to end!

Trying to get each other "out" in a game of Bump.

 

 The water girl, Kezia.

 Tate shooting and getting his ball back in the game of Bump.... notice how both of the boys have to go get "basketball" clothes on!