Part 7: Wii and Kinect

The kids love to play on the Wii when we visit Ben and Stacey.
It is such a treat for them.
I will admit, I have a lot of fun on it too.

This picture reminded me of the Monday morning we left to come home.

The kids were eating breakfast, and Ben was getting ready to leave for work.

Myles reminded him that they had not played their Mario Cart challenge.

Myles was so sad, and had a few tears running down his face.

Ben was so sweet. He asked Myles if he would like to play one game of the challenge before he had to leave for work.

That made Myles's day.

Friday night Ben and Stacey presented Chris with his birthday card and gift.
Dinner and watching the kids was on them.
What a treat that was!
The kids were pushing us out the door. What could be better than a couple of hours with Ben and Stacey without the parents?
They thoroughly enjoyed their evening, as did we.
They got to play with the Kinect while we were out.

Here are Stacey and Chris duking it out playing boxing on Kinect.

Rhaevyn and I played a kind of obstacle course game on it.
This is our victory pose.

The girls played track and field.
I think in these two pictures they were doing the long jump.

Here is Myles playing.
He did best with bowling on the kinect and Wii.
He even beat me.

Ben's victory dance.


Elsa getting in on the action.

Part 6: A Run Through the Sprinkler

The last day we were at Ben and Stacey's, Ben hooked up the Sprinkler for the kids to cool off in before we had hamburgers.
This was great fun for them, and wore them out.

Everyone gathering around Ben
as he tries to get the sprinkler to work.

While the sprinkler is getting fixed,
Rhaevyn volunteers to keep everyone cool.

And it's sprinkler time!!

Elsa decides it is time for the clothes to come off.

Ben picked up Myles and held him in the sprinkler.

Part 5: Water Balloons

After we got home from the train excursion, the kids were ready for water balloons.
Stacey had gotten them a big canister of water balloons when they were down visiting last, and the kids made sure I did not forget to bring it up with us.

We had quite the assembly line going with Stacey and Ben filling and Rhaevyn and me tying. Chris came out to help too. We weren't sure how he was managing because it was hard to tie the balloons even with little fingers.

We'd get the balloons filled and tied, and they would start disappearing as soon as they were put in the bucket. Rhaevyn was hiding some in her shorts pocket. Stacey went over and popped them, so Rhaevyn had wet pants. Ben and Stacey had their own little water balloon war. You're never too old to get in on the fun.

Part 4: Christopher's Birthday

Chris hit the big 4-0 while we were at Ben and Stacey's.
He had one request for his birthday cake "All American 7 pounder Chocolate cake"
I think those were his exact words.
Well, it wasn't a 7 pounder, but it was chocolate.
The guy at the bakery counter said he couldn't write on it, but we were welcome to give it a go.
He handed us the pastry bag full of blue icing and Rhaevyn, Stacey, Ben and I took turns each writing a word. He said he'd gotten too many complaints about his writing capabilities. It was kind of fun that we all got to help decorate the cake.
Rhaevyn decided to put four candles and then a zero candle.

Make a wish!

Here's to many more happy birthdays to come, Dear!

Part 3: Come On Everybody....Ride the Train!

Ben thought it would be fun for us all to go ride the Snoqualmie Train on Saturday.
We had originally thought about doing it in June, when it was offered as a field trip, but we decided to do the Centralia Train at that time.
The drive to Snoqualmie was absolutely beautiful.
The train ride was a 75 minute journey from Snoqulamie to North Bend, back towards Snoqualmie, past the famous Snoqulamie Falls, and then back to the station. The train stopped just past the falls, and all the passengers clambered to the left side of the cars to take in the breathtaking view. It was a very fun and relaxing ride with lots of beautiful scenery and plenty of nice people waving to the train passengers. I like that part. It is always fun to see how many people wave and then wave back to them.
We arrived just in time to quickly get tickets and board the train.

None of my pictures do justice to the falls.
In the train, you can't get a really good picture of them.
But, I found these pictures on line. They say that the Snoqulamie Falls are higher than the Niagra Falls.
Simply gorgeous!

I believe this was the original waiting area for passengers, and where they (and we)

bought tickets.

All Aboard!

Hmmm, where to sit.
There were several cars to choose from, each with different seating.

The conductor taking our tickets.

You get quite a jolt when the train lurches forward.
Ben tapped me on the shoulder to watch the part of the train,
in between cars, moving back and forth.
It might be hard to see in the video, but it really moves back and forth a lot.

Elsa singing "back and forth."

When the train stopped for five minutes in North Bend,
the older girls, Ben, and Stacey moved to different seats
in the next car.

Elsa singing "All aboard...choo, choo..."

Not the greatest pictures of the falls.

This is where the train stopped.
It was a long way down.
So beautiful though.

Heading back to Snoqualmie.
You can get a glimpse of the falls in this video.

There are a lot of engines, passenger cars, and logging train paraphernalia
lining the other track.

Back to the train station that dates back to the Victorian Era.

Time to get off.