Happy Birthday Hannah!

Our beautiful Hannah turns 14 today!

Amazing how time has gone so fast. My cute little baby is growing up.

One of many adorable photos of Hannah when she was a little girl! She has always been so cute!

She loves soccer!  

We had a great family party to celebrate.

Hannah's favorite birthday cake. The famous 5 layer (I turned this one into 6 layers) Chocolate Chip Cookie cake that takes hours to make.  Well worth it. A delicious choice Hannah!

This morning we all sat down before school and work to have some delicious crepes and spend time wishing Hannah a Happy Birthday start to her day!

Birthday card from Ashton

One of the first mornings that Ben isn't rushing off to school. I did write him a note to be late because we were having such a nice breakfast with Hannah.

Loving her new clothes and her new bracelet! Heading off to school this morning happy for the day!

Hannah made this in art class


ASHTON THIS PAST WEEK:

Ashton is back into trains again.  When we left to Hawaii we didn't pack one train.  He seemed to be playing less with them at that point.  We got home and our red carpet was free of toys for a good week. Then he wanted the blue train track set up. (The one we gave him for his 3rd birthday that he plays with on an occasion)  He is now full force back into Thomas!  Not really sure how it happened, but he can play with them all day long if I let him.  I have to talk him into other things throughout the day.

My mom and dad bought Ashton this Ice cream cone at Mukilteo beach a couple weekends ago. The weather was beautiful.  I must admit this is really his first true ice cream cone that he has held and eaten. I am more of a cup and spoon mom. Who really wants to clean up the mess after an ice cream cone?  But he loved it! The next weekend he wanted one again when we went out to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.

Every 4 weeks is swim card day!  He is still on level 2, but he is doing awesome. He loves to go swimming!

 At Hannah's soccer game, Ashton was getting cold.  We told him if he ran around the track he would be warm.  So he did one time.  Then played soccer in the grass. Then he ran the track a second time. Then he played at the nearby park.  Then he ran a 3rd time and played soccer some more. He wanted to race and do some sprints then he ran his 4th lap around the track before going home.  He went well over a mile that day!  Where does he get the energy? :) 

Ready to be exhausted.....The kids in review

Ben has been very busy with all his hard challenge classes and tennis. He plays tennis 4-5 times a week. He had a tennis tournament this weekend in Seattle.  He lost Thursday night in the main draw to one of the seeded players. Tough match! We went back Saturday for the consolation round and he won 2 matches that evening. He played again this morning and made it to the finals this afternoon. He lost in the finals, but had great scores.  

Nice job Ben!

Hannah is still practicing Monday night with Dance class. She has a Dance recital June 24th that she is excited for. She gets to have a Dance costume too!

In addition to playing Tennis 2 times a week, Soccer has been busy for her (and for us!)  She still has indoor soccer games every Saturday, and is now starting a 6 week outdoor Soccer tournament. Her schedule on the weekend somehow became the busiest of all. 1 week down and 5 more to go of double soccer games.

She once again came home with a "Star Attraction" award this month! The theme this month is Self-Control.  We get a letter in the mail that goes with the certificate she brings home. It shows which teacher nominated her.  It was actually the same teacher as last month. Her science teacher Ms. Wilson. We are very proud of her!

Besides Preschool 3 times a week, Ashton is keeping busy with Swim classes on Monday and Wednesday. Sport Camps on Thursday and  now a new tennis class on Saturdays.  

(Stay tuned for T-ball in June!)

We were very excited to get him into this Class. You are supposed to be 4-6 years old, but Mark has worked with Ashton so much that he can keep up with these kids. Plus he is a good listener and really likes Coach Dan. Even though he can listen well, he seems so over stimulated with all the other kids that sometimes it looks like he doesn't hear what Coach Dan is telling him to do. He was so cute out there!

Easter

It was a beautiful Easter Weekend.  The sun was shining Saturday and Sunday. A great way to return from a sunny vacation.

Saturday we went to my dad's church "First Baptist Church" in Everett for a cute little easter egg hunt for Ashton. It was a perfect size for Ashton to practice being around other kids that are trying to grab the same egg he just looked at.  He seemed apprehensive at first, but he walked away with 7 plastic eggs and was very excited about it.

Excited for his 7 eggs!

Ashton and Papa

On Easter Morning we went to the Franklin side and had a nice lunch. The kids had a great time Easter Egg hunting. It was only Ashton, Toby and Alice this year. They had fun running around and trying to find them all. 

Gosh Uncle Tom - That is way up there!

Cousin Toby and Ashton. They Didn't even look up at the tree yet. 

Jaclynn and Matthew Cormier 

Wow- Those are pretty high

Pretty Cousin Alice

Aunt Christy and Toby. I Asked Toby to pose. This was what I got! 

The Cousins! Toby didn't want to be in the photo....
We made Matt Stand in the photo too since he is my new nephew! Welcome to the family Matt!

Kids playing Bocci Ball

We then headed off to the Bergman side for a Easter dinner. It was nice and relaxing. Very fun to see what the Easter Bunny left in Auntie Christy and Uncle Bart's yard!

Aunt Christy loving Ashton's pose!

Super excited for all of his eggs he found

Grandma, Aunt Christy, Grandpa and Ashton. I Love this photo!

Opening his eggs. Found HotWheels and money and candy!  

Excited!

From Grandma and Grandpa!

It was a long day, but definitely great to visit and spend time with family. Happy Easter!

Our last full day

We took a family vote and decided to do the beach one last time! We met up with our friends at their beach hotel and enjoyed their company.

We shopped a little and had a great lunch at Cheeseburger Paradise. We concluded our evening with a dip in the pool in the dark.

What a fun vacation! Today is travel day....

Train day

The is a pretty neat steam train called the Sugar Train. It is a hour and 10 minutes round trip ride. We thought Ashton would really enjoy it so we bought 4 adult tickets (because kids older then 11 are considered adult prices for everything here). We got in and 10 minutes after it took off Ashton fell asleep. ;) At least he remembers getting on and off. We went into a store later that afternoon and he saw a a Sugar Train postcard he really wanted to buy. At least the 10 minute trip was worth it for him!

We ended to day with dinner with our friends!

Another fun day. One full one left!

Our adventure

Early morning shopping was fun for the kids. Ashton found the ABC store with lots of candy to choose from. He always finds the ones that say M&M's on it. Daddy loves that! Ben and Hannah found many shops they liked and a couple hours later they were done. Hannah wants to go back there. Good thing we are going back there for dinner tonight.

After lunch we took a car trip north to find the blow hole. I am so glad I brought my Maui guide book with me, because we would have never found it and I wouldn't have been prepared to wear some good shoes. No flip-flops allowed on this trail. There are no signs off the main road and once you park there is nothing to tell you what direction to head off to. What a hike! Mark held Ashton part of the way, but Ashton did great climbing down and up the rocky hill. We were looking everywhere to find it and Once we finally found the blow hole, it was amazing. It wasn't blowing That high, but it was still a pretty sight.

The evening concluded with the guys watching a basketball game they couldn't miss (Hannah, Ashton and I took a walk to some shops near by and brought back pizza) and then the pool.

Today is a train day. Ashton is looking forward to it!

Fun day in Hawaii

We had a great Hawaii day yesterday! Everyone seemed good. The wind was gone. The sun was out, and we met up with our good friends!

We woke up and drove down to a South Maui beach called Weilia for the morning where our friends are staying. The beach was gorgeous and it was perfect for having fun! We used some boogie boards and learned how to paddle board. That seems to be the thing to do in Hawaii. Hannah said it was the greatest thing to do and enjoyed being out there in the ocean looking around. It was pretty tough to balance yourself when standing, but I am glad we all tried it. We had a fantastic time with our friends there. It was so nice of them to meet up with us and even share their umbrella! Loved that! Can't wait to see them again in a few days for dinner!

Later that day we went to a luau. Even though the kids go every year to the big island of Hawaii, they have never experienced a luau. It was fun. Definitely a production that they do every night, but it was an enjoyable evening. We were surprised Ashton stayed up the whole time. I am worried that once we get back he will be up until midnight because Of this time change, but for now it is nice to have him enjoy the surroundings with us.

Off to shop and then visit the blow holes today!