Dress up

Navy Pier

Navy Pier, Chicago

Go Bulldogs!!!!

Mummifying Apples

Best Friends

Marissa said to me just now while we were working on her schoolwork, "If we went to school together and were the same age, we'd be best friends".

pretty math

Tate did a huge math problem.

He says to me, "Here, Mom. This is a fairly pretty piece of math I did."

Spill

Marissa is coming toward me crying. I ask what happened.

"I took-en a spill."

Placemats

Me: Marissa, will you put the placemats on the table for dinner?
Marissa: Why are we being all fancy for dinner?

Washing

Me: Marissa, you've been in the shower too long. Time to get out.
Marissa: Okay, Mom. Just need to wash something.

New Keyboard we got for the iPad

We left this note for Tate on the iPad:  

Dear Tate,

I hope you like this new keyboard.  I think this could really work for your school projects.  It will allow you to work on your writing at times that the Mac is not available.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Dear Mom/Dad,

It looks, sounds, and is amazing. I think that Mom made the right choice with the whole exchange thingymajigger. That keyboard and I are going to have some good times together. It still has that "new fancy thing" smell! 

Happily,

T

What you Google when you are Eight

Garett

Tate

Marissa

Math

Kohler, Wisconsin

Caesar

This is Garett playing Julius Caesar. He sat on his throne demanding we all serve him.

Perhaps the Last Year for the Mystery Machine

Garett was thrilled, as you can see, to get roped into riding the Scooby-Doo ride with his little sister!

"Oh, what shall we do next?"

Six Flags

Waiting in Line at Six Flags

Geysers

G-man had to teach us about how geysers work to complete a requirement for Scouts. He is a very good science teacher!

Tate dominating at Rummikub

Fishing

Kevin took the kids out fishing. Tate was at Scout Camp that day. Since the maximum capacity of the boat was three people, I was the odd man out. I had to go shopping. Darn!

Best Bakery in the World

While in Kentucky, we got to stop by the most wonderful bakery that makes melt-in-your-mouth doughnuts.  I hadn't been there for years, so was really great that Mom drove us there.  We had such a fun time "fragile" shopping and getting doughnuts.  

Tate in Action at Coach Cal camp

Marissa, Cousin Skylar and Garett

Coach Cal hat

Painting Projects

Painting Projects

Breakfast of Math Champions

I told Garett that he had to come up and do math but that he COULD make himself breakfast before he came.  He decided to make the HEARTIEST breakfast known to mankind.  The one that would take the LONGEST to make, so that he could avoid math for as long as possible.  Hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and bagel with butter and jam.  He said, "Grandma Moffett would be proud of my breakfast!".  

Speedos

Garett was getting in trouble today on the ride home from church. He said his Sunday school teacher didn't show up and so he sat in his classroom for the whole time and played the iPod with another boy. Yep.

So, I asked Tate, "Tate, what should Garett have done? What would you do if you realized your teacher wasn't coming and there was no Sunday school"

He says, "I'd run outside, grab my Speedo and start singing, 'I'm sexy and I know it' while dancing in the parking lot until you got out of church to take me home"!

Isn't it nice to have an older, more mature brother to show the younger siblings what they should be doing?

Onion Flowers

Garett was really wanting to go get a good steak at Outback. He was talking about how much he loves their "Onion Flower" (known as a Bloomin' Onion to the rest of the world). He said that he couldn't wait until he got older and could buy one all for himself and not have to share. Tate said, "Well, what about when you get a girlfriend? What if she likes Onion Flowers and you have to share?" Garett responded, "I've already thought that through. Before I make any girl my girlfriend, I'm gonna ask her if she likes onions. If she does, she's out!"

Then the kids got to talking about how Dad could never go to Outback with us. Tate said, "It's not like they sell Tofu Flowers." :D

Testing

Frenchity Bread

Garett told me that I was a bad mom because I wouldn't give him Frenchity bread today. :D

Coach Cal

Tate got to go to UK's Coach Calipari Camp in June. It was so exciting to meet the man who took UK to the NCAA tournament and brought home the title and trophy.

MakeOver

Jibber-Jabber

Garett was telling me a memory he had of going to the Macaroni Grill when he was little.  He said he remembered that being the first time he ever learned what "jinx" meant.  Perhaps we had a conversation in the car on the way there or at the dinner table, who knows-

At any rate, he said to me today, "That was the first time I realized that conversation was important.  I always thought when grown-ups talked it was just a bunch of jibber-jabber.  But then I learned you could play a game like "jinx" and it was actually fun to talk to grown-ups.  

Hello, Vancouver!

We didn't have long in Vancouver, but we had just enough time to do a little tour of the downtown and get some maple almonds for Dad. We ran into this furry beast along the way.

Clue

On the Lido Deck playing our favorite game... Clue!

Bingo

B-I-N-G-O was a lot of fun, but we didn't win.  I think they should have handed out prized for girl with the cutest pink nails.  But they didn't have any prize money for that!

Golden Princess to Vancouver, B.C.

Fancy Breakfast on the cruise

Dressy Dinner

Little Missy wanted to get ALL dressed up for dinner.  She might have a future in the modeling world!

Good-bye, San Francisco… Hello, Cruise!

Our Cruise Ship

Stinky Street

The day we departed San Francisco to catch our cruise to Vancouver, we had to get a bowl of clam chowder in a bread bowl.  It was the thing I REALLY wanted to do.  My friend, Dawn, told me I had to go to Stinky Street to find it.  Stinky Street?  I didn't see that on the map.  

Funny, how when you get there, though, you just know that you are there.  It was easy.  I got mine from Sabella & LaTorre's.  It was out of this world!  

Favorite

These were Kevin's favorite pictures that I brought home. Marissa loved the Pacific and was so excited to have touched this ocean. She had a blast at dusk running along the beach and throwing herself in the sand.

Yep

That is more ice cream, folks! Ghiradelli Square.

Oh… and Crepes, too!

Sausalito

The best thing about a trip with Mom?  You can talk her into ice cream at any time, anywhere!

Sea Otters

We actually saw sea otters along our bike path. So cool!

Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge

We got the crazy notion to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It seemed like that was the "thing" to do in San Francisco.  I wasn't sure if we could do it.  It had been a little while since I had been on a bike and it seemed kinda long.  We were triumphant!  We biked 8 miles and Marissa STILL wanted to bike more.  I have no idea how many miles we actually got in, but it was sooo fun.  We made it to Sausalito and took a ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf, where our hotel was.  More pictures of Sausalito to come!

The Bay

Lombard Street

Fortune Cookie Factory

Yes. This is a factory.


Marissa and I walked through, around, up, down and over to find what was labeled on the map as the "Fortune Cookie Factory". We walked through every little walkway and alley looking for it. We actually passed this "factory" about three times before we realized that this little hole-in-the-wall was the "factory".


We were amazed how they made the fortune cookies, though. This lady sits and pulls little bitty pancake looking cookies off a little griddle and folds them, sticks the message in, and lays them to cool on this special cookie sheet with holes. It is all done by hand.

We got to take our picture with the fortune cookie maker because we paid 50 cents!

Chinatown