Memories

Ok, Ok, normally I try not to "copy" others' blogs but I've seen this on a few lately and have enjoyed reading what people remember about them.  So, I thought I'd give it a shot and see if there's any memories lingering out there about Me (and/or Jer).  So, go ahead and leave any memory of Me or Jer or both!  Here's how it goes...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one (or two or three) memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Thanks!

Remlinger Farms

This past Saturday Jeremy's company, Allyis, had their annual summer BBQ. This year they held it at Remlinger Farms, which is a great place to pick fresh raspberries, they have a market with fresh produce, a little restaurant, a small amusement park, pony rides, pumpkin patches (in the fall), and huge open grass areas for parties. Allyis went all out with a great BBQ, having hamburgers, hot dogs, salmon, and chicken, and of course all the fixings to go along with it. They had pony rides, a huge bouncy toy, a rock climbing wall, relay games, crafts for the kids, an adult softball game, and an on-site playground. This was all at the BBQ portion of the party. Then, you took a hayride to the market, amusement park, petting zoo area, hay maze, and more pony rides. Samantha was so excited to get to those rides! Her first request was the roller coaster. It was small, but still really fun. We had bracelets to let us into all the rides, unlimited, so we took advantage of that and did all we could. Samantha had such a good time! Actually, we all did. It was such a fun day!

Sam going down the bouncy toy slide.

Parker didn't take a ride, but did get to sit on a pony for a bit.

Sam's pony ride. I think she liked it!

Parker playing at the playground.

Here's me and the kids on the Remlinger Farm truck. This was at the entrance of our party site.

Jer and Sam taking a ride on the roller coaster. Sam kept wanting to ride it over and over again.

At the amusement park they have a little train ride that we took.

Jeremy and Samantha on the train.

This was Samantha's last ride of the day. A cool, calming canoe ride.

Finally!

Goofy kid!

Well, we have some big news...Parker's FINALLY walking! Yeah! He just started doing if for real today. We were at a BBQ, thrown by Jer's work ,where he decided to finally make the big move. He's almost 15 months old and I've been wanting this for a few months now, so this is BIG! For those of you who are around Parker, you know all about his famous "hopping"... Well, he's still really good at that, of course, and has been doing it today quite a bit, but if you stand him up he'll just go. The only problem is that he gets so excited, he falls over. He can also stand up on his own (that's another new trick), without pulling himself up on something, but has only done it a few times today. I guess once he gets really good at that, he'll be an all out walker.  Can't wait.  Anway, I'm just so excited! I've been wanting this for a long time now! Now my arms might get a little break!

Temple Trip

Today was a beautiful day for a temple trip! The primary had an activity that brought all the kids to the temple. With Samantha only being 3yrs. I felt the need to be there as well. The thought of her in a big crowd of crazy kids with no mommy was a little nerve racking for me. So, Parker and I tagged along, along with a few other moms. We met up with the head hauncho over the grounds and gardening, who showed us around the outside of the temple. We then headed indoors to the waiting room where the temple president and his wife spoke with us. After our temple adventure we headed out to a trail that's just across the street that leads to a park where we ate lunch. Everyone had a great time. It was a very successful primary activity. Lots of kids (and adults), amazing scenery, wonderful speakers, and a very tasty lunch. We even stayed a few minutes longer than everyone else to play on the toys. What a great day!

All the primary children

A close-up of Sam. Her little friend, Elisabeth is next to her.

Some of the children under the "primary tree". This tree is dedicated to the primary organization.

Playing at  Robinswood Park

Sam looks grumpy, but really I think she's just contemplating her next move. What should I play on now???

Using the Telescope

For Jeremy's birthday last month, I got him that telescope I blogged about earlier. I was really excited to get it for him and now I'm really glad that I did. It's been really fun to have and play around with. I'm not into astronomy, normally, but the views have been pretty amazing. Jer gets excited about it and that makes me get into it as well. So, the other night we had a beautiful, clear sky (which we've been having a lot of lately, and I'm very happy about it!) so Jeremy decided to bring it out. We got a great view of the moon right away and Jeremy thought he'd try to capture it on our camera. There is a fancy camera and stand and stuff you can buy to take pictures through your telescope, but we don't have any of that so we did it the other logical way...by simply putting our camera lens to the telescope lens. Imagine that! It worked! Well, kinda. It looked great through the scopes' lens, but wasn't always as clear once we took the shot. Oh well. It was fun to try! Well, here's some of the pictures we got. The first two are the moon (obviously), and the other one is actually Jupiter. We found Jupiter! Crazy, huh?

Moon

You see the details of it much better through the scope.

Jupiter

We know it 's Jupiter because if you look VERY closely, you can see it's 4 moons, two on each side. Actually, in this picture you can only really see one of the moons well. Also, through the scope, you can see its coloring and you can see that it has brownish rings around it. It was pretty cool!

Camlann: A Medieval Village

Yes, that's right...a medieval village. We ventured out on Saturday to explore a little village which was a portrayal of rural England in the year 1376, nestled in the woods of Carnation, WA. We woke up, looking for something to do and this is what we found. We thought we knew of everything to do around here, until we found this on the internet. It looked interesting, so we decided to give it a go.

As we approached this village we were greeted by some sheep...go figure. It seemed appropriate. We checked out the sheep and turned around and there was a villager who was dressed the part, had the accent, and used words that were fitting to the medieval days. Jeremy and I couldn't help but start laughing after our first encounter with the village folk. We were told that we could walk about the village and we were able visit the different people that were there. What was kinda neat (and funny, I couldn't help buy giggle every once in a while) was that when you talked with these villagers, they would only talk in old English and if you asked a question they would only answer to you as if it were the 1300's. Anyway, we ran into a man building a house. He showed us how it was done, the tools used, and so on. We visited a lady who was dying yarn. That was pretty interesting actually. Sam got a piece of ribbon made of silk from her to tie around her wrist as a bracelet. We visited the Bors Hede, which was the restaurant. There we learned how they cooked and we even got a treat made for us. The cooks offered to make us a dessert, which we gladly accepted. I was a little worried about what it would taste like, but it wasn't too bad. I wasn't too thrilled with the texture. I'm kinda picky with that. If it's too slimy or something, I won't eat it. This was a little too squishy and slimy, but I ate a few bites anyway. We also chatted with a scribe, who showed us her work and taught us about quills and stuff. All of the shops weren't open that day, but everything and more will be going on in two weekends from now for a festival they have every summer, so we may go back to experience it all.

I am glad we went, just because it's not something you come across everyday. I mean, unless you find it on the internet or in a paper you would never know it existed. It was pretty entertaining too. I loved the clothes and the way they talked. It really brought you back, which was a great experience. I highly recommend it!

The entrance to the village.

Behind me would be where they put on performances. Maybe next time we'll catch one!

Jeremy and Samantha heading into the canopy of trees.

This is the ladie's room.

A clearing in the middle of the village.

This is inside the restaurant while we were waiting for our dessert.

We asked for some water and these are the cups. They're more like bowls.

Our food, water pitcher, cups and "linens" or napkins.

4th of July!

We had a very fun 4th this year! Jeremy's family came over to our house to have a BBQ and do fireworks. We had a total of 9 adults and 4 kids running around. Jer's grandma came too, who is going on 90 yrs. old. It was good to have her there with us, especially so she could see the great-grandkids. While the ladies were supervising the kids and cleaning up dinner, the guys (and Jess) played Rock Band. Rock Band has been a hit around our place lately. It's great entertainment. Anyways, we finally made it out to do some fireworks around 8. Mainly, they were ones the little kids could enjoy (and the big kids, like Jeremy). Things like sparklers, tanks, smoke bombs, stuff like that...The big show was still awaiting though. At the park, around the corner from our house, everyone in the neighborhood brings their BIG fireworks and lets them off there. So, the field is lined with people and it's a really awesome show. We didn't even buy any big ones this year, knowing we didn't have to. We just mooched off of everyone else! Somebody in our neighborhood owns a firework stand, so we got a pretty amazing show from him. I actually didn't stay the whole time, due to tired, and complaining children. It was very loud and Sam didn't' enjoy that part at all. After the big show, I managed to get the kids down, despite all the bangs and explosive sounds all around us still. The party didn't end there though. I ended up with a basement full of boys (they recruited from the park) continuing to play Rock Band until the wee hours of at least 1 a.m. It was fine by me, as long as the kids weren't woken up. Luckily, they weren't. Now, I'm exhausted, but I think it was worth it! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July like we did!

Samantha, with her cousin, Taylee. Their matching shirts came from Grandma Klein!

The Klein kids!

Running through the smoke seemed to be fun, but very stinky.

Parker with his first attempt at a firework.

Aunt Jessi is the best! She's great with the kids :)

Sam had a great time the sparklers, until she got burned! It was small, but very traumatizing.

Parker trying out a sparkler with Mom.

Watching all the fireworks at the park. It was so fun, but loud and crazy! Parker actually left his earplugs in, most of the time.