ALASKA! Part 2 (long)

One of the best parts of vacation was me being able to pack the suitcases and bringing only the cute clothes, that match!  I LOVED seeing my girls dressed nicely instead of in their wild, mis-matched own choosing attire!  Dressed up for the cocktail party and dinner!

 This was our home for a week!  It made me laugh out loud.  Ellie slept on the top bunk, Dani underneath her, Kent in the middle, on the trundle, and me on the other end.  It was nice and cozy.  I did enjoy sleeping with the girls and listening to their sisterly chit chat and routines.  Each night they gave each other kisses, said good night (over and over), checked to make sure each other had the right baby and was happy and content to sleep.  By the time their whole routine was done and over with I was fast asleep, it's quite the process that I never knew existed.

 The other best thing about cruising is kids camp!  The girls LOVED it, they actually asked us to go away when we went to pick them up.  Who wouldn't love face painting, pillow fights, an indoor jungle gym, crafts, pillow fights and watching whales swim alongside the ship?

 While the girls were in kids camp, Kent and I were at art auctions or cocktail parties.  This is an original painting that we bought from one of the artists on board, Marko.  (I realize you can't see the painting, it's a NewYork city scene, that I love.  It's somewhere that I've always wanted to go).  Two artists, Marko and Dominic Pangborn were part of the Parkwest VIP "experience."  We got to hang out and get to know them all week.  It's pretty cool to know the artist behind the paintings and what inspires them.  In some cases, it makes the art work make so much more sense.

 More Kids camp, Blues Clues!

 Towel animal, which the girls loved!

 On a hike in Ketchikan.

                                                       Polar bear hugs and Alaskan hats.

                                                 Kent made a new BFF!   :)

                                                     

                       We saw Santa in Ketchikan.  The girls actually talked to him and gave him hugs.  Apparently it was all ok because he didn't have gloves on......I guess gloves are scary and painful???

ALASKA! Part 1

We arrived in Seattle on Friday night.  Parkwest put us up in a The Renaissance Hotel.  It was the first hotel the girls have stayed in since they were infants.  Parkwest had a fancy dinner and the girls got to dress up.  They did a great job, considering dinner wasn't served until 8 (their bed time). 

Saturday we couldn't get on the ship until noon, and we didn't have to be with Parkwest, so we got to be tourists in Seattle.  We had a great time walking around downtown.  Of course we hit Pike's Place Market and Starbucks!

 Another must  have, the mini fried donuts!  We got some of each kind, the girls were pretty impressed!

The view of our ship from downtown.  Bonus, it was SUNNY and in the 70s in Seattle!

 The first stop was the pool once we got on the ship.  Ellie and Dani were in heaven. 

 The ship could have stayed in port for the week and they would have been happy just to swim (and eat ice cream of course).

Days 3-7 will follow soon......

New paint

We finshed our accent wall a couple of weeks ago...

                                                                        Before

                                                 After....still don't have pics. up, maybe tonight?

I LOVE it, I am really happy with how much it adds to our rooms.  Now we have to tackle all the other walls.  Maybe in the next few months I'll have pics. for that!

Update!

The boys lasted until 3:20 am.  That is when Kent crawled into bed.  I guess Brayden got too cold.  They probably got a total of 5 hours of sleep.  Apparently this adventure is never happening again.  :)  This mini camp out may have put our family back another few years before we attempt real camping!  Bummer, I really want to do a fun, lake, boat (who has one?) camp out....

Onto other exciting things in the Phillips fam: 

1.  Functioning on very little sleep, Kent, with Kelly's help, is putting up the railing for the deck!

2.  We bought 3 gallons of paint last night!  These bare, dry walls are going to be seeing some color!  Yes, I know it will take way more than 3 gallons to do our whole upstairs and two bathrooms, but we of course have to make sure we like the colors!  Any idea on what color we are going to do our accent wall???  I had friends over this last week while Kent was out of town and got different opinions and thoughts (because I am HORRIBLE at picking out paint).  We reached a consensus and Kent vetoed it first thing.  Not a shocker.  I compromised, we are doing "Haze", through most of the upstairs (brownish/tan) and "Lost Atlantis" on the accent wall that spreads from the kitchen to living room.  I think we may also do our bathroom with this.  It's a dark blue/grey.  Surprise!  Kent has a minor obsession with blue, which I have learned to love....I guess it could be worse.  I think this color will be fantastic!

3.  We are also actively talking about carpet and flooring for the kitchen and dining room!  YAY!  It needs to be replaced so bad.  It has taken its toll over the last 8 years and three growing children. The replacement will be a ways down the road, until we figure out our budget, but it may happen sooner rather than later!

This means I will be able to check off quite a few things on my 40 before 40 list!  I can't wait!

Another thing that will be checked off within a week is an Alaska cruise!  This has been kept somewhat under wraps because it is all kind of crazy!  When we returned from our last cruise in May there was a message on our answering machine offering us a free cruise.  I  paid no attention to  it, I had a million things going on.....when  I went to delete messages a few weeks later, I actually listened to it.  I called the lady to get more info. and low and behold it wasn't a sham (as far as we know).  They are paying for a cruise for two to Alaska, from Seattle, with a balcony room and gratuities included.  WHAT???  It was too hard to pass up, especially since we don't have to pay airfare, just drive across the state.  We went around and around in circles trying to figure out how we could ALL go.  The best they could do was an outside room for 4 people.  This means we are taking the girls, Brayden has been on two cruises with us, so the girls will be trekking to Alaska with us.  Brayden gets to spend a week with my parents all by himself!  He is super excited and realizes that it's the girls' turn.  It still breaks my heart, but it will be special time for everyone!

This is all happening in less than a week.  We drive to Seattle on the 8th and cruise from the 9th-16th.  This happens to be the week before my sprint tri.  Do you think I might be sabotaging myself??? Oh well, couldn't pass it up. I'm sure I will be training hard on the ship, maybe I can climb a few glaciers in Alaska!  :)

Camp Out!

It's 8:15 and the boys are in the backyard camping out.  Brayden is soo excited, he has been waiting forever to do this!  I snapped their pics. said, "Good luck!" and headed inside.  Kent yelled, "It's pretty bright out here."  Umm, yeah, only two more hours until it's dark.  I am heading to my bedroom and snuggling in to read a book!  I will report back and let you know how the night went.....this may be the only camping experience of the Summer.  But maybe I will try it with the girls when I feel rested and up to the challenge.  Speaking of rested, Kent flew in from NC this morning and was home by 10:30 am.  Does that mean he got up at midnight our time?  I was afraid to ask.  Hopefully he sleeps well tonight, it could be a LONG 3 day weekend.

Happy 4th of July!  Enjoy your weekend!

Catch up!

It has been a while since I posted.  I uploaded a bunch  of pics. from the last few weeks.  We have been busier than I remember!  Here is Brayden on his last day of school!  I couldn't get his first day of school to upload, but the differences are crazy!  He has really grown up, AND become a toothless wonder.

 Spokane Indians baseball game!  We had a fun night out on the last day of school.  We met some friends there and lasted through half the game!  We left at 8:45 and had to miss the fireworks, but it was a successful, fun night!

 We went to  the girls' friend's B-day party at Chuck E Cheese!   Wow, that was a LONG two hours for me.  The kids of course had a blast!

 YAY!  Cousin Noah is here from Lafayette, OR staying with Grandma.  We have been able to spend lots of time with him, it has been great!  He is such a good, sweet boy!  We have really enjoyed our sleep overs and time with him!  We went bowling for www.kidsbowlfree.com !  Check it out!  It was great!

 We had friends come play.  Brayden's BFF from school, who lives four houses down. Landen and little bro Austin, who is the girls age, and baby sister Hayden, who is just too dang cute! 

 Girls hanging in the backyard while the boys worked on the deck.

 YAY, for the deck being torn down and rebuilt!  I need to get a current pic. it's almost done already!

Danielle, Elizabeth, Alexis, Brayden, Keegan, Nathan (Sarah's nephew), Noah, & (Owen didn't ride this one.)
Trip to Silverwood with eight children!  It was a little much, but lots of fun!

It has been a fun Summer so far, it will be even better when the sun shows up consistently!  Also, I am going to be able to check things off my 40 before 40 list, stay tuned! 

Party on party people

Bounce house!

Today we celebrated my baby's 7th birthday!  Brayden's birthday isn't until September 4th, which is Labor day weekend.  We take a risk each year with whether or not his friends will be around.  As an added concern this year, some of his friends may not be around in the Fall.  Brayden has been attending the "kindergarten center" which is a building that houses kindergartners from two different elementary schools.  As a result, half of his friends will be attending a different school in the Fall.  :(  We thought it would be a good idea to party while all of his friends were around.  It turned out to be a GREAT day!  Thunder storms were expected and we woke up to rain, but it cleared off and was 70 out!  We had 18 kids, so thank goodness we could keep them in the backyard, our house may have exploded......

Ellie and Brayden demonstrating the wheelbarrow race.

                                        Auntie Sarah and Grandma Phillips holding Dani and Ally.

                                                                        Present time!

                                                               Pinata time!

Brayden has spent all evening opening and playing with all of his loot!  He is a very lucky boy with really good friends.  He put this Lego game together all by himself.  I stayed clear of this, it was WAAAYY to overwhelming to me.  He did quite well!  What do you do when your SEVEN year old can follow directions better than you???  My brain does NOT work that way.  I can't even transform his Transformers....

Happy Birthday to my sweet, thoughtful, smart, goofy boy!  I love you Brayden Goo!