Busy Three Days

Wow. It has been nonstop activity here in the Hendrickson household. Thursday started out as usual with playgroup but then I was helping get together a birthday gift for one of Austin's teachers and then it was time for the first grade music performance. We headed up to the school, along with many other parents, and watched as the first graders sang a few songs about colors, rainbows, and growing. My favorite song was one that they sang about 4 hugs a day was the minimum. Austin seemed to really enjoy performing with his friends. By the way, he is on the far left side (red group) second from the top on the very end.

Friday was another busy day with grocery shopping and other errands and then taking Jacob to a model rocket building class. This class, through the parks and rec department, is for 8-10 year olds and they each got to build a rocket and then launch them twice. As you can see in the pictures, Jacob had a great time. His first launch went well though the parachute didn't open (most of the other ones didn't either) His second launch was good too except this time the nose and parachute separated from the body of the rocket. After his second launch we had to run to grab dinner and then it was off to parents night out co-op. What is this? Everyother Friday night there are 9 families that trade watching the kids while the others get a date night. We all go to the church & two set of parents stay with the kids there. Last night we were one of the couples on duty so no date for us. But it is definately worth it when we get to go out.

Today we got busy working and playing outside. I finally got most of the flower beds cleaned and weeded. I even have flowers blooming finally. My poppies are doing so great this year! I am even posting a picture of them (a request from my mom) I also took a picture of my favorite bush. The white flowers aren't around very long, but boy is it pretty while they are. We also got a couple of rainbows left on our driveway and Griffen had lots of fun playing in the dirt. Tomorrow we need to do a little cleaning inside.

The Last Ramble

Griffen and I attended our last official "Ramble" for the season. It has been very fun to explore things with him at the different parks. Today we started our adventure at the Marine Life Center down by the bay. It is a room that has three big aquariums (one really cool new one, see picture below) and then a large "pond" like tank and a small touch tank. Griffen was os excited about seeing all of the sea life. He didn't quite brave the touch tank though. He was happy just looking at all of the animals in there.

The really cool aquarium that gives you a look inside.

How many fish do you see? There are two, a redish one in the middle and the grey rock on the left. I only noticed the grey one after his buddy bumped him and he moved.

After our visit with the fish, Griffen hopped on his bike and we went around the marina and down to Zuanich Point Park. It is a great area out in Bellingham Bay. They have a play structure and it is also a great place to fly kites since there is usually a good supply of wind and very few trees. Unfortunately, I forgot the kite so we will have to fly them another time. It was such a beautiful day today to enjoy the bay. Like I told Griffen, we will definately have to do some adventures this summer with the boys home from school

The Marina

Tis the Season

It's campfire season again! We had our first official campfire last night. It was just the five of us but it sure was good to be outside on such a beautiful evening and the s'mores were very yummy. Austin liked them so much he was saving some for later.

The boys had fun practicing their soccer moves, swinging, and wrestling around in the back yard. Our cat Boo even decided to hang out with us for a little while.
































It had been a busy day for all of us. I had been at the church helping my friend, who is the church wedding coordinator, at a wedding all day. She is actually training me to be her backup just in case it is needed. Dean and the boys spent the day at a friends house. Dean was helping them paint so we were both tired. It was nice to be able to just relax and enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Rambling

Griffen and I had another day of "rambling" and I remembered my camera this time. Todya we went to the North Lake Whatcom Trail. It is an old railroad path that runs alone the north shore of the lake. It was cloudy today but thankfully not raining like last week. Griffen of course"didn't want to leave the house this morning but was very excited as we pulled into the parking lot. He could barely contain his excitement as other kids began to point out slugs, worms, and other insects.

As we started out on our trek, our leader passed out nature bingo cards so that the kids could really look for different things along the way. We found yellow, white, and blue flowers, slugs, seeds, people walking dogs, and different trees and plants. Griffen was pretty excited at first but then was way more interested in running and playing with a couple of the other boys.

Each child was given a paint swatch (the kind that you get when trying to find paint colors) so that they could compare and see if they could find any matches. They all had different colors so they got to share different things they found. Griffen had one with greens on it though they were more minty green colors so we didn't find any close matches but according to Griff we did find a lot of green. (Go figure. Who would've guess we would see any green in the forest :))

We ate lunch at the .5 mile mark on the trail where there was a small area for us to sit and eat. It was so peaceful and beautiful by the lake. After lunch we headed back to the car and then Griffen and I stopped by and visited with Toni and Caleb (Dean's sister and her son) since we drove right past their house to get to the trail. It was a fun adventure today. We have one more official rambling day next week. We will be going to the Marine Life Center (has a fun touch tank for the kids to explore) and then riding bikes down to a park on the bay. Hopefully we will be better about "rambling" after this small program is done and when the older two are home for the summer.

Spring Finally and a New Laundry Room!

Well we finally got a weekend of great weather. What did we get accomplished? Not much. Saturday was downright HOT and we just felt like being lazy. Boy do I love this area on sunny days.

The boys and I went across the street to the school playground so that they could ride their bikes. It only lasted about 25 minutes, then they decided that it was too hot.

We ended our day with a movie and everyones favorite movie treat......... popcorn and M&Ms.

We also got most of the laundry room finished. There are only a couple of small things we need to do. Of course we did the typical Hendrickson renovation and didn't take any before pictures. So as you look at the picture, imagine 1980's dark wood cabinets across the top with a longer cupboard that went to the floor on the far side. That is were the hot water heater used to be which means that the laundry cart was always in the way if you tried to get to the bathroom.

The funny thing was that today I actually found myself looking for laundry to wash. Is that weird?

The End of Soccer

The official end of the soccer season is here. Austin's team celebrated by having a party at a local park. Their coach had a few fun games planned and we had pizza and cookies. The boys all enjoyed playing together at the playground and being silly in their games.

Each player also recieved a new soccer ball that they got to pass around to have their friends sign. Austin is already looking forward to next season as well as trying new sports.

Griffen and I have been joining a group of people on Wednesday mornings to go "rambling" down different trails in our city. Unfortunately, I haven't been very good about taking my camera with us so there aren't any pictures. (Next week I will try to take pictures.) It has been fun to explore some of the many trails and parks that are here, even in the rain today. We even get to learn about different plants we see and we keep a look out for anything interesting to investigate. The kids, who are all 4-5 years old, seem to really have fun exploring and learning new things. Griffen's favorite thing to spot today were the trail markers along the way.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you all. I hope all of you mothers have had a great day with your families. We have had a quiet day here in Bellingham. I was woken up by my boys this morning with flowers, stories, and poems. My gift from Dean is that we are redoing the laundry room! YEAH!! I actually am excited about it. This past week Dean moved the hot water heater to the garage (with help from a friend of his who is a plumber) and now we are going to take out the old cupboards and paint and put in new shelves and a new washer and new dryer.

Yesterday we were getting back into life at home more as Jacob had a skateboarding class through the parks and rec department and Austin had his last soccer game. Jacob had a good time learning a few basic things with his skateboard. I was able to watch him and not intervene for the most part. There was a lot of time for the boys to try things on their own and I did have a bit of a hard time not going in to hold onto him while he was practicing (falling down looks like it hurts). He actually didn't fall much and is getting a little more confident on his board.

I didn't make it to Austin's last game as Griffen was definately in need of a nap and the game was at 1:00. But the report was that he did well and has enjoyed this season of soccer. He is getting better at following the ball and even getting a bit more aggressive and going after the ball instead of just watching it go past him. Now he is really wanting to try baseball now.

Dreaming of vacation

So I am new to blogging. I have been reading my cousins' blogs for awhile and wanting to start a blog for our family but have been a little intimidated to start one. So we are back from our trip to Disneyland and thought that now is as good as time as any to start the Hendrickson family blog.

We had a great time visiting Mickey and all of his pals. The boys really loved all the time to play and explore the new surroundings. Jacob and Austin's favorite part was the Jedi Training Academy while Griffen love the Teacup ride and Dumbo ride.

As far as rides go, Dean and I both really liked the California Screamin' rollercoaster at Disney California Adventure park. At first we thought that we were crazy but at the end of the ride we wanted to ride it again. The "scariest" part was the beginning when they stop you and count down. Then they shoot you forward so fast and you go flying up a really big hill. The rest of the ride was fast but smooth (I don't really like the ones that make sharp turns and throw you around). There is an upside down loop on this one but it really wasn't scary, just fun!

The boys got very tired as we played at the parks everyday, all day. We would laugh as each night they would fall asleep faster and faster. Jake had a hard time on our last day as he didn't want the trip to end. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just stay and play at Disney? We are now back home and back to colder weather and grey clouds. Dean still has this week off so things aren't quite back to normal schedule yet but the chores and school are bringing us back into the real world.