Orchestra Camp and Pizza with Friends

After enjoying band camp last week, Rachel wanted to go to orchestra camp this week. She had a lot of fun and learned more about playing the violin.

Here is a video of the performance:

 (I was sitting in the second row, so the video isn't great and includes heads and elbows of the children sitting in front of me...sorry!)

 

We are babysitting for a friend the last week in July while she enjoys 8 days in Russia. To prepare her children for spending the night at our house for such a long time, we had a practice sleepover. The girls had fun making pizza, swimming, and going to church with us. We are excited to have them spend time with us at the end of the month.

Din Tai Fung--YUMMY!!!

My friend's son is a very intelligent college student. He has invented all sorts of contraptions and was recently hired to work on a torpedo to put in the ice in Greenland to measure temperature/thickness of ice/or something like that--related to global warming.  He gave us a tour of his lab. I understood only about half of what he was talking about...the kids understood even less, but they had fun with the swivel chairs.

After our fun tour in one of the science building at the U of W, we went to an EXCELLENT restaurant. I had never heard of it before which is probably a good thing because it is expensive and I would have spent too much money there.  Now I am going to struggle to stay away. It is one of the top ten restaurants in the world. The first restaurant opened in Taipei, Taiwan. They now have restaurants in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Los Angeles, and Seattle (actually Bellevue). Nice! We had to wait for 1 1/2 hours for a table because they don't take reservation and it is a very popular place.  We knew the wait would be long so we went on Monday thinking it would be shorter. Nope. It was worth the wait. Fresh dumplings! Fresh noodles! Real hot and sour soup (Rachel didn't like it). Yummy! I am now convinced that there is a difference between food in Taiwan and food in China. Food from Taiwan is much better.  I can still taste it. Amazing! I can't wait to go to Taiwan again and eat fresh dumplings and noodles.

Check out their webpage by clicking here.

While we waited, we had fun watching the dumplings and noodles being made.

 This is probably too small to read, but it give a little history of the restaurant.

 Playing on the skybridge while we patiently waited for a table...

 Yummy food!!!

 Poor Nick was a really good sport with these wild girls.

 When we got home, I noticed a strawberry! Yippee! I don't have much of a green thumb and I am really excited about this strawberry.

Rachel's band camp

Rachel went to band camp for three days last week. The last day, they performed for parents. I think they did a great job. I'm glad she is enjoying band. She loves her teacher and she loves playing the flute and was so excited to try the piccolo. I hope she continues playing.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

I have the best dad in the world. I am so grateful to him. Happy Father's Day, Dad!!

SCHOOL IS OUT!!!!!

 In addition to dried frogs, crayons, unfinished schoolwork, and candy wrappers, I discovered this pencil and paper clip behind one of the many bookcases in my classroom. The pencil and paperclip were stuck to the wall.  Crazy!

We celebrated the end of the school year by having a campfire and playing at Cascade Park with friends. We love Cascade Park and it was a perfect evening. We are grateful the rain that was falling earlier in the day stopped long enough for us to play. The sun even made an occasional appearance.

I had so much fun playing with my girls that I didn't take very many pictures. Here are a few just to prove that we had fun.

 Erin Joy discovered that she can climb the rope while the barrel swing is going. I made her stop after awhile because it looked a little dangerous to me. Silly girl.

Birthday Continues and Talent Show

I enjoyed a great dinner of chips and salsa using the nice platter my friend gave me.

The morning of my birthday, I was awakened to a great surprise. My friend had come over and helped my children make me breakfast in bed. It was a fabulous breakfast: huge pancakes, fruit, a chocolate croissant, and lots of bacon.  What a wonderful way to start my birthday! I was so full, I couldn't eat lunch.

Erin Joy loves to leave me notes and I love to receive them. She even spelled "it's" and "your" correctly! Nice!!



 

This is our last week of school! Hooray!! No snow days to make up this year! My birthday celebration was even more special because Rachel performed during the talent show. She does an excellent job on the flute.  Erin Joy is very talented too, but she does not like to perform. She still remembers the year I made her perform (kindergarten) and hasn't recovered yet. She was chosen as one of the school helpers to lead the school dance. Rachel was chosen too. At the end of the great flute performance, I included a little bit of the school dance featuring Erin Joy and Rachel as leaders. (Erin Joy was kind of hidden on the back row.)



 

One of my friends has a birthday the day after mine. We often celebrate together. Her husband grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for us and then we shared a yummy cheese cake. Happy birthday to us!

 



 

Rachel has been a dedicated member of  "Safety Patrol" and has helped students cross the road. Today was her last day. Sigh. On to middle school....

 

Birthday Fun

We had a lot of fun yesterday. First, the girls went ice skating with a friend.

We then when to a gourmet cupcake shop to eat cupcakes for my birthday.

My friend, Jean, gave me a platter to serve chips and salsa on and chips and salsa to go with it! Perfect! Thanks, Jean!

This statue outside of the cupcake shop was perfect for our girls.

We ended our adventures at "Sorticulture." A fun event full of various venders and music. There were quite a few activities for the kids too. Here they colored wooden sticks courtesy of the Quilceda Woodcarving Club.

Then they painted pots.

They enjoyed playing at the park while their pots dried.

Finally, the finished pots planted with flowers.

We had great food.

The girls gave each other piggy-back rides as we walked back to our car.

Erin Joy gave me a birthday present by performing a little magic.

She turned the red ball into....

...a ladybug rock. Very cute.

The ladybug rock happens to be the same rock I bought for her about a year ago. She tends to give me recycled gifts quite frequently:)  My birthday isn't until Monday, but she couldn't wait.  Rachel has a birthday surprise for me too, but she can wait. Ah, the anticipation!!