Happy 4th of July!

During the day Cooper, Logan, Grama Nina and I went to the Auburn 4th of July Celebration at Les Gove park. There were lots of things to do there.

We watched the kids parade and Cooper was so excited to see his friends!

Cooper had his face painted, jumped on the inflated toys, & went down the big slide with Grama & Cousin Jo Jo. Our friends Nicholas, William, & Jen were also hanging out with us.
All the kids went on the little train, which Logan LOVED!!!
They even got to ride the ponies!

Which Logan didn't like so much.

We even saw our old friend from last year! Hi, Dozer! It looks like Cooper's bigger this year!

So much fun, what an awesome way to spend the day! Could it get better? Of course it did. We went to lunch, the grocery store and went home for a nap before our BBQ with our friends.

Good times, Good Friends, and Good Food! Then it rained.

We figured it was a good thing. Wet the earth before the Fireworks. We drove over to our friends house to light the fireworks. The Smith Family put on a great show!

Cooper was loving the sparklers. He would wave with all his might, then drag it on the ground trying to put out the fire. Logan really loved the fireworks, too. He didn't care to much for the loud whistling ones, but he loved "the boom booms" as he called them.

Happy Birthday America!

Cooper's Dentist Article!!!!

Cooper is our little star of the day! I told you he would only sit in the chair for the reporter.

Here's the link to the article in the paper.

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/aub/news/22061349.html

Summer Fun, June edition.

In order to keep the boys cool, we've gone to Jeremy & Jehana's house and went swimming. Cooper loves the water and tries to float on his back. He loves the slide and splashing Mama. Logan is getting more and more used to the water. The first time we went swimming I had to stay really close, as he would trip and fall face first and not be able to get up. I've decided it's worth getting splashed and most importantly I want keep my boys safe. Just add lifeguard to my resume.
June found us celebrating 2 birthdays with the Twiddy cousins. Here is Cooper playing house with cousin Reece at her 4th birthday party. While there they went swimming, and played on the awesome swingset. AND of course got really really dirty in the sand pit.
Logan really like the tire "horse" swing, the slide, the power wheel 4-wheeler and the doggies.

The Twiddy Boys go to the Dentist!

I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and take the boys to the dentist. Logan really didn't need to go, but I had to show Cooper that little brother was going as well. I got a flyer from school stating that "the Smilemobile" was going to be in our neighborhood. I thought that this would be a less intimidating way of taking Cooper to the dentist. Thinking that it would be fun to go to the dentist on a "bus". All week we pretended to go to the dentist, by saying AHhhh! and letting mommy poke around in Cooper's mouth with no biting. Logan seemed to like the game as well, so I thought okay this is going good. Today before we left James read the boys "The Berenstein Bears Go to the Dentist." Everything was going great. We even brought Cooper's blanket and a few Cars. We went to the free lunch down at the school, went to the park..then ......to the SmileMobile..

This is how in my little world it would go....Logan would sit nicely for the Dentist and let the Dentist look at his teeth. He loved the Chair ride...but then...

Reality!
Totally hated it! Oh well. Give him a toothbrush and he's happy again.
Then there was Cooper. I thought...hmmm. He will like the chair ride and sit for the Dentist.

NOT! This is what happened. Cooper never sat in the chair for his exam. He sat on James' lap. The only reason he got in the chair was because a reporter for the Auburn Reporter came in and wanted to take pictures and do an article. He would sit there for the reporter, but not anyone else. He did do a fake AHhh! for the reporter as well.

The trip to the dentist really wasn't as bad as you may think. Trust me, we've had Doctor appointments that were worse and involved a 30 minute temper tantrum.

All in all, no cavities, no worries about the teeth.

Hopefully next year will be better.

Kids Day!

The city of Auburn held it's annual Kids' Day at Game Farm Park. Every year the city brings in several inflatable slides and bounce houses. They have booths for kids to make crafts and try out a little fishing. Of course all the vendors are there with the kettle corn, hamburgers, hot dogs and cotton candy. This year Cooper really enjoyed the fire trucks, ambulances, tractors, & construction equipment. Here are a few picture for your enjoyment.

If you look really close you'll see Logan and Jessa Highfield. Logan LOVES trains. CHoo CHoo. Next month we'll be spending the day with Thomas the Train in Snoqualmie, WA....

End of the year Artwork

These were the last pieces of art Cooper brought home from his first year in Pre-K.

I couldn't decide which picture I liked better. So I'm posting both. This was my favorite craft so far.
Okay, I really liked this one too!

Happy Birthday 2nd Zada!

Here's an updated picture of my neice Zada, and here's my cheesey son at her party.

Bouncy Place Field Trip

On June 13th (Friday the 13th) the last field trip of the school year, the ECE classes went to the Bouncy Place. It was pretty cool and there were alot more inflatables than any other place we've been. Only drawback was the floor was all concrete. That makes for alot of slipping.


Thankfully the other teachers were helping Cooper up the big ladders, while I chased Logan around the place. And then I would help Cooper and the teachers would chase Logan.


They were both worn out from an hour of running, jumping and sliding. I was exhausted as well. Next time we'll bring James!

Early Childhood Education Field Day 2008

Today was definately a family fun day! James' schedule permitted him to come and in hind sight I was grateful for that. The Auburn School District has a wonderful Pre-School program. Cooper has progressed so much since starting the ECE program in October. This field day gave us as parents and families to see the progress of the kids since the beginning of the year. Each Station allows each child to show either a fine or gross motor skill. The early teachers that evalutated Cooper were impressed at how much he has progressed, not only with his motor skills, but his Speech as well.

Stacking Relay Station

Music & Movement Station

This was cute. They would wave their streamers to the music and freeze when the music stopped. You can see on the ground the little parachute wands. After the song the teachers just let the kids take off and run the field to make the parachutes open.Logan loved this! I tried to take the streamer away, but I couldn't, so the teacher said he could have it as long as he wanted.

Keep'em Moving!

Logan wasn't too interested in the coloring station or was he willing to give up his streamer from the last. So we just let him loose and he was moving and groovin' to the music and waving to his hearts delite.

Coloring Station


Tunnel Station



Logan was really interested in what Cooper was up to. I was actually surprised that he was going through the tunnel. We tried this last summer at Kids Day and he wouldn't go in. This Pre-school program has been really good for alot of areas in his development.
As you can see, Logan loved the tunnel. Only one problem. He doesn't like the feel of grass so he wouldn't crawl out!

Obstacle Course Station Here we can see Cooper still needs to work on his balance and jumping.

Moving on to more!

Basketball Station

As you can see, Logan had no trouble sweet talking the teacher into an assist at the hoops. Cooper was really good at making baskets. We need to work on his dribbling skills though, there was some serious traveling going on. At one point I was playing defense with Cooper, he kept trying to get around me and just as I was about to let him pass he got smart and went for the other hoop.

Playground Station

Chalk Station This would be my boy making circles around himself. It turned out to be a good one though. Logan was upset, he was put in the stroller for the next three stations.

Bicycle/Scooter/Tricylce Station

We obviously need to work on this area of his development. Good Sport Dad!

Bean Bag toss Station.

Look at that form!

And last but not least...

Water table Station

Here the boys were able to play with water using a variety of fun toys. Logan liked the turkey baster and Cooper really enjoyed the fishing pole. Maybe this summer we can take him fishing. You know tie him to the tree with duct tape so he doesn't fall in the river/lake/stream or whatever.

Stretchy thingy Station

This was actually kinda fun once you got past the weirdness of it it. The kids would try and make a big circle, then a small circle. Then we played Ring-around-the Rosies.

Play-Doh Station

Cooper really loves play-doh, Logan wasn't sure about it. But he didn't try and eat it!

Parachute Station

Bubble Station

Okay honestly I think this was the best. We need to get some bubble wands! All in all we had alot of fun. Afterwards we had a hot dog picnic, and finally we went home worn out from a fun day! Later we realized that we should have worn sunscreen. Logan and I got our first sunburn of the season. It WILL be Logan's first and last!