The Johnson's Came To Town

 My sister April came up for their annual trip to WA.  I think they've managed to visit us every summer.  I'm glad they appreciate the awesomeness of where I live.  We did all the usual things with them including eating good food, swimming at Pine Lake every chance we had, and relaxing while the kids got plenty of cousin time.  Toby and April are always so good about keeping the kitchen clean and playing with my kids so I can get a break here and there.  Basically anyone who is willing to clean my kitchen can visit any time!

We drove up the Canyon to Denny Creek Falls to try out bum sliding.  The first time I did this was years ago after we just moved here from Okinawa and we had a blast but we've had a very dry/hot summer so there weren't as many water falls to slide down.  But it was still beautiful and the water is always refreshing.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but Henry is sitting in a pool of crystal clear water and loving throwing his rocks in over and over again.

These falls go on forever.  And Henry survived without any injuries or near death experiences so win for me!

Marcus was pretending to be dead.  He's getting too old and too teenager-ish to do these family fun things.  In his opinion.

 We spent one day at Chism Beach on Lake Washington.  We love this place for the sandy beach area and the fun dock to jump off of.  We like to get there before the lifeguards start working and ruin all our fun.

The boys quickly started digging a hole for the "hot tub"

Henry loved sitting in the hot tub

The Johnson's have become Sea Hawks fans so they got pre-season tickets to a game and Randy tagged along with Landon and Parker.  I've still never been to a game myself but I can't get over how huge the stadium is.  Randy said Landon and Parker were pretty weirded out by how loud it was and since they were in the nose-bleeds, it was really hard to watch the game.  But still a great experience for all.

While everyone was at the game, I was baking a delicious lemon cheesecake with shortbread crust.  It was divine and totally worth turning on my oven for over an hour on a hot summer night.

Every visit from the Johnson's means lots of cheese balls.  Toby brings a huge tub of the nasty things.  This was the first annual Cheese Ball Challenge.  Everyone vowed to eat one cheese ball with every meal.  Breakfast was the hardest to choke down but the kids took it very seriously and never missed a meal.  The parents are so proud.

April and Toby organized some fun outdoor games for the cousins to play together.  Henry got to experience his first water balloon fight.

 The marshmallow game involved partnering up in a large shirt and the person in back had to feed the person in front a mallow, the front person had to bite it, and the remaining mallow was stuck to their face.  Whoever had the most mallows (and could eat the fastest) won!

In this game they had to eat as many saltine crackers as they could in 1 minute.  Easier said than done.  Max won.  April will have more details of the fun on her blog but all these games will be worth doing again.

 Apparently if you put enough rubber bands around a water melon it explodes.

 Apparently Landon LOVES eating exploding watermelons.  I think this was the best moment of his life.

 No trip would be complete without a stop at Triple XXX for their giant root beer floats.  We've also added onion rings to the mix because they are amazing.  We all leave with tummy aches but it's worth the pain!

Sam got the bum end of this deal

 We had a fun summer evening just playing in the driveway.  Kids rode bikes and scooters, drove the jeep, played ball, danced to music, and it was chaotic bliss. And yes, Henry is starting to walk but mostly just stands for long periods of time until he speedily crawls away like a bear possessed.

 Here are some pics of the action on Pine Lake as Ethan got launched off The Blob.  I was always back at the beach watching Henry eat dirt and throw rocks.  Glad everyone else was having fun though!

Paddling into the sunset

A House Divided

The Patriots vs. the Sea Hawks.  Who to cheer for?  Randy and I were torn.  We've been cheering for the Patriots since 2002.  Tom Brady is awesome so why not, right?  But our kids are Sea Hawks fans, through and through and since the Patriots are big old cheaters with deflated footballs, well, we were kinda leaning toward the Sea Hawks. 
We hosted a Super Bowl party at our house and knew that all our friends would be cheering for the Pats so we tried to do some last minute decorating to make everyone happy.  I had Randy put his artistic skills to good use and paint a giant number twelve on our big front window.  In case you didn't know, the twelve stands for the "12th Man."  There are eleven players on the field and the Sea Hawks fans are considered the 12th.  The Sea Hawks can't win without their "12th Man."  Twelve is a big deal.  We were worried our house might get egged or something for so proudly displaying our Seattle loyalty in Patriot territory but had to do it anyway.  Luckily Tom Brady's number is also twelve so everyone figured that's what it was for.  We were safe.
The party was fantastic!  We ate and ate and ate and ate.  Super Bowl food is an excellent way to end a 24-hour fast.  The game was intense, the kids mostly played in the basement, and the adults had a great time together.  I still can't get over the last interception but oh well.  My long-time loyalty to Tom Brady made it easy to be happy for him, errrrrrr, I mean the Patriots.

The mighty Twelve in all its glory

Cameron's afro is the real deal

Parker sneaking another cupcake.  He probably ate 10 of them

We rearranged furniture and brought in another couch for the ultimate viewing experience.  And drank IBC Root Beer of course!

The little guys found the iPhone way more entertaining.  Lame.

I came up with this idea myself:  Deflated Oreo Balls.  They aren't pretty but I thought I was pretty clever!

You can't buy Sea Hawks gear out here so we made our own jerseys with green painters tape.  We saved a ton of money and the boys thought they looked cool so it was a win-win!