We're back from Alaska

560 photos for your viewing pleasure. Here.

For the record

Emma lost her first tooth. Several weeks ago.
After it came out she lost it again (or Sophie did) and we haven't seen it since. The tooth fairy came through anyway, eventually.

When the livin' is easy

The big kids are cashing in some hard earned screen time while Sophie gets her body acclimated to the Alaskan time zone.

Hummingbird trap

The other day a hummingbird (or "honey bird" as Sophie calls it) got stuck in our garage. Emma stood perfectly still and pretended to be a bush so the bird would fly to her.

That didn't work, so we shooed it outside with a broom. Silly bird.

Saboteur

This is what Ethan does when the rest of us are smiling during family photos.


(Click the image for a larger version.)

Overheard

SOPHIE: Mom! We heard a sound like...like...We heard a sound like...um...

SOPHIE: Mom!

GINGER: Yes?

SOPHIE: We heard a sound.

Overheard

Sophie was hanging out with me in the dressing room at a clothing store today while I tried on some jeans. She was not having fun. Finally she had had enough, and said this:

"That looks like comfy clothes. NOW GET OUT."

Happy Independence Day

Overheard

EMMA: Some people don't understand why their daddy has to sit on the stand during church and it makes them sad because they want their daddy to sit with them.
ME: Some people think that?
EMMA: Yep. Some people do.

Overheard

SOPHIE (to me and Ethan this morning): You guys have to go bed and stay there because my friends are coming over.

It's all the vitamins that make your teeth blue

Ready for boot camp

Overheard

Today while we were driving through a neighborhood, we saw a 10-year old kid riding down the sidewalk on a go-kart motorcycle. The following two sentences were uttered at EXACTLY the same time:

GINGER: That looks dangerous.
ME: That looks fun.

Ewww

An email from our homeowners' association today:

The [XXXXX] Pool will temporarily be closed this weekend due to a bodily-fluid incident.  We hope to re-open the pool Sunday morning, but the decision will be based on chemical levels in the pool.  The two other pools will be open regular hours this weekend, weather permitting.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

What should we do with 10 pounds of strawberries?

For FHE this evening we picked strawberries as part of our children's continuing course on "jobs Americans won't do". This morning it was cleaning the house, this evening it was picking berries. Actually, we had a good time learning, once again, that sometimes work is fun.

Their little fingers plucked over 10 pounds of super juicy yummy strawberries that filled up our car with strawberry scent the whole way home. (10+ pounds for only $15!)

We have some strawberry sour cream ice cream chillin' in the refrigerator, ready to be churned. (This is one of the best things we've ever bought, by the way.) A bunch of the strawberries volunteered to be part of a pie that Ginger is making. If you have any suggestions for what we should do with the remaining 7 pounds of strawberries, leave a comment! (We already have several jars of strawberry freezer jam, so you'll have to come up with something better.)