R U Ready for the Show?

Finally, the whole family is together again this time for several days at Brad’s lovely new home out in Preston.  Their home is situated on 9 acres and  is a kid’s dream house surrounded by woods with trails leading everywhere, a great tree house with electricity and two bunks, and a large pond with a floating dock and a live beaver.  Brad has spent many hours  helping construct trails at Evans Preserve as a volunteer for the Sammamish Parks Department and now has his own territory to develop.  He has added more trails, a zip-line, a great sandbox, and thrives on keeping the yard mowed with his riding lawn mower.  Brody and Bennett seem to thrive on being out in nature and helping Dad out in the woods.

Ashley and  Brody, Brad and Bennett, along with Maya

Brody and Bennett were so anxious to see their cousins and Ashley had all kinds of activities planned. With four energetic kids under the age of five it was quite the show. The kids love being together and since Brody and Quinn are so close in age they get along pretty well as the ring leaders for all the activity.

Brody 5, Quinn 5, Conner 3, Bennett 2 all dressed in Seahawk PJs.

Brody, now five,  has always looked older than his years and is in a pre- kindergarden class. He has the prettiest blue eyes with long lashes and a mischievous grin especially when he's teasing. He loves riding his scooter, playing baseball, and wrestling with Boppa. He's good at sports and is already learning to play golf with a new set of clubs from Papa (Russell) that look close to professional.

Walter can remember doing this with Brad not that long ago.

Brody on his new all terrain scooter.

Bennett at 2, is the sweetest and cuddliest little guy and says some of the funniest things that pop into his head. He seems to hold his own with brother Brody and also loves his scooter, helping Mom in the kitchen, playing with trucks, and hiking around the trails.

Bennett out scooting around the driveway.

The  kids played endlessly out in the sandbox with the trucks and loader. Conner got up early one morning  and headed out to the sandbox to have all the trucks to himself.

Sandbox time is all day long.

By far the favorite activity was the “slip and slide” This was no ordinary slide, it started with a high blow up slide at the top and ran down the hillside for a long slide. This went on for hours with brief intermissions.  We don't have enough bandwidth to put in a video so you'll have to use your imagination.  Another favorite was to hike on down to the pond, sit on the bench and watch the birds and an occasional beaver working away on the dam.

We had a Family barbecue gathering with Auntie Durlyn and a couple friends. Brad is the BBQ extraordinaire! By the end  each day the grandkids had the bubbliest of baths and the parents would get a chance to put up their feet and relax for a few minutes before falling off into a deep sleep! Kids require a lot of energy especially for us!

Brad tending over some delicious Salmon fillets.