Olympic National Park/Port Townsend

We went to Olympic National Park, aka "the rain forest", our kids loved it. Spencer found a great collection of Banana Slugs that left a huge trail of slime on his hands. Ryan, our nephew also had a great collection. It rained on our picnic, so we had to pick up our stuff and eat in the vans. We went for a short hike through the forest. It was just right in length for the kids. We were really wet when we got through.Kai (in navy blue), Spencer (in gray), Mica, Tori, and Scott


Spencer, Aiden, Caleb, Adele, Mica, Ryan, Kai, Tori
Adele, Aiden, and KaiSpencer
Ryan

Worden State Park



We went through Port Townsend to go to Worden State Park. It is right at the north east tip of the peninsula. Our boys found hundreds of dead jelly fish, and collected them in a Pokemon tin. They were a bit nasty, and Spencer really wanted to bring them home. The answer was a big fat "NO". They had to be left at the beach.
Mica

True Confessions

I have two confessions to make.

The first is Scott and I went to San Francisco this summer for our 12th anniversary, and I didn't call my aunt and uncle or any of their children that live there. I am not sure if any of them check my blog, but I felt bad that I didn't at least call. So I haven't posted any pictures or told any of the great stories like being ripped off by the limo driver that brought us back to our hotel from Wicked. Or not realizing when you hotel address says "Nob Hill" it is at the top of the hill, and you should have taken a taxi from the BART station to your hotel instead of walking with your luggage wondering if you will ever get to the top.

The second is that we went to Seattle this summer for two reasons. The first was to see Scott's sister Sarah and her kids. Tim (her husband) is out to sea. The second was to sight see. We did both, and had a great time. However, my very best-est friend from high school, Stephanie lives there and I didn't call her, even though I told her that I would. I know that she checks my blog and I didn't want her to know that I was again a very bad friend. So I am sorry Steph.


Sarah lives on the West side of the Puget Sound, so we took a ferry over to Seattle to spend a day. We had 8 kids and 3 adults, it was like herding cats. Have you seen that clip of video where the cowboys are talking about herding cats? Just in case you haven't here is a link from you tube, . That is what we looked like. It was a blast. We went to the Aquarium, and then up to the Seattle Center for the Science Museum and the Space Needle. Our kids loved the Science Museum, we could have spent a lot more time there.




Top of the Space Needle.

The new bed that doesn't sound like a squirell!!

The new bed!! I have been wanting a new bed for awhile. Those of you that have been around lately know that I have complaining about the old bed. It squeaked when you sat down, all you had to do was look at it and it squeaked. It squeaked when I turned my lamp off at 3 am. Scott would wake up and ask if I was still awake. It was just not working for me. I have been looking for a new bed room set since Christmas. It has been a big debate because I would look and find some great stuff and then think if I get something I want to get a king size. Then I would see the price difference, because I would have to buy a new bed. I found this bed and it wasn't much money. This fixed the squeak.





The old bed. The same kids, just four years earlier.

Tonsils out, tubes in, and another set to go

Spencer's tonsils came out just fine. They were big, but his adenoids were "huge". The ear tubes were replaced. It has been a slower recovery than what Kai had, but Spencer is doing well. Thanks to my friends who went to the grocery store for me, and kept Kai busy.

Mica is scheduled to have a new set of ear tubes put in on June 16th. This will be his 4th pair. They tested his hearing, and it is the same as it was before he had tubes. This explains why he wouldn't respond to us, and why it seemed like he was yelling all the time.


We found our first snake of the year. Mica picked it up and it hissed at him. Since I told you about the snake here is the photo. My iris and lupin look fab don't you think?

All in a days work

This happened a few weeks ago, and I am finally getting back to our family blog. This also means that it is midnight, everyone has long gone to bed, and I am feeling guilty for not posting some of the funny stuff happening.

It all started last night, that is today started yesterday. Let me explain. Scott was getting the sprinkling system going last night and found that we had 2 valves that needed to be replaced. The particular brand of sprinklers we have are not sold in our town, so I had to go to Ogden to get them. Can you think of anything more dreaded than taking two boys to a plumbing store? (Maybe going to the doctor.) I can think of about 3 billion other things I rather do. Spencer and Kai felt the same way. They begged me to let them stay home. If I was taking Mica to school I would have given in, but no way. The tantrum starts and soon the compromise is they can bring their grasshoppers. The only rule is that the lid has to stay on the grasshoppers. On the way to Ogden we see the over turned banana truck, horses, and lots of trucks. The exit that we took was 12th street, it is down to one lane. Then I turned on to Wall and it is one lane. The traffic wasn't bad, but the road was horrible. The plumbing store is tucked in behind another big building and kind of hard to find. When got to the store there wasn't a regular door, but a garage door. I am really wondering if I was in the right place, it looked a bit hokey. It was. I told the guy there what I need, and it is like we are not speaking the same language. I am not an idiot, but he was making me feel like I was.

I kept telling him that we have replaced one of the valves 3 times this spring, that I think it is because we have to much water pressure, and I need a pressure reducer. He looks at me, he looks at Kai and Spencer as they climb over the top of me and around in circles, and explained. "It is not your water pressure. You didn't winterize your spinklers last fall. You have to drain all of the water from the line. You don't need a pressure reducer." He kept looking at all of the men standing behind me waiting to be checked out. The phone rings, he answered it. After he hangs up I say to him, "alright, give me the two valves and the stuff that goes with it. I hope I don't have to come back for that pressure reducer." It was like he didn't even hear anything I said. He saw me and two kids and thought "how can I get her out of here fast", and "why did her husband send her without a detailed list and instructions". My friend Sherrie would say, "Tori, you don't know that he was thinking that. You just think that he was thinking that because you were thinking that." It turns out he was partly right. The valve still didn't work but we didn't need a pressure reducer, we did need to blow the line out. Scott found 3 pieces of gravel in the valve.

That should be the end of the story, but it gets better. Remember the grasshoppers? There were about 15 baby grasshoppers that the boys had been collecting over the past weeks. We were half way home when Spencer yells, "Mom stop, the lid came off the grasshopper!" Yep, I had 15 baby grasshoppers in my car. I hope they have all died. However, there are probably enough crumbs in my car to keep them alive.

Sleepy Kindergartener

It has been a while since I have posted anything, I am sorry. It is not because I didn't have anything to post, but more that we have been really busy. However that is no excuse. So here is the latest with the McKee boys.

Spencer and Kai had well child check ups last week. Everything looked good, a few concerns but nothing that can't be fixed. First Spencer weighed in at 34.5 lbs and Kai weighed in at 38 lbs. Spence is 44 in and Kai is 42in. Yes it is official Kai is bigger than Spence, but not taller. We knew it would happen, but we were hoping for a few more years. Spencer is following the growth curve, in the <3% for his age. Kai is in the 50% for his age. Mica is in the 15% for his age. In other news Spencer has sleep apnea. Yep, the child that has a bmi of <3% has sleep apnea. It is because his tonsils are so big, and are far back in his throat. When he relaxes it closes of his airway, he is not sleeping well at night. He slept until 10 am this morning. It is a good thing I didn't have anything to do. We will be getting the tonsils out soon, Spence has an appointment with the ENT PA on Thursday. Mica is seeing the ENT Dr at the end of the month for a new pair of ear tubes. This will be his 4th set. If it didn't help him hear better I wouldn't keep doing it.

On other news we have been finishing our basement. Today the guys came to put in the insulation, in the ceiling of the basement and an additional layer in the attic. The gas fireplace was installed in the basement this afternoon, and the HVAC guy finished his stuff. It is coming together quite nicely. All of the electrial is done, so there is more than one switch. Next I am going to get some bids for a sheetrock/mud and tape guy. Any recommendations send them my way.

Amazon Shopping Cart

Tonight I was looking for a new pair of running shoes on Amazon. I found some, added them to the cart, and then went to check out. I looked at my total and it was $170. What?! I should say, "how can one pair of shoes be so expensive?" However that would be lying, I can't deny that I have in the past looked at and seriously considered buying a pair for more than that. I haven't but I know they exsist. The "What?!" came because the shoes I picked out were $30. The funny part of this shopping trip was what was in the shopping cart, a Fogo Rocket Rod Jet Cast Fishing Rod, Melissa and Doug Pasture Pals - 12 Horses, Yukon Village: Wooden Single-Stall Horse Barn, Hook Hiding Bobber 3 Pack - Colors May Vary, Plano Tackle Box - 2 Tray with 136 Piece Tackle Kit, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, LEGO Batman. I think all three McKee boys have been shopping and adding things to the cart. Feel free to look up all the great stuff they picked out but won't be getting. Spencer is the fishing freak, Kai the horse nut, and Mica the videogame guru.

A few weeks ago Mica's school teacher called me and said, "Mrs. McKee, Mica is really sick. He is in a lot of pain. I almost think he might have a ruptured appendix but he says it hurts more in the middle of his tummy." I rush to school to get him, and he is just crying. I know there is more to the story because Mica doesn't cry at school even if he is sick, and he didn't complain about being sick before he left for school. I take him out in the hall to talk to him, and this is what I find out. In their class they had been talking about Chinese New Year. Some how it had come up that toys that were made in China were painted with lead paint and you can get really sick from lead paint. So Mica was sure he was going to die from lead poisining because he had been putting toys in his mouth that said, "made in China". I assured him that the toys we had were not on any of the lists that were painted with lead paint. The tears quickly dried, and a big hug followed. Mica cheered up and went back to class. Maybe, I should have told him that all of his shirts were covered in lead paint so if he put them in his mouth that would make him sick.

Spencer is the Student of the Month

Spencer is student of the month for February. The theme for Feb is "effort". It is to bad that his mom is not going to get mother of the month for February. The mom has not made much "effort". I forgot to get Spence to school early so he could get his picture taken for the newspaper. I feel like a great big jerk. Spencer also thought I was a great big jerk. So it is getting posted here and on my facebook page. GREAT WORK SPENCER!!!


Yesterday Mica had an interview for cub scout of the year. It was with his Cub Master, and the Cub Committee Chairperson. Mica is not going to be Cub Scout of the year. Not that he didn't interview well, he did. However, when asked what he would tell people about cub scouts, and what he liked about cub scouts. He said, "well to tell the truth, I don't really like cub scouts. Sometimes it is really boring, and ..." . Then there was a bit of a pause, and I could tell he was getting ready to say, "sometimes it really kind of sucks."

At this point I interrupt and say, "just because it is not fun all of the time does not mean that you don't like cubs."

The cub of the year probably should like cub scouts.

On a personal note, I easily benched 90 lbs last week.

Yes I can

When I was in high school I could not even pick up the bar in the weight lifting room. There were probably several reasons why I didn't but the biggest one was because I couldn't lift the bar. The bar weighs 45 lbs. Today I maxed out at 85 lbs, and I almost did 95 lbs. In November I maxed out at 65 lbs. I have made a lot of progress in not very much time. I have no desire to become this muscle women, but it is nice to not have "Relief Society" arms.

I started working out at the end of October for 3 days a week for about an hour. Over Thanksgiving when I was away I did pretty good to keep going. I didn't work out very often over Christmas. So far January is going well. Scott has always gone to the gym, and has encouraged me to go with him. I did go off and on, but mostly off. I think there are several reasons why I have kept going.

The first being that I want to keep up with my boys. I still can, but it won't be long until they can beat me. I don't want to be left in the dust.
The second I feel better. Sure I am sore most days, but it feels good. The first week I started I had to keep telling myself that it could only get easier, and it has. At least it doesn't hurt to buckle the safety belt in the car.
The third I sleep better at night. I still stay up until midnight, but I sleep hard until the boys wake up.
The fourth I have someone to work out with. Tiff (my work out partner) has longer legs and arms, but we are pretty comparable. We also have many of the same goals for working out, like being fit so we don't have to buy bigger clothes. New clothes yes, just not bigger.

So thanks Scott for the encouragement to keep going, and to Tiff and Greg for letting us work out at your gym.

Skibums

We had a great ski day on New Years Day. Mica and Spencer looked great, their lessons showed. They hoped on the ski lift and did well getting off. We only had one incident of not making it off the lift. Mica didn't keep his tips up and the one ski popped off, I had to jump off the lift, and they had to stop the lift. I led them on some hard blue runs with moguls. I can't say that we did them like pros, but we did them even if it wasn't on purpose. Scott took lessons that he didn't want to take but was glad afterward.