Baseball Games, Birthdays, and "the change"

A few weeks ago, we found out that UW and BYU were playing in the last home baseball game of the season. We can't miss any opportunity to cheer on our cougars in person (especially when we can get free tickets thanks to a guy in our ward who happens to be a baseball player), so off we went. It was chilly, but we had a great time.

Despite our BYU loyalties, the kids do have some Husky loyalty as well and were really excited to get to meet the Husky mascot


Connor, who has been obsessed with baseball as of late, sat for most of the game like this waiting for a fly ball to land in it. After awhile, he got bored and went searching for "treasures" under the bleachers, and actually found an unopened package of mentos that no one claimed. As you can imagine, that totally made his night! ;)

We only stayed through the 4th inning- the kids were getting tired and I was getting cold - but we had a great time. Sad thing is, I still haven't bothered to check the score to see who won!

Jake's birthday was on the 13th, and we just celebrated at home. I actually found a Carolina BBQ place about a 1/2 hour from our house, so I got some meat during the day, made buns and slaw, and we enjoyed a real southern dinner. SOOOOO Yummy. It's making me salivate right now just thinking about it. . m m m m m. . .

For gifts, Jake got a much needed new laptop, but the kids had to get him something as well. We took a trip to the dollar store. Ellie picked out a Tinkerbell puzzle (which every 29 year old man needs), and Connor picked out a big squirt gun. For some reason, I think they were thinking of what they'd like instead of considering Jake's tastes. ;)

And now, here it is. . . the change. Yes, we traded in our beloved Subaru Outback and have now become a minivan family. We got a screamin' deal on this one, and as much as I hate to admit it, I LOVE HAVING A MINIVAN!! The room is wonderful, and the kids love the power doors and space. It will make our trips home this summer much more comfortable. We went camping this weekend, and loved how much cargo room we had. We were loading up our car after camping, and I couldn't resist taking this picture- it looked too much like a car advertisement.

The church has some great campgrounds around Seattle, so we headed up to one of them for a quick camping trip on Friday night. Despite our rustic locale, Ellie still had to bring her "Princess Purse"

And, being a true boy, Connor immediately went over to the sticks (aka woodpile) to pick out his favorite

The kids (and me in all my camping glory) cooking hot dogs. Those sticks were kind of short, so that made it a little interesting, but the kids were in heaven with the hot dogs and toasted marshmallows. That's the stuff. The kids didn't sleep that well and it was freezing, but we had a fabulous time and can't wait to go again!