Star Wars party

We had prepared for a lot of Gryphon’s classmates to show up at the birthday party, but only two were able to make it (which still represents 100% growth over last year’s turnout).  Gryphon didn’t seem to mind, and the guests ended up with ridiculous amounts of booty.
 
Meowmers didn’t mind either.
 
 
After an Ewok egg hunt and cupcakes, the kids took turns hitting the Boba Fett piñata until it released its bounty of candy, pens, and mustaches.
 
 

Once the guests dispersed, we took a trip to the beach.


Then it was time for Star Wars Episode IV and Chinese take-out, with some birthday presents before bed.

Preparing to party

Our neighbor Rudy let us know that a local timber company was giving away free trees on Saturday, April 12th.  Sure enough, I came home with 34 little trees and a lot of planting to do.  Meanwhile, Alice helped Gryphon start painting a piñata for his birthday party.
 
Then we all headed to the nearby nursery to get some seeds, and Gryphon and Alice picked out some pansies for their new flower garden.
 
To top it off, uncle Jared and aunt Alyson came for a visit; Cheri baked up some halibut en baguette to celebrate.
 
We all got ready for Gryphon’s party on Sunday, and it was good to have extra help.

 

Momma’s birthday

 
After returning from La Push, Nanna entertained children while Shaydar and I lumberjacked the driveway.
 
Gryphon worked on eating all his dinner for seven consecutive nights to earn a computer game.
 
Alice wants to be called Cinderella when she comes downstairs most mornings.
  
Gryphon chose a rocks and minerals book to give to Cheri, who has been putting her tumbler to good use.
  
Gryphon got an early birthday present from Boppa, in preparation for tee ball starting soon.  He’s enthusiastic even though Cheri accidentally hit him in the eye with the ball.
 
The weather was nice on Cheri’s birthday, so she had fun playing outside and working in the garden. 
 
 
We’ve filled up most of our vegetable beds, and made a short wall out of alders cleared from nearby.  We went on a dinner date to Bella Italia while McKenna played with kids.
  

Art blogs

Here are a couple of artsy blogs to bookmark if you’re interested:

Cheri’s: “Painting the Roses Red”

Mine: “Drawing with Kids”

Incidentally, I put some shirt designs on here today that will be on sale for about 2 more days.

Second Beach

Last Sunday we hiked through the forest to explore Second Beach. 

We don’t know why there were so many tires there.  There wasn’t much beach because the tide was in, but the waves added an element of danger and excitement.  We decided to head back when Dar Dar got drenched up to the waist.

The cabin was good for relaxing.

Cheri collected several pounds of rocks for her tumbler.

After checking out on Monday, we played on the beach one more time.