Bathroom remodel

We finished remodeling yet another room in our house. So happy to be done with the kids bathroom and be rid of the last wallpaper in the house. :)

Before

Another before

The after

Science Day at VT

We all had fun at Virginia Tech for their science day. We learned about DNA and toured the mobile lab which had all sorts of laboratory instruments we could see and touch. The kids had fun checking out the VT rescue squad vehicles, making straw rockets and building an egg drop container and dropping it off the second and third floors of the building. They did a great job building, their egg survived the 2 floor drop but broke when dropped from the third floor.

Raquel extracting Strawberry DNA

Marcus checking out the mobile lab

Riding on a stretcher

Building their egg drop box

Raquel dropping her egg from the second floor.

Checking out her egg after dropping it from the 3rd floor.

Recycling Center

I got to go on my very first field trip with Raquel's class to the Recycling Center. The kids all brought  recyclable garbage from home and sorted it into the right bins at the center. We toured the center and saw the workers sorting garbage and we learned all about reducing, reusing and recycling. 

The class bringing their garbage to be sorted and recycled

Raquel at the Recycling Center

The class got to throw shredded paper in the air.

Weighing the class 1041 lbs

Raquel and lots of plastic bottles

Mrs. Orndorff's 1st Grade Class 

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a blast at The Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg.  We spent over 20 hrs. in the water park having fun in the wave pool, tubing down the lazy river and going down the slides.  We enjoyed the nightly story time, played bingo, learned all about wolves and made an origami wolf.  The kids also enjoyed playing games in the arcade and eating out.  

Raquel & Natalya in the wave pool

Waiting in line for the slides

The boys enjoying the lazy river

Raquel 

Marcus, Mom & Erik floating down the lazy river

Playing in the arcade

Natalya on the little slides

Playing in the water

Erik and Mike playing in the pool

Raquel & Natalya

Marcus playing in the water

Hanging out in our room

Erik checking out the lobby

Making origami wolves

Natalya, Marcus & Raquel with Wiley 

Marcus & Erik

Enjoying story time with friends.

Grape Pergola

We built a pergola to grow a few of our grape vines on.  Mike did a great job coming up with the design, hauling the 16ft boards and building it.  It came together a lot faster then we thought and hopefully in a few years we will have lots of shade and yummy grapes on our back deck.

Our grape vines growing on the pergola

1 year old

Erik turned 1.  He celebrated his special day with a trip to the doctor for his 12 month visit.  He is a tall, skinny and healthy boy but the poor kid got 4 vaccine shots on his birthday. He usually does really well but he had just fallen asleep in my arms while we waited for the nurse to come back into the room with the vaccines.  He woke up when I moved him to the exam table but then quickly fell asleep.  He then was startled awake by a needle poke in his leg, poor boy.  He cried while he received his vaccines but then was a happy boy the rest of the day. We really celebrated the next day with a few friends over for a bonfire.

12 Months Stats

Weight: 18 lbs 13 oz (13%)

Length: 30 1/2 inches (75%)

Head: 17 1/2 inches

1 yr. old Erik waiting for his dr. visit

Having fun waiting for the party to start

Erik's birthday cupcakes.

Erik & his friend Nick

Checking out the food

Erik & Mike at the bonfire

Enjoying his birthday cupcake

At 1 yrs. old Erik has 2 teeth, loves to crawl and he is quite fast and has mastered climbing the stairs. He still loves the water and eating although he has gotten a little pickier with what he wants to eat. He also doesn't like to hold his own cup/bottle/sippy cup and expects it to be held until he is finished.  He loves milk, sweets, being held and playing with his brother and sisters. He enjoys playing with all different types of toys and still carries things around in his mouth. I love that he still has his blue eyes! Almost every time we go out someone mentions how much Erik and Marcus look alike and he looks so much like his day. We love our big boy!

Climbing the stairs

Drying off after a dip in the pool.

Scooby-Doo Party

Ruh Row Raquel turned 7 and had a Scooby-doo birthday party.  The kids had lots of fun collecting all the clues to find the mystery of the missing presents. They made scooby dog collars, pinned the pepperoni in Scooby's mouth, tie-dyed shirts, played games, ate cake and broke open a pinata to find all the clues and the missing presents. Mike put on his scary old man mask and was the present thief. It was a lot of fun!

Raquel & her Scooby cake

Natalya & Raquel decorating their Scooby snack bags.

Erik & his baby sitter Nick

Mummy Raquel

The whole gang

Eating cake

Scooby Pinata

Finding the present thief with the present

Opening the missing gifts

Raquel enjoying the sun and her party.

Marcus in the mask.

Natalya & Raquel in their new tie-dyed shirts