Too Long

It's been a while since I've blogged and I need to be better.  I promised I wouldn't slack off...and I have.  It's been CRAZY around here lately.  From young women things (meetings, mutual, visits, meetings, oh and meetings) Paparazzi  (parties, ordering, inventory, accounting of the business) dieting & exercising, Craig's calling, and then add in everything else-doctor appointments, friend hang outs, library days, cleaning days, shopping-pretty much I've come to the conclusion that life will never be slow & dull. 

Craig had an 8 day work trip from April 1-9.  It was him & Jeff (they work in the OR office) Gary (**K VP) & Kevin (lead over engineers).  Craig planned nearly the whole thing including the client meetings, hotels, etc so it was lot on his shoulders.  It was mostly a marketing trip to meet & potentially get work out here in the Pacific NorthWest.  They flew into Boise.  Met with Idaho Power (that is where Allison now works-she started the OR office) they've gotten 2 huge jobs from them recently.  Drove down to Twin Falls area for job site visit @ Shashone Falls, over to Pocatello, up to Butte, MT, over to Missoula, MT, across to just outside of Coeur d'Alene, ID, then into Spokane, finally finishing up in Seattle & Tacoma.  They put lots of miles and Craig said it was great visits with clients.  He also learned that Spokane is absolutely gorgeous!  Hmmm...a future place to live??  At least a spot on the list if we ever did have to move again.  Also Craig learned that these guys like their fancy food & lots of it.  He was so sick of eating out by the time he got home.  It was a great reunion and was SOOO glad he was home.  We missed him so much!  They're now working on one job from Idaho Power in Shashone Falls along with Craig trying to get a job site report from up north past Seattle.  Now they won that big job about 1 1/2 hours outside of Baker City, OR in Idaho.  It's a huge job and is going to take them most likely 11 days to do it.  I'll be dropping him off and going to Utah!  Yay!!!  I told him I'm not going to stay home that long alone.  Especially cuz that's 11 working days.  They most likely wont work on Sunday or Saturday.  Right now they think end of July-August time frame.  It's exciting that they are busy and things are going well so far out here in OR. 

Young womens is awesome and I'm feeling better about the calling.  It's a lot to handle and I thank Craig for being so patient & supportive as I have lots of things to do & go to.  At the end of July we will have 16 girls---just in Mia Maids!  10 of them are active.  And I have the BEST advisor in there and we've become such good friends.  I know Heavenly Father was looking out for me when our Pres had the inspiration to call her.  I'm really starting to get to know the girls and their fun personalities. 

Paparazzi is always busy.  I didn't know that when I signed up in July that it would ever slow down.  I'm thankful for that most days.  Some days I want to stop because it gets a little overwheming-but I love the product, parties, money and fun of it all too much to stop.  Which in July when we come I'm bringing my stuff so we can party!  I'll do a good promo too!

The girls are so fun.  I love my girls!!!!  We recently had their checkups....
Hadley was for her 15 month.  She weighed in at a whopping 19lb 4 oz...4%!!!!  The dr didn't seem too concerned though because she's right where she's been the whole time and has gained a pound since her last visit.  Her height is 29.5" in the 16%  and head at 45.3 in the 29%.  So we've got a little petite one on our hands for now.  She has 11 teeth right now.  She says many words and my favorite is probably when she says "na'night"  Some of her favorites: nanas...loves those!  veggie sticks (from TJ); eggs; tomatoes...loves those; grapes; chocolate milk (she hasn't drinken much until we discovered Nesquick-no sugar added-now she loves her milk); frozen yogurt; her purple key-key & her scentsy lamb (has to have these to sleep and pretty much all day); LOVES playing with Jaycee!!! loves her puppies & now is not scared of Izzy; loves playing outside and especially on slides.  Generally she is a happy baby-spunky monkey-but happy.  At the dr she was checking her ears and found out she had a double ear infection.  I felt so bad.  She had a cold and cut a molar so I assumed that was why she was grumpy but after about 4 days of the antibiotics she was her happy normal self.  Hadi has to drink whole milk until she turns 2.  Also is supposed to be rear-facing car seat----ya right!  She now can feed herself and actually hates when we try to feed her.  She lets us know when she wants something and is starting to communicate.  Also she can follow directions.  Example: I'll tell her to go find Jaycee and give her a hug.  She'll do it now.  She does the cutest 'roar" sound of a lion.  She really is so fun to have and I love watching her and Jaycee together.  It's my favorite.

 Hadi fell asleep playing in her sled

 Playing at the park by our house

 Jaycee also had her 4 year check up.  We started with her blood pressure which was great and then an eye test.  It was cute because they asked her different shapes and on the shape of a + she would say arrow.  She read so good and has 20/20 vision.  Then they did her weight.  She weighed in at 39 lb. 4 oz.  I was a little irritated because they made her take her shoes off but had her poofy vest, all clothes on & headband.  So I felt it wasn't the most accurate.  She is in the 78% which is good I feel.  After she turned 2 she's always been in the 90%.  Then her height was 3' 3.75" at the 47%.  I guess now at her age they start doing the BMI.  Hers was at 92% so the doctor felt she needed to tell me to make sure she is active & eating healthy.  I was proud to tell her that we are eating VERY healthy now and realized her TV needs to be limited to only 2 hours a day.  I think that can help.  Also with portions.  That girl can out eat Craig and I any day.  So we try to make sure she's eating not too much and if wants more food to have a fruit or veggie.  I feel bad that she's only 4 and already being told by doctors that her BMI is too high.  I'm so glad we changed our eating lifestyle and know it will benefit even the girls as they get older.  I was a little bothered that the dr seemed soooo concerned about Jaycee's weight but then Hadi who is only in the 4% she says is just fine.  That didn't make sense to me.  Jaycee hates milk and I told her from now on has to drink one cup a day.  Not for calories but I worry for her calcium.  Good thing Craig was a genius to figure out Nesquick.  Jaycee is VERY smart for her age.  We got her a little alphabet thing that hangs in her room.  She knows every letter and sound and even can read simple words.  We are working right now on 'AT" and words like cat, hat, pat, sat.  It's fun to see her brain work as she figures out the word.  I'm going to be starting preschool with her in September so that'll be fun.  Jaycee loves to play with her dogs.  She now is into barbies (thanks to my $20 find on her barbie house); she could watch movies & shows all day; she plays with her babies; She loves, loves being outside playing; And anything crafty!!!  Right now Jaycee is earning money for Lagoon.  She has a chore of feeding Milly every morning.  Then she is a helper with laundry, dishes & other things I ask.  I've been giving her $1/week to help her have some $$$ to spend there.  She's soooo excited for our trip.   Jaycee for the most part is kind to her sissy but there are days they pester each other.  She does love Hadi though and wants mommy to have another baby---not yet!!!  We love Jaycee and feel so lucky for her in our family.

 She was so excited to pick all the flowers up at the lake

Craig and I are happy as ever!  I feel so lucky to have him in my life.  We're excited to be coming up on 6 years and MANY more to come.  He has been so supportive with me on SO many different things.  Last May when we moved to now I have officially lost 33 pounds and I give so many thanks to him.  He hasn't really worked out a ton with me but has I changed our eating & the foods I buy he always seems excited about the new recipes.  We both know it's best for our family in the long run.  We are a little nervous for family to come this year and hopefully they won't mind our new foods.  We both feel so much better and it's amazing the difference.  I've officially have lost all my baby weight and now working on my wedding pounds.  Hopefully Craig will be patient with me for the next months.  I really want to get more off before #3-which might be our last-comes along. 

Here is a little video of Jaycee.  It got cut off at the end because my battery died.  I'll make a new one again.  I thought it would be fun to see her learn and to have as a memory of the things she liked.  Sorry about the nose picking.

Jaycee Turned 4!

I still remember back 4 years ago like it was yesterday.  I had no idea what to expect with going into labor and even was babysitting the day we delivered Jaycee.  It was a 12 hour labor but I was numb with my epidural the whole time.  It took so long because I was dilating slowly and the Petocin Jaycee didn't like (heartrate dropped) but I very so very GRATEFUL I was able to deliver vaginally and not with the C Section.  I was so thankful for that blessing Craig gave me and also for all my family being at my side.  We weren't for sure on her name and when I saw my little angel I felt Jaycee or Kassidy and Craig saw Jaycee or Jenna---I can't imagine her not my Jaycee!  It's been such a GREAT 4 years!  She is my little buddy, best friend, mini-me (haha), comedian, cuddler, helper....I just am so blessed for her in my life and family.

For her birthday I told her we could go do something fun with our family or have a birthday party with friends over.  She decided on Chuck E Cheese.  I think since her birthday last year http://parkersgoeast.blogspot.com/2012/03/hours-hours.html  she has linked it with that place.  Her birthday was on Sunday so we celebrated Saturday.  We started the day with a hike.  Craig was dying to get out and with my new hiking shoes & backpack for Hadi we were all set.  We took a quick 15 min drive we arrived and did about a 2 mile hike.  I was impressed with Jaycee and only cried a few times for her feet being tired.  It was beautiful---we really love it here!

 On our hike Jaycee found this cute, little bridge and wanted to pose for a pic on it.

 As we were walking on the main trail back to our car Jaycee spotted this little guy. We named her Sally the Salamander.  I guess it's rare to see them this time of year---good find Jaycee.

After our hike we came home for lunch, a little nap, planning the rest of my lesson, dinner and then we headed to our fun night.  I invited our friends and they met us there and let the girls play for a little bit before they left.  It was a fun night!

Jaycee dancing with the group and ChukE

 We bought the girls this little cup for a drink and Hadi was fully occupied walking around with it all night.  She did run into a highchair and cut her frenum (piece of skin between her front teeth)  It was sad and my white shirt ended up with blood all over it.  I guess good thing is now she won't have to need it cut when she gets older.  She's such a fun little girl

Sunday was great as usual.  It was my turn to teach from the Presidency and my lesson was on the Atonement.  It went so well and I was glad to have it over.  Lots of friends in the ward told Jaycee Happy Birthday which made her feel very special.  When we got home our home teacher even came over and brought her a little gift.  Jaycee requested a "rainbow" cake for her bday.  We tried our best and think it turned out pretty good.  Also she's so funny and picked out the gummy fried eggs to put on top.  Out of all the candy at Winco that's what she chose.  She picked out noodles with white sauce for her bday dinner and of course a salad to go along with it and then she opened her gifts.  Thank you everyone for making her 4 Birthday special.  It's fun having a 4 year old now :)    "4 year olds" can do lots of things---as Jaycee says everyday now.  

 We got her barbies, bath colors, Scentsy Lion & glitter body shimmer art.  She was excited for everything.

MIA

I'm sorry I disappeared.  This week has BEEN NUTS! 
I got a new calling at church which has put stress on me because I feel lost & confused and with all the added time away to be with the young women.  Our presidency meeting the other day was 3 hours!!!  My poor kids were starving for lunch when everyone left and I felt a ton of bricks on my shoulders as to get organized and get things done.  BUT I am very happy and willing to serve.  So far being with the girls teaching them lessons, getting to know them and activities have been worth the added stress. 

So on top of that we have Paparazzi.  This month of February I had 6 parties!  It was nuts.  From getting inventory, organizing, parties, books & phone calls.  It was a lot.  I thought I could handle that many with being a mom & my new calling and ya....NO!  I backed my parties back down to 4/month which seems to be perfect for me.  I love my "job" though.  It's fun having extra money to had Craig a $20 for whatever he wants.  I can't complain.  I get to go ga-ga over cute stuff, talk, eat & make money.  It's always a good break in the day I have parties. 

Craig has been stressed too at work.  In fact, woke up with cold sores today.  That's when you know he's stressed.  The girl that "started" the Oregon office and pushed, pushed, pushed for us to come out and get this office staffed QUIT.  She's going to work in Boise.  Which should be interesting considering she's a VERY liberal person in ALL aspects and has lived in Maine & here her entire life.  That should be interesting.  Anyway, so a lot of stress has been added to Craig & Jeff on getting work & schmoozing clients.  He had a conference last week in Portland for 3 days-goes tomorrow for another one-and in April he'll be gone for 7 days driving from Boise to Montana to Northern Washington visiting clients and trying to get work.  So if you know any one wanting Hydro work LOL    They're kicking strong though back in all their other offices but they want this OR office to be their new 'strong" point.  It's put a lot of pressure for Craig to step up in project management.  I feel bad for him.  He does love his job though.  And K treats our family really good.  I tell him it could be worst and he could just be a "pee-on" in a big firm.  Here he is really stepping up. 

The girls are good.  They are taking the brunt of it all by being deprived sugar  haha   They're my little buddies & always wanting to help mommy.  The other day Jaycee was frustrated at something and says "It's really making me stressed out!"  I laughed, and realized that she really is a sponge to my every action.  This week has calmed down a little bit so I'm hoping to do some fun things for them since last week was rough! 
Jaycee's birthday is next Sunday and she is super excited.  She was looking online tonight with Craig for ideas for her birthday cake.  We get to have a "splurge" day on holidays & birthdays.  You better believe I will enjoy that piece of cake.  She wanted to have a birthday party but then insisted on going to Chuck E Cheese instead.  She's a funny girl.  I'm excited for her this weekend to have a fun time.  Hadi is growing so fast.  She's still tiny and EVERYONE likes to remind me of that.  She is almost 15 months and walking like a champ.  It's so funny cuz her and Jaycee will play and Hadi actually can get "running" pretty fast until she topples over.  It's cute.  She's a 'sassy frass" as we say.  Man, she is spunky!  She screams over everything!  If she's not happy about something, you will know.  I curse Jaycee everyday for teaching her to scream.  Also her thing right now is if she wants something it's mama.  She'll look at her cup and "mama, mama, mama"  food, etc....anything!  It's cute but annoying at the same time.  I wish it were dada. LOL   She says "na-night" and waves (it's adorable), "bye", "dan-do (thank you)", bah (bath), mama, dada, hah (hot), doh (dog), pooh (poop) and jibberish all day long.  She also signs "please", "thank you" "milk" "cracker" "food"
She a cute little monkey girl.  We sure love her. 
Izzy is Izzy.  Digging holes in my rose bushes!  Make my backyard a muddy mess.  Yup, she's Izzy.
Milly is our dream dog that we should've got years ago.  She's really a part of our family is our "other child" 

So there's life in a nutshell lately.  I won't bore you anymore.  I'll post again soon with Jaycee's birthday and more random pictures. 

8 days down and more to come

Well we've made it over a week!  YAY!  It doesn't feel as strange lately but it still makes things a tad harder with everyday life.  Mostly because I make everything from breakfast, lunch and dinner and now snacks.  I don't mind though.  It's fun making new recipes.  We did have a "cheat" day on Sunday.  We were fasting all day and got invited to a family in the ward for dinner.  They knew we were trying this new way of eating and I give them props for making a yummy dinner.  It was funny though because she made enchiladas---they were devine!!!---and after the first bite I could tell instantly that there was sugar in them.  We also had a little brownie for dessert.  I felt guilty for giving into peer pressure but maybe once in a while it's good to "splurge" so I don't give up. 
We've made some real yummy dinners & meals.  From banana/wheat pancakes, to turkey/avacodo sandwiches to a mongolian style with veggies and noodles.  It's been really fun to see that there still is LOTS to eat.  Tonight Craig and I made homemade granola bars & lemon/honey roasted almonds.  Mmmm...
Also I found that I LOVE WINCO!!!  I can find so many things there like coconut oil, coconut milk, fresh peanut butter with no sugar, veggies, bulk nuts of every sort, jam for sandwiches with no sugar added  and all these things for good prices.  I was afraid of that when we started this because I do love Trader Joes but I think it's a bit pricey.  Oh and we started a detox with eating chia seeds & lots of green veggies.  haha. That's a fun time. LOL 
So overall it's been a good week and I'm feeling great.  I have energy.  I wake up rested.  And if you know me well enough I lived on caffeine.  Today is day 8 without and I'm loving this!  The caffeine headache really sucked too!  I'm very impressed with the way the kids have been handling it.  At the store today I was looking for some type of cracker I could give them and shopping takes forever.  I have to look at all the ingredients.  So then Jaycee picks up a box and says "No sugar. right mom?"  Then a lady by us (who was bigger) picks up cookies and Jaycee tells the lady "Those aren't healthy.  They have sugar in them"  Oh I was embarrased!  It was kinda funny though.  I'm glad I'm teaching them good eating habits and to realize what's good for them.  I'm also impressed with Craig.  He is pretty easy to please with most things.  He loses weight pretty fast too.  But he does love his food so I feel bad some of his favorites he can't have anymore so I'm always trying to find recipes for things he'll love so we keep with this for a lifetime. 

So there you go.  No Sugar added can happen!  It's hard I won't lie.  But I know this is better in the long run.

SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR

So hopefully you won't hate my blog now because most likely I will talk about more healthy eating. 
Day 1 was actually pretty easy.  Maybe because it was new.  I did go and buy LOTS AND LOTS of veggies.  Craig thought I was going vegan/vegetarian/zen on him because I watched that show at night and text him the next morning my plan and asked if he was on board.  He's very skeptical when it comes to some things but this makes sense to not only me but him.  Going to the store I realized...SUGAR IS IN EVERYTHING!!!  It really is hard to find things that sugar hasn't been added in.  This is going to be a struggle but I will conquer and find good things.  My first quest is jam with no added sugar so the girls can have that for lunch.  Peanut butter is actually a good thing for them and honey has no added sugar but it a natural high sugar food so gotta limit that.  It was pretty fun to see my girls munching on cucumbers with me.  We even had a wheat pasta for dinner with a huge salad---let me clarify; we had a huge salad with a side of pasta for dinner.  hehe.  Craig and I both went to bed feeling great and actually not even hungry at all.

Day 2  Today was a bit harder.  I woke up with a headache.  I wonder if sugar can have that affect as it clearly is addictive like any other thing: caffeine, alcohol, drugs.  I did okay and stuck good on my food until around 3.  I was grouchy!  I wanted to cave in!  Those left over M&M from last week YW sounded so good.  I held out strong and grabbed the banana and enjoyed every bite. I did a lot of research today on articles of why sugar is not good and how to get it OUT!  I also stumbled across an AMAZING BLOG!!!
TheGraciousPantry.com   I was feeling like a lost puppy.  I had the motivation.  I had the information.  I bought the veggies.  Where to go from here?  We had a delicious dinner of fajitas.  Red & green pepper & onion sauted with a TB of EVOO (this is new for us too as we usually DID vegetable oil) spices and chicken.  Then I made my own guacamole-avacodo, lemon juice, seasoning-along with a tad of Kyle's homemade salsa.  All wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla oh and a side of black beans.  We were shocked we could have such a yummy dinner and not feel deprived.  We went for a 2 mile jog pushing the strollers and I needed a tad of sugar so I had 2 strawberries.  I'm feeling so good right now.

This is going to be a process I'm aware.  We are taking it cold turkey with the sugar and not adding and finding foods without them adding in and cycling with better choices.  I'm hoping to find a recipe for homemade granola bars as the girls love these.  Also I'm working on banana/wheat pancakes for breakfast.  It's going to be an adjustment but from what I've read: give it 2 weeks and you'll realize you CAN have foods just need to add the GOOD ones in.  Also I'm excited for the freedom of not writing calories down.  Eating healthy requires putting good things in, listening to your body and going from there. 

Healthier Living

My body is in a vicious cycle.  

When I got married I weighed in at my lowest of 155.  I exercised all the time but I didn't necessarily "eat" right.  In fact, I was sooo busy with working full time, school & dating my hubby that I didn't eat much at all and when I did it wasn't healthy by any means.  Craig introduced me to the wonderful idea of breakfast, lunch & dinner LOL  I quickly gained 15 pounds.  I got lazy and hardly ever exercised and if I did it was a mile jog maybe 2x a week.  I was still doing school now full time & working until around 11 almost every night and so the idea of being healthy was not in my mind.  I knew I needed to lose these wedding pounds but also knew I would be getting pregnant soon so was looking forward to having an excuse to "be fat" 

With Jaycee I remember weighing in around 175 and when I delivered I was 220! !!!  I had gained 45 pounds!  I tried a little bit to eat good but I couldn't resist the crap.  After she was born and at around 8 weeks old I weighed in at 201.  I did lose 19 with delivering & nursing but still had lots to go.  I started jogging a lot and then added in Biggest Loser work out videos to help tone as well as the cardio.  I got down to 193 and she was 1 year old.  I had the working out part down...but the eating was horrible!  We then moved across country which included a week of eating food on the road and quickly so came 5 pounds!  I was 198 again and Jaycee at this point was 16 months and I knew something needed to change.  I was working out 4 days a week and hard work outs but just wasn't losing weight.  That's when Craig and I went on the journey of eating better.  We cut out hamburger almost completely, lowfat/diet everything, counting calories, whole grain breads & pastas.  Needless to say from July-November I went from 198 to 175.  23 pounds!  We were looking so much better and feeling better to.  BUT THEN it was time to get pregnant again!  I got my IUD taken out in November and the whole "dieting" was getting exhausting.  I reached my pre-baby weight and didn't try for more.  The holidays came & I kept working out so I kept it off but I didn't try for more or to improve my eating habits.  In April I found out I was pregnant with Hadley.

I vowed I wouldn't gain as much and that I would be better.  The beginning was rough thinking I miscarried & told that and remember indulging in cake because it drowned my sorrows.  My weight gain in the beginning was actually really slow & good because I hardly ate because I felt like crap.  I walked, walked, walked!  Probably about 8 miles a week.  Then the 2nd trimester hit.  HOT SUMMER so I hated being out in the heat while walking so that stopped for a bit.  Along came ice cream sandwiches & not healthy stuff.  Then the 3rd trimester and I knew my weight gain would be the same.  At my last appointment the doctor even made a comment that I needed to stop my weight gain. I wish they would've put me on a diet but I was 39 weeks and done!  I did start the walking up again once the weather cooled and that made a huge difference I feel like with labor as I did go natural and was actually not bad at all.  At the end I was walking about 6 miles/week through contractions.  I weighed in at 230 at my last appointment-55 pound weight gain!!!  I knew this would be rough.

Hadi was born right before Christmas and my labor was actually pretty easy with the recovery.  I did eat bad things with the holidays and at 5 weeks I got on the scale.  215.  I had only lost 15 pounds since she was born but knew that batch of toffee I made sure didn't help.  I started working out.  Craig didn't like that since it'd only been 5 weeks but I felt ready to go.  I did try to count calories but with nursing I would get light headed and wasn't worth the fight.  Instead I decided to try really hard to eat better.  Hadi is almost 14 months and I'm proud to say I weigh in at 188.  I've lost 27 pounds in a year and I'm ready for more!

My goal is still 175 for my pre-baby but I'm going to try hard to get down to wedding weight at 155, which still is 20 pounds overweight according to my BMI.  Craig has been a huge support to eat the healthy things and miss the other things I used to buy.  Also I watched a documentary last night on Netflix about eating healthier because there's so much crap that we put into our bodies.  We've already made the switch to whole grain breads & pasta.  Next step is the whole grain wheat & brown jasmine rice.  BUT MOSTLY VEGGIES!!!  We are really bad at those.  We're pretty good at eating carrots & corn but we need more!  We're also good at fruits.  Also today is DAY ONE of no soda!  I probably drink 2 a week so this will be a struggle but it'll be worth it.  Also the top 3 things to help relieve stress (stress causes the body to go into a "famine" mode of storing fat) is more sleep, more exercise (I'm doing 5 days a week now but there's more room for improvement) and more laughter :)    I really know this is a good thing and that it'll help to raise more healthier children and to make us feel happier and better.  I recommend everyone watching that show to learn more.  So here's to 2013 and dropping weight, eating healthier & feeling better.  Also helps that we aren't in a huge hurry to get pregnant so no deadline although my 175 goal is April. 

Everyone can do this!  Let's help each other to feed our bodies what they need!

Kid's Club

Renee invited us to play at Kid's Club yesterday.  I've never heard of it so I googled it and decided it'd be good for the girls.  Was it ever?!!  It was a blast!  Winter days are rough.  It may not be freezing cold here or snowy but the rain puts a damper on things and staying inside happens too much.  This was perfect to get out and have fun.  I love that there's so much to do here in Washington.  This place was only about 15 minutes away in Vancouver.  It pretty much has a swimming pool; a gym for classes like dance, gymnastics, cheer etc; the middle has a cafe & tables to eat because they don't allow outside food; and then the rest is the jungle!  It's like a glorified McDonalds playground but huge and CLEAN!  Slides, ball blower, ball targets, tree to climb up (this made me feel so clausterphobic), bridges and more.  It was $8 for Jaycee and then for Hadi cuz her age is 1/2 off reg price so $4.  One parent is free with paid child.  So it was $12 for all of us and I made sure we stayed for 3 hours so we could get our moneys worth.  I arrived a little late and then Renee left a little early but we got 2 hours to play together.  Xander her little boy didn't have school and Macey the little girl she babysits didn't either so all 3 of them played.  Hadi and I explored the jungle & Renee and baby girl did.  Hadi can be afraid of heights so sometimes she cried but overall I think she liked it.  I can't wait to bring my family here with their kids.  They will love it!  I like also that you can stay for as long as you want! Success for fun!  I'm thinking next time we need to check out the museum in Portland.  

http://www.portlandcm.org/visit/exhibits-studios/

 Here's Hadi trying to climb up to the slides. 

Jaycee loading up the "ball gun" and shooting targets.  Hadi though it was fun to get all the balls for her

 This is the ball room.  You can put balls in this machine thing and it shoots them up.  Also there's machines that take the balls up to the different levels and one that dumps a bunch from the top.  It was FUN!  Hadi was a little scared when the balls would fly but Jaycee laughed.  You can see the other 2 levels and the "ball guns" so you can shoot each other and the targets. 

 There's lot of areas to explore.  Hadi and I found this area with these huge balls. 

 This slide was AWESOME! It was at the very top and goes down fast & steep.  At the end the slide is level with the pads so you slide out onto the mats from going so fast.  It even gave my stomach a tickle.  We went down the slide a lot and the girls thought that was so fun.

 We found a silly area with funny mirrors.  This was right before Hadi decided she was done and needed a power nap. 

 Jaycee having fun with the slides.