ANNUAL REMLINGER FARM VISIT

We always make our annual trek to Remlinger Farms. I really like that place as much as Mimi. The rides are super simple and yet the kids have soooooo much fun.

We brought the girls there yesterday and everyone had a great time. They rode the ponies, fed the farm animals, rode the little steam engine train, Mimi and Elsie rode the roller coaster over and over again. They must have gone on it at least 10 times. The last couple of times they had the whole ride to themselves.

On the top left picture is Elsie, Emma and Mimi. They are actually sitting in a canoe. They loved this ride and all it does is goes in a circle with a couple of twists and turns. No waterfall or anything. There are decoy ducks that float between the canoes and they would make up games as to who would collect the most ducks in their canoe. At one point I saw all three in one canoe, then next thing I knew, they each had their own canoe, then I would look up again and would see Emma pushing Elsie and Mimi in a canoe. They must have stayed on this ride for about a good half hour.

This is a great place to take the youngsters. It rarely gets overcrowded. However when it is the Halloween season, that is a total different story in itself.

By the time it was time to go home, the girls were really wound up. Elsie and Emma had so much fun with Mimi that neither one of them wanted to go home. So they stayed for dinner with us. By the time I warmed up the leftover spagetti dinner dad came home from work and we had a really lively dinner table. Even at 9 at night it is still a bit light outside so the girls went out back to play some more. Where they get the energy I have no clue. Both Rhonda and I were totally exhausted!

MUSEUM OF FLIGHT

Last week President Obama was in town. Unfortunately we missed his visit to Seattle. We also experienced a sonic boom at the same time. While having lunch at the Uwajimaya in Renton, I heard some fellas on their lunch break talk about these topics and one fella suggested that we take Mimi to the Museum of Flight. I had completely forgot about that place. So I mentioned this to dad and suggested that this could be on of the things he could on his own father/daughter day.

Before Nathan and his family came to dinner last Saturday, that is exactly what Mimi and dad did. They first had breakfast at Testy Chef and of course Mimi had to use dad's phone and text me at home. They then went to the museum and had a blast. They saw way more stuff than I have uploaded here. They even got to see the Air Force One which was quite exciting.

EMILY, NATHAN AND MIMI

Since we all had such a good time with the Spencers last month, we decided to get together again this month. Because of Nathan's inability to hear, Mimi and I are learning more sign language with Lisa's (Nathan's mom) help. Although Mimi and Nathan play really well together, Mimi did mention that it is a little hard to play with him because he cannot speak. She is learning to have a little more patience with him because she did not realize that he has only been here for about 6 months now. For some reason she thought that he came here as a baby like many of her China friends and so he should be able to play with her like her friends Shad and Blake. One good thing about Nathan is that he is such a bright boy and catches on quickly. Since his hearing aids are still fairly new, he is having a hard time speaking but can sign real good. Lisa thinks that like many youngsters, Nathan has what I call "selective hearing". At least that is the case around our house at times. Nathan loves playing Wii. So Mimi had taught him how to play Guitar hero and he loved it! I found out that Nathan loves amusement parks so we may take the kids to Remlinger Farms next month for rides and pumpkins.

ELSIE TURNS 7

This past July, Elsie turned 7 years old. Since Elsie and her family had a lot on their plate for the month of July, Elsie did not have a party that month. Instead they had a small party for Elsie at their new home this month, however Mimi was not to attend as we were camping at Ohanapecosh on the date of the party. Since Mimi could not go to the party, we had Elsie, Emma and Rhonda over for a private birthday party when we got back home from camping. We had a really nice summer this year although it was way to short. After tommorrow it will cool down quite a bit. Even though it was still warm enough for the girls to play in the water and have some fun.