Snippets of Shauntel: July 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

Happy 4th of July!

We were invted by our friends, Paul & Aubrey, to join their BBQ in the Park. We ate hotdogs and hamburgers - the all American classic BBQ foods and shot off rocket balloons (over, and over, and over).

We then walked to the Bellevue Downtown Park for even MORE fun. There was a big gigantic water fountain/feature and it was pretty hot, so we decided - or Isaac decided - to splash our feet in the water. There was a fun (but expensive) carnival there and the kids were REALLY excited, luckily they had a few things that the kids could enjoy for free, like the Jugglers, Lego table, Balloon artists, tours of a firetruck, ambulance, police motorcycle! Isaac LOVED all the buttons, knobs, and gizmos on the firetruck, we couldn't keep him away from it. He was fasinated by the BIG fire engines - especially the big shiney wheels.

After all that, we ate overpriced pizza and an Elephant Ear (favorite carnival treat!). The kids played on the big toy they had there and then we went and sat on the blanket and waited forEVER for the fireworks to start. The kids danced, played with friends, and Isaac ate about half a tub of Red Vines all by himself!

Finally, after about 5 hours of waiting, the fireworks finally began!! They were pretty cool and the longest fireworks show I've ever been to. I would go again, but Jason said that it wasn't worth it to him and that he would rather just stay home and lite our own fireworks (he's not a very paitent man in that regard).

I guess we'll see what next year brings...

Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

After we went swimming, Quincy wanted to go in Nana's boat. It was a bit dirty, but "God made dirt, and it don't hurt." Right? Plus, we were swimming, if we got dirty in the boat (which we did), then we could just wash off in the lake (which we did).

They liked being able to sit in the boat and touch the water with their hands as I paddled. (Photos taken 6/28/08)

Geronimo!!

Jason's mother lives on a private lake called Lake Dolaf in Auburn/Federal Way. This was the first time jumping into the lake and I wanted to make it look easy and fun for the kids.

Quincy thought it was tons of fun jumping to Mom, but Isaac just liked dangling his feet in the water. I had to coax him in ONE step at a time. If he even thought I was about to touch him, he'd run away and say "No!" However, he did finally get in most of the way if he could still hold onto the ladder.

(Photos taken 6/28/08)

We Love Auntie Kate!!

Just wanted to share some photos of our beautiful Aunti Kate - we LOVE and miss her! (Photos taken 6/22/08)

O'pa's Farm

Isaac loves to visit O'pa's Farm,

especially the goats - Kiko and Poko.

But that's not all - there's

Peekie the bird,

Pua the cat,

the other cat,

Nani the big dog,

Wikkie the medium dog,

Sasha the little dog,

and their prized honey bees.

And don't forget the other little critters -

the pesky geese they can't get rid of,

the MANY birds they feed

and the squirrels they also feed. (Photos taken 6/22/08)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Kate Hart's Acclaimed Preformance

Kate is Jason's little sister. She just graduated from Cornish College of the Arts and is a very talented dancer. This was the last dance Kate performed before she moved to New York back in June. Her style of dance is called "Modern" which basically means ANYTHING goes (it's more for the artsy fartsy type).

Quincy is definitely taking after her Auntie Kate (much to Jason's dismay). She LOVES to dance!! Some might not call Quincy's moves dancing, but her Auntie Kate sure loves them and takes inspiration from her "natural beauty."

"Quincy's First Solo" was actually taken at a different performance that Kate was in. It was Quincy's first time being at any performance like that. The whole time she wanted to go dance with all the dancers on the stage (not a real stage as we commonly know, more of a giant floor space in from of rows of chairs). I tried to contain her and let her just dance a little bit near our chairs. Finally, during intermission she was able to let it all out (as you can see from the video). I was totally unprepared for her dance, but was able to capture parts of it in 30 second intervals with my cell phone video recorder (thus the crappy quality). There was music playing during the intermission that she was dancing to, but not the same music Jason later added when putting all the footage together. The audience was SO impressed! They clapped and cheered every time she'd do something cute or hold a pose. This girl definitely has natural talent and I'm glad that she has her Auntie Kate, Nana, and the rest of her family to look up to for support. I'm sure she'll be an amazing dancer too some day.

(Kate's performance was taken on my still camera, but I promise it's at LEAST 5% better with sound!)

(Photo/Video of Kate taken 6/21/08)