Shameless Plug

Mom and the girls raided my pantry while I was at work today and made these super cute desserts! (the chocolate cups are courtesy of Allen & Petersen...cool, hu?)

They filled the chocolate cups with pudding, then topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Aren't you impressed? I sure was.

She was so proud of her beautiful creations!

Yum, don't you want one too?

_________ , and Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!

For Achievement Day Activity this month we decided to take the girls to the zoo. And since school is out, my kids and mom came along with us. 9 girls, my two boys, and 5 adults all trying to stay together at the Alaska Zoo without getting lost or eaten by polar bears. What an adventure! Morgan and her friend Alina sharing a snack.

Morgan and K in front of the Moose Exhibit. (cracks me us that we have these animals in a cage at the zoo, when we have them walking through our yard and up to our cars all the time at home)

My cute little achievement day girls. Thanks for spending time at the zoo with us girls! It was a blast!

It is not easy to get this kid to volunteer for pictures, but when he does...man, watch out!

My little monkey at the zoo.

This kid cracks me up! She is such a cutie, and yet so determined no to get in front of the camera. Melissa, I hope your ok with me posting this. You just have such an awesome kid in Cora, and I will miss her when she grows up and leaves our Achievement Day Girls to go into Young Womens.

Or poor little molting camel. Talk about a bad hair day, ladies.

The Zoo Keeper giving Chandler a Porcupine Quill for his collections.

This porcupine was hilarious. When the zoo keeper went in his cage to collect some needles for Chandler, she went walking right up to him and stood on her hind legs, then started begging for some treats. Mom asked if it was ok to give her some of her sandwich, and he let us. Mmmmm, peanut, peanut butter. And Jelly!

My little rose in front of the flower garden.

Gabe and Claire with the goats.

Morgan making a friend at the petting zoo.

Sometimes, I wish I knew what this kid was thinking...

...than again.

Percey Jackson, the Lightning Thief!

Gabe's birthday was over a month ago, but what with end of school activities, Cub Camp, Ballet Recitals, Matt out of town on business, and everything else crazy, we just got around to having his party last Saturday. It was a Percey Jackson movie party, and when we were done with the movies, they got swords and headed out into the yard to train. Gabe's Percey Jackson cake. If your familiar with the books and movie, this was the part where Percy and his mom were driving through a field and they are attacked by a Minotaur.

See the Minotaur at the top next to my homemade Chocolate trees?

Don't judge, I made this baby about 4 hours before the party. (like, total time and energy put into it)

But I was pretty excited about the chocate covered pretzel fence, and the chocolate clay trees I learned how to make from Duff.

Happy Birthday Gabe!!! Love ya!

The Hills are Alive! With the Sound of....Children!

So what do we do in the summer time, when all the kids are bored? Well, we hike them up mountains to tire them out! Then we hike them all down and make them race the mom! (I would've won, but that Chandler is a fast little bugger!)This kid cracks me up!

"I'm King of the Mountain!!!"

Renae helping Jackson down one of the huge rocks. He was such a good little hiker.

What was Chandler doing? I have no idea. But hey, the moms looked good, so we didn't care.

The whole gang in front of our favorite land mark.

The kids takin' a break at the half way point.

Comon' gals! We're almost there!

Look at the clouds rolling in behind K. Awesome, hu?

Gabe and Carson rock climbing around the lake.

I little sassy, oh, I mean sweetie pie.

Yea, um, my camera was positioned on a rock about 15 feet away, and it was the highest one around at a close distance. So, unfortunately, your looking up at all of us.

Chandler and I thought this was the silly pose.

Renae with her own little brute squad. Carson has the best expressions.

My three little angels, (no really, see the halos?) and I at the top of the mountain.

Grandma and K at the lake.

On a short break, these clowns had time to stop and pose for the camera! What sillies!

Yes! We are almost to the bottom, and we're all going to make it! See our muscles?

My cute little chicks.

Yeah! I got the new cupcake book I've been waiting for. There are so many cute ideas, and if you know me, I'm obsessed with cute cupcakes and cakes. Well, once a week the kids go over to grandma's while I work, and so last week, I bought the supplies, and sent this book with the kids to grandma's. When I came home that night, this is what Morgan had made with grandma. Awwwww, isn't it cute? I think the kids did a fab job.

Morgan was so proud of her little chicky. (oh, and yes, she had been doing make-up the day I took this picture)

Family Day

Hatcher's Pass has become a family fav over the years, and we headed out today for a little family hike up the mountain. Here was our view from the top... (with the help of my awesome telephoto lens)

Unfortunately, when we got to the top, the lake we usually like to stick our toes into, was not yet what you would call, thawed out.

Morgan decided to start a snowball fight with daddy...

...and then she ran away when daddy fought back.

The gang in front of an old cabin at the Hatcher's Pass mines.