Ahhhh... Back to Birch Bay!

We finally got to head back to one of our favorite spots in western Washington- Birch Bay. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE IN BIRCH BAY!!" It is so beautiful there, hard to believe that people ever leave. Kiley had a blast running around on the beach and climbing on the "sticks". It hasn't been as warm as we would like, but still warmer than Dillingham. So we are fine in our shorts and t-shirts. It isn't as much fun for Kalin as it is for Kiley but she deals well with it. 

Bling Bling Birdhouse

We made it to Washington just fine.... and I wasn't ready for a nervous breakdown when we landed in Seattle or ready to collapse into an exhausted heap!  Kiley did as well as you can expect from any 3 year old and Kalin was a trooper. We did miss our connection out of Anchorage to Seattle, but they rebooked us and it wasn't a problem. The weather has been great- so so the first day but we went shopping so that didn't bother us. Today we went to the park and enjoyed some sunshine. Ahhh, nice. Robyn I am definitely going to watch the movie of the summer tonight!! :)

On to the birdhouse. Kiley thought it would be a "great idea" to paint a birdhouse when we were at Michael's. She said something like, "You know like at Umma Bossy's house", so I thought what the heck and here it is! She picked out the colors and I made sure we had some bling to stick on it. What do you think the birds will think? I hope next year we get a nest, Kiley is pretty proud of it! My mom called it a "Paris Hilton" birdhouse. 

The Last Day of Preschool.....

Kiley had such an awesome experience at Preschool- most days I think she wanted me to stay because she was afraid of hurting my feelings or something. I stayed almost every morning for about an hour- for circle time and play time. It was fun for me to see her interacting with the other kids in her class and participating in the songs and other activities.

The last day of Preschool was today and was celebrated with a potluck and two Yup'ik native dances the kids learned during school. Kiley called one "Ahoolawekumken" and the other "Aleee Aliii", I don't know how to spell them in Yup'ik or I would write their correct names. One is about making "akutaq" (Eskimo Icecream) and the other about walking on the tundra. I videoed each so I will make sure to post a short video of her dancing when we get back from vacation.

It took bribery of chicken nuggets from N&N, corn nuts AND gum for me to get her to wear her "puk-puk" as she calls her Kespeq (traditional wear)- needless to say she doesn't like it even though she looks SO cute in it. Kalin and I even wore ours! But anyway I was so proud of my big girl- she did such a good job and was so proud! Umma Bossy, Auntie Babe and the boys were her special guests, which tickled her even more. She was riding high all day and crashed about 5:00 when we went over to Uncle Max's house :).

Hiking to China Cap

We had a so- so day the other day and Jon decided out of the blue that we should hike to China Cap.... so we did! Kiley's new friend Morgan was able to join us on our little hike. Although it is almost mid June we had to dress the girls fairly warmly in layers and warm hats- I think the temperature was around 45 degrees and rainy.

The girls had so much fun hiking to the top with Oscar and Kami at their heels. When we started getting closer to the top we discovered all the berries and flowers in bloom. Kiley and Morgan were running back and forth from one patch of pretty pink and purple flowers to the next. We stopped about half way down to have a "picnic" of sorts where we had juice boxes and snacks, got caught in a heavy sprinkle and had to run to the truck! Kalin was pretty pooped out by the time we got there too..... :)

More Preschool Fun!

Kiley has been loving preschool! She gets to go to school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with Mom and Kalin of course. She has been having fun creating projects like a caterpillar, a spider and a few coloring projects. Kiley has a new friend from preschool who luckily lives close to us, she is Kiley's "Buddy" when they go to recess and go to dance, etc. Kiley actually cried one day when she was late coming from the bathroom and couldn't hold her hand (to be her buddy)!
The 3 and 4 year old preschool class had a guest speaker to their class last week- a Fireman!
The class even got to go and see the firetruck and see how it works. As soon as Kiley and her classmates saw the dandelions that were lined up by the school the demonstration was over- all they wanted to do was pick flowers!