Parker Turns Eight!

Parker at 8 Years Old

Height: 50.0 in (45.8%)

Weight: 53.8 lb  (33.8%)

This guy is now eight years old and starting third grade soon!! Parker is full of sweetness,  enthusiasm, empathy, and silliness. And here is a little more about eight year old Parker. He...

• is bossy, especially with his brothers. Maybe it's a first born/older brother thing, but his brothers are not impressed. 
• continues to be really good at sharing with his brothers most of the time: toys, dessert, etc...
• is very into sports - playing, watching, talking/writing/acting out make-believe games. He really likes to be the sportscaster while also playing the game. His favorite is currently soccer, but he loves basketball and football too.
• has become very competitive. He always wants to know or tell the score of a game. "Who are we rooting for? Who is winning?" He can also get downright emotional when his team(s) lose. Oh, and he picks his favorite teams based on their colors and whether the word Philip (aka cousin Philip) is in their name. Ex. Philidelphia 76ers
• loves to retell the things that he's done or seen to his brothers and even enjoys telling these things to strangers at the playground or really anyone who appears as though they might be listening.
• still likes to cuddle! When it's time to read together he will always scooch in nice and close before getting started.
• is very protective of his brothers. He love to coach them, tell them stories, and look out for them when they're in new situations.
• loves his stuffies (especially Fluff, his little stuffed Beagle) more than anyone or anything in the world. For Christmas and his birthday he asks for things for Fluff. Ex. a pillow for Fluff, a dog collar for Fluff 
• still loves Legos. He enjoys building things from the kits with instructions, but just as much or even more so he loves to use all of his random pieces to build epic structures. 
• can be downright careless with his body and has at least one new bruise or injury every day.
• loves to make people laugh. Sometimes this is so fun and enjoyable. And sometimes it really isn't - complete chaos at the dinner table, in the classroom during a lesson.
• still loves to tinker with things and figure out how they work. He also loves to explain what he has figured out about the workings of things to others. These explanations can be fairly lengthy and it appears as though he isn't too concerned with how well the person he's explaining things to is listening. The explanation is definitely more for him than the person he's talking to/at.
• has started to notice and care about who is friends with whom and how that relates to him. Most of the time he continues to prefer doing things by himself, but sometimes he comments on who is better friends with whom. It doesn't usually seem to bother him when he isn't a person's closest friend, but there does seem to be a glimmer of awareness and emotion about it.
• is still working on controlling his body, actions, and focus - self control is a big topic in our house.
• has become pretty particular about food. His least favorite foods are squash, zucchini, and asparagus. His favorite foods are ice cream, cookies and coconut popsicles. He's still usually pretty open to trying new things, but once he decides he doesn't like something, it's dead to him. 
• is still working on using manners at the table. Actually, WE are still working on Parker using manners. He's still very happy scarfing down food like an animal.

Parker had a great time celebrating his birthday with friends and cousins at West Seattle Bowl. Friends, bowling, pizza, and an ice cream cake with his face on it - what else could an eight year old ask for?!

Happy Birthday Parker!!

P.S. Parker Turns Seven

Vacation Bible Camp

{Parker and the Cheerful Cheetahs}

{Conway and the Zippy Zebras}

{Monroe and the Gentle Giraffes}

Diner en Blanc Seattle 2019

This was the 3rd Annual Diner en Blanc Seattle and it was another amazing event. As always, the location was a surprise until the busses arrived and Seattle Center did not disappoint. David and I along with 1600 other guests set up our tables (aerial pic above) and enjoyed the evening together with the Space Needle above us. 

P.S. Diner en Blanc Seattle 2018

Little Sounders Fans

While the food and friends were still probably Parker and Conway's favorite parts of the Sounders game, they actually got really into the actual game this time. The Sounders lost and the boys were definitely not impressed by the refereeing, but everyone (except for maybe the people sitting behind the boys 😬) had a great time.  

Shirtless Movie Night

David would be so proud.

Summer Science Challenge: Powerful Paper

Challenge: Use only paper and tape to create a structure that will hold a heavy book. It must be able to stand on its own.

They quickly discovered that folding and rolling the paper made it stronger. 

Soccer Camp

Parker and Conway both loved soccer camp. Apparently they could have done without having their picture taken, though.

And while the big boys were at soccer camp, Monroe and I got to have a little one-on-one fun together.

Parker the Whale Level Swimmer

Parker could not be more excited to advance to the Whale level at swim lessons! He can now do all the basic strokes - freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. His favorite is the breaststroke and pretty much every swim teacher he's had has commented on how good he is at that stroke. This guy has become a really great swimmer and we are so proud of him!

Happy Birthday Fluff!

That's right. Apparently Parker's favorite stuffed animal Fluff had a birthday that needed celebrating. So we did as any mostly sane person would do. We made him a strawberry cake and sang him Happy Birthday! 

Oh, and we ate his very delicious strawberry cake.

Golf Camp

The first week of summer camp was golf! The big boys golfed each morning for the week and when asked about their favorite part of golf camp? The popsicles on the last day of course.

The Whole Point is Fun!

We have documented lots of amazing times in Chelan on this blog, but all of that documentation started after the many summers we spent with the Johnsons at Wapato Point. Yes, before there was Maison Rouge (and kids!) we vacationed for a week each summer with Lars and Shannon at a place called Wapato Point. One summer the reader board out front read "The Whole Point Is Fun!" and obviously that phrase caught on with us. Oh how I wish I could find a photo of that board!

Well, the sadness of selling Maison Rouge was accompanied by great joy at the prospect of returning to the resort that started it all for us in Chelan. The condos still have the original décor and furnishings from the 1980s. The kitchen in minimalistic and if you want to use a whisk as you make dinner, the morning's eggs need to be washed off of it because there is but one. The simplicity of it does urge me to ponder the conveniences we stocked Maison Rouge with, though. Crockpot? check. Griddle? check. Multiple ways to slice cheese? check. More than one serving spoon? check. And yet the view from our Lakeside Units at Wapato Point made all those things fade. Who needs more than one serving spoon when you can walk ten steps and be in the pool or sit on your patio with coffee (or a glass of wine) and watch the kids play on the beach? I actually finished two books on this trip! I don't know if I've ever done that. So while the accommodations were a downgrade, the view and proximity to the beach made up for it.

{Boat Time}

{Surprise hail storm}

{David and Lars hunkered down with wine smoothies during the storm}

{Conway's version of coping with the storm}

{Beach Time}

{Happy Fourth of July!}

{July 4th Bike Parade}

{Monroe took a pretty good tumble (again!) and maybe should have gotten stitches. Do scars look good on some people?}

{Pool Time}

And another week in Chelan comes to an end. We had a great time and miss it already. Until next year...

P.S. A Twist On Our Summertime Trip to Chelan, Peace Out Maison Rouge