Dallin and Scott got up early on the 4th of July for Bass fishing along Lake Washington. We didn't have any luck despite some tips from locals. It was priceless father and son bonding time nonetheless. The girls stayed home for some beauty sleep.

 

By next summer we hope Sierra will be able to work full time through her newly learned car washing skills.

 

Blue yogurt should include a caption stating "Adult supervision is required with the use of this product". Fortunately it all ended up on her and not the walls and floors.

 

RICE FAMILY MEMORIAL DAY BBQ

We spent days of planning that included several trips to the store and a scouting trip to find the perfect park for our Memorial Day fun. Since we didn't have control over the weather we had to make sure everything else was perfect. We ended up at Chism Park in Bellevue along Lake Washington and then later at Meydenbauer Park also along the lake.

 

Chism Park in Bellevue Washington offered a great back-drop for pictures, though our camera malfunctioned during this photo shoot.

 

Cheeeeeese.

 

What BBQ at the park wouldn't be complete without smores. Thanks Melissa for all the great preperation.

 

We found a great spot in Chism park for our Memorial Day BBQ. Notice it also was a good spot for Dad to take a nap, but Sierra and Dallin had other plans.

 

This is Meydenbauer Park in Bellevue Washington the last stop on our Memorial Day outing. This park sits on Lake Washington surrounded by million dollar homes and yachts. Fun for the whole family. Although Melissa and Sierra slept in the car.

 

Sierra has recently made the transition to a "Big Girl" bed though she prefers at times to nap on the floor.

 

We just got back from our trip to California. It rained most of the time including our first night camping at Lake Shasta. We visisted family and friends and went to Melissa's brother's wedding at the Oakland Temple.

 

Dallin, Sierra, and their Great Grandma D. On our trip we visited lots of Grandma's, 7 total including 2 Great Grandmas and one Great Great Grandma.

 

Dallin putting out the vibe!

 

Melisa, Sierra, and Melissa's friend Christie.

 

Dallin got to play with his cousin Kaitlin at my sister's house in Folsom.

 

Dallin and his cousin Landon with their Grandma Garbett.

 

Melissa's brother Michael and his new wife Donna.

 

Sierra had fun playing in the fountain water, Melissa wasn't as thrilled.

 

Dallin and his Uncle Michael. It was a great day!

 

Sierra didn't want to slow down long enough to take her picture but we still managed to get a couple shots at the Temple for her Uncle's wedding.

 

Dallin had fun at the wedding reception with his friend Zoe.

 

It was a sunny day so we went and visited another state park along the Puget Sound. We took along some chicken to Bar-b-que but I failed to defrost it enough. So I improvised by making "grilled" cheese sandwiches instead. The cheese didn't melt all the way and the bread burned but everyone ate them so they couldn't have been all that bad. Sorry no pictures of my cooking blunder.

It was a beautiful day across the sound.

 

Dallin and Sierra had fun exploring.

 

Sticks can be a lot of fun to play with, especially for little boys.

 

"If You're Happy and You Know It"

Dallin has had a little over a year and a half to work on being a big brother. And now that Sierra is old enough to participate in his cunning "older brother tricks" he is enjoying his role in life quite a bit. It has come to our attention that Dallin is destined for a career in management-- or so he thinks-- why else would he encourage his little sister to do things like break dry spaghetti noodles into a million tiny pieces and scatter them on the kitchen floor, or see how far she can run with the end of the toilet paper roll from the bathroom? Under his direction Sierra participates in many of his "experiments" but when mom wants to know who is responsible for the mess, Dallin quickly assures me that it was Sierra who made the mess (True, but who encouraged her?). This week Dallin was once again testing his magical "Big Brother Powers"-- First off let me say, Sierra loves to sing and Dance. One of her favorite songs is "If You're Happy and You know it". With that in mind, let me begin my story:

Thursday Evening during dinner I left the kids at the table eating while I poured Dallin another glass of milk. While in the kitchen I heard Dallin begin singing "If you're happy and you know it, SPILL YOUR PEAS . . If you're happy and you know it, SPILL YOUR PEAS . . . If you're Happy and you know it, and you really want to show it, if you're happy and you know it, SPILL YOUR PEAS." Dallin was giggling after each verse and I responded "Oh, Dallin you're so silly!" (He does afterall enjoy changing the words to songs.) That is, until I realized why he was giggling. Every time he would sing "if you're happy and you know it, spill your Peas" Sierra would take a spoonful of peas from her plate and pour them on the ground, causing Dallin to giggle with delight as she made a big mess under his instruction.

I must say I am a bit frightened for the future older brother tricks he will play, mostly because I grew up the guinea pig for many big brother experiments (licking 9V batteries, jumping off the roof, getting in a garbage can that was then placed on a skateboard and pushed off a ramp etc. . .). I guess we still have a lot to look forward to. . . and Sierra has a lot to learn.