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Olbrights

Grandpa’s 71st Birthday Celebration at the Space Needle

Grandpa and Grandma invited the Bush and Olbright families to the Space Needle for lunch to celebrate their 71st birthdays and wedding anniversary. Although it was a cloudy and rainy day, everyone had a great time.

The day started out with an elevator ride up to the Space Needle. Grandpa is afraid of heights so he wedged himself into a corner. The elevator operator said the elevator goes 10 miles per hour up to the height of the Space Needle. We had good views of the Pacific Science center and Seattle waterfront.

After ordering, the Grandparents opened their presents from the Olbrights and our girls. Katherine and Allison were very proud that they made and/or purchased their gifts with their own money. Katherine gave Grandpa a bird house and Grandma some bath stuff. Allison gave a bee candle holder that she picked out.

Lunch arrives and everyone digs in. The girls eat a good lunch as the dessert at the Space Needle is very special. For dessert, everyone got a Lunar Orbiter. A Lunar Orbiter is a two scope ice cream sundae on top of a bed of dry ice. The wait staff pours hot water onto the dry ice right before serving to make the dessert start smoking. It’s quite the special experience.

The Bush family had to leave at 1:30P as Steve had a Qi review at work that he couldn’t be late for. The Olbrights and the grandparents went upstairs to the observation deck to take in the rainy sights.

Amy’s 40th Birthday Party

Amy turned 40 this year. The extended family got together to celebrate Amy’s 40th at Grandma Dottie’s house. Kevin, Tyler, Katherine, and Allison all performed charades. Rosebud joined the fun, too.

Amy suggested that we leave yellow sticky notes around the house with a note for my parents. The kids had fun finding interesting places to hide the notes. Steve placed his on the ceiling. You get the idea.

For brunch, the adults had curry chicken salad, a family favorite, and the kids had pizza. We concluded with a 40th birthday game, actually 40th times two. It was good to catch up with the Bushes and Olbrights and talk about growing older together.

Allison’s Family Birthday Party

We celebrated Allison’s seventh birthday a couple of days earlier with the extended family. Allison’s original request was to just have the grandparents. She woke up Sunday morning wanting the Olbrights to attend as well. Luckily the Olbrights were free in the afternoon so we could all celebrate together. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We spent most of the afternoon outside enjoying the sun and playing in the backyard. Allison learned to catch baseballs with uncle Jason and cousin Tyler. Rosebud entertained everyone by chasing us around the backyard and vice versa. It turned out to be too windy to light and blow out the candles outdoors so we piled into the house to sing happy birthday to Allison and blow out the candles. Then we moved back outside to enjoy cake and ice cream. After opening presents, Allison decided to give a violin recital. She played several pieces from her past lessons to everyone’s enjoyment.

To conclude the evening, we got out the fire pit. Our marshmallows had expired long ago so we promised to roast marshmallows another time.

Washing Legos

Washing Legos

Steve has many interesting ideas, but this one really took the cake.

Last weekend the girls visited a few little friends and had a great time playing with their Legos. Steve was so inspired by this that he immediately went home and bought Legos…on eBay. To be clear, he bought 20 POUNDS of Legos that were delivered yesterday in an enormous box.

All was well until yesterday morning when Steve said, climbing into his car before work, “The Legos should arrive today. You just need to wash the Legos…Just go online and read about how to wash them.”

The key word is “Just.” This pretty much consumed our evening. I ruled out two techniques that I read about on the web. One involves putting Legos in a pillow case, tying the case shut and washing them in your washing machine (fingers crossed the pillow case doesn’t open and ruin your washing machine!) The second involved putting them in a dishwasher and hoping they don’t melt. (Seriously!)

We opted for washing them by hand. Steve dumped all 20 pounds into the girls’ bathtub with dishwashing soap and swished them around in hot water. Then we rinsed them out in batches in the bathroom sinks. Then we put them in a huge plastic bin where I mopped them with dry towels to get the water off. THEN Steve dumped them on the family room carpet to dry further.

As Steve noted, “the girls will remember this for the rest of their lives.”

I’m attaching pictures of the process.

Family Visit

Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jamey visited this past weekend to celebrate my mom’s birthday. After they climbed Tiger Mountain with Mom (Yep), Sharon and Jamey came over to make apple pie. We then headed over to Bamboo Garden for some nice spicy Chinese food. On Sunday, Sharon and Jamey took the girls ice skating in Kirkland. The kids had a great time…and slept well Sunday night.

Other Pictures

Patty took the kids late last week to the Zoo during parent/teacher conferences, when they had half day school. They stayed almost the whole afternoon, visiting the entire zoo. Allison was so tired, she slept on the way home.

I should also note that the girls got haircuts yesterday afternoon after school. They got “cotton candy” scent in their hair and sparkles too. Oh boy!

We also took the girls to Baskin Robbins for a special treat, because both their teachers gave positive reports during parent/teacher conferences.

Grandma Dottie made quilts with both girls. Katherine brought hers home. Allison decided to leave hers on her special shelf.

Easter Egg Hunts

Easter Egg Hunts

The kids had a great time this weekend, hunting eggs three times. First, they went to Trilogy, then at our house and then at Grandaunt Pat’s house. I consolidated their stashes this morning. And, boy, do they have a LOT of candy!

Perhaps the most memorable moment occurred during the Trilogy egg hunt. Allison was with my mom, while I helped Katherine uncover eggs on the other side of the clubhouse. Unfortunately many of the older kids had scooped up the younger kids’ eggs on the way to the other side of the clubhouse. So, Katherine found 23 eggs – Allison got none. Thanks to some of Grandma’s friends, Allison received a few prized eggs after the hunt. Katherine also let Allison pick several eggs from her bag. You can see Allison checking out her half dozen eggs; she kept opening and closing the eggs looking for more candy and treats.

The next morning the kids raced around the house looking for another round of eggs. Allison looked for one color eggs; Katherine two-toned eggs. Bisco also managed to get some treats after Katherine put her basket down on the floor and left it. During the minute that she was gone, he snarfed around 10-12 chocolate eggs and kisses. Luckily, it wasn’t enough chocolate to make him ill (since he’s a whopping 75 pounds), but Katherine was pretty upset at him. We managed to find replacement candy, and all was well. ๐Ÿ™‚

Katherine was particularly psyched to find one egg with two quarters in it. She exclaimed, “The Easter bunny gave me money to save for college. You won’t have to pay for my college!” Ha!

In the pictures you’ll see the kids riding the Gator at Aunt Pat’s house, Katherine at a Build-A-Bear party, kids with Lolly the clown, dying eggs with Grandma Bush and celebrating Grandma Chang’s birthday last weekend.

Take a Load Off!

Allison’s favorite movie these days is Madagascar. She will say out of the blue, “What a bunch of pansies!!” or “Pansies!!” (Yes, we’ve told her it’s not very nice, but that seems to encourage her!)

Last Friday we had Steve’s parents over for dinner. Katherine raced to answer the door, with Allison right behind her. What did Allison say? Quoting Marty she said, “Come on in – Take a Load Off!”