Mother-Son and Daddy-Daughter Dances

It has become an annual tradition in our stake to host a mother-son and daddy-daughter dance on the same weekend.  It is something that we all look forward to and really enjoy doing together!  This year, the dances were scheduled for the last weekend in April.  So, on Friday night, Logan and I headed out for our date night.  We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then on to the stake center for refreshments, pictures, and dancing.  Ron and the two girls did the exact same thing on Saturday night.  We both had so much fun going on these dates with our children.  It is so fun to spend some quality time with our children in a smaller group and to give them some one-on-one attention that they don't always get!

Logan and I all dressed up and ready to head out on our date.

Cute Logan eating his dinner at Chick-Fil-A.  He is such a fun little buddy and I so enjoyed spending this evening with him.

Eating our cookies at the dance.

We posed for some pictures with some props that Logan chose from the table.

A close-up of my boy and me.

Logan wanting to pose again with some more props.

And, he even wanted more pictures of just himself with a third set of props.

I was able to find matching dresses in the girls' different sizes again this year.  They looked so cute in their matching dresses and hair bows.

Striking a pose.

And another pose (they thought of these all on their own).

Daddy posing with his daughters.

A close-up of the handsome group.

And a silly pose before they headed out the door.

Ron posing with the girls and their props.

And a more formal pose.

The girls enjoying their refreshments before hitting the dance floor.

Unlike Logan who was only interested in dancing a few songs, Lia and Ella danced for over an hour with Ron and loved every minute of it.  They came home with several stories of Ella's original dance moves on the dance floor.  I guess she was quite the star out there!  Here she is busting a move for Ron and the camera.

Both girls getting crazy on the dance floor!

Lia's 10-Year Photos

Here are Lia's darling, 10-year photos of her dressed in her pretty, Easter dress. As always, she did a wonderful job and produced many nice pictures. The photographer insisted that I be in a few photos with her at the end of the shoot which is apparently a new company policy. Since we were going to straight to our rental house to spread 10 yards of beauty bark, I was in no way dressed to have my pictures taken. So, although I do not love how I look in the pictures, I absolutely love Lia's face in all of the mommy-daughter pictures! 

Logan's 6-Year Photos

I managed to get Logan and Lia into the photo studio first thing today on a busy Saturday morning. Since they are now both at an older age, it was a piece of cake to get the two of them to cooperate for the photographer and produce some wonderful pictures. I feel like I say this every year, but I just can't get over how old my children always look in these annual pictures. They are just growing up so fast!  Here are the fun pictures that the photographer was able to get of Logan.  I especially love the ones of him in the little tent!

Playing Hooky!

For the first time since Lia started attending public school almost five years ago, we played hooky today!  Although Lia has missed school several times over the years for a trip, I have never just taken her out for a full day of school to go on a local adventure.  However, the weather was predicted to have our first 80 degree day of the year and so a few moms from church decided to head to Alki Beach in Seattle.  So, we decided to go and packed up all of our beach gear and lunches and headed out around 10 o'clock to spend the next four hours at the beach.  Although I loved Alki Beach in high school and in college, I have only been there once in the ten years that we have been living back in Washington.  We went when Lia was barely two years old, so obviously she doesn't remember a thing.  I have just grown to hate Seattle traffic and parking over the past few years, but remembered today that Alki is in south Seattle, so you don't even have to drive into the city to get to it and the street parking is still free!  So, it looks like we might be heading back to this beach more often then once a decade from here on out.  Regardless, the kids and I had a great time soaking up the sun, playing in the sand and water, and spending some time with friends.  It really felt like the middle of summer in April which is unheard of around these parts!

Logan and Vera starting to work on their sand castles.

Ella and a bunch of her buddies from church and preschool playing in the water.

The group running from an incoming wave.  From L to R:

Isla, Jace, Emma, Ella, and Mason.

Still running away from the wave!

Lia and her good friend, Bella, playing in the sand.

Logan showing off his finished sand castle.  I helped him pack up all of his sticks, rocks, and shells at the end of the day so that he could bring them home and rebuild the entire thing out on our deck with his pirate jewels.  I just love this boys creativity and imagination!

Lia and Bella building a sand creation.

Emma burying Ella and Isla in the sand.

By the end of our afternoon on the beach, most of the kids were so hot that they actually went into the freezing, Puget Sound water.  If it weren't for the fact that this water is kind of dirty looking, I would have done the same thing.  Anyways, here is Logan running out of the water after taking a quick dip.

Lia's face after coming up from the water.

Lia laughing and pointing at one of the girls after you she went completely under the water.

Logan running to shore after taking another dip.

A close-up of my wet and freezing boy.

We managed to take one picture of all of the moms who came for the day.

From L to R:  Katie, Erica, Alisa, Mercedes, Shaila, and me.

The kids laying out on their towels to get warm after playing in the water.

The one picture I managed to have taken of the kids and me (and Bella's finger) before leaving the beach to head home.