Weekend Getaway in Seattle.

A miraculous thing happened the weekend before Memorial Day weekend.  We had someone other than family watch our kids over night.  This girl in our ward was working on Personal Progress for the Young Women's program.  So she and her family took them around 4 pm friday afternoon.  Then we headed out to Seattle to spend the night/day there for a relaxing retreat.  I am always amazed at how Seattle is built.  Those roads are so steep!

We stayed in the Arctic Club Double Tree Inn.

Here's our 10th floor room

Joe checking out our Jacuzzi tub...I promise...

Once we checked in, we walked around town to find a place to eat.  The hotel recommended The Brooklyn. It was pricey but good!

Joe ordered the scallops, which filled him up pretty good.  I ordered the New York Steak.  It was pretty good but don't love all the fat that was on there.

Next we needed dessert and I didn't like the choices at the restaurant so we went to the place underneath our hotel, Juno.  We had a Pizookie.  I think this will always be my favorite.

The next morning, after sleeping in in the most comfortable bed (feather down blankets and pillow)
We walked down to the pier and then to the Pike's Market.  Loved that place.  So fun to see all the action.

We went to Le Panier for breakfast.  Best croissants and hot chocolate ever.  There was a reason there was such a long line!

After that, we walked around the city some more, went to Dahlia's Bakery and got some goodies for the road back.  We checked out of our hotel and headed to the outlet mall in North Bend.  Kind of disappointed when you've got San Marcos Outlet malls to compare to in TX but I got some great deals on kids clothes.  We got home and I took a nap.  We got the kids back safe and sound that night.  It was definitely a needed little break and loved every kid-free minute of it!

Kate's Preschool Graduation

Little Miss Kate graduated from our co-op preschool this year.  It was amazing how fast this year went by.  It was also amazing to be part of this fun group of kids and moms.  As our last "preschool", we had a party and a graduation.  It was held at Kim's house, had a BBQ and held a ceremony. 

Kim did the ceremony, and highlighted each kid.

Emma was so proud and a big support for Kate on  her big day, lol.  I'm seriously so proud of Kate this year.  She's improved so much and is ready for Kindergarten.  I'm ready for her to be in Kindergarten ;)  She's too ready for it.

Earlier, in class, they learned about the Olympics and did their own course.  Here they are, doing it again for their parents :)

2 days of heat.

Last week, mother nature tricked Cashmere, making it to the 90s for a couple of days.  So the kids jumped on the opportunity to get in their swimsuits and played in the water.  They were whining about not having a pool so I grabbed a big bin and filled it with freezing water.  That held them off.  So they would jump in then run to their towels.  These kids are crazy!

THE mouse.

** Grandma Jensen, please refrain from looking at the pictures below.  You will have a heart attack if you see them**

It all started a week ago, when I was in the bathroom getting ready.  I heard the rest of the family in the living room screaming and jumping around.  I come out to hear that they've found a mouse inside.

Then I see it run from the desk to the kitchen, behind the fridge.  From there, we didn't know what to do and waited until we heard from it again.

Come yesterday morning as we are sitting eating breakfast, I heard some scratching noise in the living room then see the mouse running underneath the couch to behind the TV.....remember to breathe...

Then a few minutes later, Emma sees something move in the kitchen and I look over right when I see a mouse climbing down from the cabinet under the kitchen sink.

Ok, can't handle it.  Calling friend with cat....

Jack the cat was dropped off at the house around 8:20 am.

I leave the house to get OUT of the house and go walking for about an hour.  Karlye and I go inside the house to see if we can find the cat....no luck...we searched  for a half hour and couldn't find the cat!

I then left around 11:40 to run errands and after 5 minutes of Joe looking, he finds the cat in our sleeping bags in the basement sleeping.  I get home around 3 and give back Jack the cat to Karlye.
I bought some mouse traps and got them set up that evening.  I dabbed some peanut butter on them and put one behind the entertainment center in the living room, one behind the fridge and one under the kitchen sink. It was probably around 9 or so when I did that.

Come 10:50 pm...right after we had watched Lie to Me and I had just picked up the kitchen and started the dishwasher.  And that's when I heard the SNAP!

I run to Joe and told him I think we got one!  But I wasn't going to go look....lol...to freaked out....

It was the one behind the TV in the living room.

ewww....which means it was just sitting under the entertainment center the whole time we were watching TV and eating dinner...I wouldn't be surprised that there's a nest under there or something!

Anyways, we had to take a picture...for funnies...for prosperity...the girls even wanted to be woken up if we caught one.  So I went and dragged them out of bed at 11 pm to show them.  They thought it was pretty cool.

Here's the little bugger.  Die mouse Die!

these were taken with the zoom lense so I wouldn't have to be so close to take it....lol  even looking at them still give me the creepies...

The cleanest it's ever been...

So the girl's room has been through many transformations.  Let's remind ourselves what it looked like a year ago:

I don't recommend sticking 2 girls in 1 big bed.  Those nights never started or ended well....

Fast Forward to now.

We've got their own beds painted and up.  Their clothes are in bins under their bed since we don't have room for a dresser.  But that system seems to be working for us right now.

But the problem is the clothes that spew out of those bins mixed with the endless toys....equals a cluttered dirty room always.

So last week, the girls and I spent about 3 hours and completely took on this room.  We even lifted the mattresses and cleaned under the bed....  It was totally worth the effort.  I have not seen their room look this clean...ever.

The main thing that had to go were their toys from in their room.  They seemed to have a mind of their own and would always get dumped on the floor.  So we got them in boxes and put them up on shelves in the closet or in the hall closet.

Even a week later, we've been really good at keeping the clutter down and picking up after themselves.  And it being so clean, it doesn't take long to pick up either....so let's see how long it'll last...