Capen Park

We've visited the grindstone side of Hinkson Creek many, many times but somehow had never gone over on the Capen Park side to let the kids/dog play in the water over there. 

Leah & Spark and I went a bit ago - I think this was the day we spent 4 hours at Cosmo Park in the morning and then 2.5-3 hours at Capen park in the afternoon since Sam had taken the big kids to Big Surf and it was so nice outside. I asked Leah what she wanted to do & that's what she said!

Happy dog!

 

 

Leah did get a little bit wet: 

I wonder how?

We saw crawdads & fish & frogs. I did have to give her a piggy back ride to the car.

 Earlier in the summer, James & Amelie got to go with a friend of theirs while Leah was at school so I guess it evens out. James wanted to wear his swimsuit & I told him it was too cold to swim, but he did this anyway, just in his clothes: 

Kids in Parks

Sam and Leah at Cosmo Park.

James and Amelie on the Dino at Cosmo Park.

Sam pushing the big kids on the big swing.

James hanging out at Westwinds Park.

This is the one right by our house. The kids call it the yellow park.

James on the dino on a different day.

I think there was some kind of challenge by Parks and Rec to visit all of the Columbia Parks this summer. We didn't pick up the form, but we're slowly working our way around - we've got 4 in just these last 2 posts. I tried to google the contest, and found this one instead: Apparently, they're giving away $100 gift certificate for the best Columbia Parks and Rec photo submitted. Maybe I should take the regular camera and not just my cell phone. Ha!

The challenge I was thinking of was to visit 10 Columbia parks over the summer. We've been to our 5 regular ones a few times each already, and we'll go to another one tonight for fireworks if we aren't rained out.

Cosmo Park

Sam's taken the kids out to Cosmo Park a couple of times (I think when I've been at work) or as the kids call it, dinosaur park.

They have the place to themselves! 

I know this is from a different day because Leah has on different shoes & pants. 

Birthday Interview: Leah is 8!

I almost forgot about the birthday interview until Nana Jana reminded me today! Leah started off strong but had to be prodded a bit to finish it. 

1. How old are you? 8
2. What is your favorite color? Spring Green (breaking Orange's long run!) 
3. What is your favorite toy? Hmmmm. Green Tea. It's a squishmallow cat. 
4. What is your favorite game? Hmmmm. I know what it is, but I don't really know what it's called. Can you describe it? It has to be on a windy day. You stand at one side of the yard & when the wind starts blowing in the opposite direction, you start to run forward & when the wind stops blowing, you run backward, and you try to see if you can get all the way across the yard before the wind stops blowing. Did you learn this from Bluey? No. Where did you learn it? I actually made it up, but when I told other people at school about it, they said somebody had already made it up. Do you play it at school? Yeah. 
5. What is your favorite song? "Beep Beep, I'm a Sheep" 
6. What is your favorite animal? Fox
7. What is your favorite book? Wings of Fire
   

   
8. What is your favorite movie? BFG 
9. What is your favorite TV show? I don't really know. Mark Rober videos
   

    
10. What is your favorite thing to eat? Salmon!
11. Where is your favorite place to go? Cosmo Park  
12. Who is your best friend? Frankie 
13. What is something you learned last year when you were 7? Last year I learned about sea dragons What are those? It's a type of slug that lives in the sea that kind of looks like dragons
    

    

    
    
14. What is something you'll learn now that you're 8? How to ride a bike without training wheels definitely
15. What is your favorite part of school? Probably reading & writing 
16. Who is your favorite teacher? Ms. Bashem
17. What is hard for you to do? (long pause) Thinking of things like this 
18. What is your favorite thing to do? Crafts 
19. What do you like about Me (Mama)? (long pause)  I do but I can't think of anything! (after another pause) You help me with stuff
20. What do you like about Dada?  He usually makes our dinner
21. What do you like about Amelie? Oh! She lets me borrow pretty much anything 
22. What do you like about Jim? He's good at music
23. What about Spark? He always wants to play with us
24. What do you like about yourself? I get back up again when I fall down. Is that literal or metaphorical? It's kind of both. The recess that I spent the whole time playing my favorite game, I fell down, got a bandaid and then started playing again. 
25. What do you want to be when you grow up? A chef!

Links:

7th birthday interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2024/03/birthday-interview-leah-is-7.html 

6th birthday interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2023/03/birthday-interview-leah-is-6.html

5th Birthday Interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2022/03/birthday-interview.html 

4th birthday Interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2021/03/leahs-first-birthday-interview.html

Birthday Interview, Leah is 7

Leah sat down with me this morning to do the annual birthday interview. She liked reading back through her answers when she was 4 and 5 and 6. 

1. How old are you? (long pause) 7
2. What is your favorite color? Orange
3. What is your favorite toy? Hmmmm. Maybe ... Blur (her stuffed cheetah)
4. What is your favorite game? (long pause) Pet shop (this is an imaginary game wherein Leah pretends to be a pet for sale in a pet shop & also a pet shop owner & a parent pretends to first call the pet shop & then buy the pet & take it home. It is very specific.) 
5. What is your favorite song? "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran (a different Ed Sheeran song than last year!)
    
6. What is your favorite animal? Cheetah
7. What is your favorite book? Hmmm. Or author? Hmmm. The BFG.  
8. What is your favorite movie? The BFG Movie!
9. What is your favorite TV show? Gravity Falls
   

   
   
10. What is your favorite thing to eat? Potatoes!
11. Where is your favorite place to go? Cosmo Park  
12. Who is your best friend? Mitchell (next door neighbor)
13. What is something you learned last year when you were 6? Division 
14. What is something you'll learn now that you're 7? Um. All I think of is division & multiplication better  
15. What is your favorite part of school? Math 
16. What is hard for you to do? (long pause) Jump rope 
17. What is your favorite thing to do? Jump on the trampoline.  Actually! go swimming.  
18. What do you like about Me (Mama)? (long pause) I don't know. That you read me a bedtime story. 
19. What do you like about Dada?  He helped me learn how to ride my bike. 
20. What do you like about Amelie? We have a lot of things in common. 
21. What do you like about James? He shares the nintendo with me. 
22. What about Spark? I get to play with him a lot. 
23. What do you like about yourself? I don't know. My display of toys. All of my toys. I have too many toys. 
24. What do you want to be when you grow up? A soccer player and a chef!

Links:

6th birthday interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2023/03/birthday-interview-leah-is-6.html

5th Birthday Interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2022/03/birthday-interview.html 

4th birthday Interview: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2021/03/leahs-first-birthday-interview.html

Professional Photos from September

Okay, so I was going to finally put up the pictures from Leah's 1 year photos and then I remembered I never put up the pictures from her 6 month photos. I've had them on my fridge, but do they really even count if they're not on the blog?

Leah was not exactly thrilled with the group photos, but I think it's funnier this way (and true to life). HA!

James had just turned 5.

Look how handsome!

This may be my very favorite of all time - she got some great candids.

Amelie had a softball game immediately after this (we were already at Cosmo Park).

The unparalleled Rhiannon Trask of Lollipop Photography has been doing our professional family photos forever.

T-Ball

James played t-ball this summer. Isn't he a handsome ballplayer? The team was sponsored by Precision Construction Services.

The "DC" on the hat is for "Diamond Council" which runs all of the baseball/softball/t-ball leagues out at Cosmo Park.

Up to bat: 

I suppose this one was a strike:

The expressions on his face are priceless:

I have to admit there was some walking between bases and some scuffing of dirt instead of watching the ball.

 This is what Leah and I did during the games.

Amelie ran around and played in the dirt and made friends with the other siblings. I think she enjoyed the season the most out of everyone. She's signed up to play the next session - coach pitch, though. 

Edited to add -- the best part! Snacks!