Captain Jo's Pirate Ship!

Josiah no longer has a playground. It has now become a pirate ship. While we were in North Carolina, Granddaddy & Grandma saw how much Josiah was into pirates lately. So, they bought him a new telescope for his playground. Then, while we were at Marbles (read earlier post), we found a pirate flag, hat & sword. So, of course, his playground had to become a pirate ship.

Here is Captain Jo claiming his ship. If you click on this picture, you can see a closeup of his serious face. He is ready for when the enemy (Daddy) approaches.

Captain Jo is on the lookout.

Another pirate (Daddy) tried to take the ship. Captain Jo stopped him immediately with his mighty sword.

Then he made him walk the plank. Josiah says, "No, I will not have mercy." (True quote...too funny!)

I think Daddy learned not to mess with Captain Jo's Pirate Ship!

Thank You!

We're back! Yes, we arrived back safely from our trip.

We had such a wonderful time visiting North Carolina & Tennessee. Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible: our anonymous donors who paid for our trip, my parents, Amanda (for dropping us off & picking us up at the airport), the Beans (for letting us stay at their house in TN), to everyone else who gave us gifts & wonderful hospitality while we were there. We also want to thank Holy Seed Community Church for sacrificing their pastors for two weeks. We hope you enjoyed your audio recorded @Home Bible study.

Thank You!

Our Flight Back!

Today we flew back to Seattle. Our flights lately have been a lot more fun. Josiah has enjoyed watching movies on the airplane & getting snacks from the stewardess. We had such a busy time the past 2 weeks that Josiah just passed out on the airplane. When I went to take his headphones off, he told me he wanted to keep them on. So, he slept with his new neck pillow & headphones, with no sound coming through them. It was too precious not to take a picture of our flight back!

It Was So Nice We Did It Twice!

While Dustin & I were in TN over the weekend, Josiah stayed with Granddaddy & Grandma in NC. When we returned, they told us that all Josiah could talk about over the weekend was Marbles Kids Museum.

So, we piled in the car & headed back to Marbles.

Marbles Kids Museum is one of the coolest places for children that I've ever been to.

Our first game was a large game of chess. Here are my guys placing the chess pieces in their correct places to begin the game.

Then, Josiah decided he wanted to play a life-size game of Connect Four.

It's time to go fishing in the "Around Town" area. This is a real boat sitting in the floor. The fishing poles have magnets on the end & so do the fish. The fish were all over the floor so the kids could actually catch one.

Here is Josiah catching a fish all by himself. Check out that excited face!

Then it was time to head back to the grocery store. This time he was a pro. He wore a "Lowe's Food" apron & got his cart.

Then, this little boy offered to check out his groceries for him. It was so cute. The little boy entered every item into the cash register & Josiah just patiently waited. I thought it was so sweet!

Then, it was off to the Post Office. Josiah put on this real postman uniform & began placing real pieces of mail in the corresponding boxes.

Then, he went over to ship some boxes. He sorted the boxes by size.

Then, he sent the boxes down the conveyor belt & into the delivery truck. Daddy helped Josiah pack as many boxes as he could into the back of the truck.

Josiah is now off to deliver the packages.

Then, Josiah & Grandma headed over to the train tables to have some fun.

Dustin entertained everyone by dressing up in his Moroccan costume at the tea chugging party. Yes, Josiah wanted everyone to have a huge pot of tea instead of a cup.

We ended the day by playing in the "Splash" section of Marbles. Josiah enjoyed this outdoor water feature. He could take the boats to one end of the feature & they would glide down to the bottom & fall down the waterfall.

While we were at Marbles, we stopped in at the gift shop & stumbled upon some great toys. Josiah has really been into pirates lately. Granddaddy spotted a pirate hat, pirate sword & pirate flag. Granddaddy & Grandma insisted on buying them for him.

Josiah put them on when we got back into the van & wore them all the way home. Look at this funny face. He is saying, "Arrrgh!"

What another wonderful day at Marbles. It was so nice, we did it twice! :)

Friends & Family!

A few months ago, we were approached by one of our church donors with a wonderful blessing. They offered to pay to send us back to the east coast to raise more money for our upcoming year in Seattle. We felt very honored by this wonderful blessing. So, we booked our tickets.

First, we went to North Carolina. We spent the first week with my parents. The first Sunday & Wednesday, we shared & spoke at Wake Forest Church of God. It was wonderful to see so many of our family & friends there. They were so wonderful & supportive.

We spent the second weekend in Tennessee where we were in youth ministry for 6 years. The second Sunday, we shared at North Cleveland Church of God. It was wonderful to see so many friends we were so close to. They, too, were wonderful & supportive.

Here is Dustin & Patrick spending time together in Cleveland, TN. We got to spend an entire afternoon with him & catch up.

We also got to meet Josh & Sara's daughter, Alethia, for the first time. We had dinner with them at one of our favorite restaurants in Cleveland...Jenkins. She is such a sweetheart!

While we were in Cleveland, our friends Larry & Gina let us stay with them at their house. It was so wonderful to see them & spend some time with them as well.

Once we returned from our trip to TN, we spent 4 more days with my family.

I met my cousin Tyler & her son Walker for a play date at our elementary school's park. Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Faye met us at the park to say hello. Above is a picture of Tyler pushing Josiah & Aunt Faye pushing Walker on the swings. It was so great to see them!

We feel so blessed to have seen & spent time with our family & friends!

Marbles!

Since we have been in North Carolina, we have been trying to come up with fun ways to spend the few weekdays we have together as a family. One night we kept trying to come up with something & nothing fit. Then, a friend of the family, Sue, recommended "Marbles." So, I went online to check this place out.

Marbles' Mission Statement: "Marbles Kids Museum inspires imagination, discovery & learning through extraordinary adventures in play." As soon as I read that, I knew that this would be where we would spend our Friday morning.

As soon as we walked in the door, Josiah's hyper level reached an all new high. There were toys, games & activities everywhere. One of the first things he did was dress up like a firefighter & got into the firetruck. He then saw a damsel in distress & unrolled his fire hose to head to her rescue.

The girl's house was on fire & Josiah quickly sprung into action. He sprayed out her fire & she couldn't have been more pleased.

Josiah figured that he was hungry after fighting fires all day, so he headed out to the garden to pick some fresh veggies. Here he is putting them into his wheelbarrow.

He then figured he also needed to stock up on other food items by heading to the local grocery store. He filled up his cart & headed back to the house to cook.

Mmm...Josiah made some yummy spaghetti & meatballs!

He then figured he would spend some time after our picnic lunch sailing the high seas. Josiah has really been into pirates lately & loved that they had a HUGE pirate ship at Marbles. Josiah is at the top of the ship getting out his pirate dress-up clothes. Arrrgh!

We then walked to the outdoor garden area. Josiah watered a lot of the flowers & veggies outside. We then found "Diggin Dirt Island" at the edge of the garden. What boy wouldn't want to jump in & play in the dirt.

After cleaning up, we went to the 2nd level of Marbles. There was one large room devoted to health & fitness. Josiah jumped on the trampoline & rode on an exercise bike.

Then, he decided he wanted to play in their "Peas & Carrots" ball pit. So, he slid down the slide & into the madness. This was his favorite part of the museum!

Also in the fitness area, they had an ice hockey rink. It was HUGE. The kids wore their socks instead of ice skates. Josiah caught on to the game immediately & kept the goalie working hard.

Our next stop was to the building area. They had HUGE legos & children were building houses & castles. Then, one group of children knocked down the entire house. They loved seeing it come crashing down. Also in this area, Josiah built his own car & raced it against other children's cars. My camera went on the fritz during the races, so I didn't get a picture of that. Boo hoo!

Dustin & Josiah did some woodworking while we were there. Tim the Toolman Taylor would have been proud!

Then, we headed down the hall to WorldTrek. This room was devoted to learning about different continents. We began by having a tea party in Morocco. Being a boy, Josiah doesn't have too many tea parties, but he really enjoyed this one.

Next, we headed over to Rio de Janeiro. This was one of Josiah's favorite areas because he LOVES to drum. He pressed a button on the TV & it caused a video of a parade to play. He would drum along to the beat. He has really good rhythm just like his Daddy.

Our last stop in Marbles was our journey to the Artic Circle. He built an igloo with other children

& even got to do some ice fishing. Yes, there were even fish down in the hole that would attach to his fishing pole.

I would recommend this place to anyone who has children. We were there for about 5 hours & still never got around to all of the toys & exhibits. It is a wonderful place for children.

What had such a wonderful time today at Marbles!!!!!!

Chris came for a visit!

My brother, Chris, drove all the way from Washington D.C. to my parent's house in North Carolina today. He surprised everyone. He called me a few days before & told me, but didn't tell anyone else.

Dad & Mom were so shocked when he called this morning & said, "Can you come outside for a minute?" When we got outside, Chris was pulling into the driveway in his new VW convertible.

Josiah was the first out the door. He ran at full speed yelling, "Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris!" Josiah really loves his Uncle Chris.

We began the day with breakfast & then playing in the den. Here, Chris has made a tower of blocks over Josiah. Josiah just hit the blocks & knocked them down.

Chris & Josiah love playing together.

I think they spent most of the day in the floor together with all of the toys we played with when we were children.

When Josiah went down for a nap, Chris took everyone for a spin in his new wheels. First, Dad & Mom took turns driving it.

Then, once they got back, Dustin & I took turns driving his car. Man, I was going SOOO fast in no time & didn't even know it. It is an awesome car.

I feel so blessed that my brother would drive all that way for one day with us. He had to be at work the next day & needed to head back after dinner. Chris loves all of us so much & we love him so much as well!

We were all so excited that Chris came for a visit!