The Rest of May's Activities

 Barbecue at Aunt Debbie's with Cousin Aiden:

Field trip to the Capitol Building with a homeschool group (my back ached for several days following this outing because Jake insisted on being carried everywhere and we had to keep up with the group, so I had no choice - so hard to do when pregnant!)

 

That same night the kids finished their AWANA year and received their awards. Both Abby and Ben completed their books (and Abby did her extra credit too). Jake is excited to finally be old enough to join them in AWANA next year! :)

We did our own little field trip of riding the free DASH city bus throughout downtown and then walked through the Farmer's Market and picked up a few plants. The kids LOVED the afternoon and I love how little kids don't need fancy, expensive outings to have a great time. Simple, everyday kind of things are often the best for them. :)

The kids getting their free apples that a fruit stand gives out to kids under 12.

That evening we went to cousin Solomon's baseball game. 

Although they've been to many of his games and we even checked out a baseball book from the library, they still don't understand much about what's going on during the game and get easily bored. The highlight for them at this game was watching the players rake the field at the end! Ha! :)

Our last outing of the month was up to Seattle with my mom. We went to the Museum of Flight first and then over to Mercer Island to visit my Aunt Doris.

We picked up my aunt and took her to a park for a picnic dinner. But before we left for the park, Ben just had to show Aunt Doris his notebook that Kevin had put together for him, full of all his latest coloring pictures. :)

We also stopped in at the Mercer Island community center to visit the art exhibit before continuing to the park next door.

The kids spotted a piece of food someone had dropped that was now swarming with tiny ants. As is typical of my aunt, she got right in there with the kids, examining and "playing" with the ants. :)

The kids decided that it was the BEST playground they'd EVER been to. :)

After finally drawing the kids away from the toys, we enjoyed a beautiful short hike around the park and along Lake Washington and then Aunt Doris treated us to ice cream at Baskin Robbins on the way back to her house. A very fun day!