Sand in the City

Another exciting day in the lives of the Connors family. Scott & I had a great time watching our girls and all their friends perform at the Sand in the City event in downtown Olympia. The weather was perfect and so were all the kids! We also enjoyed viewing all the fantastic sand sculptures..check out some of them in the pictures below. My favorite was the M&M one (shocking!). Though the Wall-E one was pretty cute, too! Emma and Gabby got to check out some of the free activities while Corey, Paige & Madi volunteered at the basket weaving booth. I think they had a great time. Corey said she ate tons of free pizza, so it must be true! Enjoy the pictures!

Sand in the City 8-23-08

Our trip to Pt Defiance

We finally made it to the Pt Defiance Zoo today. The girls have been asking to go all summer. We went with Nikki and her kids and had loads of fun! First we saw the meerkats that were sooooooo cute! We had lunch after that and got swarmed by bees. They especially like Gabby's half-eaten Subway sandwich. We went to the aquarium next and saw lots of colorful fish as well as some really cool seahorses including "sea dragons" that looked like living plants. The girls thought they were kinda gross, but I thought they were pretty cool! We also saw some very large sharks. Check out the picture of Gabby in the shark's mouth! Corey was so happy until she realized it couldn't really swallow Gabby. We saw the two beluga whales..check out the one laying out to get some sun..he needed it, he was looking pretty pastey. Our favorite animals were the river and sea otters. The sea otters kept rolling around in the water and scratching themselves. Corey said one otter reminded her of "Uncle Jesse" from the show Full House because he kept running his paw through the fur on his head. We also got to watch the Puffins get fed bits of fish. Everyone had a great time!

Pt Defiance Zoo 8-22-08

Gabby's new baby "Doc"

Welcome to our new Webkinz "Doc" named after Gabby's adopted Manatee. To view the "real" Doc, please visit http://www.savethemanatee.org/adopt_blue_spring.htm Gabby worked really hard doing extra chores to earn enough money to adopt Doc and bring him home from Thompson's Furniture Store. (And with $3 donated by her loving sister Corey). Doc is loving his new home with all his brothers and sisters: Hannah Hippo, Connie Cocker Spaniel, Gigi Googles, David the Duck, Fred the Frog and his Uncle Manny the Manatee (the one who started Gabby's love of manatees). The Webkinz like to spend their days sleeping, chatting, and watching t.v. They also enjoy visiting their virtual selves on Webkinz and playing the virtual games. We are all very happy that Doc is now a part of our family!

Our new van Misty

Ok, ok...for those of you who heard us vow that we'd never get another minivan...we admit we were wrong. After having our last minivan-a 1998 Plymouth Voyager named Mulan (it was purple & one of Corey's favorite Disney characters at the time)-we thought we were done. We finally didn't need all the room for the strollers, diaper bags, baby-changing area, etc... But now that the girls are older they have collected a lot more friends. It was always "can I ask ______ (you fill in the blank) to come along"? Unfortunately, one girl was always disappointed because both of our cars only held 5 people. So now we have room for EVERYBODY! Hurrah! Gabby has named the van "Misty" because she is the color of mist. What else would a 9 year old come up with? It's actually called "Slate Green Metalic" which is kind of a weird color because it looks more gray sometimes and more green at other times. At least it's not white-per Scott-because everytime I go to buy a car it's white and he doesn't like that color! Hopefully we will make many fun memories in our new minivan.......

Battle for the Royal Court

Battle for The Royal Court 8-16-08

It was time to battle for the new Royal family. King Jerry and Queen Scott were ready to defend their titles. Christine de-throned Jerry and Dean bumped Scott out of his Queen title early on in the evening. They held their spots as King & Queen for several rounds. But, the final round brought on a new Royal Court: King Scott, Queen Brenda, Prince Dean & Princess Gabby. Susan is the lowliest pauper and ready for a rematch! Stay tuned for next month's issue of The Royal Court. Note: crowns designed & made by Gabby Connors.

Kauai Trip January 2008

We had a great time on our trip to Kauai in January 2008. Our last trip to Hawaii was in February 2005 when we went to Maui. Gamma & Dad liked Maui better, but Susan & the girls liked Kauai better. We could at least agree on one thing: Kauai had WAY MORE chickens than Maui. Ok, Maui didn't have ANY chickens. Yes, I said CHICKENS. We were warned (sort of) that there was an Hawaiian island where chickens roamed free. Well, we found out soon enough when the roosters crowed at 4am on the morning after we got there that the island was Kauai. Fortunately for us, we got so used to their constant crowing (at all times of the day) that after that first night we slept like babies. It did help that we played pretty hard all day. We did a lot of sight seeing and some snorkeling. Kauai is very lush and beautiful and full of coconut trees. We saw lots of colorful fish at Lidgate beach. We went to Spouting Horn where we saw ocean water spout out of holes in the lava and Pierce Brosnan-yes, THE JAMES BOND! Unfortunately Susan was star-struck and forgot to take his picture. Sad, but true. We spent one day driving up to the north shore where we visited the Kilauea Lighthouse and saw some fantastic caves at Ke'e Beach. One afternoon we roamed around the Kamokila Hawaiian Village which is a replica of a traditional Hawaiian village. Very cool. On Wednesday night we attended a dinner theatre and watched South Pacific which only Gamma had seen before. The show was very good. In fact, the original movie had been filmed on Kauai. Our last day we drove up to Waimea Canyon which is known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". The lookout was extremely high-over 3,000 feet and guess what we saw there? You're right-CHICKENS! Anyway, we did have a fantastic time and hopefully will get to return to Hawaii soon. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Trip to Mt Rainier 8-7-08

Today we went to Mt Rainier. It was incredibly beautiful as always. We had lunch at Paradise Inn then went on a couple of hikes. The girls & Scott made it up to above 6,000 ft. After they came back Susan joined them on the (easier) walk to Myrtle Falls. The views were fantastic. On the way back we stopped at Narada Falls. We were all very tired on the way home. Although it was only around 70 degrees, it felt much hotter up on the mountain. There were a lot of beautiful flowers in bloom and tons of butterflies. Susan saw a grouse with 3 of her babies. Scott & the girls saw some kind of "prairie dog" but we're not sure what it was. Unfortunately the girls didn't see the moose they so badly wanted to see. We still had a great time and hope to get back there next summer. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Our trip to Mt Rainier 8-7-08

Trip to Woodland Park Zoo & The Mariners Game

For our vacation this year we decided to take a few mini trips around Western WA. It started off with a trip to Westport on Monday. On Tuesday we drove to Woodland Park Zoo and Rose Garden. We had a great time looking at all the animals. Corey saw her cousin the Sloth-Bear. It was quite quick and seemed more bear than sloth. Corey got to see her favorite animals-the hippos! The girls fed some leaves to the giraffes. That was a blast! Their tongues were really long and their heads were huge! We also did a short walk around the rose garden which was very pretty. This was Susan's favorite part!

We spent the night at the Embassy Suites in Bellevue. When we got there the girls promptly went to cool off in the pool and then we had dinner with Grandpa and Nancy at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. The menus were incredibly thick and offered too many choices of cheesecake. Corey opted for the chocolate. Go figure. We ate way too much food and so afterwards we walked around the park. There was a great fountain with a waterfall. It was very pretty.

The next day we went to Safeco Field where we watched the Seattle Mariners play the Minnesota Twins. Unfortunately they lost, but we still had a great time. Too soon we had to say good-bye to Grandpa and Nancy who had a long drive home. We hope to see them very soon! Tomorrow, a new adventure!

Woodland Park Zoo and Rose Garden

Last Day of School June 2008

Our Trip to Westport

What a day! We had a great time in Westport. When we arrived it was still cloudy and cold, but that didn't stop the girls from running straight into the water. The tide was WAY out, the furthest we've ever seen. There were hundreds of sand dollars laying on the beach. Many had been pecked open by the sea birds, but a few were still brown and alive. The girls helped bring a few back into the waves. Winston loved the water. He ran in and jumped over the waves. Go Winston! We found out today that Winston can swim. He went out a bit too far and when the waves came in, he had to swim for shore! The girls loved going up and down the sand dunes in various styles: military crawl, bum first, head first, crab walk. Winston was so tired out he slept the whole way home! We hope to go back soon!

Westport, WA 8-4-08

Portland Rose Garden 6/07

Sir Winston of Thurston

Sir Winston is our Corgi. But we just call him Winston. He is now 2 years old. He's kind of a devil. After all, he was born on the devil day 6/6/06 (close enough!). Winston is from the royal family. That is, his kind has been owned by the Queen of England for many years. He's bred to be a cattle dog. That is why he's always herding the girls. He's got very short legs, but he's a really fast runner! He spends his days shedding, sleeping, eating and barking (not necessarily in that order!). Our favorite thing to say when he scratches is "You better not have fleas, you dumb dog!". But alas, he never does. Hee Hee. We hope he will continue to be a part of our family for years to come. We know his fur will definitely be found in every nook & cranny for many years to come.

Corey

Corey is awesome! She is starting midde school in about a month with her friends Paige & Madi. Corey loves to read, watch "The Wizards of Waverley Place", "Phineas and Ferb", and "iCarly" and eat cookies.

Corey has had a busy summer! She had a great time playing on her soccer team, the Cobras! She performed in Dance Festival at the Tacoma Dome last week. And last night she had her last performance in "Once Upon a Mattress" with Creative Theatre Experience.(CTE) This was her 5th year with this group. Corey hopes to become an intern there one day!

Corey isn't afraid to be who she really is. She has an awesome time hanging with her friends where she can just goof around and have fun!

Gabby (Updated per 2011) :)

Gabby is a spirited little girl who always has a smile on her face. She enjoys dancing, hanging out with friends, and reading. She is almost as tall as her mom and can hardly wait until she is taller than her sister.

With friends at Peter Pan



Gabby will be attending Tumwater Middle School this fall as a seventh grader. She was allowed into all three high-cap classes and is currently working on a summer assignment for Language Arts. She hopes to be able to maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout the entire year.

With friends

This fall, Gabby will be continuing ballet and jazz at Studio West Dance Academy. Dance is her love, dance is her passion, dance is her life. She just recently went up on pointe (in February) and is hoping to improve considerably this summer during her 7 week intensive at the studio.

Nutcracker 2010

Gabby just returned home today from Girls' Camp, a yearly camp for her church. This year, the camp was located at Zion's Camp in Belfair, Washington. She stayed from Tuesday the 12th to Friday the 15th. Although camp was really fun, she was very happy to be back home.

Camp Picture

Gabby doesn't know what she wants to do in the future, but is considering pursuing dance. She would like to be a part-time pharmacist and also a professional ballerina, but thinks this is very unrealistic...

Goodbye to our friends the Bass Family

Here we are in Seattle with our friends the Bass': Rozanne, Alex, Jesikah, Tessa, Jarem and Eric (who's taking the picture). We had a great day which started off with a ferry ride from Bremerton to Seattle followed by lunch at Red Robin's on the pier. The ferry ride was fun, but freezing cold! The adults wouldn't come outside! (except Eric) We saw a one legged seagull and an otter. At Red Robin a giant bird was eyeing our food! In the water we saw 2 sea anemones, 2 starfish, and a jellyfish. It was so much fun! We walked to the Farmer's Market and then back to the ferry for the trip home. We will surely miss our friends who we have known since first moving back here to WA in February 2004. We hope you enjoy living in Tennessee!

Scott & Susan

Scott & Susan met at WSU (Go Cougs!) in an Accounting class. Scott graciously allowed Susan to borrow his notes. Since then we've had two children and lived in 4 different states. After working for several different employers, both of us now work for the State of Washington and love our short commute (2 miles!) We're happy to be living in Tumwater with our kids & our Corgi, Winston. Susan's favorite activity is gardening. She loves her roses and has over 15 different varieties. Her kids complain that she spends too much time with her roses. She will miss viewing her roses with her gardening buddy Rozanne. Susan is also a huge Harry Potter fanatic and has read all the books several times. Scott loves to golf but doesn't get to do so very often. Actually, he went out for the first time yesterday 8/2 at the Mormon Golf Tournament @ Delphi. He came in 2nd this year by only one stroke! Better luck next year!