Category Archives: avery

Avery’s Birthday Party

For Avery’s birthday, we invited half a dozen buddies over for a Star Wars themed party. The boys started out shooting hoops, then played “hot potato” with a clone trooper helmet, engaged in light saber battles, and had to guess which Star Wars character they had taped onto their backs. Fortunately the weather cooperated and we were able to keep the boys outside in the yard for the party. As you’ll see from the pics, a good time was had by all.

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Goofballs! They sure loved hamming it up for the camera!
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Some of the decor: Clone Trooper balloons, not to be confused with Storm Troopers
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R2D2 Cups
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We started out playing basketball out front while guests arrived
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Our handsome birthday boy
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Then we headed to the backyard for some more fun. But it’s not a party without a little drama! Avery raced for the swing set, promptly did a flip on the trapeze bar, landed on his head, then fell on his back and knocked the wind out of himself. Avery was sure he was severely wounded, and Jonathan and I were concerned about a concussion. Avery went inside and laid on the couch for about ten minutes before he decided he felt well enough to come back out (thank goodness). His back was sore for a few days, but other than that, he was alright.

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When he came back out, Avery was ready for battle
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For a while, these two were content digging while the mayhem went on below
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Zane, Hayden, Holden, Avery, Roman & Hamza
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Jonathan fends off some attackers
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Mommy the multi-tasker, eats pizza while battling
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Look at those fierce faces!
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Holden preferred to be Han Solo, and told me that I was Princess Leia and he would protect me. This photo was taken right before he shot Jonathan in the forehead!
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Don’t mess with these guys!
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Cupcake time
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And now for the presents
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It was fun to see Avery reading the cards
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Hot Potato
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The night ended with Avery’s first sleepover with a friend, Hayden. They were soooo good!
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Avery the Eight Year Old

I know I always exclaim about how fast time flies in these birthday posts, but it blows my mind that almost nine years ago we found out we were expecting our first child, and in another nine, we will probably be touring college campuses with Avery. Wow. Sniff, sniff.

At eight years old, Avery is an awesome little kid. He loves Legos, Star Wars (Clone Wars), playing Wii, basketball, and riding his bike and scooter. He also enjoys reading books and writing and illustrating stories (mostly related to Star Wars). He loves his little brothers, and he and Kieron are especially close these days. It’s hard to believe it, but Avery is pretty quiet and reserved at school. At home, he enjoys his role as leader of the pack and chatterbox. He loves nature, can be quite dramatic, and often plays the role of peacemaker when his little brothers have disagreements.

At his checkup, Avery was 60 lbs and 4′ 4″ tall. The doctor chuckled and said she admired his honesty when she asked if he liked coming to the doctor and he told her no.

Happy birthday Avery. We love you!

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Last night as a seven-year-old selfie. He liked hearing the story of where he was at that time eight years prior, and all the drama that was going on.
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Awwwww!
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Surprise in the garage!
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The Jeep

It’s a good thing we didn’t spoil Silas with many toys for his birthday. The following week, Amazon had a flash deal on their little Jeeps, and Jonathan couldn’t resist buying one for the boys. I was a little perturbed to hear about the purchase that would soon take up a good deal of real estate in our garage (not to mention, I also find motorized toys lazy and indulgent 🙂 ). However, Jonathan told me he has fond memories of his own little car from boyhood, so I decided to do my best to reserve judgement and see how it went. Well, it has been a blast for all of us! And the the extra bonus – within a few days of the Jeep’s arrival, Silas was pooping on the potty just to ride in it! Genius!

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The Spice Noodle

We have been very fortunate to have lots (and lots) of beautiful weather this winter! A trip to the top of the Space Needle (or the Spice Noodle, as our boys affectionately call it) was high on our list of things to do on a sunny weekend this year. We didn’t have to wait long. At the end of February, we ventured to Seattle to pay a visit to our local monument.
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Checking out the views
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The building in the middle is BlackRapid. (Notice the yellow ‘R’ on the roof).DSC_0408

Photo Credit: Avery King
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The boys really enjoyed zooming in on scenery below with this joystick and screen.
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Side note: After visiting the Space Needle, we had lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We were seated in the trolly, which the boys loved (coincidentally, across from our neighbors who live across the street from us). We thought it was strange that Silas wouldn’t eat and acted so tired and withdrawn though. Then on the drive home, minutes away from our house, he threw up all over himself and the car. Poor guy hadn’t been feeling well all morning! I felt terrible that we’d dragged him around not realizing he was feeling so bad all along!

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Early February

I’m getting behind on blogging already, so please excuse the brevity. There are lots of descriptions below. Here’s what we were up at the end of January and early February:
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Girl’s night with Caroline and Heather
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That night we bumped into local celebrity anchorman, Dan Lewis. Considering that during college, there was a period of time when I wanted to go into broadcast journalism, I was just a little bit starstruck!

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Hiking with the boys
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Our picky eater recently added a number of new foods to his “yes” list. These include rice, quinoa, cucumber, tomatoes, and his favorite: celery (specifically, ants on a log).
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The boys returned to swim lessons. Last session, Kieron and Silas ended up in a private class together!
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Silas got a little swimmer’s ear. He was such a sport about the ear drops!
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Here’s Silas scooting down our hill on his flashy pink scooter
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Wii fun
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Love when this happens
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After lunch at the Redhook brewery, we drove home through Sammamish, swung by my old homes, and took the boys to play at my elementary playground.
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I remember doing the “fun run” on this field. Twenty(ish) years later, here are our boys racing across it!
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At the Superbowl tailgate party
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Love this little face smiling back at me!
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While volunteering in Avery’s class they were dismissed for recess. I snapped this pic of his little desk.
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Back at home. A little playroom madness.
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Playdates at the King house
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This is a typical scene after Avery comes home in the afternoon. Silas makes a b-line for Avery’s backpack, goes straight for the lunchbox, takes it to the kitchen table, unzips it, and consumes anything that’s leftover. Can’t say I really mind. It’s nice that food isn’t wasted.
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Playing at Avery’s school
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