Lazer Tag at Putters!

Sam with his Lazer Gun!

I got a little too into it . . .

I actually kind of have a crazy look in my eyes!

Max and Ben were on the Blue team!

Chad and Will were on the Red team!

Allie and Lucy decided to stay out and play on the play structure.

All of the Moms . . .

it was fun to sit and chat while the kids were busy playing on the play structure, video games, miniature golf and bowling!

Chad, Pancho and Donnie got some talk-time in too as well as a Big Screen with some March Madness on in the background.

Teesh, Genevieve and Christy

Liz and ME!

It's always fun to get together with all of the friends, but this was especially fun because we played a HUGE game of Lazer Tag, adults and kids! The kids loved it that their moms and dads were playing too! I actually had a BLAST! I was so into it that I did a header and slid about 3 feet across the ground, all because I was the ENERGIZER and I just had to make it to the other teams base to shoot their points collector thingy. OK I know that this probably makes no sense to you, but it seemed REALLY important at the time (hence the Header).

Wildlife Safari

Max loved this tortoise. He has his own mini version at home, our tortoise "scooter".

Looking out the windows!

Lucy looking over my shoulder . . . nice hair girlfriend!

Gotta pose in the animal cutouts ... just have to!

Lucy's favorite was the giraffes.

Look at the hippo Mom!

Yup! That's us in our minivan getting washed by the elephants

That's a sponge in the elephants trunk washing our window.

Wow! I'm tired just looking at my Blog! I guess I am looking for punishment or something, but I decided on a whim yesterday to take the kids to Wildlife Safari since the Zoo was a bust the day before. I had not been to Wildlife Safari since I was about 8 or 9 and all I remembered was being in the back of a hot car and seeing about 10 animals. So I was pleasantly surprised yesterday. Wildlife Safari has come a long way since the 70's! I wish that I would have taken my kids there sooner. It is so cool! We drove a little over an hour south of Eugene to the little town of Winston Oregon. Then you pay them tons of $$$ (about $50) to drive through a huge wildlife preserve. You get to stay in your nice cozy car, and go at your own pace. We saw every animal imaginable, and often they were right outside our car window. You can even have your windows down (except with Bears and Tigers). An emu came right up and poked his head in our window! Of course, I know that I must have "sucker" written in permanent ink across my forehead, because I paid "all the money" for an elephant car wash (the elephants wash your car with their trunks), and a camel ride for all three kids. It was all worth it though, we had so much fun!!! I highly recommend going there.

Spring Break in Portland!

Things don't always turn out the way that you had planned, but sometimes they turn out better!

We had planned on taking the kids to the Zoo in Portland, so after our dentist appointments yesterday, we got in the car and headed to Portland. We stopped off at Chevy's and had dinner. My cousin Kelly met us there, she lives in Portland but she travels a lot. She just happened to be in town, so it was great to spend some time with her! After dinner we checked in to the Embassy Suites at Washington Square and went straight to the pool. My kids LOVE to swim. They instantly made friends with some of the other 25 kids in the pool, playing volleyball with a beachball they found, snorkeling and shooting water guns. We had to drag them out at 9:00pm! This morning we got up to go to the Zoo and it was pouring rain!!! OH NO! So we went down to breakfast and threw out some options for plan B. We finally came up with a consensus of . . . swimming again, picking out a small toy and going to a movie, with promises to go to the Zoo soon. Going to the Zoo was the only thing that Sam wanted to do for Spring Break, so I feel bad for him, but I must say that picking out a toy was a pretty good second. Well we are off to "Race to Witch Mountain", I love Spring Break!

The Oregon Coast Aquarium

The kids could actually stand inside the fish tank in this little bubble!

So cool!

Papa, Grammy, the kids and the stuffed animals they talked us into buying for them.

Can you say . . . SPOILED?

Max loves turtles, so we couldn't resist getting his picture with this cool carving.
Sam jumped in too, I think he is trying to take the turtles head off!


They actually got to touch baby sharks and sting rays. I guess they took the stingers out of them or something because everyone lived.

Sam loved sharks! He kept saying "I am a BIG FAN of sharks" while we were there. He was cracking us up. This tunnel is so cool. The sharks and other fish swim all around you!

Sam liked the fish. Grammy liked the glass blowing exhibit that was also in the fish tanks. It was such a beautiful combination. The colorful fish and the beautiful glass pieces.

A true work of art!

I think we are touching starfish and sea anemones (oops I don't know how to spell that word) in this picture. Lucy wasn't too sure about this at first, but once she saw me do it, she gave it a try!

The family inside the sharks teeth!

The Oregon Coast Aquarium gets better and better every time we go. Right now they have this awesome exhibit that combines glass and fish. It is absolutely AMAZING! We had such a fun day with our Grammy and Papa. Now we are off to Portland to visit the ZOO!

Yipeee Spring Break!!!

This is the cute little cabin that we stayed in . . .

Lucy loved making sand castles!

Papa played football with the boys . . . a LOT!

Some friends of my parents (Martha and Stephen) have a beach cabin in Waldport. They offered it to my parents and they were nice enough to allow the noisy, messy, Fulton crowd to stay there too. So my parents invited us over with them for a two day stay at the beach. We actually got a sunny day too! It was still cold and windy, but we had some time to go out on the beach and play. The next day in rained so we went to the aquarium in Newport and then came home and played games (cards, Yahtzee, Sorry etc.) We had a great time.

Happy Anniversary / St. Patricks Day !!!

Is it just me or is Pancho grabbing Brian's "Hooter". . .

or maybe he is trying to push him away so that he can have "HOT" Tawnya all to himself!

Happy 14th Anniversary to US!

Can you see my Dad in the back playing the Bass?

"The Cooler" was packed with Irish fans and Green Beer.

Brian, Tawnya, Dad, Pancho and I after the big show.

St.Patrick's Day was a lot of fun this year. Brian, Tawnya and I sent the kids all off to school so that we could head up to the Woodburn Outlet Mall (Pancho had to work). We had a great day of shopping. Later in the evening Grammy came over and watched the kids so that we could all go out to the Cooler to watch Dad's band play. We went to dinner at Beppe and Giannis and then partied it up with the Irish Echo. It was so much fun to spend time with the Hughs Family, we miss them already!

A Visit from our Cousins!!!

Brian, Tawnya, Skylar and Lexi

Lexi and Sam eating icecream

Max and Skylar were good buddies.

"The Twins" went to O'Hara School together. They were so excited!

All of the kids in their O'Hara uniforms,

all ready for school on St. Patrick's Day!

We have had so much fun having our cousins visit from Bozeman, Montana. The kids even got to take their cousins to school for a day. We have gone shopping, stayed up talking, watched the kids play and tonight we are going to go out for dinner and to the Cooler to see Dad's band play - No kids yipee!

basketball trophies

Sam (top right) and his team!

Max (middle) and "The Blazers"

Sam with his "Wolverines" trophy

Coach Franssen and Max




Both boys had great basketball seasons! Sam actually played 2 seasons in a row. He played with kidsports and YMCA. Sam' s best friend and neighbor Kameron asked Sam to play on his old school's team. Kameron's dad was the coach. Sam has so much confidence and it is so fun to watch him learn and grow. They had a really good season and won almost all of their games.


Max played on a Y-Ball team with his buddies from school. His team improved so much over the season it was amazing. Max also improved a lot. He amazes me with his ability. He is really growing into a strong player. I guess that it always shocks me when my children show any athletic ability since I never had any!



They were both so proud of their well deserved trophies!

St. Patricks Day Party

My Dad plays in an Irish Band called The Irish Echo. They only play about five "gigs" a year. One of them is always a donation to the St. Paul Auction. For the past 2 years Kevin and Amy have bought the Irish Echo Party at the auction and we have been lucky enough to be invited. It is so much fun!

Delia,Christy , Steph, Me, Kelli and Amy

Pancho, Donnie and Kevin

Steve, Dad and Dan

"The Irish Echo"

They always start off playing traditional Irish songs with a few jokes and stories mixed in. Then for the last 45 min or so, they play some great 60's and 70's songs that we can all dance to. We were all out there "bustin a move" it was so much fun! After the party, we all made our way over to Kevin and Amy's house and kept the party going. Dad and the other guys brought their instruments in and we were all singing and dancing till midnight (or was it 1:00 am? the time change always kills me)!

Creative. . .but Messy!

Creative . . .

. . .but messy!

I have been making invitations for my brother and sister-in-laws Baby Shower. It is so much fun to get creative, but not so much fun to clean up when I am done. As you can see, I am the messiest scrapbooker ever.

I made two different invites. There were a couple of reasons for this. . .

1. The scrapbook store did not have enough of one kind of paper

2. I had too many ideas that I wanted to try

3. I guess that I enjoy making more work for myself?

Anyway, I am soooo excited to have a new nephew in June, and Kate, if you are looking at this, sorry to spoil the "invitation" surprise :)