Abby . 10 months

Abby . 10 months

18 lbs and something

growing too fast

wakes up happy from her naps

not so sure about sitting on grass

learned to crawl

been seen in funny sleeping positions

discovered the stairs and can stand up and reach the second step

loves to play with Little People

loves to look outside from the sliding glass door in the kitchen

enjoys rides in the baby jogger

LOVES to play patty cake and peek-a-boo

gets lots of attention from her brothers and sister

grabs the ties on her bumper pads in the crib and unties all of them

loves the magnets on the refrigerator

loves to play in the water and splash around

first time in the pool and loved it

Tulip Festival

Anyone who knows me and my mom well can tell you that we have many things in common. One of those things is our love for tulips. When I found out that my parents were planning on making a quick visit to see us I knew that we just had to make it up to the Tulip Festival. After visiting Deception Pass and enjoying a good birthday dinner we stayed at a hotel so we could get up early and see the tulips. We got there right when it opened which was nice because we were able to capture some interesting shots of this cool barn without anyone around.

(my dad took the above picture - WOW)

(another great picture from my dad)

Occasionally we would find a random colored tulip in the midst of some other brightly colored tulips. We thought it was fascinating how beautiful this yellow tulip looked in the middle of all the red tulips. The funny thing about this yellow tulip is that there were no yellow tulips in the field we were in. Oh how we are all like this yellow tulip. We want to fit in but also want so badly to be different and unique. This yellow tulip is a reminder to stand a little taller, a little brighter, and a little stronger.

The kids had a much different experience this year with the tulips. Last year I was by myself with the kids, very pregnant, and the bees seemed to be everywhere. This year the sun was out, it was a little cooler, and there were no bees in sight. Needless to say Andrew actually enjoyed the tulips this year. He made me take his picture at every field and with every color tulip while telling me how cool all the tulips were. Peter enjoyed sneaking into the rows of tulips and running back and forth. We weren't actually supposed to be in the rows but I had a hard time saying no to a little freedom. They were all just so curious. Emma loved the pink tulips the best though. She would have stayed near the light pink tulips all morning if I had let her. Thankfully there were other tulips that caught her eye. Abby was fascinated by the colors and actually got her hands on a few petals. Oops! I was so glad my parents were able to enjoy the tulips with us---especially my mom who loves tulips just as much as I do.

My favorite view from these fields had to be the cool looking barn. Since we got to the fields right when they opened, we were lucky to get a few shots of the barn before the crowds arrived. While we were looking at the tulips we also got to see the pickers out there picking tulips to sell. It was neat to watch them choose which ones were ready to be picked. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful tulips are. I am so glad that our kids had a blast seeing the tulips and got to share this experience with their grandparents.

Deception Pass

I am in awe of the beauty of Deception Pass. These two pictures definitely won the best pictures of the day. I wish I could say I took them but I have to give the credit to my awesome dad. He has such an eye for landscape and nature shots. I do think his wide angle lens was a good pick for the beach. Well done dad!

We had so much fun hiking to the beach at Deception Pass. The little path to the beach was quiet and inviting. Even Emma, who is too much of a whiny girl when it comes to hiking, enjoyed the little walk to the beach.

The view was spectacular with the afternoon sun glistening on the water. The kids were in heaven, of course, with all the rocks that they could throw into the water. It was nice to be able to just relax on the beach and watch the kids have fun. Even Abby played with a few rocks, until we had to take them away for fear she would choke on them as she slowly started putting them in her mouth. Instead we kept her entertained with pat-a-cake games, lots of hugging and kissing and of course plenty of snacks.

I was so glad that my parents were able to be here with us. They always enjoy going to new places and being with the kids AND the kids just adore their grandparents. We are so lucky that they get to come visit us so often. They are the best!

Of course it just wouldn't be complete without trying to get a picture of all of us. I was happy to get most everyone looking and even Emma was smiling.

Mike took this shot on his way back up the trail with the boys. Pretty neat to see the underside of the bridge with all its complexity.

Weekend in Seattle

For my birthday this year Mike got tickets to go and see Jerry Seinfeld LIVE up in Seattle. When we bought the tickets we only planned on going to dinner and the show. We were thrilled to find out a couple of weeks ago that my parents were going to come up and visit. They were so great to watch the kids so that Mike and I could stay the night in the city. This was the first time we have stayed up in Seattle together. We stayed at the Westin Hotel right in the middle of everything we needed. We were only a couple of blocks away from shopping, good restaurants, Pike's Place, and the Paramount Theatre. Of course we spent a couple of hours shopping and just looking around. For dinner we ate at this neat cafe style restaurant called The Palace Kitchen. Mike had the trout and I had the chicken and potatoes. The food was outstanding and far exceeded my expectations. Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE dessert - especially anything with chocolate. Their dessert menu looked ok, but we both had one dessert in mind. We left the restaurant with happy bellies and walked over to Morton's Steakhouse for their chocolate lava cake. IT WAS SO WORTH IT! It's the little things in life that put a smile on my face...chocolate and good company is one of them. Now completely satisfied, we headed back to do some more shopping and then some relaxing back at the hotel before the show.

We went to the 9:30pm show and it was SO AWESOME. Even sitting close to the back we still felt like we could see everything. The Paramount Theatre is such a beautiful place. The ceiling was so fascinating to look at. Larry Miller opened for Jerry and he was pretty funny. We were so shocked that Seinfeld was on stage for a good hour and a half. He is probably one of the funniest people I have ever heard. We would go back to see another one of his shows FOR SURE!

I had the absolute best birthday ever. We even got to sleep in until 9 in the morning!!! YIPEE!! We got on our running clothes and ran over to Pike's Place to eat crepes. We walked around the market for awhile and then headed back over to our hotel to get ready for the day. We shopped some more and then ate lunch at the Nordstrom Cafe. We haven't eaten there since living on the East Coast. Our turkey club panini and blue cheese vinegarette salad were scrumptious. We finally headed over to the Space Needle to meet my parents and the kids so we could head north to Deception Pass and the Tulip Festival. It was the perfect start to our weekend!

Learning to ride a bike

This morning Mike and Peter went outside for round 1 of learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. Just watching Mike teach Peter was pretty incredible. He was so patient and so good about teaching him different things he would need to know. He talked with him about balance and about how to stick your leg out when starting to fall. They practiced falling from each side and went up and down the sidewalk a bunch of times.

A little progress was made and I know that with some more one on one time with Mike, Peter will catch on fast and be able to ride his bike by the summer time. We are really looking forward to some family bike rides this summer.

Sweet Dreams

This is how Abby fell asleep during her nap today. I just thought she looked so cute!

Celebrating at School

If this isn't the face of a happy boy I don't know what is. This was the first time I was able to take cupcakes into school because although Andrew has been in school for three years he has a summer birthday. Peter was so excited to hear everyone of his classmates sing happy birthday to him. He even led them all...too funny. His teacher Ms. Sabado was so good about making Peter feel special. She let Peter pick two of his classmates to help him pass out napkins and the cupcakes. Then they let Peter take the first bite of his cupcake. There is nothing better than seeing you child feel so very special!

Peter and his super awesome teacher Ms. Sabado