Happy Halloweeeeen!

Best day Eva!!! My friend Nora came for a quick visit on her dad's jet and brought along my sistas and Natalie:) Aw yeah!! They landed at 9:30 a.m. and i met them at the airport. We jammed over to U Village...first stop, Trophy Cupcakes! Folks, these are no ordinary cupcake...perfection:) We did some shopping and then lunch. It was so much fun. I was grinning ear to ear:) The jet had to leave for SLC at 1:00, so we raced back to the airport after lunch. Craziness but such a fun day. I miss my girls so much!!!


Natalie waving to the paparazzi.

What else have we been up to you ask. Well, this little guy turned 4 months. Cute and chubby as can be.Hazel and Wells. Whenever anyone asks hazel what her brothers name is, she says "Maxwells"
So we shortened it and it just stuck...Wells:)

Molly took this picture when she was here last month. There are so many great places to take pics here...goldmine!

Last weekend we went on an adventure over to Whidbey Island, this picture doesn't do this place justice, it is "Deception Pass", the bridge over to Whidbey Island. One of these days i want to run the Northwest Ragnar Relay. The race runs right over this bridge and finishes on Whidbey Island, such beautiful scenery. Lemme know if you want on the relay team:) Good times for sure.

One of the many pumpkin patches we have been to this month. I am trying to scope out the best ones here...they are everywhere, so charming! Hazel and Kimball were way more into into finding bugs than pumpkins, they both took home a ladybug. If u look closely you can see Hazel's tight little fist holding her little pet...poor ladybug:(

Another Pumpkin patch, I think my favorite..Craven's Farm. It was a really beautiful farm with animals to pet and hot cider and donuts and fresh picked apples for sale.

Love this picture, doesn't she make a cute scarecrow!

Hazel's dream day...free face painting at the grocery store. She felt pretty special with her face painted. I told her she couldn't cry at all that day because it would smear the paint...guess who was happy ALL day. Miracle, we need to do this every day!


Rattlesnake Lake hike. 4 miles roundtrip, way to go Hazel, i carried her up the steep parts but she was a real trooper! That's alot of steps for her little legs. Maxwell enjoyed the ride.

Haze at the top!

A.MAZ.ING views! This is one beautiful state

The mountain behind us is the one we climbed. All the way to the tippity top.

Another awesome hike at Discovery Park in Seattle. Driftwood Galore. I hauled a few pieces home. Makes for a great tablescape;)

Brian waiting ever so patiently as i gather my driftwood treasures.

I just had to show this last picture i took at the Salmon Days festival. Every year the Salmon return to the hatchery here in Issaquah and there is a huge festival to celebrate their return. There were hundreds of these huge suckers leaping out of the water ready to spawn. I've never seen anything like it, crazy!

Happy Birthday to me:)

We have returned from our little family vacay. It was such a fun birthday trip and amazingly it was really relaxing. Our first day we settled into our cute little beach house in Balboa, ate fish tacos at Sharky's and roamed around the Newport Pier. Day two was my big B-day and we partied at Disneyland. It was so much fun for Hazel. She just lit up as soon as we entered the park and heard the music. First stop was Sleeping Beauty's castle. Hazel was in princess heaven. We met Sleeping Beauty, Mulan and Cinderella. I didn't realize we could have come back to meet the rest of the princesses...ooops! She'll never know. She was so star struck, it was hilarious. Bri hadn't been to Disneyland since he was like 12 so he had a "magical" experience also:) We got to see our good friends Kevin and Lindsay which was a highlight. They are Disneyland experts, we're talkin season pass holders. They knew all the shortcuts and best spots to eat plus they were so awesome to watch the kiddos while bri and i went on a few rides....thanks friends:)

I think we will return once max is 40"...which by the way may not be too far off! He just weighed in at over 17 lbs. He is barely 4 months....Hazel weighed 17 lbs. when she turned one! The dr. informed us that he will likely be a linebacker and that we will need a convertible carseat soon! I don't know how i am going to lug him around until he is old enough to walk. He sure is the sweetest little chubber though. Love him!

The rest of the trip we lounged on the beach. This was my fave! The weather was perfect, the beach was empty except for a few and we even saw a huge group of dolphins so close to shore. They were jumping and playing right in front of us. So awesome. We did some shopping and ate some really good food...King Crab legs, finga lickin good ya'll!


first balboa bar
It's a very unique "approach" at eating the corndog...this takes skill and precision.


crab cooker:) yum

Labor Day

We had some special visitors over Labor day. My parents drove up with Molly and Ruby for a quick weekend trip.
Aren't these two the cutest little beachcombers you've ever seen My mom and molly and i took the girls to me-kwa-mooks natural area beach to find some creatures. Molly has more pics but you seriously could not walk without stepping on something. We were walking around fields of sea anemones, they were everywhere. Crabs under every rock and check out these teeny tiny sand dollars.The market was an adventure with a wheelchair and two strollers on Labor day...never again!!! The highlight.. awesome chowder and a chubby little man playing his ukulele and singing next to our table outside. Made my day:)

Molly and Ruby, we cruised around lake Washington and Lake Union. Highlights...seeing Bill Gates awesome estate, the "sleepless in seattle" house on the water, also the house where they filmed the Bachelor (ya know...Jason..yes i'm a loyal bachelor watcher), my mom slept through the whole thing:)

This guy is still an angel...chubby as ever.

Ruby and Haze back together at last.

These two are such frienemies. They were inseperable one minute, and the next minute having to be seperated!

Molly- i want the picture of them having a simultaneous meltdown. Priceless

We had a blast with my fam. We packed alot of activities into one weekend. Thanks for making the trek up here. I will hopefully get around to posting more pics.

catching up with August

I caught a smile! Such a happy baby:)

Coolest tree on the coolest hike...Franklin Falls. This picture does not do it justice.

My boys...thankfully only one of them soaks their shirt in drool;)

Hazel pre-schoolin...what?

I think this was the shortest summer ever! Although it does feel like forever ago that i had a baby. Maxwell is 3 months. He is huge compared to Hazel at this age. So chubby, love it! We call him "wells". Hazel's little nickname for him...it fits. Haze is starting school this week. She is sooo ready to have some more socializing and stimulation and i am ready for some quiet time with max. Hip hip...hooray!

We had a crazy two weekends in a row with family in town. It was sooo great to have them come and stay and we were so excited to see everyone. First Brians parents came. We wore Becky and Roger out with activities. We hit Pikes Market of course on our way to the Seattle Aquarium, a cruise around the Harbor and my favorite bakery..Dahlias, sooo yummy. Kirkland waterfront and some shopping at U Village, best place to shop...seriously, i'll even do it with kids i like it that much. The weather was perfect, so beautiful.

This past weekend my family came. My parents, molly and ruby. The weather was rainy for the first time all summer. It was still good times:) Molly took tons of pics....i did not take a single one. I will post pics and details when i get them from her.

Now we are off to Newport Beach and Disneyland for my BIG 3-0!!!! How do you say goodbye to your twenties?

I don't wanna!

Summer update

I ventured to the Beach at Camp Pendelton to meet up with my whole family, when i say ventured i mean, solo, with a three year old and a 6 week old and no hubby. Scary, yes. Thankfully the kids did great travelling but picture me trying to go through security, i recieved many looks of pity. It was so much fun but a bit exhausting as every vacation is with kids. Seaworld, the beach, good food and family sums it up. Brian couldn't come along cuz of training...booo (thumbs down)!
All the cute cousins-except baby maxwell


Crazel our loving nickname for her "other" personality. She was in heaven with her buddies! Give this girl a shovel and she will dig on the beach ALL DAY LONG! Anyone hiring?


Yow! My lil' sis...what a beauty!

Uncle Dan with max having deep thoughts.

Hey ladies...

Sorry guys, i can't seem to find the pictures of me basking in the sun in my thong? Darn

Pics from Lime Kiln point, our San Juan Islands excursion. Okay, i didn't take this one.
But i did take this one...can you tell? We totally got caught in our first rainstorm and dashed to the car for cover! We were a bit unprepared.

Roche Harbor, so many awesome boats...i mean yachts! We were checking them out pretending we were in the market for one....dreaming of the day. If any of you come visit this is so fun to take the ferries over to the islands and see all the sites. A pod of whales was spotted breaching about! I didn't get any great pics but trust me...it was a glorious sight!

Another berry-pickin good time with our favorite friends at a local farm. We also took home some awesome sunflowers and zinnias.

A heart pounding, thrilling wagon ride.

A romantic "playdate" in the orchard.

Do you think Hazel ate a few blackberries before we weighed them and paid??? Nah.

Brian gets home tomorrow after 2 WEEKS of being in Philly for training....CAN'T WAIT is an understatement. I need a full day of relaxation...anyone know of any good day spas out here?

This Week...

Hazel, Max & I picked blueberries at one of the many farms around here. This one was in Bellevue. It was so fun! I seriously couldn't stop picking...i got kind of obsessed. When it was time to go, I just kept seeing one more big juicy blueberry calling may name. Only $1.25/lb. could you blame me? Check out our stash...SCORE!

Hazel was a great helper! Such a good toddler activity. She wanted to hold the bucket sooo bad. It started getting way too heavy for her put she wouldn't give it up!

I am sooo excited cuz my friend and fellow mama Denise and her cute little family just moved HERE from Utah too! What are the odds? We are sooo happy:) Hazel and Kimball are in love...so are Max and Mia! She found this awesome lake to picnic at and it was perfect, with lots of crazies to watch (see photo)! Notice the lady getting baptized behind hazel.

Mr. M.

Here are some recent pics of my little guy. He is such a serious little person but i have busted him smiling a few times...just not on camera yet. Isn't he handsome:) Such a little heartbreaker!
Sunset view from our house!

XXX

I've been a very naughty girl! We've been hanging out at the Triple XXX......diner that is. Don't you love the name? Sounds like some kind of strip joint! This place serves up 1950's style hamburgers and the only place you can get a frosty Root Beer made by coca-cola. It was the first drive-in restaurant in the Pacific Northwest established in the 1930's and has an old school route 66 feel with tons of old car and 50's memorabilia. Burgers were HUGE and delicious and i'm feeling some regret. My diet starts tomorrow:)

M.J.

Was anyone else a bit (alot) emotional during Michael Jackson's memorial today. Maybe i have those new mom emotions still running high but i was wiping tear after tear! I think i just felt so sad for him, at least the last few decades of his life and so sad for his kids. What incredible talent he had yet he still struggled so much personally. I just always felt so dissapointed in what he did to his face. He was such a good-looking young chap then it just got more and more bizarre. Even still his music is and always will be tops. I could never get sick of the thriller album. I remember when i was about 7, rockin out to 'billie jean' and 'beat it', i felt so cool! Funny how music can take you right back to those days. Anyways, i just miss the old Michael. I wish his life had been happier for him. I wish he hadn't made so many questionable decisions. I will remember his talent forever. So many great songs...and dance moves!!! Hee heeee hOO (scat that in your best MJ voice).