Farmers Market

One gorgeous Saturday morning the kids and I headed out with my sister Elizabeth and her husband Chad to Pike Place Market, unfortunately Ziff wasn't able to make it. We missed him bunches but we still managed to have a great time. The atmosphere was pleasant as always. The people and vendors were buzzing, the food smelled delicious, the street performers were great, the fruit was big and juicy and tasted so sweet.


After we explored all of the little shops and vendors, stopping in the middle for a little play break on a few little random toys, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and stretch our legs in the grassy area. The kids were thankful to get out some wiggles and played for over a half hour running around and tackling auntie and uncle. Uncle Chad even offered up some horsy rides which the kids ate up.We were all getting hungry and so decided we should figure out some dinner. Lilly being the cute girl she is convinced Uncle Chad that we needed to go to Red Robin (her favorite place besides McDonalds). Dinner was tasty and afterwards we are all pretty tired so we headed home. It was a great day out exploring and playing.

Silvertips

I haven't been to a game in forever, but I have always enjoyed going to a hockey game. There is just something about the atmosphere at a game that gets you all loosened up and excited. The Tips won and there was an awesome fight in the last 3 minutes of the game. The highlight was when my sister and I got on the big screen during half time but sadly while we were on the big screen my brother in law who was getting some food slipped in a puddle of water and hurt his elbow. He said his ego was what was mostly bruised but his elbow was hurting him pretty bad too. It was a great night out but would have been better if Chad hadn't gotten hurt.

All wet

Nothing is worse than a rainy day stuck inside, especially when those days could last for weeks. So what better way to learn to love and enjoy the rain than to go out side and play in it. We beat the rainy day blues and ditched our rain boots and jackets and went outside to dance in the rain till we were all wet and cold. Grandma happened to walk by as we were playing and decided that she waned to play to. The kids were thrilled. After a little snack when the rain stopped we got our rain boots and jackets on and headed out in search of some good puddles for splashing. We spent most of our afternoon enjoying a perfect rainy day.

Hairy situation

Kyle's hair is so pretty and blonde. It's so soft and I love running my fingers through it. Only problem is Kyle loves to run his fingers through it too...with food on his hands. I end up washing his hair 3 times a day and if it isn't food that is making it messy it is just messy because he plays hard and there is no keeping it neat. So the time has come to cut it all off and transform our baby into a little boy.

It was much more emotional than I thought it would be. As Ziff got the clippers ready and started to buzz of his golden locks I felt tears well up in my eyes. I guess I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to that sweet baby phase, but everyone else welcomed it with a smile. Kyle was so happy and had a grin from ear to ear. It took some time to get used to seeing him with his buzzed head but so starts the chapter of a big boy.

Take me out to the ball game

My sister surprised Ziff and I with a special date night. She had gotten 2 tickets to the Mariners game from a vendor at work and decided to pass them along to Ziff and I. Although it was their last game and they had no shot at going to the playoffs we didn't care. We were excited and ready for a date night. This was something new and exciting we hadn't done before. We hustled to get everything ready with the kids so we could head out after Ziff got off work.


Our seats were great. They were 3rd row right behind first base. Lots of foul balls get hit that direction which made it even more exciting. We had a great time and enjoyed each others company. Talking uninterrupted was so nice and at times we just enjoyed being quiet together. We have had several opportunities to go on dates since being back around family and we have been so happy to be able to reconnect on that level again.

Touch a Truck

In September, every year the city hosts a touch a truck event. I was so excited when I found out about it because Kyle loves anything with wheels and Lilly has even been interested in firetrucks garbage trucks. Little did I know how excited the kids would be. They loved it! They got to climb in and "drive" all the different trucks. There were garbage and recycle trucks, snow plows, back hoes, a school bus, police car, fire truck, an armored vehicle, an ambulance, and a few others that the kids didn't care to much about. There was also a bounce house and mini golf, painting with truck tires, and a little train ride. We spent a few hours there and when it came time to leave for lunch I had to drag the kids away. They enjoyed it so much I think they could have spent all day there. The kids learned a bunch and had such a great time getting to touch all the trucks and sit in the drivers seats.

Trike time

My brother passed along a trike to Lilly. Her friends had started learning to ride and she really wanted to learn too. It took her a few weeks to pick it up but she practiced everyday she could. She went to bed talking about it and woke up asking if she could go out and ride. Now she's a pro. She rides like there is no tomorrow and rides all day if you let her. A huge milestone! We're so proud!

Imagine

Not to far from here there is a great children's museum. I had been itching to take the kids and so one week when Ziff was out of town for work we were surprised with a membership, so I loaded up the kids and headed there. It was a kids wonderland. There are so many things to do there. A mini restaurant, a vet center, a reading nook, a mini acting theater, a train center, a plane, a ferry with water play, a black light room, a little farm, a construction zone, arts and crafts, and up on the roof is an outdoor jungle gym, dinosaur dig, and music and that's not even all of it.

We love going there and we always find something to do. It's such a great place to explore and be free. We invited my sister to come along this time. It was the first time the kids had met her and they instantly LOVED her. She was so great with them and she got right in and played with them. We have been back several times since and plan on going back lots more.

August

August was a pretty laid back month for us. We were still feeling pretty frazzled about what had been going on and we were trying to collect ourselves and figure out what we were going to do. Ziff spent most every day all day looking for and applying to jobs and I decided I wanted to try to home preschool Lilly. I have been wanting to put her into a preschool program to help her continue to grow and develop, but with our situation it didn't seem like the right time, so I attempted to do it myself. I spent a lot of hours putting together plans and ideas and was very excited to get started.
First we learned about bugs. We read some books and did a few crafts. We also worked on recognizing a few bug related words.

Next up we learned about rainbows. We learned our primary colors and what happens when we mix 2 primary colors together.

We sorted fruit loops by color


We counted out our fruit loops

And we had a rainbow fruit salad.

There were a lot of other things I wasn't able to get pictures of because I was busy helping them. We did more crafts, read lots of books and did more hands on activities.

It wasn't easy and I eventually had to take a break for personal reasons, but I am hoping that slowly I can work us back into doing more crafts and reading and learning activities. Lilly seemed to enjoy it and it was really good for her to have something to work at and keep her busy. Both kids are like sponges and thrive on learning new things. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to gather more ideas together and will jump back in.

Happy birthday Lilly!

Our sweet girl turned 3! It's so hard to believe that she's already 3. So much has happened over the last year and she has grown up so much. In so many ways our little baby has left and our little girl has come out. She is very talkative, and full of energy. She loves to play all day. She is getting better and better at communicating and has worked really hard on her reading and letter recognition. She can read and recognize between 10-15 words and can even spell her name. She is working on problem solving still and conflict resolution, which I think will still take some time to develop. She is a wonderful and loving big sister. She loves crafts and playing play-dough and she loves to bake and clean.

This year we kept her birthday low key and celebrated at home with a birthday breakfast and dinner and some presents. I hope that even though it was small and low key she felt special and loved. She is so precious and has brought so much to our family. She changed our lives forever and we cannot imagine our lives without her.

Petting Zoo

One of our favorite things to do in Fort Collins was visit the local farm. Luckily here they have something similar, the Forest park petting zoo. We decided to spend one of the gorgeous summer days exploring it. The sheep and goats roam free in the pen so you can go right up to them and pet them. They also have bunnies out, ducks, chickens, pigs, horses, and cows. The kids and I had a great time and the weather was perfect. It helped bring back a piece of home, something I think the kids and I both needed.

Kyle was fearless with the sheep. He jumped right in and wanted to get to know them.

The kids had a very tender moment together while petting the goats. It definitely melted my heart.

Lilly was very sweet with the sheep. She was so soft and kind.

Gymnastics

In high school I used to coach gymnastics. I loved it and have always believed in the values that it can bring to kids. Even preschoolers. I have been wanting to get Lilly in to do some gymnastics because I have sen that she has the ability to learn and pick up on skills fast and I know she has a ton of energy and what better way than to bounce it out. Her coach for her first time was my old boss Sheila Bath. She has years of experience under her belt and she is great with little ones.

Lilly had a great time and wanted to go back. She was a little shy at first, but I think given some time she will warm up to the coaches and other kids.

Coach Shelia helping Lilly do a cartwheel over the mat.

Practicing monkey hangs and practicing toe touches

Bear walks

Family, food, & fireworks

Being back in Washington has it's perks. One of them being family close by. The kids love getting to play with their cousins, and I love getting to spend time with my niece and nephew. Every year my brother and his wife throw a big shindig for the 4th of July. They have dome it since my niece was born 9 years ago. It is definitely something to look forward to because they pull out all the stops. There is always a ton of food, way to many fireworks, water play, and of course family and friends. We had a great time and got to relax and enjoy the day.My nephew Jake's birthday is the day before Lilly's and they are 2 years apart. This is the first year they have been able to celebrate together. I think both of them were excited that their special day was even more special this year because they got to be together. Since we were all getting together for the 4th we decided that we would celebrate their birthdays then too. Lilly really wanted a Buzz cake and her Auntie Kristen delivered! It was fantastic.