Averyisms

Avery was making mudpies outside and came in to tell me how delicious they were. She said that she was making them out of "water and trouble."

McCall 2009

The annual retreat for family, fun and food. We left last Friday and returned this Wednesday evening. The first couple days were a little rainy, but no worries, instead of the lake we went to some nearby hotsprings and warmed up in the surprisingly odor-free pools. On Sunday we hiked to Lake Josephine to enjoy the stunning views across the Payette National Forest, although Elliot mostly viewed the back of Mike's shirt. We then basked in sunshine at the lake on Monday and Tuesday. I don't have any pictures of skiing this year but there was plenty of that, partly due to Mike's insistence that all the brothers (and any other willing bodies) get up at 7:30am to catch the good water. Thanks to Monte and Sandy for making this such a great family event and for adding five inches to our waistlines.

At the hotsprings. Avery is wearing a pretzeled noodle, just like they do in swimming class.

Mmm, warm water.

Would you like some sand in your hair, madam?

Lake Josephine.

Avery is off and on with wanting to smile for pictures lately.

With cousin Kendal

Mike and Avery's wild tubing adventure with Sydney. I love that Sydney's hair is in mid-flip and Avery is looking equal parts terrified and exhilirated.

Upset that mom isn't allowing sand-eating, her favorite vacation delicacy.

Practicing our balance in the water.

Chillin' like a villian all the way home.

Not for the squeamish . . .

Avery and I were floating aimlessly in Payette Lake, ID on Monday when Avery suddenly said "Thanks for making me, Mom."
"Hm? Oh, you're welcome, Avery," I yawned.
A pause
"How did you make me, Mom?"
"Um . . ." thinking quickly, "Dad and I made you together."
"Oh . . .how did you make Elliot?"
"We made Elliot together too." (sweating a bit now)
"Oh . . ." a long pause. "That would be fun."
Uh, yeah.

Pictures of our trip to McCall, ID with Mike's family to follow :)

Sun-soaked visit

Monte and Sandy came to visit this past weekend. The main reason for a visit was the annual Mariner's game, but we surrounded it with some beach-themed activities to take advantage of our high 80's weather.

Avery enlisted Sandy in looking for shells, rocks and crab bits . . .

while Monte helped Elliot cool off in the low tide.

The game was fun and went pretty quickly so we didn't keep the girls up too late.

A kissable face.

We had to go to Alki beach, now on our short list of favorite Seattle spots. It also happened to be the Alki Beach Art Walk that day, which made it extra fun. We constructed a fort for the babies (the Hammonds joined us at the beach).

Digging to China.

Mike and Owen with their swingin' single days far far behind them.

Camping!

Our first camping venture with the kids began on a beach in the Strait which, for non-Washingtonians, is the stretch of water on the north end of the Olympic Penninsula close, but not quite, on the Pacific Ocean. The private campground I meticulously researched ended up having very small campgrounds with nearly no privacy and was subject to gale-force winds. So after enduring windy sand-burn for the first afternoon (with our friends the Goodwins who were adventuring with us), we decided to cut our losses and try to find a campground further inland in the national forest. We were richly rewarded for doing so, and found a great campsite in the Hoh Rainforest right next to the Hoh River. We spent some time on the river and hiking through the rainforest and then headed back through Forks, WA (eeee! Twilight mania!!) and then home.

Crescent Beach, aka, Tornado Alley. Both of the girls actually had a lot of fun here, and Avery even wanted to stay longer. But the rest of us couldn't endure sandy eyes any longer.

We only own one piece of camping equipment: a sleeping bag Mike has had since college. We just threw down a tarp and some blankets in the back of the truck, and while it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, it provided a great space for the Dee to hang out during the day.

Avery and Kaden in our Hoh Rainforest campsite. They were great friends on the whole trip, with only a couple arguments about whether to play "kill the bad guys" or "house." There was also a family just a couple campsites down with some younger kids and they all would run back and forth between campsites.

This is just a vanity shot Mike paid me to post (jk). Here we're all enjoying the sunshine in the rainforest :)

So beautiful!!

Good food, great sites, fabulous company

We were treated to a visit from Mom and Beff and accordingly treated them to a whirlwind of WA-themed activities.

A hike through the UW Botanical Gardens.

Mom and Beff enjoying a snack of kettle korn, while Elliot snacks on some rocks at Deception Pass. Deception Pass

Picturesque abandoned closet at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island.

No joke, this is in Seattle. Alki Beach.

We heart Seattle.

Paradise Found

We had a great fourth of July weekend, beginning with some lake time on Friday. On Saturday, we hit a Puget Sound beach and then I took Avery to a fireworks party (I'm not kidding, the pyromaniacs hosting this show spent approx. $10,000 on fireworks) while Mike hung out at a different party to be closer to home with the Dee.


Smoke on the water. Watching out for the lake police.

Look closer, this is more than just a shot of leftovers.

Looking for crabs while the adults remember why we all suffer through 9 months of rain.

Best buds share a cool one.

This bull was vanquished with a plastic bat.

A lover, not a fighter . . .

The other day Avery pulled a bunch of books and puzzles off her shelf and made a mountain of mess in her room. I walked in, saw the mess and wailed "Avery! That's a big mess, you're going to have to clean it up." To which she replied "Mom, I'm a builder . . . not a cleaner."

As we were merging onto Hwy 2 the other day, I asked Avery to roll up her window because we were on the "freeway." There was a pause and then Avery said "Where's the two-way?"

Lately Avery's been requesting that Mike and I get married again so she can "sit in a chair and watch." The important elements of getting married, from Avery's perspective, are for me to wear a white dress and be picked up off the ground by Mike. Luckily, there's been no discussion yet as to where he takes me once I've been picked up :)

Avery and I were going through some heritage blankets and I pulled out a blanket my mom's mom, my Grandma Kerr, bought for me before I was born. So I explained to Avery that she had a Grandma Kerr who had died and was in heaven and who we'd get to see again some day. And Avery said "oh, I want to go see my Grandma Kerr because I love her!" Wasn't that sweet?

Of Mice and Sleeping Babies

Avery participated in a show, as a Cinderella mouse, our ward put on called "Back to Broadway." The show was tonight and she joined the cast yesterday, so we were playing "The Work Song" a lot this morning :) She had a blast, especially because she got to hang out with the older girls backstage and because she also got to jump and run during some of the songs. She's sitting with Jessi below, who was a stepsister and is also Avery and Elliot's babysitter during the week.


I debated about posting this picture because I'm not sure how many people I'm comfortable with seeing our rumpled bedding, but on the other hand, I'm not sure that that many people are checking the blog anyway :) In the end, my confidence that everyone would think this is a cute as I do won out. We've had Elliot sleeping in a co-sleeper next to our bed since she was born because I'm nursing and everyone gets more sleep that way. It's obviously time for a new sleeping arrangement.

Locks and The Midnight Special

Last Saturday, we met Mike's work colleague and family at the Chittenden Locks in Ballard. We picked up some Cuban sandwiches (aka, Midnight Special) from a sandwich shack, Paseo, in Fremont on our way. These sandwiches deserve their own post - but I'll just say that they made up for the salmon ladder being closed. Below are some pictures from the day. The ship below is a processing ship, where they catch, clean and pack the fish and then send the packages out on delivery ships while the main boat continues to fish. Not unlike the targeted Japanese vessels on the show "Whale Wars."

Bees Knees

Avery finished a creative music/movement class the other week and had a little performance. She enjoyed the class a lot, and even got to wear one of the scarce bee costumes for part of the performance.

I'm not entirely sure what Avery says to her teacher in this clip, but I think it has something to do with a "pink one."

TGIM (Memorial Day)

Because I finally had some time to tackle my to do list today, I unearthed these amazing pictures from a friend who gave these to us, oh, like three months ago. The last picture completely melts my heart.

Avery-isms of the day

Avery: Mom, when I finish I get more!
Mom: Please ask nicely, Avery.
Avery: I will . . . when I finish in a few minutes.

Avery walks into the room with headband on her head, hair very rumpled . . .
Avery: Mom . . . I look hot.


Elliot-isms of the day

"Da da da (coo giggle laugh)"

A Little Too Much Excitement

Last Friday night, Mike took Avery to a Mariners game with the Hammonds and their kids. They had SO much fun running around, being silly and eating junk food. Apparently, Avery finally reached her exhaustion point and promptly fell asleep about 8pm, woke up only to vomit all over Mike, then fell back asleep.

The next night, Mike had and I had nearly as much fun. We went on a "date" to the symphony with our friends the Jones'. It was an amazing performance and we ate some fabulous pastry afterwards. The night was about perfect until our friends dropped us back at the parking garage around midnight. They sped off before any of us realized that the parking garage was closed. We eventually took at taxi home after walking all the way around the WaMu building (and seeing some interesting things, ask us in person about that). We had to drive back into the Seattle the next day, Sunday, to reclaim the car. It turned out to be an expensive night, but actually worth it. The symphony really was amazing :)

Mike took this picture of the girls with his phone at the game.
Daniel sent us some souvenirs from Brazil, along with a DVD of pictures and videos to archive.

Planes, Games and Automobiles

So, the last couple weeks we've been traveling quite a bit. After making some "pinkalicious" cupcakes, I flew to Chicago for work and Mike took the girls over to Moscow, ID for the weekend.

While in Chicago, I got in some sightseeing with work colleagues including the "cloud sculpture" and the Art Institute.

I flew in from Chicago to Moscow, just in time to cheer Mike (and various family members and friend, Brad) on for the Bloomsday race in Spokane, WA.

The weekend included a visit to the Moscow Rennaisance fair, complete with paper dragon, a bungee jumping thing that Avery LOVED and a great craft booth section.

We got back from Moscow just in time to fly to California and see my side of the family!