The Vance's: June 2016

a day on Bainbridge Island.

>> June 30, 2016

For my birthday this year I requested some quality family time doing a local adventure. There is so much to see and do right in the city where we live so why not take full advantage of all the amazing places to visit?! Since the kids have been wanting to ride a ferry we thought Bainbridge Island would be a great choice! We headed down to the pier in Seattle a little early to walk around and explore.

The kids loved the ferry! And we discovered 25 minutes was the perfect time to wander the boat, see the Seattle skyline and check out the water before getting too bored and wanting to get off. It was nice to be able to walk right on and leave our car in Seattle (and much cheaper!).

Simon walked and walked and walked all over. Such a busy little boy now.

Once we got on the island we walked over to Waterfront Front for a picnic lunch. Such a beautiful view, big grassy field to run and play and a playground nearby too. We love these times where the kids can run free and we can sit back and relax a little.

Simon did such a great job this whole day. He was in and out of the stroller, naps were short, meals were more like snacks but he just went along for the ride.

In the afternoon we headed over to the Children's museum to play for a bit. It was smaller than our normal museum but had so much to do. The big kids loved it while Simon and Matt took advantage of the toddler room and both snuck in a little nap.

Then it was time for a little treat. Mora Ice Cream makes some of the best ice cream around so we all grabbed a scoop to enjoy.

At the end of the day we were all exhausted! It's so easy sometimes to focus on the meltdowns and tantrums at the end of the day but I'm really so glad we go on these adventures as a family. It takes a little extra prep work to pack lunches and snacks, stroller, diapers and extra clothes but I love that we get to see new things and enjoy the beauty around us. It was the best way to end my 33rd year!

summer!

Carter has been out of school about 2 weeks and we are taking full advantage of a more relaxed schedule. Add in some amazing weather and this has been the perfect start to summer vacation!

For Father's Day I tried to give Matt a day spent doing things he loved. He got to sleep in (well, sort of...I mean until the kids woke up), family breakfast and then off to the movies with Carter and Lucy. Since Simon isn't quite ready for a 2 hour kid movie I went to a nearby trail for a 5 mile run while he napped. Win win for both of us!

After the movie we all met back up to get some lunch. Matt loves sushi and we've been wanting to let the kids try conveyor belt sushi, mostly for the fun experience of watching the plates go around. They did pretty great and tried a few new things too!

After lunch we headed home to relax the rest of the day. Matt's parents came over for a short visit, we played in the backyard and ended the afternoon with a special homemade ice cream cookie sandwich, one of Matt's favorites! He does so much for our family that a simple day isn't enough to show our love and appreciation. The kids are so lucky to have such an amazing dad.

Other fun summertime stuff? Lucy turned 4 1/2! These half birthdays are a big deal when you are a kid so I try to do a mini-celebration for them. And a little poster left on their chair when they wake up is so exciting! Ha!

Mornings spent in our pjs just playing at home. Both kids (and me too!) got bullseyes on Carter's new dart board the other day.

A trip to the bookstore. This is pretty much a weekly occurrence. They love reading all the time! And Simon loves to explore, pull down books, run around and be your typical toddler.

I took the kids to the Children's Museum the other morning too. Usually they want to run off in different directions to see all the exhibits but we stuck together and spent a long time in the art studio painting. It's so fun to watch their creative side come out.

This lasted about 5 seconds before he gave me a look of desperation to get that darn helmet off and then fell off the side of the car. But, we tried! (also, I'm loving the hand me down helmet from Carter and pink cupcake car from Lucy).

Silly Simon.

And another fun morning! We met some good friends at the beach the other day. This is only 20 minutes from our house and has a great beach to explore, play and even a playground right by the water. So fun! It was freezing when we got there but the sun finally came out so we stayed 2 hours longer to enjoy the day.

On the way home we stopped for frozen yogurt, yum!

And then later in the day I pulled out the pools. Simon has his very own little splash pad which is perfect for when the big kids are in their pool.

And swim lessons have officially begun. We are going to a new place this year which I'm loving because it's only 5 minutes away from our house. And, it's an outdoor pool which is so fun! Lucy has really become our little fish and loves the water. She is starting to pass Carter up with her swimming skills and it's so fun to watch her try new things. Carter has a friend in his class from school so he's pretty happy too. These days are busy but so much fun!

strawberries.

>> June 17, 2016

When Simon was 2 weeks old Matt went back to work. That same day I had the crazy idea to take all 3 kids blueberry picking. Because why not go out with a newborn to a dirty field, try to pick berries while keeping a close eye on 2 other young children who are running through rows and rows of berry trees?!? Fast forward a year and I've decided that I wasn't crazy at all. In fact, that was a breeze compared to taking 3 kids strawberry picking last week. Ha!

In all fairness, the kids were amazing and did a great job. It was just a little nuts trying to manage it all while attempting to bring home some berries. But we did it, had fun and now can enjoy local berries all year long!

I gave each kid a basket to fill and then bring back to me to put in the larger box. Lucy brought her basket back with 4 strawberries and then proceeded to eat them in front of me. I don't think I ever saw Carter's basket again but he was so helpful watching Lucy and Simon for me while wandering the fields. The kids had fun picking berries, running around with other kids and just enjoying the farm.

It was Simon who gave me a run for my money! Sheesh, this kid! I was hoping he'd fall asleep in the carrier on my back and I'd have at least 30 minutes to pick but instead he was so curious he fussed until I got him out of the carrier and let him explore. And that he did! Crawling down the rows of dirt, finding smashed berries, walking and falling down, smearing berries all over me and just loving it all. I had to have my back turned for most of it so he wouldn't grab the box of berries I had just picked. I'm sure the other moms had a good laugh watching this all go down.

After about 45 minutes I had picked 10.5 lbs of strawberries and 3 happy, dirty kids!

This picture doesn't even show the true amount of dirt all over his face. So funny!

The kids also chose to pick some lettuce from the farm to bring home. We made a homemade salad that night for dinner with a strawberry vinaigrette dressing using some of the berries we picked. It was such a great lesson in farm to table cooking and the kids loved learning more about where our food comes from. I look back and think about the crazy moments but really these days are so fun and I'm so glad I get to give my kids these experiences.

Let's party!

For Simon's 1st birthday party I decided to have a circus carnival theme. It was so fun prepping and thinking about games, decorations and food!

I hung up a wall of pictures from the past year. I always love looking back and seeing how little he was and the kids were so excited to see them and remember some of our favorite Simon moments.

Lots of red, blue and yellow for our carnival! For food I kept it simple with fruit, veggies, animal crackers and popcorn. I wanted to do caramel apples but Matt brought me back down to reality and reminded me that 15 young children with sticky caramel was probably a bad idea. So caramel dip was perfect!

For games I thought of my favorite carnival games and tried to recreate them in the backyard. I ended up loving how it turned out and the kids had fun walking around the yard trying them all. I really liked how all but one of them required no supervision, just the kids playing. It was nice for them to replay ones they liked and for the adults at the party to sit back and watch.

The kids loved Pin the Hat on Simon!

Grandpa and Grandma Vance!

And me with the birthday boy. It's so hard to believe he's already one!

My partner in crime. Back a few months ago when I started thinking about Simon's party I put a very unrealistic plan in my head about how the house/yard would look. And somehow Matt exceeded those expectations! He spent hours weeding, mowing and fixing up the yard so it looked great for the party. I really couldn't have done this without him. He never once complained about spending his nights working around the house. I'm pretty lucky.

Our kids were ready to party!

We had 15 kids for the party, so many great friends came to celebrate.

Instead of face painting I opted for a tattoo station. Much easier to manage and way less creepy (I'm not a fan of face painting at all!). I also had a guessing station to guess how much candy was in the jar, a ping pong in the basket game and the play structure ready to be played on.

It turned out to be the perfect day. The sun came out just in time for the party so we could spread out inside and outside all afternoon.

I usually rely on Pinterest for most of my ideas but this one I came up with all on my own. Blow up a big picture of Simon, cut out his mouth and use it for a bean bag toss game. It all sounded so cute in my head. Until Matt finished cutting out Simon's mouth on the poster board. So scary! We were cracking up thinking about how many nightmares these kids would have after seeing this. But then Carter loved it and thought it was the greatest thing ever so we just went with it. Still, not at all what I envisioned! Ha!

Lucy and her best friend Ava played together the entire time. Lucy is usually surrounded by boys (all boys in our neighborhood, all boys at church, all boys for play dates) so she gets so excited when she can spend time with Ava. They are only 5 weeks apart and are the cutest little friends.

Most of the Vance boys!

And then the special surprise.....a carnival isn't complete without cotton candy! Instead of making cupcakes for everyone I chose a smash cake for Simon and cotton candy for the big kids! I hired a local kid who runs his own business making cotton candy at parties. He's 13 and did an amazing job! The kids were in awe and just surrounded him to watch him spin each cone of sugar. And....he went crazy. The most enormous cotton candy we've ever seen! Each kid was LOVING it and the sugar rush came on pretty quick!

Simon loved watching it all too!

Bigger than her head.

Gigantic.

Crazy kids!

More games....with kids full of sugar.

I love that one of my best friends lives only 15 minutes away. After living together for 4 years in college and then having babies just a few weeks apart it's so fun to get together and celebrate. Katy and I can go months without seeing each other and always just pick up where we left off.