a holiday at the beach.

>> May 29, 2018

This past weekend was just wonderful. It was the unofficial start of summer, time spent with family and friends, lots of outdoor play and even time to relax.
Friday was spent prepping to leave for the beach house. We did an epic Costco trip and then after Simon's nap we played some serious Old Maid until we had to pick the big kids up at school. He's quite the little card player!
 Friday night Carter had another flag football game (undefeated for the season and another touchdown for Carter!) so we left for the beach early Saturday morning. It's sort of tradition to stop at the "junk store" (a nickname we've used for years) and since they recently built a new building we stopped on the way to the house, while leaving plenty of time to play at the local park.

 After settling in we headed down to the beach for a bit to play on the sand and swings.

 Someone built this amazing fort out of driftwood....it was huge!
 The next morning I got up early for a run around the neighborhood. I just love this time of day, watching the sun rise over the water and enjoying the peacefulness of the beach. It's my favorite way to start the day.

 After breakfast we took a family walk/bike ride around the neighborhood.
 And then headed up to Bellingham for the annual post Ski to Sea BBQ. We've been doing this for over 15 years and it's always fun to see old friends, admire ALL the growing children (they easily outnumber us) and catch up. The kids had a lot of fun playing with old and new friends too.







 We came home, tucked some tired kids into bed and crashed ourselves. I woke up early Memorial Day morning for another walk/run and enjoyed the view one more time before we headed home. Only a few more weeks left of school and then we'll be right back here for 4th of July!


Read more...

sleepy Simon.

>> May 25, 2018

With such a busy spring season full of activities poor Simon has been a champ. Often times he has to miss his (much needed!) nap to go to a practice, stay at preschool all day or attend a mid day soccer game. So it's no surprise that one day he quietly sat on the couch and just passed out. It's rough being 2 sometimes!
 We are beyond proud of our little athletes and how hard they are working. Even more impressive is Matt and his coaching. Somehow he is juggling both teams while handling a few huge projects at work and normal stuff at home. I know both kids love having him coach and he's having just as much fun being out there with them.
 Last weekend we spent an entire Sunday cleaning out and organizing the garage. It felt SO good to get a lot of old stuff out of there, plan to sell off more baby stuff (sad...but needed) and make room for our current fridge. Afterwards we celebrated with a stay in date night after the kids went to bed. This delicious pizza full of figs, prosciutto, arugula, goat cheese and homemade balsamic glaze. So delicious!

 Never ending yard work meant weeding for a few hours while Simon played in the backyard too.  Imagine a jungle of weeds under the deck and now....all gone!

 Simon helped by watering our little garden. It's actually growing!!!
 More naps on the go....

 And cute kids before school.
 To celebrate a hot spring day we went to froyo on an early release day before heading to the park.
 And then came home to play Yahtzee! Carter's homework assignment this week is to play 1 game a day and it's so fun. I never realized what a good lesson in adding large numbers or problem solving this game had but we are all loving it. Simon things he gets a Yahtzee every single time which just adds to the laughter.
 And.....our new fridge! One of the last things we needed to do to complete the kitchen remodel from when we moved in almost 3 years ago. Our old one will give us much needed storage in the garage too.
Now time to prep for a fun Holiday weekend! Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Read more...

my mom weekend.

>> May 15, 2018

 It's been a really great last couple of days. The weather is beyond beautiful with temps in the 70s and 80s, sunlight until late at night and everyone spending time outside. The kids are enjoying all the spring activities, we've had some really fun family time and enjoyed delicious food every day. I really can't complain. Mother's Day weekend started with some fun dress up around the house, Lucy's school musical performance and a playdate for Simon. I love how he's really starting to make his own friends (and that they are younger siblings from the big kids friends so playdates are super easy!). He is so funny to listen to when he talks to his friends about sports or food, 2 & 3 year old boys are hilarious!




 Friday night has now shifted from family movie night (now on Saturdays!) to flag football games. It was a gorgeous night and the boys were incredible! I think the final score was 28-0, Carter was all over the field playing great defense and even scored a rushing touchdown. Such a great team!


 We came home from the game and the kids excitedly showed me their school Mother's Day gifts they had made. I love, love, love them!

 Handwritten notes, a little personalized notepad, paintings and cards. All so sweet and perfect.
 Saturday morning we were right back to the sports fields for Lucy's first soccer game of the season. They also won! She got to play goalie for a quarter, almost scored a goal and had such a great time with her team.


 Saturday afternoon this little baseball lover sported his new shirt while playing outside, he's so obsessed and can't wait for t-ball to start, only a few more weeks! I got to spend some time shopping (alone!) which was greatly appreciated. While I love family time, being able to walk around a store alone is so nice sometimes.
 Mother's Day morning I woke up to this giant poster sitting on the kitchen table for me. The kids insisted on making this all by themselves and it was so cute. They now want me to hang it above my bed forever and ever and ever. Ha! I think we'll have to find another spot for it but definitely keeping this around.
 I had planned out the day and requested some delicious food, relaxing outside and good family time. And it was exactly that! I made this amazing sweet potato crusted sausage, onion and spinach quiche for breakfast (soooo good!), a picnic lunch and then our usual Mother's Day steak salad with balsamic, spinach and goat cheese. Yum!

 Lucy wanted to bake with me and found this recipe all on her own, made the entire thing and then we got to sample it later in the day. Mini lemon raspberry cheesecake bites...she's quite the baker! I've been thinking more and more about my dream to have a bakery (or at least sell baked goods somehow) and having her help makes it that much more fun.
 After breakfast and baking we headed to the beach. It was the perfect day to spend outside playing in the sand and water. We played football and frisbee, walked around the sand, built castles and just enjoyed the time together. After about 3 hours we were ready for a little treat and I had found just the place to try!











 This adorable little bakery in Greenlake serves coconut milk based ice cream and I was so excited to try it. It was delicious and we all enjoyed a little afternoon treat after a long day at the beach.


 We came home, kids played in the sprinkler, made dinner and headed to bed. I'm pretty blessed to have such an amazing family. There are so many days that are long, hard, exhausting, frustrating and I constantly question my parenting decisions but at the end of the day they are loved and happy and in reality, that's the most important thing. Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there, it's the hardest, most incredible job in the world.

Read more...