The Vance's

Fragrance Lake Hike.

>> June 12, 2011

For Matt's upcoming 30th birthday he and a friend have decided to climb Mt. Baker. Sounds pretty cool, right? Except Matt has never climbed anything before. But, he is committed and very excited about this upcoming adventure. In preparation, we thought it would be a nice day to go for a hike and see how he did with 40+ pounds on his back!
We left the house around 8am to start our hike up to Fragrance Lake. We drove down beautiful Chuckanut Drive, parked the car and off we went. Carter absolutelyy loved being in the backpack. He just smiled and grinned the entire way up. We took a quick detour to hike up to a look-out point. It was an incredible view of the San Juan Islands. I am just amazed at the beauty that surrounds where we live!

A little bit of a shadow, but Carter was still happy!

Since Matt was carrying the heavy load (and I only had a small backpack with water and snacks, I took all the pictures. Here is the only shot of me.

At the end of the trail is a beautiful, calm, peaceful lake. Since we left so early there wasn't anyone else there yet. It was nice to just sit for a few minutes, have a snack and let Carter play in the rocks/water/dirt.

Enjoying his snack.

On the way back down, someone decided they needed a nap!

Such a fun hike and so excited for our next one! (Note: notice that Matt is wearing a different shirt in this last picture! All of that hiking with a heavy toddler on his back made for quite the sweaty trek up. Luckily, I planned ahead and packed an extra shirt for the walk down. Such a smart wife I am!!)

fun in the sun.

>> June 9, 2011

We had an amazing weekend this past weekend. For the first time in over 250 days the temperature rose above 70 degrees! We drove down to Puyallup to spend the day with my parents and then left Carter so we could have a super fun date night. A little shoe shopping followed by dinner at the Crab Pot with our friends Jake & Kelly. If you haven't been, you have to go! It's so fun, messy and delicious! We ended the night at the U2 concert...such a great show! Earlier in the day we took full advantage of the sun. Carter is still obsessed with mowing the lawn, he has to do it everyday when we get home. So, no surprise that it was the first thing he did when we got to my parents!

My parents bought him an awesome fire engine he can ride around on. It took a few minutes for him to learn to love it, but then he never stopped riding it.

My parents neighbors came over with their grandkids for a little while. Their grandson, Max, just turned 2 and Carter and Max became instant best friends. They played together so well that later in the day, my parents took Carter back to Max's house to play some more!

Max was so sweet and even helped Carter put his hat back on. He knows the importance of good sun protection.

I forgot to bring down swim trunks so we just let Carter run around in his diaper with the sprinkler.

We had such a fun weekend and it made me so excited for summer! Can't wait for more backyard adventures, sprinklers, sunscreen and yes, even more mowing the lawn.

Kauai 2011.

>> May 31, 2011

For Matt's 30th birthday present (a little early), his parents took us all on an amazing Hawaii vacation. This was actually our 3rd time going to Kauai and staying in Poipu beach and it did not disappoint. We came here on our honeymoon, a year later with Matt's parents, and this time with Carter! It's been fun to see how different each trip has been and we loved just having lots of time relaxing, playing in the pool and digging in the sand. Here are just a few of my favorite pics from the trip.
The view from our room. Beautiful! Carter enjoying the hammock.

More beauty. I just love how you instantly feel relaxed and happy when you see a palm tree!

We went to a local Farmer's Market on one of our first days to buy some fresh produce. Carter got to try his first coconut water....and he wasn't a fan.

But we loved it!

Later in the week we all went on a train tour (mostly for Carter since one of his new favorite words is "choo choo!" We had never been and it was fun to ride on the train, learn more about the local history, see the beautiful gardens and take turns feeding the wild pigs!

Grandma and Grandpa Vance on the train.

Just a sidenote: We had such a fun time with Matt's parents and were so thankful for the trip. They not only took us, but paid for lunches and dinners, helped watch Carter and gave me a break so I could lay out by the pool almost every day! Such amazing grandparents!!!

Carter chasing one of the wild chickens. He was obsessed with those and is now a little confused why they aren't running all over Bellingham.

Just lounging.

1st time touching the Pacific Ocean! In under 18 months he's gotten to feel both the Atlantic and Pacific!

Playing in the sand.

He loved the sand sprayer and probably would have stayed there longer if there weren't people waiting to use it!

Over the course of the week, Carter really got comfortable in the pool. He wasn't too sure the first day but after we bought him water wings he was treading, floating and blowing bubbles all by himself on the last day!

Best family picture of the week!

just because he's cute.

>> May 15, 2011

Just some random pictures from the last few weeks. Our family on Mother's Day. I had a delicious breakfast and took a nap later in the day. Pretty much perfect!

Carter wishing the sun would come out (seriously, this spring has been horrible!). Until then, he'll keep on wearing his winter hat.

Pretty sure he liked his breakfast.

And, the biggest news of all...Baby Vance #2 is on the way! I haven't had a chance to scan in the ultrasound picture so a pregnancy test picture will have to do. So far baby looks great and is expected to arrive around Dec. 15th! Yep...another December baby. We are so excited!!!

a day at the museum.

Because I work for a Hispanic organization I am lucky enough to get cinco de mayo off as a paid holiday (random, I know). So I decided to take Carter to the children's museum for a special day-o-fun! We spent about 2 hours just running around from each exhibit. It was so fun to watch his little eyes light up as he discovered something new!

We ended the day with a lunch date at Red Robin...just the 2 of us!

Thanks for a fun date Carter. Let's do it again soon!

our new backyard.

For the past 3 years our backyard has looked something like this. So...for Mother's Day, I asked Matt for a new backyard. I was sick of the mudpit.

He happily said yes (well..with a little convincing) and worked his butt off for 2 weekends tearing out the old grass and prepping for some new sod.

This is what it looked like after weekend #1.

Carter probably spent about 8 hours straight just watching. He had a chance to "help" for a while, but we quickly realized he was a better supervisor from the inside!

71 strips of sod, lots of sweat, digging in dirt and a little help from Matt's Dad (okay, a LOT of help) and ta-da! Our beautiful backyard!

We still need to finish some landscaping but for now it's pretty darn good. It was the perfect Mother's Day gift!

carter and his uncle.

>> May 3, 2011

Carter and I headed down to Puyallup last weekend for a quick trip to see an old friend from high school and get some pictures taken (will post those later!). We stayed at Matt's parents place and Grandma Vance quickly pulled out new toys to spoil Carter. His first lawn mower was the best summer toy ever! He LOVES it! The last few weeks Carter has been obsessed with watching people in our neighborhood cut their grass. He will literally sit still for 15 minutes and watch every little detail. Now, he can do the same thing! And he has. Every night. And all weekend long. Until he goes to bed. Uncle Adam stopped by for a visit. Carter quickly wanted in his truck. He wasn't too interested in "driving," but rather finding a snack and helping himself!

So, we took a break and had a snack.

Then it was time to get working. Carter "helped" Adam wash his truck....making sure to test the water bucket several times to be sure it still had enough water in there.