Kicking off summer!

We took a few road trips around Western Washington and saw some beautiful sites! We love being able to jump in the car and drive...something we missed the last couple of years.

Happy 7th Birthday Ellie!

Ellie turned 7 today. We celebrated with a family party. She is growing up so quickly!!

Mother's Day 2010

We had a great day together as a family. Chris and the kiddos took me to church and then out to Brunch. Eating out with a baby can be challenging but Ben slept through the entire Mass and was a super happy but hungry baby at breakfast. I am thankful and feel very blessed! (Earlier in the week Cate's preschool had a Mother's day tea. They sung songs for us and served us tea and treats. It was very fun and Cate did a great job!)

Apple Blossom 2010

I took the kiddos home to celebrate one of my favorite things growing up- Apple Blossom! It is a 2 week festival in my home town that consists of 2 parades, a carnival, and a food/craft fair to celebrate the start of the fruit season. The first weekend has the "kiddies" parade. I decided to enter the kids and be part of the fun this year (since we finally live close enough). I was in the parade every year growing up and I have great memories of it. My parents and brother are very involved with the festival so that was even more of a draw to go home and see what they were doing. The theme was "Cruzin through the Decades" so we dressed up in different outfits (50's. 60's, 70's, and 80's). My mom had a friend make a 66 Ford Mustang cutout to put over Ben's wagon and we were ready to go. Needless to say it was great fun! I look forward to returning again next year!!!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

We went up to the beautiful Skagit Valley (North of Seattle) to the Tulip Festival. It was so much fun and something I had wanted to do for a long time! It is amazing to see the flowers in person. My pictures do not do them justice. The girls loved the pinks and purples and really liked the contrast of the yellow and reds. Ben enjoyed the mud puddles and tried out as many as he could.

Happy Birthday Chris!!

Chris celebrated his birthday with a trip to Lopez Island to visit his mom and her husband. The girls were on Spring break so it was a great road trip for us. Lopez Island is beautiful and we all enjoyed riding the ferry from Anacortes. We even saw a seal while we were watching from the upper deck.

Happy Easter 2010

The Easter Bunny managed to find us in Wenatchee this year. Ben loved getting in on the egg hunting action this year. We had a wonderfully sunny day with nana and papa even though it was dumping snow in the mountains. Quite a different weather pattern than we enjoyed last year.