Camping at Lincoln Rock State Park and Seattle Heat Wave

I managed to take absolutely no pictures on our camping trip. I think this was the most challenging trip ever with Jack and Avery. As Annie and Kraig say, children at this age have negative sense. Kraig says they have mobility without judgement...a very dangerous combination!! What that meant for all the adults is that someone had to have their eyes on the babies every single second. We all had a great time, even in the 100+ heat. I suppose it was just preparing us for the heat we were about to experience back home. Jack and Avery did very well and that's considering that they both came down with Hand, Foot and Mouth virus on the trip. They had blisters on their feet, rashes all over their arms and legs, and big huge sores in their mouths.

The worst trauma they experienced on the trip was 10 minutes into their first nap. We had put their pak 'n plays in the shade in the grass. Promptly at 10am, the sprinklers turned on (full force) and sprayed them right out of their sound sleep. That was the end of their nap. Poor babies, but it is pretty funny in hindsight.

Although we didn't manage to get pictures, there are some videos.

Jack playing in the pool at our campsite at Lincoln Rock. He now jumps like this in his backyard kiddie pool, in his crib, and even on the living room floor.


Avery playing in the dog's water dish



Jack and Avery driving the boat while it's parked at the campsite. This is the closest they came to riding in the boat on the water...


Claire, Annie and Lillie tubing. All was well until they asked to go faster. I guess Lillie told Stef that her life jacket didn't work because her head got wet!! It sounds like they recovered fairly well from the unexpected submersion.



This week in Seattle has been hotter than ever, literally. We had the hottest day on record on Wednesday. The airport reported a temp of 103 degrees. Our outside temperature gauge at our house got up to 107. Anyway, our friends Angelica and Stefan and their girls Stella and Fiona came out to beat the heat with us. It was a fun time and we got some cute pictures of the four kids.

Breakfast one morning (Jack, Avery, Fiona, Stella)
All four in the Learning Tower at the kitchen counter (Avery, Fiona hiding in the back, Stella and Jack)
Getting ready to brave the heat in the back yard (Avery, Stella, and Fiona)

Testing out the new and so far unused potties. (Avery, Jack, Stella and Fiona)

Jack, Avery, Stella who is intrigued by the camera, and Fiona who is intrigued by the inner workings of the potty chair

Everyone in the car taking Angelica and the girls home (Stella on the left and Fiona on the right)

Two down and two fading fast...

Thank you Angelica, Stefan, Stella and Fiona for hanging out and helping us get through the stifling heat. It's always more fun with friends!!

Alaska Cruise

We just returned from a 7 day cruise to Alaska. We stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Prince Rupert. The weather was cool and a little sunny and we stayed dry for the most part. Jack and Avery did really well on the boat and enjoyed running up and down the long halls. The photos are in no particular order.
We took a 3 hour train ride while in Skagway.

A view of town from the train

An old railroad track that was retired in 1959, thankfully.

more Skagway

Suzie, Katie and Regina enjoying the train ride

Avery and Jack on the train

The boat had a toddler room that Jack and Avery enjoyed quite a bit. We spent a lot of time here and it had a great view.

Hanging out in Juneau

Downtown Juneau

Avery in Ketchikan

Jack in Ketchikan. It was a little chilly so they were all bundled up

Court and her babies in Ketchikan

More fun in the toddler room on the boat

Getting on the boat in Seattle

The closest we ever got to a glacier

Those black spots on the ice are seals

Leaving Seattle for Alaska

Having a snack when we first arrived in our room

Rachel Alexandra and New York City

Stef and I really did it. We flew to New York City to watch Rachel Alexandra win the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park. And THEN we were non stop in the city. We traveled by plane, train, automobile, taxicab, pedicab, subway, and bus during the three days we were there.

Stef made a video of all the highlights. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Courtney!

Happy Birthday Courtney! Here's to your last year of your 30's!! We had a great evening. Nana and Grandpa came out and watched the little ones so that Court, Stef and I could go out to dinner to celebrate. We went to Sushiman in Issaquah which was a huge treat. It was nice to have adult conversation without being interrupted by having to remove crayon from Avery's mouth or sit Jack back down in his high chair or quickly push the glass of pop out of their reach...

Happy girl getting ready to open her birthday presents.

Contemplating the thought that next year is the big 4-0, yikes.

Cool shirt from Nana and Grandpa

Jack and Avery only took one nap today and when we were headed out for dinner they were already showing signs that they were tired. This is what we came home to...

And, not to be left out are Katie and Ally. I came downstairs from putting J&A down for their naps to find this...

Katie is an opportunist and she knows where to find the goods. This is the tower that Jack and Avery stand in a lot to eat snacks. They end up leaving a lot behind and around their tower and Katie knows it.

Katie wishing her legs were a little longer or her tongue was a little longer, either would be fine.
And here is Ally with her new Invisible Fence collar. She has proven to be very adept at escaping our fully fenced yard, so good that we had to invest in another fence to keep her in. She no longer escapes, thankfully.

Ice Cream!!!!

We spent the day visiting family down at Lake Tapps today. It turned out to be a nice day for the lake. I wasn't thinking and didn't pack swimsuits or life jackets for Jack and Avery which would've helped since they wanted to hang out at the lake shore most of the time. Thankfully there were a lot of people there to round up babies and make sure they didn't go for an unsupervised swim.

There's a first for everything and today was Jack and Avery's first ice cream cone. They've had ice cream, but never in a cone. It was a hit. Both of them ate every last bite.

My dad hopped in this boat like he knew who it belonged to so I followed along. Jack fell in love with it and never left the driver's seat and never took his hands off the wheel, either! Auntie Donna came down to tell us that food was ready and Dad asked whose boat it was and she said it was the neighbor's boat....oops.

A couple of pictures from the 4th of July. We headed to Burien for the parade. I don't think it has changed a bit since I was a kid.

Hanging out in the shade in the new wagon. It was a hot day, so they had the best seats around.

Maren, Preston, Lillie and Hansen enjoying the parade

Dad and I made a beeline for the cool and shade of home. At this point I was dreading pulling the wagon up the hill to Mom and Dad's house. I got lucky and Dad was kind enough to do most of the pulling.

Jack patiently waiting from someone in the parade to hand him more candy.

During the 90 degree days, we met some friends at a city park in Bellevue that has water toys. Auntie Stef joined me and helped corral babies.