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Colin, Emilie & Molly

They make me laugh everyday...

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

keep calm...

This morning was hard.
Lots of thoughts sprinted from one side of brain to the next.
While I was dealing with my thoughts and ignoring my children my youngest was dealing with her own issues her own way.
Covering them with bandages that have the perfect message.


 Molly still has no idea how perfect her message was.
When I woke up this morning I had to decide if I was going to start a new business. Which I did
And  how to deal with a sick parakeet.
The parakeet (Birdie) I love, very much.
 I wasn't sure how to put a price tag on her and take her to the vet $
I know that sounds awful but I am being honest.

WE love her.
She is very special to us and
she has brought a lot of joy to us.


I ended up taking her to the vet today and in the end found out our time with her is very limited.
that sucks...
Death sucks...

We love you Birdie
and I'm sorry we will have to say goodbye.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

It was a haul...

For the last couple of years Doug and I have celebrated our anniversary by going on a hike with our kiddos somewhere around Mount Rainier.
This year for our 8th anniversary we packed up the family and headed out to get a closer look at the giant Mountain we see everyday behind our home.
This years drive was 100 times easier then years past. One year I was pregnant with Molly and the next two years Molly would cry and cry in her car seat. 
This year the whole trip was fun not just the hiking part.

To get to the mountain for us we drive up hwy. 410, then turn off onto the very beautiful hwy 123 which not only frames amazing views of the mountain

 but also takes you threw some awesome tunnels.


Reflection lakes

And then finally Paradise.
On this small ridge you can start hiking and then visit the Paradise inn and the Henry M. Jackson Memorial visitor Center.

It was such a beautiful Pacific Northwest day and the temperature was a perfect 71 degrees up at 5400ft. 

All Emilie wanted to do was play in the snow and honestly I thought this was as far as we would go.

I was wrong. 
See the trail behind the girls.
We followed it as far as we could.


These stairs are amazing
Can you imagine building this staircase?
That is some serious dedication to this park and the folks that visit it by the people who did.

Still going up...

For most of the hike Emilie would run ahead and we would have to tell her to wait for us.
At this point in the hike we where at about 6000 feet.
Little miss has some amazing lungs and legs.

It felt so amazing to be this high up and to be able to share it with my kids.
Even they where blown away by the beauty of the views and the land we where walking on.

At one point in the hike Colin turned around and thanked Doug and I for picking such an awesome place to live.
That's Mount Adams behind them

I tried the entire hike to get a good group shot.
This is as good as it gets...

We almost made it to Panorama point (the folks behind Colin) which is at 6800 feet but little toes and hands where starting to get cold.
We started at 5400 feet and almost went 6800 feet. 
That is awesome for a 6, 4 and 2 year old!

Doug took this picture of me with his iPhone. 
He thought my power stance was sooooo funny.
He's right I am really funny looking. I wish I had more of these kind of pictures.

Here is the picture I was trying to taking.

You can see the trail we hiked up.

Power hiker Emilie



Colin with Mount Adams in the back ground.

Molly got a free ride down the mountain.

I let her run free one last time before we finished the hike.
If you look real close you can see Colin and Emilie off to the right.

She mostly wanted to just run threw the puddles.
The snow was old news.

Emilie free to be...


The kiddos wanted to do one more short hike to Edith creek falls.
This is where we hiked to last time.



The park was doing a survey on tail use and for doing it they gave the kiddos stickers.
The stickers really summed the day up.


Living in Northwest can get pretty depressing at times with all of the rain, clouds and rain.
We start to forget the reasons we have for living here.
And just when you think you can't take anymore
the sun shows up and we remember why we live here.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

trying to be better...

The kiddos and I spent Monday and Tuesday at my sisters hanging with my niece {who is 18} Allie.
Tuesday morning the kiddos and I headed out to go spend some much need time in the sun until I realized  that I forgot to bring shoes for Colin.
I know, I know! 
How do I forget shoes for one of my kids. Its actually very easy to do. I've forgotten shoes at least once for each of my kids.
At home I park in the garage and my kids usually run out to the car barefoot. Because of that I usually have a spare pair in the car. 
With all of the trips we have been on lately my car is taped dry of spare shoes. 
Off to Target we went before we headed to the park.
And yes my son was at Target barefoot in a shopping cart.
And yes I am sure I wasn't at Walmart.
A special treat for Emilie and Molly was that all of the shoes where on sale.
Today I watched my girls drool over shoes and I quickly realized that  they still love their SeeKaiRun shoes that they worked super hard for, but in the end you can't beat Dora and Belle {and two of her friends}



Colin picked out some fantastic Converse All Stars and we where on our way to St. Edwards park in Kirkland.
Years and years ago when I first moved to Washington I nannied for some amazing families. One of those families had two boys that loved this park. We would spend hours here and I always imagined spending hours here with my own kids.
Today I finally got to!!
Years and years ago is was free to play here. Now it is $10! 
With that said the kiddos and I spent 3 1/2 hours here playing, biking and hiking.
I think. I know we go our moneys worth.






This amazing building is at the heart of the park

The second leg of our adventure was bikes and strollers.
Molly got a kick out of herself and her stroller pushing skills.

Third and the longest leg was the hike.
The kiddos did great.
Molly and her amazing talent with accessories looked great hiking with her pearls.

This would be my new favorite picture if Colin wasn't blurry. :-(

Even with my under prepared shoes the hike was perfect and my feet felt amazing.
 Thank you Chaco's!!

What would have these kiddos so interested?
Spiders web? Maybe.

Can you see it?

No.
Can you see the tiny green worm moving down the stem?
That's what got them so excited.

After such an action packed afternoon we needed some very cold ice cream.
I love how my two little book ends just love their ice cream and how my sweet little middle child feels she needs to analyze hers.


The rest of the day was spent riding bikes with friends and fun baths in Auntie's giant bath tub.


Happy trails!

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