Seattle

We were able to spend a full week in Seattle at the beginning of the month...for some work, yoga, and some sight-seeing. Grammy and Grandpa were able to fly in for a few days to meet us and watch the boys for us so that was wonderful. The boys were pretty excited to see them. Here is W looking like a vagabond with his overflowing back pack ready to leave:

And they hit the ground running. First thing the next morning we dropped the boys and Mark and Jan off at the train station so they could head downtown. The boys went up in the Space Needle, went to a Children's Museum, saw the fish market, and visited the aquarium all on the first day.

There were lots of modes of transportation on this trip...but the favorite: riding on daddy and Grandpa's shoulders of course.


Giant Pacific octopus at the aquarium. I love how W has his hand on J's shoulder.



Geoff and I got to join up with them for part of the Children's Museum, fish market, lunch and the aquarium. I loved the aquarium.

The next day the weather was so much nicer. We dropped the "crew" off at the train station again while Geoff and I went to the Seattle auto auction for a tour. Then we met up at another bigger science center that the boys really enjoyed. They even saw their first 3D IMAX movie about space that morning. Mark and Jan said they were reaching out in front of them and kicking at the objects in the movie for parts. We returned back downtown for lunch and to enjoy the SUN. The boys being funny flipping their baseball hats to turn them into pirate hats:


The original Starbucks:


We ate at Robin Hood one night where J surprised us and wanted a hamburger. And he actually ate it. I wish I had a video of it because he was just eating it up, eating the fries in between, and then he stopped...thought about it...looked uncomfortable and announced "I'm full."

The weather was wonderful the rest of the trip. While I headed off to an all-day yoga training, Geoff, the boys and Mark and Jan went off for a harbor cruise. They really enjoyed seeing the sea lions.


And the next day Mark and Jan had to leave and Geoff and the boys continued seeing Seattle while I finished two more days of yoga training. They went to another 3D IMAX film about chimpanzees and elephants, drove to the Seattle Woodlands zoo, and took a train to Snoqualmie Falls.
Here are W and J snuggling with a dinosaur at the dinosaur exhibit at the zoo:

All is calm and quiet~

~until the dinosaur comes to life! RUN!

Looking awfully sweet on the train ride to the waterfall...

We moved on to Portland the next night to do some tax-free shopping in a big city (and eat PF Changs) before heading home. We ate great food, saw some fun things, and relaxed a little. It is so fun to get away from the day-to-day routine sometimes! Fun trip!

Some Preschool Projects

Aside from drawings and paintings, here are some of the recent projects the boys' did in preschool this year. Their class made a robot out of recycleable materials and won a little prize at the local college:

Some tie-dyed butterflies:

Pots they painted for....

...their bean plants (I forgot the official name). W's blossomed early (I asked him if he got a hold of some Miracle Grow but J's is catching up now:

Stain-glass fish made with tissue paper and wax paper (I love these):

Easter eggs made with rice:

Their basket weave-bags for Easter egg hunting:

They each grew wheat grass in an egg (do you see half the egg shell?) Funny, I didn't see that until the wind blew one over and it fell out and broke-hence only one wheat grass left for the picture:

Their milk carton houses...they had to learn their address to bring their carton home. The drawing below is W's family portrait...the big scribble toward the bottom is me with the baby in my belly:

J's quaint house:


J's tie-dyed shirt (I didn't even get a pic of W's yet)...before I washed them incorrectly and now they are PINK! Too bad their teacher's dryer was out because she normally finishes them for the class. But I must not have rinsed them long enough before I washed them:

Boy O' Boy it's a Girl!

We had our big anatomy ultrasound today and I was so anxious about it. I was so worried about the baby because I haven't felt any movement for four weeks or so and I haven't been sick for a few weeks either so I needed that reassurance that baby was OK.

We had to wake the boys up to get to the appointment (check-in at 6:45 a.m.) and I was so relieved to see the little heart beating! And to see the baby move! And while I was absorbed in that, Geoff was standing with his face right up to the screen (literally because he forgot his glasses) and said "it's a girl!" He did the same thing with the boys...he announced the baby's gender before the ultrasound tech could even look. So that was a fun surprise...I think I was expecting a boy again because that is what I am used to now.

Everything seemed fine for the measurements...what's funny is this is one of the first pictures the technician captured...

...with her hand blocking her face. But when the tech needed to see the hand to see the bones in the fingers...she refused to open her hands. Either of them. Then after she found what she needed...baby was all about showing her fingers (but still blocking her face):

It looks like she is propping her chin on her hand here:

So definitely feeling relieved to see she is busy kicking in there. They told me she was "a wild one" based on how much she was moving around and that I should feel her moving any minute now.

I know due dates are all approximations...but based on my dates the due date is Oct 18th, based on the first ultrasound measurements the due date is 7 Oct, and based on this ultrasound the due date is 12 Oct. I guess we will see as we get closer.
Geoff told the boys they couldn't name the baby "Gordon the Train" like they wanted since it was a girl...so J piped up that he wanted to name her "Skarloey" (another Thomas the train). I thought Skarloey was a boy train too but they probably know better than me.

I had my camera with me and J got a hold of it and was taking non-stop pictures...of the floor, of the bed, of my stretch marks, of the ceiling (he can't quite operate the camera yet) so the flash was going off non-stop while they were taking measurements. We were laughing because he was partly blinding us and partly making us feel like the paparazzi was in the house.

We are so excited to add this little one to our family.

Mighty Kites and Yoga Treats

The boys had a kite-making day at school yesterday...then caravaned over to the park to fly their kites and have a picnic lunch. The weather was amazing and I was impressed with their little kites. They flew great! I love that they used recycled stuff to make them too...

My camera wasn't functioning well...hardly any of my pictures were clear and my camera is dirty too. I could see speckles in my pictures on the blue sky...I thought they would be great when I took them, but when I zoom in most of the pics are a bit blurry. But still fun nonetheless.



I was late arriving due to my yoga class and wasn't sure what part of the park their class would be in. I was smiling when I saw a bunch of little people all standing their watching their kites fly.

And my "yoga friends" are so thoughtful. I thought it was my birthday or something the last two days...one friend brought me these little "After Shower Lotion Stars" that you rub on your belly after taking a shower to moisturize your skin and help with any pregnancy "itchiness" (they got a little messy lugged around in my yoga bag):


Then the next morning my friend brought in the cutest little note pad from a store I have been wanting to go to:



and another friend brought me a couple of all natural Arbonne candles. So nice!



Speaking of gifts, does anyone have any suggestions for gifts for teachers? I would like to get something for the boys' preschool teachers for the end of the year. I am new at this...what do teachers appreciate? Gift cards?

Just Shy of 5

The boys are growing everyday. I can't believe they are turning five in just three months!

I keep going into their closet and removing shirts that are too short and all the pants (I think we are at ten pairs) that have been completely torn out at the knees. I won't be buying the boys any shorts this summer. They will be wearing frayed jean shorts all summer!

We took these pictures outside to try to get some of the landscaping in the pictures. It is fun seeing the trees and flowers return for the spring.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was walking around thinking that everything was dead. Then our landscapers showed up and said everything was looking great...whaaat? And I swear the next day leaves were showing and little flowers were budding...and the yard started turning green. Which just confirms I don't have a green thumb at all. I can confidently say that I need to stick with planting pansies. That is about all I have managed to successfully grow! We have lots of weeding to do in some areas and we have a lot of cleaning up to do on the garage-side of the house.

The mulch/rocks etc. didn't last long with the dogs. Here is what it used to look like:

Katy's favorite spot is high up on the yard next to that black post to greet us and everytime she does it is like a mulch slide where everything rolls down onto the ground and mixes in with the rocks. It is a disaster. Geoff has been busy with the fence, and fertilizing all of our trees and bushes and trying to put larger rocks in place of the mulch to alleviate the problem.