Snow in Seattle!

Our kids have been DREAMING of SNOW for the longest time! They were excited about moving during the winter, because then they might have the chance to finally see some snow! Well, lucky for all of us - we woke up this morning to SUNSHINE AND SNOW! It might as well have been Christmas all over again! We played with our neighbors in the ally behind our house, and even gave Aspen's sled (she requested for her birthday) a few runs down the slope in the ally way! They made angels and snowballs, and played until they were cold and needed to go inside for a cocoa break. Snow really is magical! We can hardly wait to take them sledding up in the mountains!

Outings // Jetty Island

There's not much to say about Jetty Island...

other than

It's pretty dreamy

and 

we love it!

especially with some of our

very favorite friends :)

We spent a whole day at Jetty Island and it was a day to remember. Perfect weather, warm, shallow water, girls in ruffly swim suits, boys pretending to be pirates and sword-fighting with sticks. Seriously a perfect day. One that made me think of how much we will miss our friends and our beaches when we head South. We kept all the kids out all day and skipped any sort of naps while the broker's open house was had in our home. It was a Wednesday. The house was officially listed that Monday. The formal open house was Saturday and Sunday. The kids and I left on Friday to steer clear and try to relax and enjoy a visit with family before moving to the other end of the country. I may be rambling, but that is true to how my brain is working at the moment. It's late. I just booked 3 hotels to stay in on our long 5 day drive from Seattle to Austin. It's really happening! AND our house sold in ONE WEEK! They offered the full price. Really? Miracles DO happen. Things are rolling right along and it's all becoming more real that we're going to start packing up boxes in just a few short days (we've had a couple of friends from church move recently and they are giving us TONS of boxes, what a help!) Anyway...today it all kind of caught up to me and I started feeling stressed out. I like to run away sometimes when I'm feeling really stressed out - but instead of running away I did lots of laundry and unpacked from our 9 day trip to Oregon. And then I booked hotels. And got quotes for rental insurance (we're doing a 6 months lease at an apartment while we look for a house). Yikes. My head is spinning and I should really be sleeping. But as I wind down my chores this evening I couldn't help but look back at these images. Such a breath of fresh air. A day at the beach to me with some of my favorite people is just about as perfect as a day can be. We will have to sneak in a few more beach days before we drive off into the sunset :)
 For now, goodnight!

Outings // Matthews Beach

To celebrate Hazel being 6 weeks old, we took her to the beach to have her first little dip in Lake Washington. Matthews Beach is one of our favorites, and it was such a perfect afternoon, humid and warm, that it was just perfect. She got a lot of compliments on her swimming suit, too :)  

For the record, at her 6 week check up she weighed in at 8lbs 11oz, 20.5 inches. She's still tiny but she is growing growing and healthy healthy, super happy and alert. I know I am biased, but I think she's a very pretty baby. I love her glossy, bright eyes! We still have no clue as to what color they will be eventually, but it's a fun guessing game! 

We dipped her little feet and legs in a few times and the first time she grimaced, but after that she seemed to rather enjoy it. Her sister and brother sure did! There's nothing I love more than hanging at the beach, watching my children play in the water and sand. I love it when they're covered in sand: a true sign of a good time had at the beach!

Aspen was in her own little world, playing with the little waves made by motorboats and jet skis out on the lake. She would do this little run, almost like a little dance, as it crept up to her feet. Back and forth and back and forth. 

Sawyer always makes sure we bring the sand toys along. Especially, his trucks. 

Nothin' like a good puddle jump!

After her little dip, Hazel just enjoyed taking it all in. She loves to watch her big brother and sister and I am quite certain she sits there thinking about the day she can join in the fun. 

I have to say I think the thing I will miss the most when we move will be all of our beaches. Oh, how we will miss them!

Outings // Magic in the Market

Last year we had so much fun, we decided to go again!

I had been looking forward to this event for a couple of weeks. The weather was even perfect - at first we had bundled the kids all up, and we ended up taking our jackets off because it was nice and warm. Well, relatively speaking.

I had also been super excited about the kids seeing Santa - and had tried to prep them in advance so they wouldn't be afraid. This Santa is my favorite in the city. Truly, the best Santa I've ever seen, and so sweet. Anyway, we had talked about how they could sit on his lap and he would say "and what would you like for Christmas?" and they knew the answers...and that they would get a candy cane. And I had picked out a cute little festive dress for Aspen to wear with her cute furry boots and hat - and in the end - 

Aspen was TERRIFIED of Santa. Which, in turn, made Sawyer nervous.

oh well?

Seriously, though. I just had to scratch the cute little picture I had in my head and settle for the reality, ya know? Aspen is such a happy, easy-going girl it was almost un-nerving to see her so upset. Kind of funny, too - but in a sad way. I don't know if it's the suit or the beard, or what - but she didn't even make it to his lap. Santa did, however, still give the girl a candy cane. He's just nice like that.

I decided to say hello to the Big Man myself. I thanked him for being patient and sweet with my screaming girl. And easy on the boy. I also thought maybe if the kids saw me talking to him (I didn't sit on his lap) maybe they'd see that it's really not so tough. I have a soft spot for Santa, afterall. 

Aspen sure enjoyed that candy cane - from the comfort of her stroller. But Sawyer slowly warmed up. He still needed some moral support, but he wanted to go tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. I asked him how it went. He said "I told him I want a snowy owl" And what did he say? 

His face totally lit up "he said he would put it on his list!"

Well, of course! Little does Sawyer know that Santa has already delivered it to his Mama for safe keeping until Christmas morning!

The next couple of shots are rather random. 

Walking up from where we parked on the waterfront, we walked up and through Post Alley to the market - and by the infamous Wall of Gum. Aspen was super curious. Sawyer didn't want to get near it. Jacob thinks it's gross. I think it's cool. It's all good :)

One of the funniest moments EVER occurred after we saw Santa, and while we were killing time until the carols started and they turned on all the lights. Sawyer wanted to see the "fish throwers" (they're kind of famous, too). So we did. Aspen was squirming and trying to wriggle out of her stroller because she wanted to run off and get lost walk instead of be confined to her seat. The fish-thrower walked right over to her with a big fish, and he makes the fish talk to her (it's almost like a show, if you've ever seen these guys throw fish before) and the fish said "what do you think you're doing?" And she sat sooooo still. I was sure she was going to burst out in worse tears than when she saw Santa, but she just sat as still as could be. 

We also met up with some friends, and went to get a pastry to kill more time. We enjoyed a couple of street musicians, but this guy was my favorite. Check him out - he was singing, smiling, playing the guitar, playing the harmonica, and hula hooping all at the same time! And sounded really good! I, quite simply, am not so talented. 

And then we went back to listen to the Dickens Carolers and count down to the lighting of the market for the holidays. 

Once again - magic. We topped it off with dinner on the Waterfront where we could see the ferries coming and going out the window. I do love Seattle!

We are looking forward to a truly magical holiday season this year. If you can believe it, I have 100% of my Christmas shopping done, so I get to just relax now and enjoy the season through the eyes of my children. Our advent calendar was stuffed with goodies today and my list of activities for each day is almost complete. Sawyer asks every day if it's Christmas yet. We did trim the tree, and have been playing Christmas music...it is going to seem like a long wait for a very excited little boy. Hopefully as we preview each day the evening before, as we read by candlelight - another favorite tradition - it will help him enjoy the wait. One of my VERY favorite traditions is coming up this weekend - the Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition down by Westlake Center. This Friday night! Be there, or be square! Seriously, I just love this event - one of my all-time favorites! I think this will be our fourth year!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Outings // Seattle Aquarium

Our friends invited us to spend the morning with them at the Aquarium (thanks, guys!)

Most of the Aquarium is inside or in tunnels where it's poorly lit (on purpose - then you get to see the bright colors and cool glow of a lot of the fish!) It is poor lighting for photos, so I didn't take many. I thought maybe we'd try for one of the four kiddos together, looking all happy and such...but it just didn't work. Some days are like that (most days!) - so here is a shot of the four of them, doing their "thing" - Sawyer and Forrest looking like "why do we have to stand here for this?" Sawyer making some sort of strange noise - really loud - and the littler ones, I think they had dropped an animal cookie through the cracks and were looking for it. Even if they don't look thrilled - they all had a really good time ;)

I accidentally paid the max amount of parking time, so when we were done visiting with the fish and sea animals - and our friends had to head out - I decided to take the kids to Ivar's - to EAT some fish ('n' chips). My mom brought me here when I was little, and her mom brought her when she was little. We've been to other "branches" of Ivars around the city, but this one is the classic - on the waterfront.

Feed the Seagulls, Please!

Quote for the day from Sawyer -

"I really don't want the seagulls to EAT me, Mommy.

(pause, a moment of thought)

Maybe they won't - because I'm TALLER than them!"

oh, and I don't want to forget the moment of the day, either -

Forrest loves to run his fingers through Aspen's hair. It is cute and sweet - and sometimes she doesn't mind, and sometimes she does - but it's pretty hilarious to see a 3 year old putting "the moves" on an 18 month old :) I always wonder if one day Aspen will have crushes on her brother's friends. As long as he keeps having such good friends, I'm okay with that ;)

Outings // Museum of Flight

Yesterday, directly from swim lessons, we went straight to the beach. The Blue Angels are in town for their annual SeaFair hurrah, and we wanted to make sure and catch their practice show.

Some friends met up with us at Madrona beach - it was the most crowded I've seen that little stretch of beach, ever. There were a ga-zillion boats out to enjoy the show, as well. Grown-ups sat in lawn chairs to watch up on the grass, and kids and their parents played in the sand and water while the Blue Angels soared above and before us. It was aaaahhhhmazing! And at times, breath-taking, as they reach speeds close to Mach 2. They boooom and zooom and leave your eardrums ringing!

After lots of fun in the sun, we went home for some naptime and then we went and picked Jacob up from work and headed down to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.

(a passer-by offered to take a picture so I could join my family...and the kids faces are cracking me up...they are like - who's the strange dude saying "cheese"?)

Generally speaking, Sawyer is a HUGE fan of cars. After he saw the Blue Angels and it dawned on him that they are even faster than race cars...he is now a big fan of jets. Check him out below, can you tell he's trying to sound like a jet, himself?

And here's our little Aspen, inspired by the history at the Museum, to spread her wings, and fly :)

I think Jacob was pleasantly surprised at how awesome this museum is. (I think he was wishing we weren't chasing after two little busy-bodies so he could've read all of the signs, etc. It is really that cool!)

We crossed the sky bridge and went outside to see the Concorde and Air Force One. We made the kids wait in a long line to hop on board Air Force One and check it out. Sawyer wasn't super excited to wait in line. At least he got to see airplanes taking off and landing while we waited :)

Aspen wasn't thrilled about waiting, either. She kind of ran around and was entertainment for everyone else in line, which made her happy. She also loved to see (and hear) the planes taking off and landing.

I had promised Sawyer that we could stop by the gift shop on our way out, so he could see if they had any toy blue angels. We were having such a great time looking through one of the galleries, that all of a sudden a voice said "it is now 9pm and the museum will be closing"...so we booked it over to the gift shop - which wasn't letting anyone else in. After I asked, the woman at the door heard me trying to explain to Sawyer...that we couldn't go in...(she no doubt saw how upset he looked) and she said "hey, come here - I have 3 kids of my own and I understand the importance of keeping a promise". I could have hugged her to pieces (almost). She let us sneak by, and we quickly found a F/A-18 Hornet and of course we let Aspen pick out a plane, too - and bought them, and quickly made our way out the door. The kids held their planes in hand, making plane noises, all the way home. In fact, they both even slept with them last night.

Hooray for the Blue Angels. It was an awesome day.

And now, it's friday. Last day of swim lessons was this morning, and Daddy came to watch. This evening we are headed out to the Magnuson Park Amphitheatre to see Creme Tangerine, a great Beatles' cover band we try to see every summer. It's not as warm as yesterday, but we will bundle up a bit and enjoy a bit of dancing and our picnic as we listen to them play all of Abbey Road.

Happy Weekend, all!