A Sunny Saturday

We finally had an unplanned sunny Saturday in Seattle so we grabbed our Groupon for Remlinger Farms and jumped in the car. We figured it would be crazy busy and were prepared for the crowds but amazingly enough it was empty! We started with Nolan's favorite the choo choo train that went around the whole park.

We had the last seat on the caboose, Nolan loved watching the tracks.

Next we jumped in line for the boat ride. This was the only time that we had to wait in line all day (we were 3rd) and he wasn't too happy about that.

I think he would say that it was worth it.

To round out the transportation rides we did the electric cars next.

I kept trying to get Nolan to look at me for a picture. This is his "Mom, I'm driving here!" face.

We also made a quick stop on the school bus, he assigned Pat and I seats before taking his seat in the back.

Then it was onto the petting zoo. There were goats, chickens, pigs, donkeys, cows, emu, alpaca and bunnies (or as Nolan calls them hop hop hops). This place has everything!

I was so excited to see that Nolan could actually ride on some of the big kid rides as long as he had a parent with him. He tried the flying pumpkins with Papa.

Pat was feeling pretty dizzy right about now.

And Nolan was feeling dizzy here.

Then off to the roller coaster with mama.

What you don't see is my death grip on Nolan. He liked it but I was worried he would bump his head.

It was a pretty good day for all of us!

Mariners Take III

Nolan made his 3rd trip to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners play the Rangers. His first trip at 9 months old here and his 2nd trip here at 15 months old. This time we didn't need a stroller or a backpack he walked into the stadium all by himself. He was pretty excited to be there in person since he's seen many of the games on TV.

He did pretty good for a 2.5 year old. I didn't expect him to make it past the 6th inning but he made it to the 8th before wanting a change of scenery. I think having his own seat, some kettle corn and some free baseball cards helped with that.

After the game (which we lost) he got the chance to run around the bases. After waiting in a long line we finally made it out there.

He ran the bases with grandpa and did a great job hitting all three bases

before heading for home plate.

He talked about that moose the rest of the day.

Pat was so proud to see Nolan run those bases. I'm sure he's already counting down the days until Nolan is old enough for little league.

A/C

My mom brought us her old a/c unit just before the first heat wave of Summer hit. woo hoo! If you've been to our house on even a minimally sunny day you know why I am so excited. Our house gets HOT even if it's not hot outside. So when it is hot outside our house is unbearable. After 4 years of living here we still haven't figured out how to efficiently cool it down. Now that we have the a/c unit we don't have to worry about it. But we do have to worry about little hands playing with it.

He figured out how to remove the filter and turn it on and off pretty quickly. What we can't figure out is how he got graham cracker into the cooling unit?

4th of July

I almost forgot to post these!

We had a quiet 4th of July this year but still found time to enjoy the sunny day with friends.

It was actually warm enough to bring out the pool for the babies to splash around.

They cooled off with some patriotic Popsicles (lemonade with some red and blue berries)

We threw some hotdogs on the BBQ and ate a lot of red, white and blueberry shortcake before we did some child friendly fireworks.

Nolan was not a fan. He liked the pop its (the ones you throw and they crack) but didn't like the bigger ones. Pat was pretty disappointed, but I think next year will be another story. Here he is putting on a brave face.

And giving our decorative flag a bath a few days later.

Private Beach

This week has been full of meetings and appointments, which makes for a crabby toddler. When I read on Wednesday morning that it was the lowest tide of the month I grabbed the babe, our boots, the camera and a towel (I learned my lesson on our pumpkin patch hunt to bring a towel and a change of clothes, just in case). It started raining just as I was loading Nolan in the car but I figured even if we only end up driving around, at least we are out of the house.

We drove about 10 minutes from our house and found ourselves on a stretch of beach just as the sun came out. There was absolutely no one around the entire time we were there, quite a different scene then what was happening at Alki just a few minutes North.

I taught Nolan how to look for sea life under rocks, how to gently touch and put the rocks back when done. He took this job very seriously getting the rocks back exactly as he found them.

He loved the crabs that would tickle and pinch his hand.

I was ready for him to throw them or possibly try to eat it but he would gently put them back in their pools and yell "bye crabbies!" as he ran off to find a new rock.

Can you see the crab in this one? I'll give you a hint, if Nolan stretched out his pointer finger he would be touching it. I also got to try out the Macro settings on my camera with these tiny starfish we found under the rocks. I've never seen them this small, they were adorable! We also saw hermit crabs, anemone, and mussels. I couldn't believe how much there was to see.

Moments before this picture Nolan slid on the kelp bed he's standing on which was like a giant slip and slide. Thank goodness for the towel and that there weren't any rocks or sharp barnacles! No tears or anything, he jumped up and I got this picture.

We had a great day, and as we were leaving we watched as an eagle swooped down to grab a snack.

The wheels on the bus

Nolan recently became interested in all modes of transportation. Buses, trucks, trains, plans and helicopters make him yell in excitement. He calls them choo choos or sometimes bee beeps depending on their size. So when my friend Jodi recommended we take a but to the West Seattle Street Festival I knew Nolan would be up for it.

He was so stoked waiting for the bus to come with his friend Dobry.

Once we got on he wanted to sit in his own spot. I had a death grip on his ankle the whole time but he seemed to really enjoy it.

We had a great time at the festival eating all kinds of fair foods and listening to music but the bus was the highlight of Nolan's day.

Photoshoot fail?

Pinterest is my all time favorite distraction! What started out as an inspiration file for work has taken over all aspects of my life including my family photography. I have a whole file of pictures I want to take of Nolan, even though I only have a simple point and shoot. Someday I hope to upgrade to something a little more fancy but for not it's working for me. Now if only my subject would cooperate!

This is one of many photos in my "dreamy photos" file. I figured with the right lighting I could make this happen since all it requires is a white sheet and a silly kid. I have both of those! So on a sunny, slow day I gave it a shot.

This was a good start but I needed to find better lighting. We switched to the backyard.

Ok the lighting is better but the subject trying to crawl out. Plus the cat in that hat tattoo is just too distracting. I decided to scrap this shoot for another day, a day when the tattoo had washed off!

I guess Cortez had other plans, he dove right into that sheet and had a great time.

Look at those eyes, he's working it!

I guess I did get some great shots after all.

Photo courtesy of Pink Sugar Photography.

Museum

We meet up with Yaya and the Revards at the Everett Children's Museum. That place is crazy but so perfect for kids. There are a million different activity centers there from reading nooks, play farms, post office, veterinary office, airport, and on and on. Nolan didn't know where to go first so we ended up running in circles checking out everything.

He thought the glow in the dark toys were pretty fun.

He didn't like the farm area quite as much. Here he is wanting off the tractor

and wanting off the fake sheep. Sorry the red eye got a little nutty, it does that sometimes in low light.

What did he like? The water station of course.

And this elaborate ping pong ball maze where you put a ball in an air shoot and it goes through pipes in the ceiling and down this wall. That's the best I can do to describe it as it was quite the set up. I thought it would be too complex for him but he caught on pretty quick and loved to put the ping pong ball in the pipes and then watch them find their way back to him.
He also loved the train set. He went back to this exhibit more then anything else event hough you couldn't touch them.
There was also a roof top deck with the biggest jungle gym I've ever seen. Nolan hiked all the way to the top of the 2 story slide with the big kids and down he came. Such a brave little dude!