Exploring

This morning me and the boys decided to go exploring. We missed Salmon Days last weekend and heard such fun stories that we decided the salmon hatchery would be our first stop of the day. We were not disappointed!

There was a ton of info about the salmon all around the hatchery that Nolan wanted me to read. For some reason he was VERY interested in how and why the salmon die. This little interactive tool showed how rough it is for a salmon by demonstrating how many obstacles they have to cross to get to their destination. You turn the wheel and the little coins fall into a spot saying you were eaten by a raccoon, or you got stuck in the ballard locks. Only 1 or 2 of the coins would fall in the you made it to the ocean piece. I definitely would not want to be a salmon, it sounds pretty rough! There were also a bunch of Salmon experts there and Nolan had a ton of questions for them. What do salmon eat (bugs when they are small, shrimp when they are big), how old are they, how much do they way, when is their birthday?

I love this phase, especially when there is someone else to answer all the questions!

There were salmon everywhere, and they were so big! I have lived here my whole life and honestly had no idea our local salmon were so gigantic. They were really impressive. They look so tiny in this picture though.

Nolan's favorite part was the salmon balloon that he named Sam.

My favorite part was watching the fish try to jump over this dam. It was made to keep them out so there was no way that they would be successful but I kept cheering for them. This sockeye(??) was pretty close.

The kids were pretty impressed with it for a while but then it was time to move on.

This is what i get when i ask Nolan to look into the camera...ugh!

We were searching for a bakery to grab something quick when we stumbled upon these historic train cars and a train museum!

As we were exploring, this historic trolley pulls up and says they are giving rides today...um yes please! Nolan had lots of questions for the conductor. How old is this trolley? (made in 1925), what's it's name? (Linda J.), where does it come from? (Portugal), etc, etc. The conductor was so sweet and answered all of Nolan's questions.

Nolan is learning about how the steam whistle works. We learned that 2 whistles means go and 1 means stop.

I didn't have to ask Nolan to smile here, he was so genuinely happy, I don't think he could stop smiling!

We didn't find a bakery (oh how I miss you bakery nouveau!) but we did stop for lunch at the brewery and the kids did great there as well! It was a great day, I want to clone it and do it again next weekend.

Hockey Player

I wish I knew more about hockey to come up with some witty title but that is the best I could do. Our house is just a few blocks from a really nice ice rink so we figured we should let Noli give hockey a try. It's so convenient, and we figure he might as well have the basic skills down. So when we learned that they offer free hockey lessons once a month we were all in. I brought Olivia along because I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get pics of Noli in all that padding. Too bad Olivia was acting up and not focusing correctly...boo!

Oh well! Noli, still looked so cute all padded up. 

 His first step on the ice.

He preferred to make snow/ice angels instead.

Or get pulled around by the older kids.

And...he's up!

He loved to play goalie too, notice the big smiles.

A solid hour sitting on ice and he was ready to go, but he was still smiling! We're pretty sure we will be signing him up for actual lessons pretty soon. We'll see...

iPhone Offload: Moving Edition

Nolan working on his "I will die if you make me eat that face".

boxes boxes everywhere!

We spent a lot of time in the car driving back and forth from the old house to the new house. Miles' routine was all messed up from that and still is!

Moving day...finally!

One last lap in an empty house.

Sampling the garden tomatoes.

Funny hair day

Day 1 at the new house. We were all feeling a little out of sorts. 

Miles' playing while brother does OT.

Elevated ice cream!

View from the Port Townsend cabin.

I forgot to pack a bib, a very necessary item when it comes to Miles. So we improvised with a kitchen towel and some tongs.

Nolan is picky, even on vacation!

First day of school.

Miles got his very own booster seat so he could sit up at the breakfast bar with Nolan. 

Renton is CRAZY for the Seahawks. I mean Seattle is nuts but Renton is plastered in Seahawks stuff...everywhere! So when we found this giant poster of Pat's boyfriend on Nolan and my date night we had to get a pic with him.

In the movie theater.

This is the view from my commute to Nolan's school. It's only 4.5 miles from our house but somehow takes 20 minutes, no traffic. I have named this phenomenon "country miles".

Miles was eating a string cheese, stole my string cheese and drank his milk. And yes he finished all 3. 

And of course this happened, 1 week after moving. I begged him not to start walking until we moved, so I would only have to baby proof 1 house and he obliged. After this, he didn't walk at all until his party(almost 2 weeks later), where he was a walking machine. And now he is officially walking.

House Updates

Here's a progress report of where we are with the house 1 month in. I think we've made a lot of progress, although the to do list is till pretty long! The before pictures are not mine, they are from the listing or appraisal report. I never did find the time to take pictures before we got to work.

Outside before:

Outside After: We were hoping to paint the exterior this year but it got bumped. Luckily a good pressure washing made it look quite a bit better so we aren't in as much of a rush...which is good cause we are worn out on picking paint colors. (plus it gives me time to convince pat that we should go dark as in navy) We also swept up all the dog hair, years of cobwebs and fixed the screen door that I LOVE. I'll try to get a shot of the whole house once it stops raining but I love the little covered porch area transformation.

Playroom Before: I love that the room with all the guns became our playroom. The previous owners had adult children and therefore didn't need a play/family area so it became their dining room.

Playroom After: Now it's a crazy place just for the kids! We eventually want to move our big sectional and tv in here so its more of a family space and not JUST for the kids. Plus the acoustics in the living room where the tv currently sits are pretty bad. For now, having separate spaces works for us. And yes, this is as clean as it gets.

Bedroom #1 Before: Just a little outdated, but nothing too bad. The carpets are pretty sad and will need replacing.

Bedroom During:

Nolan's Bedroom After: He requested a green bedroom which haunted me for weeks. Green is so hard! Either it's too green or too yellow. I finally found this color (dill pickle by Benjamin Moore) and was pretty happy with it. The during picture is much more accurate to its real life color, I guess its not quite so bright. Nolan was happy too, although he also asked for a rainbow ceiling and was mad that we didn't deliver on that.

Master Bedroom Before: 

Master Bedroom During:

Master Bedroom After: This room makes me incredibly happy. As promised we worked on this room first because we usually leave it for last and it never gets done. Therefore our room is the closest to being done, minus some finishing touches. The color is Sparrow by Benjamin Moore and it came out perfect. I love deep colors for bedrooms as it makes it feel like a cozy cave, perfect for sleeping. I would like to add crown moulding and possibly paint the ceiling down the road but that would be way down the road. We took out all the lighting in the bedroom and bathroom as it was so terrible. I mean, I sure it was amazing in the 80s but pink glass lights just aren't for us so they were the first to go. I installed the light fixture that used to be in our old house's dining room bought a few new pieces like the lamps and curtains. Everything else was already ours. It came together so nicely...I regret not doing it sooner! Again, the during photo is more accurate to its real color, blasted rainy days ruining my pictures!

Master Bathroom Before: There are 2 pictures so you can really enjoy the lovely floral wall paper that was promptly removed.

Master Bathroom After: The color is called Smoke by Benjamin Moore and is a light but not baby blue. This room still has a ways to go, although I've hit the decorating equivalent of writers block...I'm uninspired I guess you can say. The pink counter top is in need of some love as well as the beige toilet and bath tub surround. But the vanity was painted white and I have hardware to install soon.

Side yard Before: This is Pat's baby. What originally we planned to use as extra parking quickly converted into a covered play area.

Side yard After: Pat threw this together on Friday night, I was pretty impressed! The kids have used this area a lot already so I am grateful to have a place for them to play even when the weather isn't so great. We want to paint the beams, shed that is next to this area and pressure wash the roof so it really shines but for now it looks pretty good for a former tractor shed. 

The rest of the house I will have to wait for a sunny day to get pictures as the ones I took came out all wrong. So this is half the house, 1 month in! :)