Seattle Children's Museum

On Wednesday we decided to head to the Seattle Children's Museum. We've really been enjoying this time with Daddy being home. I know it's funny to think of unemployment as a blessing, but it really has been for our family right now. I don't know what I would have done without Michael being home after Ella was born. So we are taking advantage of this time because we are praying that Michael will get a job soon.

The nice thing about the museum is if you have medical coupon you can get in for free. We packed a lunch too so we only had to pay for parking!

The boys weren't sure what was going on at first.

Once we got inside we jumped right into the fun. There was a little water area for the boys to splash in.


Jack had fun stacking blocks. I love these things...I could probably play with these for hours myself.


Silly boys!

In the outdoors nature area Owen had fun crawling through all the logs and caves.

Jack liked lifting the rocks to see what was under them.

This was by far the busiest area of the museum. It's called Cog City. There were all these plastic golf balls that you got to drop through tubes or in holes and see what happened to them.

In the city area there was a theater, grocery store, Mexican restaurant, post office, Metro bus and a firetruck. After all that we were ready to eat!

The look on his face totally reflects his attitude at the time. He was a little peeved because The Center House was having a special event and there were all sorts of bouncy toys he wanted to go on, but like I said before we were trying to save money. Also we have a coupon to Pump It Up in Tacoma so we were already planning on going there later this month.

Daddy fed Jack his PB & J sandwich so he wouldn't be such a mess. He's such a messy eater!

Ella slept the whole time...surprise, surprise! :) She did wake up to nurse during lunch and then it was right back to sleep in the Bjorn. The only thing that's been nice about the cooler weather we've been having is she's been able to wear her cute bear outfit more.

On our way out there was a guy making balloon animals. He's offered to make them for the boys. He rattled off over 20 animals asking Owen which one he wanted. After listening to all of them Owen picked a dinosaur. We had him make Jack a bear which ended up being perfect because it really looked like Mickey instead of a bear and Jack LOVES Mickey.

This was Jack 5 minutes into the car ride home. If you know my kids you know this doesn't happen very often. In fact I think the last time Jack fell asleep in the car was when we went to the zoo back in August. It was a fun day, but I have to admit I think part of the fun was that it was almost free. The museum wasn't all that great and it especially wasn't great enough to pay $7.50 per person for admission!!

Siblings

Hey I tried...two outta three ain't bad!

Over The River And Through The Woods!

On Tuesday afternoon even though it wasn't warm out it also wasn't raining so we decided to head down to Redondo beach to throw rocks.

The tide was out exposing the bigger rocks.

Owen was definitely more apprehensive...a lot different than this time last year.

Jack had fun finding big rocks, but didn't really want to get close enough to throw them in the water.


That is until Daddy helped him.


This is the only way we could get Owen close to the water. Once Daddy put him down this is what happened...



He was outta there!!!

So we decided to take a stroll along the beach instead.

Ella was snug as a bug in the Bjorn all bundled up. For all she knew we never even left the house.

After we were done playing at the beach and started getting irritated by all the wind, we wandered across the street to the park to play on the toys.

Owen wasn't really into that either so we set out on an adventure. First we found this trail...

Then we found another trail that led deeper into the woods.

We found this cute photo spot!

And then it was time to make the trek out.

The boys weren't ready to go home yet so Michael, Ella and I sat down on the park bench while they ran up the "ramp" aka a slightly sloped sidewalk.

Daddy tried to teach Owen how to climb up the chain ladder.

And the boys tried to delay the inevitable trip home by hiding out in the tunnel. It was fun being out and I can't wait for the warmer weather to get here. I really want to go hiking in the woods more this summer. It's such a fun free way to get out and spend the day...plus it's great exercise! I have no doubt that those trips will end the same way as this one did...with tears and Owen shouting, "I don't wanna go home!"

Follow The Leader!

Sometimes Owen and Jack play SO well together. This was one of those times. Owen was holding onto Jack's hand and leading him all around.

They were having so much fun.

Then Jack decided he'd rather play with his Sesame Street characters, but Owen wanted him to play with him some more. The video below is Owen asking Jack over and over to hold onto his hand again. At the end Owen thinks that if he raises his voice and says please really loud that Jack will give in. I love the tone Jack uses in his voice when he says no.



If you're checking this on FB you'll have to head over to my blog to view the video.

Tummy Time With My Sissy!

Jack really loves his sissy! He's always asking to hold and hug her. He kisses her all the time. And to think I was worried that he would be jealous!

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday we decided to go to the early service at our church and it was great. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be getting all 5 of us out of the house by 7:30 in the morning. It was totally worth it too. Church started at 8...breakfast was at 9:30 and then we were down at Ga-Ga & Pa's before 11:30. Normally we go to the second service and we don't get home until almost 1. It's always such a rush to get the boys to eat lunch and then get them to nap.

Picture perfect...they actually got up into this chair and sat together all by themselves!

This is the first time I've worn a skirt in forever. I wore it mainly because I can fit in it. I'm still carrying around an extra 10 -15 pounds of pregnancy weight and my wardrobe is severely limited right now. I'm now swimming in my maternity clothes, but my normal clothes are still a little too tight and uncomfortable. When Owen came into our room in the morning and saw me wearing this he had this funny look on his face and he said, "Mama what's that? Can I touch it?"


This is one of my favorite pictures of Owen and Pa! Owen LOVES his Pa!

It was so nice getting to see our family friends Jim and Norean since they didn't get to spend Christmas with us last year.

Uncle Ryan had a new special friend joining us this year. This is his girlfriend Stephanie. She's been such a blessed addition to his life. I've only spent time with her twice in person, but I swear we could probably talk for hours!

Ga-Ga gettin' sometime with Ella girl!

The Easter dress! Ga-Ga bought this for Ella back in January at JCPenny's. Ella also wore the petticoat that Aunt Jan made for the Tara dress, but I took it off and never got a picture of her wearing it. :(

Pa got this rocking horse...his name is Ed...back when Owen was a little baby. We had to take a picture of Pa holding Ella riding it because it reminded us of this picture of Owen and Pa at Owen's first Easter in 2007.

I think he knew that candy was coming...I'd say he's just a little bit excited!

Norean was excited also, but not for candy...she just wanted to hold our sugar bear or as I like to call her my snugger bear. Don't ask me where I come up with these nicknames...it just pops in my head and it fits.

Let's wrestle with Daddy!

The boys had fun getting into the Easter baskets that Ga-Ga got them. They both got two Veggie Tales DVD's (Ga-Ga actually forgot to put those in the baskets), a Bob the tomato filled with jelly beans, whopper eggs, mini M & M's and bubble blowers!

Ella hanging out with her new lamb and her paci. Out of all our kids she has been the most in love with a pacifier. Owen liked his mildly until he was 4 months old. Jack on the other hand looked at you like you were trying to give him poison anytime we tried to put on in his mouth. Ella really likes them, but when she's done she just spits it right out and falls asleep without it.

First Real Smile!

Today after breakfast we all had some fun playtime in the living room. Ella is still getting used to having what we call happy awake time. She's just recently started enjoying being laid on the floor and talked to. I was just talking to her and I asked her if she would smile for me and this is what I got!

Her first real smiles!!!

Below is a video I took after her first smiles...she just kept on smiling! Of course Jack wanted to get in on the camera action too.

Because Everyone Needs A Kiss From Ernie!

MMMWHA!

Sorry for the blurry picture...Ernie is a fast kisser!

Singing The ABC's

We've been working on getting Owen to actually sing his ABC's for a while now. I've had a feeling that he could do it all along, but that he was just embarrassed to sing them in front of us. The other day I was upstairs and I heard him singing it to the music of his frig DJ. I ran and got the camera and asked him if he'd sing them for me and he did!

The View From Here!

I haven't done one of these in a while and I don't think I've ever done one with pictures inside it's always been outside. Just a little glimpse at things I see quite often.

Ella and Mama chillin' in bed!

Watching TV...can anyone guess what we were watching? I'll give you a hint it was a Thursday night! The pictures on the left side of the doorway (master bath/closet) are pictures that were taken down at the pier when I was pregnant with Owen. The pictures on the right of the doorway are my belly pictures with each pregnancy.

My nightstand - Fan for white noise so I can sleep - Monitor so we can hear the boys crying - Reusable Starbucks cup my mom bought me.

Dresser across the room - Wedding pictures - Diaper basket - I Love You vase (gift from my friend Nikki) where I keep my rings and bracelets.

Pretty Pretty Princess!

I am really enjoying dressing Ella up...as if you all didn't notice!

The day before Ella was born I spent some time my friend Lori and we went to Value Village in Burien. I love that Value Village...it's the best! I always have luck find good deals and great quality stuff. That day I found this beautiful pink dress and since it was President's Day they were having huge sales so I got it for a whopping $2.50! I love a good deal!

On Sunday after church we headed down to Ga-Ga & Pa's house. We haven't been down to their house since right after New Years! It's been a crazy year so far and after having Ella most people were coming to visit us instead.

Such a sweet angel baby!