Jetty Island

This morning for Nature School, we fled the mainland.

We drove about 30 minutes north and caught a cute little ferry to Jetty Island. I heard about this little gem last year, but it was too late to go (it is only open a few months during the year), so I was thrilled when I heard we were headed there for Nature School! Thanks, Sara!

It.Was.Perfect.

(!!!)

Our lesson/activities/songs/games/art all centered around...SHARKS!

We all had a BLAST, and honestly, I could've spent a week there. It was super fun, warm (even the water was bath-warm) and most of all, totally relaxing.

The kids just ran and ran and got super sandy and dirty and wet wet wet. I changed Aspen's clothes 3 times because she just couldn't stay clean and dry. It's amazing how sand always seems to find all the nooks, crannies, and creases of the little people. We are used to sand at our house, but still, I am always amazed :)

We found part of a crab shell.

Some of the kids dug into the sand during low tide and made a little "swimming pool" which got a lot of use!

I have to admit, I even took a dip in it myself!

What little boy can't resist jumping off the mountains of sand?

(even if he's in his undies?)

I think this girl liked the "pool" best of all.

She would go running at it, make herself fall down and splash, and then get up and and say "more more more!"

What a great way to start the week!

We will surely be going back to Jetty Island

- and taking Daddy with us!

We're Back!

We got back late Tuesday night from a little Road Trip to visit my family in Bend, Oregon.

We soaked in all the sunshine we could and enjoyed every minute!

We had such a good time, in fact, that we pretty much wish we didn't have to come home. It was the first time in a looong time we felt like we truly got a break, you know, a breather.

It was nice that Jacob brought his guitar along and busted it out several times...it is always relaxing to know he gets to take a break and strum away (one of his loves) and no one around him complains when he does (guess that means he's not half bad :)

Okay...plan is to post at least a bit about Independence Day (my fave holiday!) with a few pics to come...

Thanks again, Mom & Dad, for hosting us so well and sharing some summer with us!

Party Time!

Friends and Family came from far and near to get wet at

Sawyer & Forrest's Pool Party!

(the above photo is Sawyer with Aunt Tia, who came from Boston! I know, I know - she could almost pass as me, huh? I forget I'm a twin until we are hanging out together and we still get people staring and asking "are you twins?" although we both laughed when we were at the park and someone asked that and they were directing the question at Sawyer and Aspen...I still can't figure out why people always ask us if they're twins!)

This year, we kept things simple and rented the Mounger Pool for party time! Sawyer and his Buddy, Forrest, shared their first birthday party, and since they are life long friends and it's nicer to split the cost of renting the pool since we share so many of the same friends, that's just what we did! Pretty much all we had to do was show up and have fun!

I must admit, the morning of the party when it started raining I was a little worried. It had been gorgeous the day before - and then rain? Well, the nice thing is that the pool is kept at a bath-water-warm 96 degrees, so even if it was pouring, it would've felt nice in the pool! And there was a fun, steamy effect when we first arrived!

I think everyone was pleasantly surprised at the warm pool water - my sister who brought her cute family up from Tacoma didn't even hesitate taking her baby in...everyone had a blast!

Sawyer was super excited that his cousin, Alyssa, could come to the party. They love to play together and it melts my heart! Here she is, going down the little slide (she went down the big slide later, and loved it!)

I almost didn't bring the camera, just because I wanted to simply enjoy the party - but as we were pulling out the driveway I knew I would regret if I didn't at least get a few pictures of the party, with all the lovely friends and family gathered around our boys, celebrating coming into their third year.

I didn't take that many pictures, though, because I wanted to hop in the pool myself! I only wish I had a picture of me and Aspen going down the BIG corkscrew slide! It's like a mini-waterslide and she looooves it as much as I do!

Trophy Cupcakes. Courtesy of Cassandra (Forrest's amazing Mommy!) Mmmmmm.

I just loved the look on Sawyer's face when he opened Aunt Tia's gift: a puppet/plush dragon with 3 heads and wings. Priceless!

and plenty of new wheels...

Forrest being sweet with his Mommy!

I can hardly believe our boys are THREE now! But they surely are! May all of your birthday wishes come true, Sawyer and Forrest! We love you!

Thanks to everyone who came to help them celebrate!

We hope you had as much fun as we did!

A Busy Day!

Today was busy!

Here's me and my girl on location at the Beach

cute, eh?

why am I wearing wellies at the beach on a perfectly sunny day, you may ask? well, that is all part of my job - you see, when I photograph families on the beach I often end up in the water, which is why I come dressed prepared ;)

(never mind if I look like a tween in this photo. My boots are youth sized, and the dress is sized 13-14years - couldn't pass up the Boden sale. i thought I'd give it a whirl, and hey, it worked for me! Seriously, petite girls do have some perks!)

So...

first: PERFECT weather - so so warm and sunny (LOVE it!!!)

not one, but two photo shoots today

my "crew" got to come on location with me, hence the photo above

two trips to two different beaches

a run in with two sets of friends (at the beach, of course!)

a stop at Swanson's Nursery

garden weeded, more shade-friendly grass seed down

(thanks to my man for doing the yard-ly tasks!)

two naps for two tuckered out babes

(we only wish we could've joined them)

two freelancers putting in some hours on our Mac

and a FABULOUS first birthday party for our little friend, Ian

(anime-themed party complete with Sushi and Trophy Cupcakes!)

Whew! What a busy day!

It is a good thing tomorrow is the Sabbath because we all could use a little break around here!

I hope you all had a fabulous Saturday doing fun things, or maybe just relaxing...sometimes down time is a must!

I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that a week from tomorrow, the boy turns 3. Seriously? Where did the time go!?! Time to start gearing up for my challenge for the week: a fondant cake for the little dude, race car style. Wish me luck!

hello, sunshine!

the past three days have been teasing us...

because it's almost been like summer,

yet we know it won't last

(as every Seattleite knows, summer in Seattle doesn't officially arrive until July 5th)

nevertheless

we took full advantage and rolled with it!

we had our inaugural beach day

with some of our favorite friends.

not that we don't already spend lots of time at the beach

but today,

we sported our swimming suits

and showed off our glowing white bodies

all with lots of pleasure and joy

basking in the warm, sunny weather

barefeet in the sand and water.

*************

oh, how we love our Matthews Beach!

i used to go night swimming here - all through college

(and well beyond)

and i used to bring my nanny kids

and now i bring my own. I LOVE IT!

two bathing little beauties...

Aspen and her bestie, Ruby

these girls are at such fun ages!

While us girls were hanging out,

their big brothers were running back and forth between

the beach

and

the brand spankin' new playground

we ended up staying 5 hours

and skipping naptime

(because on a day like this, all rules go out the window!)

we even drove the Mickie D's on our way home,

and I let Sawyer devour a fudge sunday in his carseat

while his sister passed out from our long day at the beach

(I devoured a fudge sunday in the driver's seat, just so you know)

okay...so...i know i shouldn't make a habit of posting nude pics on the web...but...

my friend, Allegra, and i BUSTED a GUT laughing

when we saw this naked boy running across the lawn,

pushing his dumptruck along,

just like it was totally normal to run around naked pushing dumptrucks across public beaches and playgrounds. no hesitation, peeps. (i am happy he's so comfortable in his own skin!)

apparently, he needed to pee...

so he shed his clothing, peed on the lawn

(who needs a bush when you have a huge, open lawn?)

and then ran on his merry way - leaving his clothes behind.

this happened not only once, but twice.

and i know i shouldn't encourage it, but

my-oh-my i am gonna hang onto these photos for the future

(doesn't every kid need a couple of embarassingly cute photos that their parents can use as blackmail at some point?)

yes, today was one of the best days of our lives.

i just LOVE these kinds of days!

hope ya'll had a good one, too!

Now, GO SEIZE THE WEEKEND!