Box

Further evidence that cats and kids like the same toys...

4th of July

We spent the evening of July 4th at a BBQ at Eldon & Steph's house. It was nice to see friends and the kids had a blast playing together and with Sydney's toys! Thanks for sharing, Syd.

Staycation

Last Thursday & Friday, Izzy spent a couple days with Grandma & Grandpa in West Seattle. This gave Gerald and me some much needed rest and relaxation - and more importantly a chance to work on projects that haven't been possible with Izzy around. The biggest project was shampooing the carpets & couches - it was a big job, but SOO needed! Between a cat, a kid, and life, those carpets were DIRTY!!

Meanwhile, Izzy and her grandparents were having a blast in W. Seattle. We arranged for the "drop-off" to be at the Woodland Park Zoo - it's been a LONG time since Gerald was at the zoo, so we joined in the fun and then Izzy went home with my parents and we were free! Some photos:

The Zoo:

Izzy's pool:

Reading stories with Grandpa:

Ice Cream

I know that I will be teased for this posting, but I just have to share... Gerald & I have been married for 5-1/2 years now. When we got married we received a Kitchenaid mixer from my parents (I LOVE it!). And for a couple of years now I've been eyeing the ice cream attachment for the mixer, though I never pursued it because I figured I wouldn't really get around to making ice cream. Well... on Friday night when I got home, Gerald had a surprise sitting in the kitchen for me - the ice cream attachment!! So, yesterday I made all of the components and then chilled them overnight and tonight I made my first batch of homemade raspberry sorbet (thanks to Auntie Nila for the raspberries from her yard!). And let me just say one word ... heaven!

in progress

finished

Spoiled by Grandma & Grandpa

These photos are a couple weeks old now (sorry Mom & Dad), but it's a montage of photos that show just how loved Izzy is by her Grandma & Grandpa. I think she has more fun with them than with her Mom & Dad!! Photos of last Friday's trip to "Whale Tale Park" with Grandma & Grandpa will be posted when I get photos. Pretty cute ;-)

Izzy's new beach chair ( it will be perfect for the W. Seattle Hi-Yu Parade):

Izzy's new chalk board:

Pony rides at Grandma's work (Starbucks HQ):

Face painting at Grandma's work (she loved it!):

Father's Day

I was on vacation last Friday, but Izzy was exposed to chickenpox at daycare this week, so we opted to cancel our plans to go to the Everett Children's Museum with Jil, Landen & Avery. I was so sad! (No sign of CP yet ... keep your fingers crossed that her vaccination worked!)

So... we stayed around the house most of the day. We worked on crafts getting ready for Father's Day - Izzy colored (for about 3 minutes until she threw a fit and went down for a nap!) while I worked on cards for Gerald & my Dad...


When the "big day" arrived, we spent the morning with Gerald opening gifts, enjoying a nice breakfast, and playing around the house while he prepared his day-long-grilling project (pulled pork - yummy!). Then Izzy & I headed to W. Seattle for church and a blessing of my Grandfather's ashes (he passed a couple months ago, but we never had a service). I'm glad we were there.

When we got home, we played and in the late afternoon I sent Izzy to play with Gerald while I headed out for a bit of R & R at the nail salon. It was a fun weekend!

Baby Love

Izzy's godparents Jason & Rachel gave Izzy her first doll for Christmas and provided a stroller for her to push her doll in for her 1st Birthday. Lately, she has LOVED playing with her dolly. And, she's very particular about it. She picks her up, hugs her, puts her down and covers her with whatever blanket she's carrying that day, and the moves her to the stroller. If she isn't "quite right", Izzy keeps doing it until she gets it "right". Then she'll push her around and start again. It's pretty cute to watch. On Saturday, she sat in her chair and rocked her back and forth. So cute!

Busy Bees

Sorry I've been remiss in updating the blog over the last couple of weeks - we've been so busy! Between work, daycare, and fun on the weekends, I just haven't had energy to stay up to update the blog lately. Let's catch you up on what you missed:

• Izzy has started to make animals sounds on demand - as displayed in this cute video:
  
  
  
  
  
• Izzy had her first pony ride on the 12th of June. Grandma's work (Starbucks HQ) was hosting a fundraiser for a local kids organization so they sponsored activities for the kids - face painting, pony rides, and entertainment. I'll have to post photos later because I don't have the files on this computer. Stay tuned - so cute!
  
  
• My cousins Tom & Andy BOTH graduated from college last weekend (the 12th & 13th). This was a huge deal and we headed over to Barb & Bob's house for a party on the 14th. Izzy had a blast - everyone was playing with her and she was screaming and running around like a crazy animal! It was pretty funny, but I was tired by the end!
  

Izzy really loves the water - any time there is an ice chest with beverages at a party, she plays in it!

More Zoo

Here are a few more zoo photos from the other exhibits we saw. Landen was such a good "big brother" to Izzy - she had so much fun chasing him around - and he was a good sport and played with her. It was a fun day!

Landen "hatching" a flamingo egg

Jil & Avery - pink girls

Landen holding Izzy's hand as they walk to see the kangaroos

The Grizzly Bears were out!

Landen, Avery, Izzy and Jil playing on the steps near the sea otter pool

We finished off the day at Zoomasium where the kids got to play

Friday at the Zoo

We went to the zoo on Friday with Jil, David, Landen and Avery - it was so much fun! We wore Izzy out - she took a 3 hour nap when we got home!

The penguin exhibit recently opened so we made sure to see that - it was SO cool. At 11:00 AM they fed the penguins - they drop live fish into the water and the penguins go crazy chasing them around the pool until the catch them. Of course crows and seagulls helped themselves by diving in to the pool to grab a snack. Izzy LOVED this exhibit. She could get right up to the glass and see them. This video isn't that telling of what you'll see when you visit because it's the upper part, but down below there are these bubbles that poke out into the water that the kids can crawl into and then they feel like they're in the water with the penguins. It's really cool!


Feeding time

Avery & Izzy check-out the penguins
















Izzy & Landen