Summer Update II

The changing leaves and grey skies tell the story of fall's arrival. I love changing seasons, and this change gives us a chance to reflect back on our summer. What a summer!

At the beginning of the summer, I shared our aspirational summer bucket list. A bit later, I shared our update from the first half of the summer. Today, I'm happy to share that we made more progress on our list without accomplishing everything.

JUMP AT THE TRAMPOLINE PARK: Just last week, I was finally able to take Madeleine for another morning at our local trampoline park ($5 for an hour and a half of toddler-exhausting jumping is a steal in my book). It was nice to spend an hour and a bit with my girl, bouncing and smiling, laughing and making memories.

"1, 2..."

HELP MADELEINE WITH COUNTING: Counting and ABCs are frequently heard around our house these days. Her counting is coming along but still not perfect; it usually goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11. I'm a bit confused about this development as she used to insert 8 as every other number. She can fill in the alphabet when we sing together and is really close to being able to do it all herself, though pronunciation for L, M, N, O, P will probably remain comical for a while. I feel a little guilty about it, but I haven't exactly drilled Madeleine on any of her academic concepts (numbers, alphabet, colors). Rather, they seem to be coming together organically by talking about them in everyday life.

HAVE A BABY: Check him out!

FINISH THE NURSERY: Fun fact: according to my blog history, I finished Madeleine's nursery one day earlier than Elliott's nursery. Given that Madeleine was born on her due date and Elliott one day after his, their nurseries were completed the same number of days in advance of their respective arrivals.

STOCK OUR FREEZER WITH FOOD: Even though I saved it for later than I should have done, I am happy to say that we have a chest freezer full of meals. Most of them were made during the two or three nights of marathon cooking that George and I tackled together. Hopefully they'll be handy as we adjust to the reality of our new normal (ie life after George's parental leave ends).

TAKE MADELEINE DOWNTOWN ON A BUS: I wrote a whole post about Madeleine's bus adventure. Apparently the experience made quite an impression because she requests a repeat pretty much every time we see a bus, which is pretty often.

HAVE A WEEKEND WITHOUT PLANS: It probably defeats the purpose when you have to actually schedule a free weekend, but we did manage to have a weekend without plans before Elliott's arrival. Come to think of it, I think there was only one weekend without plans in the six months or so before he joined us. No wonder we're a little lost now that our schedule is so wide open.

VISIT AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT FARMERS MARKETS: We made it to three different farmers markets but that was it. I admit that my Saturday morning prenatal yoga commitment precluded a lot of visits we could have made, but I wouldn't trade that time for anything. The markets we visited were fun and full of delicious produce and treats, and one of them was held during a festival celebrating basset hounds. The Basset Bash is another experience Madeleine routinely requests to repeat. Our most recent farmers market included the newest member of our family, who was a trooper until about 3 minutes before we were going to leave.

On top of these anticipated experiences, we also visited the aquarium, had a visit from Grandma Janie, and had a big girl bed transition. Between all of this fun, the second hottest Seattle summer on record, and Elliott's arrival, we won't soon be forgetting the summer of 2014.

In the spirit of the new season, here is a "foxy" picture of our kiddos all ready for fall:

More May Weekends

Here we are...more than halfway through June...and I still haven't shared the rest of our fun May weekends. The first weekend, Denaye, David, and Nico visited from Texas, and the second weekend, Pierre visited from New Zealand.

The third weekend, Robyn and Andrew visited us on their way through North America. Madeleine did her standard hazing ritual, which is to demand that guests read to her almost continuously...sometimes the same book on repeat. They were good sports and even shared their tablet with Madeleine, which she thought was fantastic. As a result, Madeleine joined us in being sad to say goodbye.

The following weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day with a trip to the Willamette Valley. It was great fun to spend vacation time with "Cooper's family" even though George and I were zombies after Madeleine turned into a sleeping nightmare. Let's just say that we won't be sharing a room with her ever again. But...at least we all enjoyed our daytime fun!

A trip to Willamette Valley isn't complete without a visit to our favorite, Eyrie Vineyards. This time, Madeleine got to join in on the tasting with her very first juice box. What a treat!

We also carried on our tradition of snapping a photo of a growing Madeleine next to barrel #78. Compare with last November and last May, when she wasn't even walking yet. 

As you can tell, May was a packed month for us..but oh so fun!

Another Special Guest

A couple days after Denaye and David left, we got to host another special guest: Pierre! He and George have been friends since they were primary school age, and it's always a treat when we get to catch up with Pierre. The last time he was in the States was for our wedding, and we're hopeful that he'll bring his better half and two energetic offspring next time.

Pierre requested burgers, and we happily obliged. His timing was superb as he landed just as I was experiencing a beef craving. I suspect that my iron levels had been lagging, but I bet they aren't anymore!

Brave Horse Tavern

Lunchbox Lab

George and Pierre had a few opportunities to kick back and enjoy each other's company over a pint or two.

With s'mores on the "must do" list, we had our inaugural fire (built by two city boys before the country girl could build a more sensible fire) and roasted marshmallows. Don't worry: Madeleine's slide was well out of flame and heat range.

Speaking of Miss M, she was most taken with her Uncle Pierre and tortured him with repeated requests for reading the garbage truck book. While definitely sad to see him go, she seemed to understand that he needed to leave to get back to his two boys waiting at home.

Good visit, Pierre. Come back soon! 

Weekend Visitors

We were so happy to have Denaye, David, and Nicolas visit us this past weekend from the great state of Texas. We only had a day and a half of good weather before rain set in for the rest of their visit. Despite the grey skies, we had a great time catching up, taking in a few local attractions, eating delicious food, and laughing pretty hard. And you would never know this was Nico's inaugural trip; he is a natural born traveler!

Madeleine and Nico were fast friends. He hardly took his eyes off of her, and she was all too willing to bring him toys and offer cuddles. Of course, she also nearly sat on top of him while trying to sit by him and ripped toys out of his hands on more than one occasion. Nonetheless, it was fun to see the beginning of a friendship and get some more confirmation that Miss M is ready to be a big sister.

Kisses for Nico

Denaye and I did some (mostly window) shopping at a few of my favorite local kid stores (for locals who are curious: Hanna Andersson outlet, Merry Go Round, Wee Tots). David was able to get out and explore a few miles of our local utility/horse/walking/running/biking trail before the rain. He said that he enjoyed it, and I'm seriously impressed at anyone who can run those hills!

All six of us took in Pike Place Market on a busy, sunny Friday. The kiddos loved having so much to see, and Madeleine enjoyed the dried apple sample she scored from a vendor.

Denaye and David requested a visit to Din Tai Fung, which they had visited on a trip to China. We are a dumpling-loving family and were more than happy to make it happen. Spicy wontons continue to be a favorite of all three locals. Yum!

Living so close to the heart of wine country, we had to do a few tastings. We visited an old favorite and some new-to-us wineries and were pleased on all accounts. It was particularly cool that Denaye and David caught a rainbow when they had popped out for a quick tasting one afternoon.

Finally, do you think that the visit would be complete without matching outfits? No way.

There aren't enough words for me to say how much we all enjoyed spending the long weekend with the B family! Perhaps Madeleine said it all when she whimpered the whole way home from taking them to the airport. I kept telling her, "it's okay to be sad. I'm sad, too." Our next connection, whether in Washington, Texas, Ohio, or somewhere else entirely can't come soon enough!

Summer Summary

It's a little tough to think about summer wrapping up with the fall equinox still a few weeks away and this week's forecast including sunshine and 80 degrees; however, Labor Day is the unofficial end to summer, so it's time to share some highlights from the season. 

What a summer it was! We kicked it off with an Oregon roadtrip, had our house painted, celebrated Madeleine's first birthday (day of and with friends), hosted two grandmas and a great aunt, adjusted to the mother of the house going back to work, visited friends and family in Ohio (and dogs), enjoyed the best summer weather most Seattleites can remember, and wrapped it up with an exceptional weekend on the Olympic peninsula. 

Here's a look at some of the simple moments from the summer that haven't otherwise made it onto the blog: 

Madeleine loved the grass this summer.

There was a lot of "helping" happening at our house.

Look who caught a glimpse of his admirer!

Banana cake with lemon frosting, just like
Daddy's Nana used to make for him. 

A moment of glee - captured!

We enjoyed a bit of Mt. Rainier with our visitors.

Madeleine loved her friend's playhouse.

Madeleine did a lot of eating out and left quite a
few messes...and large tips to compensate.

Madeleine and Mum took many walks.
Brown Bear came along for some of them.

Master of the sippy cup!

We took our first family hike.

Madeleine had her first bouncy house experience.
She loved it!

We all survived a few fits. 

The water table was a big hit. 

Madeleine already likes sun bathing. Ugh. 

We all survived a few sick days. 

Madeleine shared her slide with friends.

Mum's shoes don't quite fit...yet.

Madeleine started and ended most days by reading.

She continued to be our quality control expert.

Madeleine met as many dogs as possible, including sweet Sadie.

We said goodbye to Madeleine's first babysitter, who just
moved to Pittsburgh. We'll all miss CJ! 

Madeleine was happy to inherit her Mum's earbuds.

Look who learned to walk! 

Look who's working on using silverware!

We are so blessed. What a summer! What were the special everyday moments of your summer?