I took a little hiatus from posting because we got into a groove and kept doing all the same things over and over. I love Groundhog Day, but the plot would probably be slightly less engaging in a blog about my kids going to Seahurst Park. But aside from our little groove, we’ve had a few fun visits this summer that are worth recounting!

First we got to see cousin Isabella! We all were really happy to see her. She spent a night with us and then a couple days later we met her out at her grandparents’ house in Gig Harbor. That day was stunningly beautiful. We had a good time while it lasted, but we can only handle so much fun before reverting to anger, so the trip ended a little abruptly and I only got a few pictures.

Not pictured are the private beach or Isabella which were the highlights of the trip.

Not a visit, and out of chronological order order, but I don’t think I mentioned in the last post that we took the kids to their first MLB game, A’s @ Mariners. We “only” lasted about four innings (in the middle), but we were thrilled we got to see that much, given our children’s penchant for rejecting all things fun. And it was a little ceremonious, too! When you walk in the park with kids they immediately ask if it’s their first game and, if so, they give the kids a first-game certificate! So all three got their certificate and some baseball cards. Ellie even said she “liked it,” which is high praise.

Libby and I are not pictured but we were there.

OK, now I’m going through my pictures and realizing Libby is too cute not to share. And we did more than I remembered. Here’s a brief rundown of the best little moments:

Now I’m caught up on the mundane.

At the end of July, Bunga came to visit!!!! This was a long-awaited visit. The kids were so excited, they were speechless. We took her on the ferry and to all our favorite spots, including Seahurst Park, the zoo, the aquarium, and (not pictured) IKEA and Oma and Papa’s house.

Bunga’s visit was too short and we miss her! We’re already counting down the days until she and Auntie Evangeline come back for Libby’s first birthday!! The kids are eagerly anticipating what snacks she’ll bring when she comes!

Right after Bunga left, cousin Lucca spent a couple days with Oma and Papa so we got to see him too! That was quite an energetic time! They had so much fun together. The hardest part of living our new life is not being close to family, and the kids DEFINITELY miss all their cousins. We were so happy Lucca got to come up.

We miss Lucca and hope he comes back to visit for Christmas 🙂

After Lucca left, we went down to Fir Crest to see Bella one last time before she goes back to California. We always love our time with Bella. She found us a great park to go to and encouraged us to have ice cream for lunch. We obliged, of course.

I think that about concludes what we’ve been up to recently. We’re looking forward to the next round of visits from Mom and Evangeline and Auntie Cath and Uncle Bill. I’m sure we’ll go to Seahurst Park!

We’ve been really enjoying comparing the weather here to the weather in Fresno. We had one day here that nearly killed the natives because it got up to 85. Most days have been in the mid- to high-60s or low-70s. We LOVE it!! We even have to run the heat for a little while when we first get up in the morning because it’s actually too cold – in June!

We’ve also enjoyed couple of Libby’s big developmental milestones. She has finally started crawling forward and legitimately says three words (“mama,” “bye-bye,” and “up” plus sort of “a-boo” for “peek-a-boo”).

What we have not enjoyed is Auntie Evangeline’s leaving us. We had a lot of fun with her here, and it was nice just having an extra adult around all the time to help out. I see why people hire nannies.

On her last afternoon here, we took her and the kids to Alki Beach, where she and the kids found rocks to throw into the water. Then we got ice cream to drown our sorrows and reluctantly headed back to the car and to the airport to say goodbye.

The next day, the kids and Cocoa and I ventured out on our own and discovered Lincoln Park in West Seattle, about 15 minutes from our house. It’s several hundred acres of walking trails and forests and play equipment and it backs right up to the ferry terminal. Somewhere in the park is also a heated saltwater pool that overlooks the Sound. On this particular occasion we just found a little swing set and the ferry. The kids refuse to look at me when I’m taking pictures of them, so here’s a series of their backs.

At the risk of sounding a little redundant, we found yet another gem of a park really close to our house (about a five minute drive) and right on the water. It’s called Seahurst Park, but the kids think it’s “Seahorse” so we go with that. It is pristine and foresty and quiet and peaceful. We went yesterday and again today, so there are pictures from two visits. I think we’ll be regular visitors here.

I was telling a friend here how much we love all the green around us and just being able to be outside, and he just didn’t get it. I guess if you haven’t lived in a desert wasteland with unhealthy air quality most days of the year, you really can’t appreciate taking deep breaths without hesitation.

So we made it to Seattle! I don’t want to seem presumptuous, but if you are inclined to read about/view what we’ve been up to, you now have an avenue by which to do so. You’re welcome, or not.

The drive up here couldn’t have gone better. 14 hours on the dot, kids slept almost the whole time, good driving conditions, etc. So yay.

The first few days were pretty chaotic, trying to settle in and unpack 1600 sq ft worth of stuff into 1000 sq ft of 1967 original house, replete with orange carpet and pink toilet. So fun! But despite it’s surface grossness, I actually love this house. It has so much storage built into it that all of our stuff actually fits. I don’t understand it, but it’s true. Also, if it were just updated a little, it would be such a cute house. I sit around of an evening just picturing what it could look like. We’re also on a nice quiet cul de sac, and our neighbors amazing which just kind of furthers my affection for this spot.

So once everything settled down a little, we started having some fun. Shout out to everyone who contributed to our aquarium and zoo memberships.

The first place we went was the aquarium. Pictured below are the water structure outside the aquarium, lots of wood cut-out things the kids enjoyed putting their faces in, and the underwater dome for viewing aquatic life. Not pictured are seals and otters, the octopus, the touching pool thing where you can pet sea cucumbers, and me.

Next we visited CJ at work and Ellie got to go inside the AirLift Northwest medical transport plane.

On our first Sunday here, we took the ferry to Vashon Island in the middle of the day to do some cider tasting at Dragon’s Head Cidery. The kids really enjoyed the ferry (they love wind in their faces). Cocoa came with us and was not that crazy about the ferry. The cidery was really fun, a beautiful woodsy/orchard setting with farm equipment (much to Miles’s delight) and picnic areas. And it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for sitting outside drinking cider.

About a half mile from our house is this little park we discovered, Dottie Harper Park, right off of a main street but super woodsy and remote feeling. We love it. There’s play equipment, including swings and a slide that goes down the hill, but it’s a fun place just to walk around if you’re feeling nature-y.

So these pictures are actually from our second trip to the zoo. The first trip included a lot of whining and crying which I think stemmed from confusion about why we weren’t at what we now call the “old zoo.” I don’t have any good pictures from that trip. For the second trip, which was today, everyone had a better understanding of the fact that we were going to the “new zoo,” and we had a lot more fun. The Woodland Park Zoo (“new zoo”) has, among many other impressive animals, penguins, gorillas, jaguar, snow leopards, and a butterfly garden! The penguins were difficult to get a picture of, but you can see Miles and Libby relishing the viewing experience. The gorilla was probably the most terrifying and impressive exhibit. I think there were four of them and they were fascinating to watch.

And that is the run-down of what we’ve done so far. Hopefully more fun to follow soon