Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Silverwood

This weekend we had the opportunity to go to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho with the Richey family. We packed up the car and headed out Sunday afternoon. Sam proved himself worthy of long distance car trips by being absolutely perfect for all 6 hours.

When we arrived at the hotel we met up with the Richey's and ate dinner at Outback. When we were all full of steak and Idaho potatoes, we drove back and turned in.

Sam had a hard time sleeping in a new place the first night, but he was great for the other two. He loved laying in his own queen sized bed watching cartoons though.When morning came (sooner than later the first night) we put on our swim suits and drove to the park.

The first day was 90+ degrees and sunny. So right away we decided it was a day for Boulder Beach. This is the water park half of Silverwood, and it was so much fun. There were areas for kids, water slides, wave pools and a lazy river. We did it all.
Sam was in heaven. He played and splashed and laughed. When that got boring he would come up to "camp", get a drink, eat a snack and go back to the water to do it all again.The adults took turns trying out the water slides. It was so much fun for Matt and I to go off alone for a little while and be kids again.When the water park closed down at 7pm, we took advantage of the setting sun and rode some rides in cooler air. I managed to talk Matt and Ben into going on the "Aftershock" with me and it did not disappoint! The face down plummet was so scary, but we all LOVED the thrill.We all slept very well that night :)
Tuesday morning was overcast and with hopes that it would burn off we started the day at the water park again. When the wind picked up we decided it was a little too cold to play in the water. But not soon enough. Matt hurt his neck bashing into some people in the wave pool just as we were about to leave. Luckily it didn't stop him from enjoying the rest of the day. (even with no feeling in his left arm.)
We took turns riding roller coasters and playing on kids rides with the little ones. Sam had no fear. He rode the elephant ride, a paragliding carousel and a kiddie coaster without one complaint. He is going to be a thrill seeker just like his mom and dad :) I'm sure one day he'll use his fearlessness to impress his dream girl, Makiah. Sam loves her. He followed her around the whole time and made sure to show off when she was looking. She didn't mind the attention either. Guess what? Matt talked me into riding a WOODEN roller coaster. Its something I don't like to do. But I did it, and I lived. And it was scary. But I will admit it was fun.
We all had a great time at Silverwood. The rides were fun, the park was nice, the food was good and reasonably priced, and the activities were plentiful. We were there for two full days and didn't get to try everything.
I guess we'll need to go back again!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Our first of many bumps

Sam is getting taller.
And Sam is walking faster.
However Sam is not graceful.
Hence the goose egg in the middle of his forehead.
The bump started yesterday with an un-seen trip into what we guess, judging by the sound of the "thump", was the wood floor. By morning the half-a-golf ball-size lump was gone and in its place a barely-there-blue bruise.

Just an hour ago it happened again. The ground reached up, grabbed a leg and pulled him down. Only this time it was the concrete floor of the pet store. It greeted him with a hard fist straight into the already tender spot of his noggin.
Ouch.
We immediately noticed not only the size of the brand new lump, but its visible broken blood vessels. This is a knot to remember.
Although, Sam had forgotten about it by the time we had reached the fish.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

My busy week

What a week. It was packed full of events, photo sessions and chores. I wont complain because I have enjoyed everything that I managed to do this week.

On top of everything around the house that needs to be done after 7 days of neglect, I have tons of photo editing to catch up on. I had 4 family sessions within 5 days. Yikes.

The highlight was witnessing baby Grace's birth. What an experience.
The miracle of life, is just that. A miracle. I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends like the Cox family, who allowed me to photograph such an important day. Not only is it great for them to have pictures of her first moments of life, but it was great for me to experience a c-section first hand to nullify of fears of getting pregnant again.
Speaking of being pregnant, last Saturday, my friend Joy, who is expecting a baby girl, gave me an amazing facial treatment. She died my brows, eyelashes, waxed and exfoliated my face and then massaged me. Oh, the massage! Yay for swapping talents. I get an hour of bliss, she gets an hour of maternity/baby/wedding pictures. I wont give away the secret, but I am SO excited for her maternity pics :)
On Thursday afternoon Matt got an email informing us that he was accepted into the Executive MBA program at UW. We are thrilled! The number of spaces in the program were extremely limited, but he managed to pull everything together in time and get himself into the school. A HUGE thank you to all of you that wrote in referrals. We are 100% positive those were an imperative part of his success. We're staying in Washington! Saaa-weeet!
So, with my "to-do" list staring me in the face, I scratch off "blog" and head on to number 2, "laundry".

Sunday, July 11, 2010

"July"

While shooting an engagement session yesterday, Trevor noticed a "dead" seal on the beach. So we rushed down to the water to check it out.
When we got to it we saw that it was still breathing. The poor thing was so tiny and lethargic and we couldn't help but cry for the "dying" seal pup. Then it lifted its head, eyes still shut and started to yelp for her mommy.
So I called 911. Yes, seriously I did. I was not about to watch this poor animal suffer. The operator patched me through to State Patrol because Animal Control was already closed for the night. The officer that answered laughed, said "thank you for calling but baby seals are left alone by their mothers some times for days at a time. Just leave it alone, and be careful because that baby IS being protected."
Feeling a little silly, I hung up the phone and informed the others that this baby was a healthy one. As if to tell us we were making fools of ourselves, the pup stretched out and started to move around and make noises. The little thing had no fear!As much as I wanted to spoon the little creature, we knew it was best to leave her alone. We took a few pictures, talked to the baby and named her "July." If you think that it is silly to name a wild animal, you don't know me very well. I name everything. Not to mention this was one of the best days of my life. That's how much I LOVE wildlife.It was hard to leave, but we had a sunset to catch. Plus, chances were our presence was keeping mommy from coming back and feeding the hungry baby.
Check out the engagement pics here.

We like having friends.

Especially ones with pools :)

It took Sam a little while to get used to the water. He wasn't sure about it at first, but soon discovered that spashing was a lot of fun.
Yes, I got a little burned at the beach. Thank you Quinn and family for letting us play!

Friday, July 09, 2010

Jetty Island

When I lived in New York one of my favorite places to go was the Jersey Shore. (I haven't seen the TV show so don't ask me to compare) There's just something about East Coast beaches that I love.

Last year I took a trip with the play group to Jetty Island and I was smitten. It was as close as I could get to the New England beaches.
As soon as the heat wave came through Seattle my friend Quinn and I have been trying to head out to the island. Yesterday we managed to get tickets for the ferry and we spent all day there.We set up camp, complete with a shade fort, and then relaxed to our hearts desires. The boys loved playing in the low tide and splashing in the ocean. The water was so warm and there were plenty of sea plants to play around with. Quinn and I did as much sun bathing as we could with such excited little boys.Sam and Tyler did a lot of snacking and resting under the shade. Quinn and I could not believe how happy our boys were. They made it so easy for all of us to enjoy ourselves.
Just when we thought we couldn't have any more fun, Matthew showed up to join us on our beach day. And he brought with him Ice cream. He's my hero.Sam loved having daddy to play with.When my shoulders started to turn a nice shade of neon red, we figured it was time to go. We packed up our things, hopped on the return ferry and drove home. It wasn't even 2 minutes before Sam was fast asleep in his car seat.
We will be spending a lot of time this summer on Jetty Island. Once my burn turn to tan, we will be back on that ferry for sure!

Summer finally hits

I am so excited to finally be able to spend my days at the beach.

On the first day of sun Sam and I spent the day in the backyard with Shannon playing in the pool. It was so relaxing.

Then on Wednesday we attempted to catch a ferry over to Jetty island. When the wait was too long, all of us ladies hauled our bums and babies to south Silverlake Park.
The water was still a little cold, but we had a fun time playing in the sand and passing around buckets and shovels.

Sam is absolutely in his element at the beach. He digs in the sand and sits in the water without a worry in the world. He is like his mom in the way that he doesn't prefer cold water and he is like his dad in the way that he tans instead of burns. He could have spent all day there.
Us moms had a great time taking part in adult conversation while the boys got as dirty as the could.

Beach bum!