Waterfront Property...

Directly in front of my parents house is a massive retention basin. It provides an awesome sledding hill in the winter, and a great ice blocking shoot in the summer. Kids love to roll down the hill, and teenagers (my little brother included) can often be found slack-lining across from one end to the other.
When it rains something spectacular happens, especially in the eyes of a two year old. The Basin fills up with water and becomes a smallish lake...perfect for "Papa" to take his grandson out in the little blue canoe to look for whales and sharks.





And of course the kid in me couldn't miss out on the chance to look for deep sea animals...I swear we saw a sting ray in there!



Uncle Paul, also not wanting to to disappoint the child within took a much more adventurous approach. "Push me down from the top of the hill, Dad!" were the words that came out of his mouth. Of course, my dad quickly obliged. We all laughed hysterically when he ended up soaking wet when the front half of that little boat submerged from the hard push down the hill.

And here is Baby B. far past bed time, those blue eyes were piercing in the rain.

***Yes, Bianca has boy pajamas on. Jacks pajamas in fact. I packed light for the trip...I mean REALLY light. Oh, and I promise she doesn't have crazy hair all the time. She was moments away from bed, and the later in the day it gets, the less I fight those tangly curls!

The perils of a sour apple

Remember when I mentioned Bianca will eat anything?

I wasn't exaggerating.

At all.

And if it's not harmful, I don't stop her.

She picked an extremely unripe apple today and proceeded too eat the entire thing,

but not with out a few priceless faces...

Sorry about the ragamuffin look. I don't know what to do about that mane of curly hair...nap time is brutal for those brown locks.

Travel Tips?

I am leaving for Utah in LESS than 48 hours.

I will be flying by myself with a loud two year old and a clingy one year old. Both of whom have attention spans of your average, umm, umm, toddlers.

To protect my sanity and the sanity of those next to me on the plane, I need some heavy ideas.

Anyone?...

you know you live in the middle of the forest...

When the kind of visitor you get at your back door is this.

This little guy shows up everyday around lunch time and puts his paws on our back door...I think he must have found a few un-eaten fruit snacks or a half eaten cookie, and now he comes looking for the same snacks every day.

You can imagine the pure delight of a two year old to see a wild animal only inches away. Jack will sit on the ground and watch the "coontz" shuffle around for food, and is ecstatic when the little animal puts his paws on the window next to Jack's face.

See you tomorrow our ring tail friend,,,I'm just hoping our encounters with you only occur when there is a huge glass door between us!

Only in Washington...

...Would you be playing on a playground at a beautiful park...



Then walk a few steps and have a little adventure in the jungle...



Then walk a few more steps and be at the beach...



And then walk a few more steps and be in the water...

Man, this place is cool.