South Beach, Discovery Park, Seattle

We went on a 4 mile roundtrip hike through the south bluffs of Discovery Park, about 30 mins from our house near the port in Seattle. It was a gorgeous 80 degree day, and once we walked through the beautiful scenery, we arrived at South Beach with a lighthouse, sandy beaches and views of the Olympic mountains and Mt. Ranier (huge white mtn). The water is very clear (and pretty chilly!) but that doesn't stop my kids from dousing themselves. We saw crabs, clams, seagulls, and a large heron. Several cruise ships also went by blowing their horns as they set sail out of the port nearby. We played for several hours and ate lunch on the beach, then headed back. I understand why it would be useful to have wet/dry hiking shoes around here, since we wore hiking shoes on the hike portion, then brought flip flops for the beach, which was not really practical for all the rocky terrain once you get on the beach. The light, cool breeze kept us from getting hot all day, and we all slept very well last night!

Happy 40th Birthday Vic!

Vic had a happy 40th birthday this weekend. Our nephew James came into town from Dallas and the kids got to spend some time with their oldest cousin. We took him all around Seattle, got a fresh fish from the market, had some friends over for some ribs and karaoke, and had a picnic at Snoqualmie Falls. The first pic below is from "Daddy and Donuts" day near the last day of school.

First Hike of the Season...

We went hiking in the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest this weekend. We initially tried to go on an "easy" 2 mile hike to see a waterfall, but there is still some snow on the ground (around 3000 ft elevation) so we took another route with more climbing, but the kids did great. We went an hour in, and turned around and went an hour back. We learned if we had gone just a little further in, there was a different waterfall and a natural water slide, so we'll be going back to this one!
 

Prima Ballerina

Stella's ballet recital was this weekend, she did great!!

Little Songs and Dances

Having 5 and 7 year old girls, we've been dancing and singing in tutus for quite a number of years now. It has always been adorable, but I was always in the middle of dinner, trying to keep the house clean, and trying to chase down a poopy diaper to really spend so much time drinking it in. Now with my little 2 yr old boy, I am just seeing everything with new eyes. I am busier now than I have ever been, but I allow myself time to breathe because I've learned the hard way, that no real living happens when you don't stop to breathe. Being a parent teaches you a lot about responsibility and self-sacrifice, but after a few years of learning that lesson, you really start to learn... about cherishing all the little tiny special surprises each day brings, and that it will all be over too soon. Here are some extra special things happening in our house lately. Lots of singing, dancing, and other new tricks.

Nico is singing THE most precious rendition of the ABC's I have ever, and will ever, hear in my life (except, maybe, by my grandchildren).

Stella still loves dancing in her tutu after 5 years of constant wear. She is learning to play the piano on her own, with only light instruction from me. She played Ode to Joy the other day to my amazement, while I was talking on the phone to a friend. I had to hang up and listen to believe my ears!

Sofia is really a little monkey and loves climbing, jumping, cartwheeling, backflipping, and monkey bars! She's taking a little gymnastics class, and learned some tricks there, but mostly she prefers the hard core (unstructured) playground bars.