Zoo Trip with Sara and Fun with Nana

Sara & I went to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle last week. In addition to her son Ollie, she takes care of her cousin's daughter, Tori, on Mondays, so we had a full load of kiddos with us. We had a good time, but it was difficult coordinating the needs of four kids! We didn't actually spend much time looking at the animals!

But we did play with the giant worm at the petting zoo.
Edison enjoyed playing on the tractor.
Charlotte and the giraffes. Too bad she was more interested than the other kids than the giraffes.
I think I've mentioned that it has been a rather gloomy summer in Seattle. So we went with Nana to the new indoor water park in Lynnwood one morning. It was really humid inside, so the picture didn't turn out very well. But they have a shallow beach area, lots of water toys, and even a playground inside with little water slides. The big kids like the large water slides in the background.
We have had a few nice days and have played in the yard.
Two surfers heading towards the beach.

Boat Camping!

On a beautiful day a couple weeks ago, Nana brought her kayak to our house. The kids enjoyed playing with it....

And then Edison got to join Nana for a big paddle across Silver Lake. They started on the east shore and paddled all the way to the west end! Nana reported that Edison was an excellent first mate - he knew just how to handle himself in the boat.
That weekend, Eben & I took the kids camping at Clarke Island in the San Juans. We loaded up our Whaler and headed out on Saturday morning. Charlotte and Eben dressed like twins. We landed on the east side of the island, where the beach camping area is.
After lunch we walked about 100 yards to the west side of the island and played on the sandy beach.
What a gorgeous beach!
We attempted to put the kids down for naps that afternoon. As you can see, we are using a huge tent - everyone gets a corner. Edison has graduated from the pack & play (now used by Charlotte) to a kid-sized inflatable bed. They jumped and crawled around and around until they were finally tuckered out enough to sleep for a couple hours.
This is a view of the camping beach. We just pull up the boat to the shore and the campsites were right at the top of the beach.

We couldn't get enough of the view of Mount Baker!

Unfortunately the kids work up at about five in the morning. On the plus side, we got to enjoy the sunrise.
We also hiked out to the south point of the island. The islands behind Edison are called "the sisters" and are a wildlife refuge.
On the ride home, Eben made a bed of cushions up front. Edison was all tired out and fell asleep.
But Charlotte was ready for the ride and did some exploring.
Okay - so Charlotte is going through this crazy phase right now. She basically rocks back and forth really fast while squealing with delight. She is doing this a time or two at just about every meal. I think it is cute and I love it, but I'm also a little worried and wondering why she does it!

Edison's Third Birthday - The Birthday Party!

Edison picked a chocolate cake and had fun helping me make it. I always remember my favorite part of baking a cake was licking the beaters, and it looks like Edison will have some fond memories of that, too.
We went up to Uncle Floyd & Aunt Kathie's for the Fourth of July. We also celebrated both Floyd & Edison's birthdays.
Nothing says "summer" like a baby in a romper. Here she is with her great grandmother Bestamor.
Floyd & Kathie have an amazing garden. Edison loved eating the strawberries...
and watering the raspberries.
Time for the birthday cake! Edison wanted a "Thomas the Train" cake. I checked the Internet for ideas and this is the best one that I found that I could manage making. He liked it a lot.
Charlotte liked it too.
And of course he loved his presents. Thank you everyone for such wonderful, thoughtful, generous gifts. They are definitely keeping him occupied these days.

JULY - Edison's Third Birthday - A Day at the Beach!

We took the boat over to Jetty Island on Edison's birthday. It was the hottest day of the year and a perfect day for the beach. They all went early in the morning and scuba dove for Dungeness crabs - they got their limit and had a feast that night. Charlotte and I met them later in the morning. We set up our picnic area in a secluded spot on the north side of the island.
The views of the Cascade mountains were phenomenal on such a clear day. It was also an extraordinarily low tide - you can see in the picture that there is not much water left in the channel. An hour after this picture was taken, we were able to walk about two miles west into what is normally Puget Sound - it was completely surreal and totally fun.
Ahhhhh, so nice to have a shady spot to spend the afternoon with Charlotte.
Edison was really excited to open his birthday card and present.
We gave him a balance bike after hearing numerous positive recommendations. Basically it is a tiny bike with no pedals. Kids learn how to glide and turn pretty quickly (I've heard) and then it is an easy transition to a bike, skipping the training wheel phase. So, we'll see. But Edison does enjoy it so far!
We had a yummy lunch at Kidd Valley in Kirkland with Granddada. Edison was happily surprised by his birthday card and present from Grandada - a hardhat with a headlamp!

Playdates & Camping Out

We've had a great time since summer started. We make playdates with our friends just about every day of the week. A couple weeks ago we went to the Woodland Park Zoo with our friend Jill and her kids, Grace & Jake. Grace & Edison are two peas in a pod.
We got to see a special treat - an elephant getting a bath!
Edison & Charlotte have been doing a lot of brother-sister bonding. They are generally really good playmates although they still need a lot of coaching about sharing.
Charlotte has playdates, too. This one is with her buddy, Ollie. We'll be seeing him every Monday this summer, since his mommy Sara is a teacher, too!
My mom is coming up Wednesdays and Thursdays this summer. She has a great little camper that Edison has always wanted to go camping in. We decided to try it last week and drove over the mountains to Lake Wenatchee - the only area in the state with sunshine!
As you can see, we had a lovely campsite on Nason Creek.

Edison got to sleep up top in Nana's camper - his very favorite spot. Charlotte was in her pack and play in a tent with me. They both ended up going to sleep remarkably well all things considered. We are agreed that the trip was a success and we'll try it again soon!In the morning we went for a lovely hike along the Wenatchee River.
Got to have one picture with the mommy!