Sara and Jay's Wedding!

Sara and Jay were married last weekend, on August 9th, 2014. The were married at the Brown Family Homestead at Lake Wenatchee and it was absolutely beautiful and a perfect representation of them down to the last detail. I thought I had forgotten my camera, so don't have any pictures of the ceremony - grrrr. But did manage to find it later in the evening. The Homestead runs up the walls of the valley with the reception area below, the ceremony area on the hill and views across the valley of Nason Ridge. It was no coincidence that there was also a lovely full moon that night to twinkle down on the festivities. Brown-Eyed Susan flowers were mixed in with the grasses bordering a path from the ceremony to the reception area.

 

Jeanette and Maija, both friends from Shorecrest, attended the wedding and stayed with me at the cabin. Eben was sorry to miss the wedding and was stuck in California working on the Polar Star.

 Reed totally harassing Eevi. Oh no!

Behaving themselves in their strollers  / highchairs.

 The Homestead also featured chickens and horses, much to the delight of the children in attendance. All the children pretty much ran in a pack around the grounds after dinner. It was so wonderful to watch them and the magic that is a summer's evening.

 I was able to put Reed to bed in the farmhouse and enjoy the warm night, full moon, and good company for the remainder of the evening. Absolutely gorgeous and enchanting!

Congratulations to Jay and Sara! Wishing you many years of happiness, joys of family, and exciting adventures in the years to come! 

Oh - and did I mention they had a photobooth? So much fun!

Mostly Moved in to 5103

We are just about moved into our new house in Lake Forest Park. I am really enjoying the fact that it is mostly a rambler (only thing upstairs is the master suite) - so much more convenient. The funky porte cochere has grown on me due to its utilitarian qualities, especially loving the shade right now and the fact it is 4 steps to my car from the front door. We are getting to know the neighbors and figure out where to do our shopping and what roads to take to get around. We are LOVING the proximity to Lake Washington and our time at the Civic Club. It was a ton of work to get to this point, but I think we are all happy we moved.

 The centerpiece of the room is the dining table and the beautiful rug beneath it. I'm thinking that I need to repaint the top of the table - gray isn't quite working. I'd like to build on a navy blue/cream and chocolate brown palate - but still need to pick a final accent color. Moss green? Tangerine orange? Still not sure what to do about the curtains either, but Eben did put all the rods up.

I am also searching for two arm chairs for the dining table. Eben cut the arms off the original arm chairs so we could have a matching set of six side chairs. I think I'll paint the new arm chairs whatever funky accent color that we pick.

 

The kitchen is still looking good - no changes from us here. The slab of granite for the island is beautiful!

 Our living room. Definitely needs some work in terms of new furniture - but need to clear that with Eben first!

 

We ended up using this narrow space as a playroom and a piano area. It works well, especially with the divider we put in that also gives us a lot of storage.

 

To the left as you walk in the house is the stairway to go up to the master suite and the hallway to go to the kids' rooms.

Eben put up all the blinds around the house - definitely needed in our rooms as we have six large windows up there. We love the tree house feel upstairs. Maybe now we will finally purchase an actual bed frame!

 

Loving the dual sinks in the master bath. The shower actually works really well for bathing the kids, way easier than monkeying with the shower curtain to try to stop the spray going out in their bath.

 Reed's nursery. Its a tiny room, but works well so far. It will take some creativity to make it functional for him as he gets older. But I think we're up to the challenge and have some ideas.

 Kids' bath. Saw the orange towels at the store and it just clicked!

 Charlotte's room looks great and has a soft, fuzzy rug that makes it a great play spot.

 Edison picked orange to be the main color in his room as it is his favorite color. It ended up looking great and the orange duvet will be in place soon.

 Lake Forest Park is full of hills, ravines, and hundred-foot-tall trees. We definitely appreciate that we ended up with a flat yard that has just the right mix of sun and shade throughout the day.

 I also really like the fact that this is a patio and not a deck - way nicer for kids to to flow into the backyard and also it is located just a few steps off the kitchen. It is a blank canvas that will take some planting, but it has good bones!

Exploring the White River Valley

We haven't been to the cabin to vacation in quite awhile. It was fun to be up there again and I took the kids exploring up the White River Valley at the northwest end of Lake Wenatchee. We went on the Twin Lakes trail a little ways and found this cool look-out spot.

 

 Further up the road we found White River Falls that I never even knew was here. It was really impressive. There is a decent-sized Forest Service Campground here that only had one camper staying in it on a really nice summer weekend, so looks like a fabulous place to enjoy the scenery and the river.

 And even further upstream, at the end of the road, is this waterfall. This is the parking lot for trails leading west to a few different passes over the Cascades and to Glacier Peak.

 On Sunday we drove down the newly re-opened Highway 2. There was a long section where we could only drive 35 mph and couldn't stop or pull over at all. This is taken from an open picnicking spot along the Wenatchee River in the Tumwater Canyon area. As you can see, a lot of the forest has burned.

 Goofing off at Riverside Park in Leavenworth.

We spent all Sunday afternoon at Lake Wenatchee. On Monday, we left the cabin early in the morning and went on two little hikes: Bygone Byways Interpretative Trail just east of Stevens Pass (featuring artifacts from the railroad and original highway) and Lake Elizabeth (off Money Creek Road just west of Skykomish). Lake Elizabeth was a nice little loop trail around the lake that ended up getting really muddy at the  end. The huckleberries, blueberries, wildflowers, and scenery almost made up for the muck.

 So much green! Can you find Edison?

 We had a picnic lunch at Eagle Falls just east of Index. It is a really great spot for cliff jumping and an amazing, deep green swimming hole for summer fun. We weren't prepared for swimming though, so just took it all in and made plans to head back again on our way to the cabin and to bring life jackets.

AUGUST - Playdates With Girlfriends

I have finally felt like I have the work of moving into the house under control and am now in summer mode. That means - playdates with friends and outdoor adventures with my kids. First we got together with Maija and her daughter Eevi. Reed and Eevi have changed so much in the past few months! They still play well together, though!

 Then we went to the beach with Heidi, Max and Maggie. Unfortunately, I didn't really get any good photos of us together. But she took a cute one of me with Reed who is loving the water time.

 Janine and I brought a picnic dinner to the lake last night. It had been a very hot day for here (95), and the kids all enjoyed time playing in the water.

 Beautiful blue eyes!

Edison has mastered the cannonball!

 

Today we met up with Jennie, Alton and Evie for a nice playdate. Alton is getting so grown up and playing with the big kids. Evie and Reed are on the same wavelength and having fun together. We had a blast down at the Civic Club after starting the morning at the house.