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Face Paint
02.01.15 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Face Paint
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Hitting the Ice Caves
01.24.15 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Hitting the Ice CavesWinter hiking is brand new to us. Previously, we have only ever hiked in the summer. This year, however, I watched someone online as she made her way up multiple mountains, so I decided that we Lj’s can do that too! We started small with the Ice Caves, and realized that our world is much larger when we access it in winter too. We definitely discovered a new way for us to get out. 🙂
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Getting Out
01.10.15 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Getting OutWe try to get out with the kids every weekend on a meaningful, outdoor experience. Usually that means taking a long walk around our neighborhood, playing tennis, or our old standby: St. Edward Park! We are probably in the park on average once a week, sometimes more. It’s our favorite Lj locale!
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Seattle With Friends
12.31.14 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Seattle With Friends
On 12/30 a friend of mine and I took our kids to see the gingerbread houses at the Sheridan hotel downtown. Both of us had heard of it for years, neither of us had ever been, so we took that frigid, cold day by storm and saw the houses at last! Was it worth the brouhaha? Yes! While I wouldn’t want to wait in a long line for them, it was definitely worth the trip downtown, after Christmas, when the crowds have all died down.
To say that Beth’s son, Kian, is a vehicle nut is an understatement, so the monorail was a must. A mishap necessitated a trip to Old Navy for new pants, and hunger dictated that we had to eat, so we ate at Hot Dog in the Park, especially since the kids missed their yearly pilgrimage due to rain on parade day. The carousel beckoned the kids, so there we went too. It was casual, easy, freezing cold, hot cocoa fun!
The one can we probably should have avoided opening was the mini donuts purchase. I’ve heard about how supremely yummy they are from others, but before yesterday I was ignorant to their sweet, sweet song. Oh my. They were yummy. When Gigi came back spouting the prices for multiple bags of the things, I should have known what I was getting into. Sweet sweet mercy!
All told, it was a fun day. Even the incredibly brisk air made the whole thing more like a real event with a holiday feel!
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The Jolly Holiday
12.27.14 | Permalink | | Comments Off on The Jolly Holiday
Christmas started for us at 7:30 in the morning. Our kids crept oh-so-quietly into our room to gently wake us up and remind us that it was Christmas. Then they were sent to just-as-gently wake up Mimi and Bop-bop, brush their teeth and then wait at the top of the stairs like the running of the bulls. It’s a pretty wild scene, waiting for Mom or Dad to turn their camera on and utter the best word to hear on Christmas morning: Go!
Christmas morning was lovely. I have long-wrestled with the incredibly consumerist nature of the holiday. This year, however, I chose to see it as it is: a once a year opportunity to give and receive physical representations of appreciation with one another. We sat down as a family and opened gifts, communed over tokens of love, laughed and cried over shared sentiments. I made a lot of little things to stuff in my parents stockings- magnets, dish towels, gift tags, things like that; it was a pleasure to watch my mom and dad as they opened and exclaimed over each one. Good feelings multiply through those acts of giving and receiving. I loved it and loved this Christmas morning like no other. My favorite moment was when my daughter received her Taylor Swift tickets. And lucky me- I get to go, too!
Later on, my brothers and their families came over (but I took mostly video) where we feasted and played and opened gifts together as a family. And even later, the next day, before they left, there was my mom, teaching Guinevere how to use a sewing machine. Gigi has been working on her quilt ever since, ironing seams, cutting carefully, pinning, sewing, needing more fabric! It’s been fun!
As for Jude, he’s been a busy little bee, putting together his Legos like a boss.
Of course, we have also managed to get outside. So far, it’s been a marvelous, family- focused winter break.
