Actually Mom

Lauren was helping me vacuum and when she saw the camera she said, "Actually mom, you are not allowed to take my picture"... apparently it's in her contract:)

He is Back

She’s obsessed with Ben’s swim trunks!

Latest Obsession

Ben kind of gets on these kicks and becomes obsessed with things. Currenly it's beer bottles. Nothing else will do, it has to be a beer bottle. So we wash them out and let him play. He's also obsessed with this chair- he'll just sit in it and chill out for 10 minutes of so. Too funny.
Getting fancy with the bottles- future bartender?

Wrong side Ben but he doesn't need to know that!

And these shoes are also on the new obsession list. He insisted on wearing them when he woke up so he wore them for breakfast. They are too big but too cute not to wear! Lauren asked me today if she could have a matching pair... I told her they only made her size in pink & black. She's going to blame all her problems on me when she's in therapy- I just know it!

Big Girl Bed

Lauren finally got her "real" big girl bed and is so excited. I think her favorite thing is that it has a bed underneath for Hadley to sleep in. Whenever she shows it to people she always makes sure to tell them there is a bed for her cousin Hadley to sleep on too. It's pretty cute. Now if we could just get her to sleep all night in it... that is a whole other story!

p.s.- we are going to rearrange the pictures on her wall, I just took this pic right when she got the bed.

Soccer!

Lauren had her "first" (really her second because I forgot about her first) soccer practice this week and I think Ben actually had more fun that her.
We had to wake her up to take her and she sucked her thumb most of the time.

She started to get into it though and I think by the time it was over she was having fun.

She loved trying to pull Daddy's tail off!

And she loved running from him so he couldn't pull her tail off.

I'm excited for week # 2 (really 3- because of mom of the year!).

The 3 Amigos

We got to spend the day with Hadley on Friday so we ventured out to RTC to play in the fountains! Do you love how I turned this 2 kid stroller into a 3 kid stroller? It worked great!
Lauren LOVED the fountain, Ben & Hads were hesitant but ended up having lots of fun too.
Silly girls!

He was drenched! Next time I will be smarter and pack their suits, not sure what I was thinking. But I did think ahead enough to pack each of them a change of clothes so I get some points!

"Look Mom, I'm pretending to be a boy with no shirt"- those were her exact words. Fabulous.

Hadley didn't like having wet clothes for too long so she decided to get dressed and enjoy a nice snack on the bench.

Then we ventured up to Pizza Shmizza for some lunch. The girls were super cute with their dipping sauce, Hadley precisely dipped each bite, it was serious business.

*Note to all my school friends who read this- our former colleague was still working there!

The best part of an outing like this- ALL 3 KIDS were OUT!!!

Tie Dye Extravaganza!

I decided it'd be a fun summer activity to make tie dye shirts or "sloppy joe shirts" as Lauren calls them. This was my first time ever making them so it was an adventure for all of us!
The kids had a blast making them and we managed to only stain one pair of shorts!

Hard at work.

Such a team!

The finished products...sort of. I actually just took them out of the wash and they are super dull and not so pretty anymore. Any tips for next time?

So Scholarly

Weekend in Winthrop

We headed over to Winthrop last weekend for a wedding. Kevin really wanted to stop at this little grease pit for lunch so we did. It was pretty funny because it took soooooooo long to get our food you would have thought we were at a 5 star restaraunt. It gave us time for lots of good laughs with Evan & Nicki though so it was worth it!
Mom & Dad loaned us the convertable for the trip over. It was a really beautiful drive and the weather was fabulous!
A little self portrait- my shoulders were getting burned, that is why I have my jacket over my shoulders- not trying to go for the preppy golfer look!

Just before the wedding at Sun Mountain Lodge- it was a beautiful setting!

Doug & Sara- the Mr & Mrs. She looked AMAZING and they were so happy, always the perfect way to be at your wedding:)

The deer around here were crazy- they literally just walked up to us at the tables while we were eating. The drive back to our hotel was scary because two jumped out in front of us. We had been warned so being the ultra safe dd that I am- I was going 20 under the speed limit, much to Kevin's dismay...until the deer jumped out that is!

The town of Winthrop was so cute- I felt like we were in part of Disneyland. We (I) couldnt' pass up this photo op!

We had coffee and the worlds best cinnamon roll at this cute place. The seats were funny.

Another photo op I couldn't pass up:)

Isn't this town so cute?! I can't wait to go back!

Family Pics

Jocelyn posted some great pics- she does a fantastic job!

http://www.jocelynpics.blogspot.com/

Puffer Fish

We took Ben to get his hair cut today and when they were done Lauren said, "He looks like a puffer fish!" Well I don't think he looks like a puffer fish but if he does he is the cutest puffer fish I've ever seen!
Side profile.

From the front (the toothbrush is his best friend today).

*Note- once again we did not shave his sides, for some reason his hair doesn't seem to grow on his sides! I'm always afraid people think I wanted it that way!

Just had to post this one because if you look closely you will see he is not holding onto anything, he's standing on his own! He does this often but once he realizes it he sits right down.

The 4th!

We spent the 4th of July at Aimee's Sister's house on Lake Tapps. She has an AMAZING home with a SPECTACULAR view and to top it all off she is the nicest person, serves tons of delicious food, and everything in her house is perfectly kid friendly- what more could you ask for?!
Kevin & I enjoying the beautiful weather in their fabulous yard.

Lauren was in pure heaven with this slide/pool/bouncy house combo- all her favorite things in one. And here she is grabbing a hose from a boy who was probably about 13 and spraying him. The girl has guts! She did stop and ask him his name before she grabbed the hose from him and started spraying. We are in trouble!

The biggest surprise of the afternoon was how much Ben LOVED the lake. He was splashing all around, throwing rocks, and laughing like crazy. We all had such a fun time and both kids crashed on the car ride home. What a perfect way to celebrate Independence Day!

Old Times

My friend Megan is visiting from Florida and Tonya & I met up with her at Daniels on Lake Union. It was a beautiful night and so fun to catch up!

Crazy Fun

Lauren & Ben invented this fun new game where Lauren "builds a tower" out of the fan (really she just puts two washcloths and a cup on top) and Ben just watches. Then she jumps off the chair and they both laugh hysterically!
They did this for a good 30 minutes while I folded and put clothes away the other day. While I didn't see the humor in it I was quite entertained watching them have a ball.

" Here I go, Are you ready Ben?"

I love the serious look on his face!

And she's off! I love watching them entertain eachother, they find humor in the smallest silliest things and it is so great.