Lauren & Ben

 On National Sibling Day I made Lauren and Ben hug and say how much they love each other (it was totally natural and super genuine;)) and then I gave them a "sibling day present". 

 I gave them the Guiness Book of World Records because I remember having so much fun reading through this book when I was a kid with Ryan. 

 They loved it and have had a ton of fun reading it together this week. Lots of fun random facts! 

 Last week both kids won Character Awards at school. Lauren got hers for "empathy" and Ben got his for "service." It was fun to see them both get called up at the assembly- a definite perk of working at their school- getting to see these little moments. 

And since they were feeling so much sibling love they decided to have a sleepover in the playroom. It was fun...until they woke up in the morning and started fighting again:) 

Family Visit

Uncle Ron, Aunt Tracey, and Cole came up for a visit last week. We had so much fun hanging out with everyone and celebrating Aunt Tracey's birthday! 

The Murphy's were in Seattle for spring break so we met them at their hotel for some swimming and dinner. The kids had a blast together! 

Miss Lauren loved showing off her gym skills at the pool. 

 Their room had an amazing view of Lake Union. 

 Lauren and Wyatt are 5 weeks apart in age and are starting to be "too cool" to sit next to each other:) 

 The gang! 

Ben's Teeth!

 Ben has been losing teeth like crazy lately! 4 in about a month! He is a bit hard to understand but so cute:) We noticed that his teeth are coming in a little crazy...gotta start saving for braces now! yikes! 

Easter

 Lauren had lots of fun with the Easter prep this year- Ben opted to play outside and she was quite happy to be decorating eggs by herself! 

 P

 After she was done with the eggs she decided to see what else she could dye! 

 The Easter Bunny came- yahoo! 

 He's trying to inspire them to be more independent when hiking- good thinking Bunny! 

 Hayley and Hadley joined us for Easter Brunch!

 After brunch  we headed over to B-Z's for the annual egg hunt! 

 First year that no kids cried when seeing the Easter Bunny...also the first year the kids figured out it wasn't the real bunny...

 He brought Ben a new sweatshirt! 

And Lauren a new leo! 

Ben's All About Me Week

Kevin & I got to go into Ben's class a few weeks ago to celebrate his "All About Me" week. He was so cute reading his poster to the class and answering questions. He got to bring a book to share with the class and he chose, "Fredrick's Alligator" which was one of my favorite books as a kid. Kevin did the read aloud, it was pretty cute! 

Friday Harbor

 Last weekend we headed to Friday Harbor to visit Holly & family and for a little weekend getaway. 

 Saturday was beautiful, a perfect day for a ferry ride. 

 The kids (and I) were bound and determined to see an Orca whale, but no such luck. Can't say we didn't try!

 We had so much fun visiting Jodie & Nancy, we hadn't seen them since May! They've grown up so much, it was great to see their cute personalities! 

 While the girls took naps, we went and explored the island a bit. We went to English Camp and it was so beautiful. 

 This was the only flower in the whole garden so I had to take a pic. 

 After nap time we went had dinner at Holly & Ryan's new house. It was so fun to have time to hang out and catch up. 

 They live on 5 acres and Lauren and Ben were in heaven! 

 They loved being "big" kids and pushing the little kids on the swings.

 After dinner Lauren and Jodie watched Frozen- Ben fell asleep on the couch. 

 Lauren and Jodie crafting:) 

 Ben & Jodie "working"

 We went to a whale watching beach and crossed our fingers and toes that we might spot one (some had been spotted in that area earlier in the week) but no such luck. 

 It was pretty windy and cold and I forgot to pack the kids jackets...which Lauren wouldn't let me forget. Luckily Holly let her borrow one and Ben's a trooper and didn't mind wearing 2 sweatshirts. 

 The Wehner family!

 Us

 So fun spending time with Holly- can't believe we've been friends for over 11 years- time flies! 

 Lauren loved all the Madrona trees. 

 So did Nancy.

 Ryan & Jodie

 It was really fun to see Lauren and Ben connect so quickly with Jodie. They were so close to her the year we babysat her but that seems like so long ago (almost 2 years ago!). 

 View from the beach hike at Lime Kiln State Park. 

 After the park the girls went back for a nap and we explored Roche Harbor. We saw this cute little dear on the way (one of many wild life that we saw including a camel, pigs, sheep, llamas, a seal, and hawks...everything but whales). 

 Love the darling little town at Roche Harbor- everything is so cute!

 The old lime kilns. 

 The marina and restaurants and shops. 

 Since we had visited English camp on Saturday we had to visit American camp on Sunday. 

 Also very beautiful, however it was rainy and cold and Ben fell asleep in the car so we didn't get out to explore, just took some pics. Next time we'll explore! 

 Miss Nancy is hilarious- she LOVES her accessories. When we arrived she had on boots and a helmet. Throughout the weekend she wore every accessory possible, it was so hilarious. The girls got personality! 

These two fought a good chunk of the trip but managed to look like the love each other in this pic:) 

Such a great weekend with great friends. Can't wait to go back again this summer!