Fun in the Sun

We've had some pretty nice weather lately, although today we crossed the line from nice to ridiculous. It hit 105 at our home just outside of Seattle-seriously. We Washingtonians are ill-equipped to handle this type of heat and air conditioned homes are the minority. Our house is currently 93 degrees on the main level, and 99 in the kids rooms. We have air conditioning in our bedroom so we've all been camping out in there and even having dinner picnics on the bed while watching movies. Sydney thinks this is the coolest thing ever!

Here are some pictures of our fun in the sun the past few weeks....

This was actually from our trip to Eugene, Oregon for the wedding. I just love this one of the kids-it shows how much Sydney adores her little brother. And of course he feels the same for Sydney.

We headed down to the valley last month to pick the last bunch of strawberries. My goal is to make some jam, although the berries are still in the freezer at this point. Sydney loved picking strawberries, so of course I had to go into the story about how when I was 12, my parents made my brother and I pick raspberries one summer. Aww memories. And I totally felt like my dad, telling stories of how he walked up hill both ways to school-in the snow. I think with no shoes too.


My friend Jackie and her family were up visiting from California so we had them over for a bbq the first week of July. It's so much fun to get the kids together. Jackie and I have been friends for 21 years now! Wow, that makes me feel so old. Here are the cute kids...
Greg and Jessica recently added a new family member to their family-a Maltese puppy named Juno. Seriously, she is the cutest little dog ever. Sydney is always super shy around dogs but she fell in love with Juno and did great with her. She now talks about her daily, has a dog toy for next time we see them, and has named one of her stuffed puppies Juno.

Sydney and Juno
A very washed out picture of Greg and Alex-but cute nonetheless
Pretty girls!

Mr. Handsome

Watching the garbage man
This picture cracks me up-I promise Alex swinging is not as scary as it looks. But he does love it.
We had a playdate at our house a couple weeks ago. The little boys loved the baby pool!
The big kid's pool
Come here Brady, let me give you a big hug-or actually, chew on your head for a bit.
The little kids with the big kids


Alex and Brady
Sydney playing dress up
More pool time
Soaking the feet
Alex enjoying more pool time
Cuteness

Alex and Nana We had a great time at a local festival a couple weeks ago. Sydney LOVED the bouncy houses so we went back three times to bounce. Hands down the best part of the city's festival
Even better than the motorcycles...
Sydney decided to ditch the dream of being a doctor for now and wants to be a firefighter.
Me and my little bubba

7 months old!

My little man is 7 months old already. Wow. I know I say this every month, how time has just flown by, but it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time flies as you get older and have kids.

My favorite little man is doing well. He is such a happy and smily baby-just like his big sister was. Let me tell you how thrilled this makes me because I just assumed we wouldn't luck out in this area twice. It's so nice to be able to take him to Sydney's gymnastics, put down a blanket and a few toys and watch him play independently for 45 minutes. But when he starts crawling...oh boy.

He is rolling all over, scooting and it looks like he'll be crawling within the next month. He is my active little guy and I am just amazed at how quickly he gets into things. He has been sleeping really well. He is sleeping through his 5am feeding now and sleeps from about 7-8pm until about 7-8am. That makes me very happy. I took him for haircut number three yesterday since I have been calling his hair a "bouffant." The little guy has some big hair going on, I am amazed at how thick it is on top. He looks so cute with his "little man" cut. He also loves bath time. We now bathe Sydney and Alex together and they both love it. Alex just splashes, kicks and goes after toys the whole time. Sydney just thinks it's the coolest to have little bro in the bathtub with her.

He has been eating finger foods the past couple of weeks-Cheerios, Gerber Puffs and yogurt melts. I also tried some noodles on him and he definitely enjoyed those. He is also a big fan of the fruit-peaches, pears, apples, mangoes, plums, nectarines-you name it, he loves it. Although I have a feeling there aren't many foods he won't eat. So far peas are not a fave. And he does already eat more than his nearly four year old sister-I give it six months until he outweighs her.

I just love this little guy so much. His little belly laugh when you tickle his neck and belly, the way he lights up when he sees Anthony, Sydney or I. The way he just looks up to Sydney, watching her and smiling-you can tell he just can't wait to be running around with her. He just adores her. And his little flirtations with the ladies-smiling, then burying his face into my shoulder, and then smiling again. So cute. I am the luckiest to have such amazing kids.

Max and Bethany's Wedding

We headed down to Eugene, Oregon the last weekend of June for the big wedding. Max and Bethany's wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was terrific to see the family, and I loved that they made the wedding their own. (Cinnabon instead of wedding cake-perfect.) Sydney was the flower girl in their wedding and she did well. Then again she's been in two weddings now so she is already a professional at age 3.
I still can't believe Bethany is married! I first met her at age 13, so in my mind she's still the giggly thirteen year old girl. Her and Max are a terrific couple and we are so excited for them.

The beautiful flower girl

Sydney and Bethany's twin sister Mandy
Mandy and her dad (uncle Terry)
Sydney and the ring bearer, Jed. Jed wasn't always a fan of having his picture taken. This was the best I could do of them together.
The bride and flower girl

The girls
Max and Bethany with what looks like their kids!
Syd and uncle Terry
The whole bridal party-sans ring bearer
Me and my girl

The wedding favors-candy!

The Cinnabon Alex in his suit. Although he was without his tie since apparently (according to Anthony) his neck was too big for the clip on tie.
Alisa, Eddie and David
Here comes the flower girl and ring bearer! And yes, I did tear up when Sydney walked down the aisle.

Happy couple!


The boys
Poor Sydney-Alex is tormenting her already by always pulling her hair
It's not easy getting a good picture of all of us

Pretty girls

Alex had his first taste of Cinnabon frosting-oh boy, he loved it.
Sydney helped Bethany throw the bouquet-and then cried later because she didn't catch the bouquet. Silly girl.
And they lived happily ever after....