GiGi Turns 60!

Last weekend we headed over to Bellingham to celebrate GiGi turning 60.  To say Isla was excited for this trip would have been an understatement. We started a paper chain countdown about two weeks before we left.  Every morning she would get up and come into our room and report how many days we had left.

Can you tell she was excited:

Drew on the other hand wasn't too excited about being on the airplane.  He was fine until we took off and then I'm guessing that the feeling of being in the air made him uneasy as he turned to Ryan and said "Daddy I get off".  Luckily he was easily distracted by Diego on the iPad (Ryan and I called it his happy place):

Saturday morning we woke up to rain, but that didn't stop Isla and Drew from having fun with Papa and some bubbles:

Once the rain subsided we took off to the beach so Drew could throw rocks in the water:

Then we went to the Bellingham Saturday market and walked around.  Isla noticed that there were some kids getting their face painted and she immediately asked if she could have hers done.  She proceeded to stand in line and tell us exactly what she wanted (a butterfly).  I was completely floored as my Isla Bean is a bit on the shy side and tends to stay away from things like this.  I was so proud of her when she sat down in the stool and actually talked to the guy who painted her face:

Papa and GiGi spoiled Isla and Drew rotten the entire weekend.  In preparation for our visit they bought a motorized jeep for them to play in (I always wanted one of these when I was growing up).  Isla wasn't too excited about driving it, but Drew loved it:

Saturday evening we had some of my cousins over for dinner and the kids had a blast playing with their second cousins, especially Isla and Wren:

Sunday we went down to Seattle to our dear friend, Tyler Bjarnson's, going away party.  He is following his girlfriend down to the Marshall Islands (little tiny islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) and we are going to miss him so much.  So much so that I had to make him a going away present he would wear down on the islands (Go Dawgs):

We had such a fun weekend and the kids loved playing with Papa and GiGi.  Drew especially took to his Papa and followed him everywhere:

GiGi had a great birthday with her family:

And we successfully tired the kids out:

On Monday Ryan, Drew and I left home for Boise while Isla stayed behind with Papa and GiGi for the week.  Leaving her at the airport was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  She had no problem with it as she said "Don't worry Mommy I will give you 90 plus 10 of the bestest hugs in the whole world" which of course made me cry even more.  She has been having a great time with her Papa and GiGi and even though I miss her I'm so happy that she loves her Papa and GiGi and wants to spend time with them.  Drew misses her too as he asks me everyday "Mommy, where is my Isla Bean?".  We will soon be reunited when Isla and GiGi fly to Boise on Sunday to help us move (more on that later).

A Thankful Momma

Saturday morning the kids and I headed over the Camel's Back park while Ryan worked.  Surprisingly we had the entire park to ourselves for about 45 minutes - it was awesome.  I guess that's what you get when you go to a park at 8:30 on a Saturday morning.  Isla and Drew had a great time playing with each other.  Watching the two of them play together makes my heart melt - this is exactly what I hoped for when we decided to have our kids close in age:

Some videos:

I am so very thankful that they are healthy and happy and I'm also thankful to be their Momma:

Park Party and a Haircut

Last Friday we met up with our friends at a local park for dinner and it turned out to be quite the party!  It was brilliant in that we all got together with the kids and no house was destroyed in the process.  I think we may do this more often in the future.

It was also brilliant in that it wore our kids out!  Both of them slept in the next morning.

On Sunday we finally decided that it was time to get Drew a real haircut.  Ryan had been doing a good job of doing it by himself, but he was ready to hand the job off to someone else.  The reason Ryan started cutting his hair in the first place was because after Drew's first haircut, which went really well, he decided to throw an absolute fit when we took him again.  I was praying that he had gotten over it by now and, thankfully, he did!  We went to a SportsClips place by our house and I think it helped that there were two other boys getting their haircut at the same time:

Drew also gave awesome giggles when they trimmed his neck with the clippers!