Reaching New Heights

Last week, the kids were off from school due to parent/teacher conferences and Thanksgiving. They had a great time relaxing and recharging their batteries a bit.

Eric and I took turns being home with the kids during the first three days of their break. (We were off Thursday and Friday, so that was easy!) Eric opted to take Monday off instead of working from home (what I did Tuesday and Wednesday), so he and the kids loaded up on fun stuff. Annika had been asking to go rock climbing for a few weeks and Monday seemed like a great opportunity for that to become a reality.

Eric loaded up the kids and headed down to the Stone Gardens climbing wall in Ballard. The kids donned their climbing shoes and hit the wall with gusto. Conor was content to stick closer to the lower and middle portions while working on his confidence, footing, and grips. Annika, on the other hand, had no qualms about scaling the wall and even making it to an overhang area. Both kids did a great job and, per the periodic texts and photos I received from Eric, had a fun time. Annika is now gung ho on rock climbing and wants to take lessons. Conor says he wants to take lessons, too, but we aren't as sold on his enthusiasm quite yet.

After they kids finished up at the climbing wall, everyone piled back into the car, stopped at Dick's for lunch, and then headed home for some R&R. When I got home from work, it was such fun to hear them regale me with stories of their day and their rock climbing experience.

I love that the kids got to have a special date with Eric. Too often, I hear about fathers who aren't involved in their kids' lives (for a variety of reasons), and I feel so blessed to have a husband who is also an active father. He wants to be part of their lives.... and there is nowhere else the kids would rather have him!

Starting 2013 with sun and sand

On January 1, I took the kids to Carkeek Park to (a) enjoy the clear weather and (b) provide a quiet house for Eric to take a nap. The kids and I bundled up, made a pit stop at Dick's for some burgers, and then headed down to the beach. It was cold, but absolutely stunning. I figured we'd probably have the beach to ourselves; I couldn't have been more wrong. The place was packed! Apparently, we Seattleites have no fear of cold and refuse to pass up a blue-skied day.

Upon arriving at the beach, the kids began meeting their hole-making quota. Annika and Conor began digging their own holes, but Conor quickly determined working on a co-owned hole was much more fun and Annika was amiable to the idea. Eventually, their focus turned from digging holes to throwing rocks. (Gratefully, they had enough real estate that they weren't risking their or anyone else's safety ... aim and our children haven't become friends yet.) Being the horrible mother that I am, I eventually made the kids pause in their efforts and had them eat their burgers. (Note that I scarfed mine down as soon as we arrived ... cold burgers just isn't appealing in the least... our kids have no such beliefs.)

We were treated to having a train run along the tracks while we were there. By "treated", I mean Annika and I thought it was cool.... Conor covered his ears and decided the entire event was completely unnecessary and probably a bit cruel.

Eventually, we made it up to the playground so Annika could spend some time on the swings. Conor was much more interested in returning to the beach, so this was a good lesson in how to compromise. (Personally, I'm with Conor and would rather spend our time on the beach taking in the view!) Annika has become quite the skilled pumper on the swings and can achieve rather impressive heights under her own power. She still likes for us to pull her feet for some extra oomph, though (who wouldn't??).

All-in-all, it was a wonderful way to start off the new year and enjoy the gorgeous scenery we have around these parts. Can't wait to go back. :)

Dig, dig, dig

So many treasures to be found on the beach

Annika taking in the view

I took this for my brother (Drew)
so he could recall all of the goodness that is Seattle

Nom, nom, nom

Not sure if she's dancing or throwing rocks...

Mmmm.... cold burgers

Choo choo choo choo

Annika showing her new-found ability to pump on her own

Christmas Preparations: Finding a Tree

I had it in my head that the kids needed to see the reindeer and camel at a local nursery. It seemed the Christmas thing to do... and I really wanted to see the critters myself! We figured that we'd bundle everyone up, see the animals, buy a tree, stop at Dick's for burgers on our way home, and then get the tree set up. Great in theory... we didn't expect the nursery to have insanely expensive trees! So, we saw the reindeer, saw the camel, saw the tree prices, and promptly headed back to our car. We did get burgers ... and then drove straight to Lowes for a more affordable tree.

While at Lowes, Annika proclaimed that every tree she saw was "PERFECT!" I think if she had her way, we'd have an entire tree farm in our front room. While she was busy falling in love with each tree, Conor was busy giving me a heart attack; let me tell you how nerve wracking it is to have a two-foot-nothing two-year-old wandering around aisles and aisles of trees that have the uncanny ability to basically envelop him at every turn. I spent the majority of our tree shopping time shouting, "CONOR! WHERE ARE YOU????" His "Here I am, MAMA!" replies didn't really help because it was a little voice from amongst the branches and boughs.... stress, I tell ya!

Finally, we picked a tree, loaded it up, and headed home to make our house smell like Christmas.

At home, we rearranged our furniture to make room for our tree and got to work on stringing the lights on it. To keep the kids busy, I pulled out their little 12" artificial tree and let them decorate it with their "doesn't matter if they get dropped" ornaments. We basically spiraled the lights around the tree; I know my dad was trying to coach us from the great beyond, but it didn't really work with the time we allotted for the lights. My dad was a perfectionist when it came to stringing lights on our Christmas trees when I was a kid. Our kids will not say the same thing about us when they're grown. ;)

We got the tree up and decorated (stay tuned for pictures) and now it is busy sucking up cups of water each day and littering our carpet with countless pine needles. Our vacuum is probably cursing our choice not to get an artificial tree a few years ago. But that's OK.... we're not officially festive and have a place to put our wrapped presents (much to Conor's delight; he tried to open one of his as soon as he saw his name on the the tag).

Hey, look! A reindeer!

That's one tall camel!

Here he comes!

Not our tree ... the search continues

THE tree for us!