Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend seemed really long! We did a lot and Dustin and I had a lot of "couple" time.  I really didn't take that many pictures unfortunately but I will share what we did.

Daddy and Leah's dance party Friday night :-)

First of all I should note that Leah has been waking up really early these days. Usually between 6:30 and 7. Dustin and I are NOT early morning people so this has been rough.  I don't know if it is that she is in a bed now and can get up when she wants, or if it is because it is light so early now. But I hope it is just a phase!!  So getting up super early has made our days seem even longer lately!

Saturday was a beautiful day. We took a walk to a nearby park in the morning and we played for awhile.

Snack break (wearing Daddy's hat)

That afternoon I ran some errands and then our friends Kim and Chris came over for a barbecue that night. We just grilled hot dogs and had chips, salad, fruit, cupcakes. Yummy.  Then after Leah went to bed we made a fire in our backyard and the guys played with the fire while me and Kim had some laughs looking through our high school yearbooks!

 Leah looooved the cupcake we let her have! What a mess!!

Sunday morning was another walk to a different playground. The weather was much cooler that day, booo!  That afternoon my mother in law came over to watch Leah. Dustin and I went to get massages (we just found out that the insurance at his new job covers 40 a year for each of us, whoooop!). After our appointments we went to register for baby boy gifts since my friend Kim is throwing a shower for me next month!  We also couldn't help ourselves from buying some new toys for Miss Leah :-) We ended the evening with a delicious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

This weekend we converted our dining room into a playroom!  We just figure that since we rarely ever used our dining room (and don't have the extra $ to make it nice like we would want anyway) let's make that room functional! So while our kids are little, that's what the room will be. Keep most of the toys all in one spot and Leah, baby brother, and their friends will have somewhere fun to play. 
So it went from this -

To this -

I still want to get some organizational bins and maybe put a little chair in there. 

Monday morning was another date opportunity for Mommy and Daddy. We dropped Leah off at my Mom's house and went to see The Avengers in 3D. It was ok.  I don't really love wild action movies but Dustin wanted to see it so we went :-) 

Overall a very fun weekend!

Bubble Bath Fun

Last night after dinner Leah asked Daddy out of the blue to take a bubble bath with her!  (All baths HAVE to be bubble baths these days :-)  So he put on his bathing suit :-) and they had a bath party!

Also, I opened the door to this special delivery yesterday....

It was a surprise, out of the blue, for no reason gift that made me happy :-)

Dustin DID decide to get a motorcycle last week despite my disapproval (so the bracelet may be a little bit of a guilt gift......although he says that I have been deserving a nice gift for awhile now.....ok.... :-). We have been discussing it off and on for the last few months and ultimately I told him that it was his decision but I would never feel completely comfortable with it since they are such a risk and everyone has their horror stories to tell of their friend's brother's cousin's mom's boyfriend who died from a motorcycle accident.  But then he started his new job about a month ago and his commute is HORRIBLE, usually taking him an hour and a half to get home. So he was missing dinner with us and not getting to spend very much time with Leah before bedtime.  If he were in the carpool lane it would cut off maybe an hour of that!  So when he told me that he put down the deposit I was upset, but I have to just trust that he will be as safe as he can. And he has promised me that if he has any close calls or feels like it is more dangerous than he thought, he will sell it.

So ANYWAY, we are now looking forward to a three day weekend! Nothing too exciting planned but hopefully the weather will be good to we can just have some fun outdoor family time!

Sesame Street Live

A few weeks ago I saw a commercial for the Sesame Street Live- Elmo Makes Music show coming to Seattle! I pretty much ordered tickets immediately. :-)  Leah still really loves Elmo.  When I showed a video clip to her she said - "See it, see it! I go see that peeeease!" So we went to the show today! 

It was so cute they had a "Play Zone" set up for the kids to explore before the show. It was little scenes from Sesame Street like Elmo's World, Big Bird's nest, Zoe's dance studio, etc.

So excited! Of course she had to wear her Elmo shirt from her birthday party!

Check out the street sign - We're here!!

Big Bird's nest!

Elmo's World!

Zoe's dance studio

Coloring station

Hopscotch!

Some of the characters put on a little show before the main performance. And Leah got a high five from Ernie!

Had to go back to Elmo's World another time!

Then it was time for the main show!

Leah's face lit up with excitement when the show started!

On the car ride home Leah asked to see more Elmo and go back again :-) We had to explain that they aren't here all the time, haha!  Sooooo glad we got to take Leah to this show. I wonder if she will have any memory of these fun things...!

Mother's Day and Sunshine!

We reached 80 degrees for the first time this year. And May is very early for that to happen in Seattle!

Mother's Day was a very nice day.  Me and Leah met my mom and brother for lunch at Rock Bottom.

Then we went home for Leah's nap and when she woke up Dustin, Leah and I went to dinner at our new Mother's Day tradition, Tutta Bella.  After that we came home and played in the backyard for awhile since the weather was so nice.

The weather this week has been gorgeous every day so far and we are loving it. Monday was the warmest and we didn't have plans so me and Leah did lots of activities outside. 
We brought out her easel for some finger painting!

 Had lots of fun in her sand/water table.

 Then she painted a butterfly garden stone.

 She took a break to talk to Daddy on the phone. :-)

 That day Leah had about 3 outfit changes and a few mini baths in the sink :-)
And then the last few days we have had picnics and gone to playgrounds. Let's hope this weather sticks around until, let's say, October or so!!!??  :-)

Mount Rainier

The final full day of our trip we rented a van and drove up to Mt Rainier!  I went there when I was a kid but we went to the campgrounds and picnic areas, never up very high. This time we went to Paradise Park which is up pretty high!  I was not anticipating so much snow! In Seattle it was about 70 degrees that day so I was wearing flip flops! I felt pretty silly wearing them in the snow!

Mt Rainier off in the distance

Beautiful!

Leah was so excited to see snow again!

This family from Texas has never seen anything like this before!

It was really bright from the sun reflecting on the snow!

Luckily this day the kids passed out on the car ride home since it was a long drive.  And then I thought this pic was funny. On top of a snowy mountain in the morning and then eating popsicles in the sun if the afternoon. :-)

Silly kids!

Our guests left the next morning.  We had a really fun time with them. We can't wait until their next visit!