Hello, Summer

The weather has been so wonderful this week in the NW, we have spent many hours outside.

Most trips to the park start on the playground equipment but quickly move to the trails and grass. This kid loves nature.

mmmm, dirt!

Notice the tongue out when she's concentrating . . . she's such an Ocamp'!

Instead of blowing the dandelions, she spits on the flower then tosses it in the wind.

Dinner . . . al fresco

Drew vividly remembers that when he was a child he couldn't wait to be finished with dinner so he could go back to playing. He often spent the second half of supper under the table bidding his time until the meal was complete.

I have a feeling Ellie is another kid with a major case of ants in her pants!

Lately, during dinner, she seems to want out of her seat the minute we put her in. But once she gets down she still wants to eat.

Drew's, brilliant solution . . .

Dine outside and let Ellie roam around the deck while we sit and enjoy the warm summer evening.

Happy girl . . . happy parents

Like mother, like daughter

I can't help but wonder what Ellie will look like as she grows up.

Maybe like her mum!

The good stuff

On this, the night of my 28th birthday, I have a thought . . .

h a p p i n e s s is in the l i t t l e things.

Like the fact that since Drew had to work all day and couldn't call me to wish me happy birthday he made sure to make me feel special by leaving a note in the kitchen, sending me a text message and an email . . . lots of love.

Little wet Ellie footprints. Those are really great too.

Joy

We are just wrapping up the best Memorial Day weekend EVER!

Drew planned a great "stay-cation" to Vashon Island for my birthday. We stayed in a fabulous guest cottage overlooking the sound. I'm pretty sure I spent a total of about 6 hours in the hot tub!

Drew did a lot of research and found a little restaurant on Vashon called La Boucherie. It is owned by a family that has an organic farm on the island. It was truly Farm to Table dining and absolutely delicious!

Then I got a bee in my bonnet that I wanted to get my nose pierced.

And since it's my birthday weekend, we ran right down to Capitol Hill and got it done. Yay!

But wait, there's more!!! Last night we went to our favorite place . . . Jazz Alley and saw our favorite jazz singer . . . Karrin Allyson. It was a great night.

And to top it all off the weather couldn't have been more perfect! Sunny and warm for the entire weekend. WOW! Drew did a great job planning and thanks to the grandparents we had a nice break from the munchkin.

A tale of two toddlers

AT THE ZOO!

I think when I imagined having kids I imagined fun family outings with the kids yelling "I wanna see the bears . . . I wanna see the elephants!"

But life with a toddler is not quite so . . . predictable.

Much laughter was had by Esther and I when we realized the animals at the zoo were the LAST thing the girls wanted to see.

Although the goat in the petting zoo was a hit . . . they mostly wanted to climb on the rocks and hang out in the "zoomazium", which is pretty much an indoor playground.

O000, a rare sighting of the Ellie monkey in her natural habitat.

The lovely red-topped Rowen bird.

Laughably, one of the biggest attractions for toddlers at the zoo is apparently the water fountain! These girls have known eachother since birth and will be in the same grade at school. It's fun to see them starting to play together

Summer preview

We have had a stretch of gorgeous weather lately. Not only is warm weather rare in May but for it to fall on a weekend is almost unheard of!!!

Here is Ellie playing with her friend, Ibrahim, at a concert in the park.

Aren't they adorable???!!!