Guest for dinner and parents day out

Ellie has invited a guest for dinner lately . . .

. . . HER FOOT! About half-way though the meal, she finds her foot in her seat and brings it up onto the table. She has a look on her face like . . . "Hey mum, I brought a friend to dinner!"

Drew and I went on a date day a few weeks ago. We dropped Ellie off with Jon and Laura and headed to Seattle to pretend we were tourists. And we did the classic tourist blunder of paying $15 to go up to the observation deck of the Smith Tower. It's always been my favorite builiding Seattle but $15 bucks was pretty steep for a quick photo op! I love this city! Especially on sunny days!

Cold, Wet and Miserable

Since Donnianne and Ellie were in Canada last weekend, I went on a hiking trip. How did it go?? Well, the title of this post are the only words to describe the hiking trip that my friend TJ and I embarked on last weekend. After 5 miles (2 of which climbed 2500 ft in elevation) we finally reached the Rampart Lakes. Our body temperatures dropped suddenly as wind gusts and sideways rain joined our party. We quickly set up our tents and climbed into our sleeping bags to stay warm. Two hours later we realized that our chosen camping spot was too exposed - our tents were being blown over onto us!

After a scouting mission, we moved camp to a cluster of trees to get some shelter. Soaked to the bone, we made a fire and cooked some hot food. The rain storm raged through the night and by 7 am we decided we'd had enough. Still wet from the day before, we packed up camp and hiked the 5 mile trail back to the Subaru. It was a "Sight for sore thighs" as TJ put it!

"Why do we do this to ourselves?" we asked our selves repeatedly on the way down. I think it is really good for humans to take time away from the comforts of every day life in order to truly appreciate what we have. Besides the amazing views and the beauty of all alpine lakes, we put ourselves in these situations to be reminded of what we're capable of accomplishing. And next year when we are high on a mountain side, soaking wet and sore from hiking I'll try and remember this post.

Rosie, Roseola

Ellie had her first illness last week!  She spiked a fever early in the week and it lasted for 3 days.  After 48 hours of a fever the doctor said to bring her in.  I was not happy about taking her because I knew they would do tests and I also knew it was probably a virus and there would be no treatment. 

All was true . . . they took urine and blood to check for a bacterial infection and everything came back negative.  Just a virus.  Ellie was a trooper through it all.

I swear the fever broke the moment we left the doctors office!!!

So the next day we headed up to Canada to visit family.  Ellie was still a little bit fussy and not quite back to her cheerful self.  

Then as we were swimming in the hot tub I noticed a rash over her entire stomach and back.  

ROSEOLA!

I knew it immediately.  It's a very common infection in kids up to 4 years old.  It starts with a feverthen once the fever breaks a rash develops 1-2 days later.  Luckily, the rash isn't itchy.  She started feeling better the next day.

And new she's back to her old self.

'F' is for Friends

Ellie has been spending time with some of her baby friends lately. It's so amazing to see how she interacts with other kids now. A few months ago the toys were the most amazing thing, now she notices other kids and wants to play. Well, "play" means repeatedly taking toys from eachother.

Kaden, is the grandson of Laura's friend. They are only 3 months apart and they finally met this weekend. Isn't it cute how they're holding hands??? My friend, Darcy, hosted a play group last week. Once again, veggie booty at the kids table was the big hit. Zach just started walking and Ellie decided she could have a free ride by holding onto his shirt. He wasn't too excited about having a woman hanging all over him :)

End of summer family days

This weekend, Drew's sister and her boyfriend were in town from Atlanta.

We spent the whole weekend at The Noble House B&B (AKA: Jon & Laura's house).

We hung out at the beach, by the bon-fire and had a birthday party for Shaneen.

As you can tell form the above photo, Ellie loves her aunty!

Oops, Ellie is showing Aunty Shaneens cards. We'll have to work on her card etiquette.

Brother love.

Drew and I are so jealous of our friends whose siblings live close by! It feels like home when Shaneen, Michelle or Devin are in town. And we miss them so much!

Happy play time.

I love this outfit. She looks like she's ready to go to school, in her jumper and fall colored 'baby legs'. But thank goodness she's not! I like having my little baby and I'm sure I'll be wishing to go back to these days in no time.

All dressed up to go to her first birthday party. Lucy, the daughter of my friend from nursing school, turned ONE at the end of August. Ellie had a great time playing with the bigger kids . . . well she mostly watched.

Ellie, Ellie, how does your garden grow?

We spent part of our labor day weekend at Drew's parents house. They have a beautiful vegetable garden. Ellie had a great time eating fresh beans and carrots.