Summer bucket list part 1

It's that time of year again when my sister and I make our usually too ambitious bucket list for the summer. I love that I have a friend who enjoys planning events and outings as much as I do. This is going to be a rockin summer even if we do 10% of what we want to! Here are the first few things off our list...

1. bowling (I already talked about our bowling adventure back here in our California post)

2. Take a ferry ride. We ventured with a few friends and their kiddos over to Kingston for a couple of hours for a picnic lunch and delicious crepes. Colter still talks about the loud engine on the ferry boat and talks about going on another ferry ride almost daily, so i'd call it a success.

3. Check out the new exhibit at the zoo. It's been a few months since we ventured to the zoo so it was fun to see what has changed. We missed the sloth bear cubs, but were able to see the 7 mo. old lion cubs. so sweet! We also got to see the new otter exhibit and the play area at the bamboo forest reserve. Colter's favorite animal was the giraffes.

4. Try out cheesemonger. My friend Stephanie had her birthday party at cheesemonger. It did not disappoint. Cheesy goodness! Unfortunately we did not take any pictures. Perhaps it was because we were all busy consuming way too much cheese.

5. A ride on the water taxi/shaved ice at Marination Mai Kai. We did this for Ben's father's day celebration. What a wonderful experience!! Such a perfect thing to do with visitors in town, or just something out of the ordinary!

Our Papa Bear

He's always glad to walk in the door after a long day of work. He always says yes to Colter's immediate requests to play outside, ride bikes, or build tunnels in the couch. He's enthusiastic about playing the same hide and seek game every day when he comes home. He has more energy than 6 average human beings. He prays with our kids every night. He dreams about family trips. He asks me how he can be a better dad. He tickles, wrestles, chases. He's protective. He's honestly the best dad I could have ever prayed for. It's an honor to parent with him.

We kicked off our father's day celebration by going on the Elliot Bay water taxi to West Seattle. It was a glorious day. After we docked in West Seattle, we played on the beach for a while. Lots of rocks to throw, tons of boats & kayakers, and a few scuba divers. We got take out from Marination Mai Kai (the brick and mortar location of the famous Marination Station food truck). They also have authentic Hawaiian shave ice which Ben loves. Unfortunately they forgot the ice cream inside and we didn't have time to get the order fixed before the boat left.

On Sunday we had egg/cheese/bacon sandwiches for breakfast and then went to church. We walked to the park before lunch and then had some delicious California burgers for dinner.

Such a great weekend for such a special guy. We love you papa bear.

It's so hard to say goodbye.

I haven't had to say goodbye to many friends in my life. My best friend in junior high moved away, but that was about it. For some reason, we've recently had to say goodbye to some dear friends.

Our beloved neighbors, Jared & Ann, decided to move back home to be closer to Ann's family in Kansas City. They are the kind of people you picture when you think of what neighbors should be like- always willing to lend something from their pantry, available to give your car a jump start when the battery dies, the type of people who are always watching out for you and your house and would help in an instant. I get teary thinking about all of the special moments we have shared over the past 3 years. The dinners/game nights pre kids, the polar bear plunge, the root beer taste testing night, the 4th of July fireworks, telling each other about our pregnancies, watching Christmas vacation, snowboarding down our snowy street, swimming in Ballinger lake and getting attacked by a goose, the Saturday morning breakfasts. We're going to miss them like crazy. We were so blessed with amazing neighbors, it's really really hard to lose them. They have definitely been a huge part in making our first home so memorable.

My friend Stephanie, and her husband Kaleb are also moving this week. Kaleb got a job that he's wanted to a really long time in Arlington, Texas. We threw them a Texas themed bbq going away party complete with a photo booth. It was such a good time celebrating such a fun couple. Stephanie and I quickly bonded over our love of food- specifically cheese. I remember shortly after Colter was born, she brought over some brie and french bread and I consumed almost the whole wheel. She didn't blink an eye and I knew we would be friends. We made an epic trip down south to visit a grilled cheese food truck together and I will never forget the fun we had talking for hours with no interruptions. One of the things i'll miss the most about Stephanie is her infectious laugh. She makes you feel like the funniest person because she laughs at almost anything. She's always up for a good time, and she's one person I've found that holds the same amount of love for karaoke. 

I know God has a purpose in moving people all around the world, but man is it hard to say goodbye. These couples have forever etched special memories in my heart.

California!

It feels like summer is in full swing! We have been looking forward to our trip to California for a few months now. It was so fun to travel this time with Colter because he could process what was going on- we were going to get on a plane, we were going to see Gigi & Grandpa, etc. He LOVED being at the airport and watching the planes take off an on. The flights were not amazing. He missed naps on both legs so behavior was less than stellar, but we survived. Little lady didn't have much to say about the flights. When we landed in California, we were given our first surprise of the trip, unloading through the back of the airplane right onto the tarmac. I'm so bummed this picture didn't turn out, but you can kind of see how close we were to the plane. Colter kept talking about the engines spinning around and around.

The next day we went to a train museum in the middle of nowhere. We thought it was closed, but we were just the first car there! Colter was in heaven. The entrance to the museum had a railroad crossing with a few different signal lights. Colter didn't want to move. He was almost frozen because he didn't know how to take all of the different sites in. The museum is basically a big area of different train cars. One of the first thing we found was a garden of sorts with a bunch of different signal lights. It was Colter heaven. There were buttons you could push that would make the different signals light up or move. That could have been the whole museum and Colter would have been thrilled but there was more.. Greg, Ben and Colter were walking around looking at different cars when they saw a real working diesel engine. They were checking it out when the conductor asked if they wanted a ride! What a blessing from above. All 3 of them go to go inside the engine and drive with the engineer while it was moving. Greg called Mary and told her that they were coming to the station on the train and we were so confused. Then we heard the horn and watched the tracks and realized they were actually inside the engine! Seeing his huge grin and hearing his little voice yell "SIGNAL LIGHTS!!"  was one of my favorite parenting moments so far.

On Monday we mainly hung out at Ben's parent's house, but also ventured out to a park to enjoy in and out burger.

My favorite part of the trip was watching Colter in their backyard. He would roam from one thing to the next for hours. One minute he'd be watering a tree, the next he'd be playing in a bucket of water, then he'd be picking/eating blueberries, then he'd start digging in the dirt, then he'd go put cars in their fountain. It was non stop. He was filthy and exhausted by the end of the day.. just like little boys should be. I was so thankful that Mary & Greg were so gracious with letting Colter explore. He definitely took way too many unripe blueberries off the bush, filled up their fountain with dirt, threw potatoes that he was supposed to be gathering for dinner, and probably dug 3,000 holes. We ate dinner on the patio every night and soaked up the beautiful weather.

Tuesday Ben and I took Colter bowling. I realized walking into the alley that it might not have been the best choice for an activity with Colter. He's sensitive to noise and he doesn't always like things falling over.. which is pretty much what bowling is about. He definitely took a while to warm up, perhaps it was the out of the oven cookie that helped, but he eventually got into it. Almost every day that I have gotten him from his nap, he's asked to go bowling again and "knock the pins down."

Wednesday we did a little swimming at one of their friend's pool and spent more time with Ben's grandparents. It made me teary on numerous occasions seeing how many people love our kids so deeply. There are so many people in this world who don't have anyone that cares deeply about them, and our kids have so many people that just adore them. It is a huge blessing. 

I loved the slowness and ease of this vacation. No rush to go from activity to activity, we could just be. Early morning walks, lots of amazing food, tons of play time inside and out, a few movies, lots of games.

 It was just what we needed to kick off summer 2013!!

This was our view as we were coming home. Amazing.