Easter Ham

On Saturday night we went to an early Easter dinner at our friends' Rick and Susan's place. It was an amazing meal! Rick is an avid photographer and Marilynn gladly posed for the camera. I just wonder why I can't EVER get her to pose like this.

Two Little Monkeys

Marilynn just loves Curious George, so she wanted to be a monkey for Halloween. And, Erika is already wanting to do everything her big sister does, so I thought it would be cute to have TWO monkeys. Marilynn had a party at school and then the girls came by my office for some cubicle trick-or-treating. Then, Marilynn and I headed to our church for a carnival where Marilynn got even more candy.

Day at the Beach with Daddy

It was a gorgeous sunny day today, and Ken took the girls out for some fun in the sun. Marilynn made some new friends and got really deep in the water. Wasn't scared at all! I really hope summer stays for a little longer - at least until the weekend so I can enjoy it :-).

Children's Museum

While we were at the Seattle Center, we wandered into the Seattle Children's Museum, and I just want to know how come no one ever told me about this place? It was Heaven for toddlers (okay, and for me too). They have it set up like a little town, so kids can go to the grocery store, serve food at a restaurant, pump gas, go to the post office, etc. I never knew adult life could seem so interesting to a little kid! We stayed there until well past nap time. When Ken said it was time to head home, I was like "Nooooo! Can't we stay longer??"





They had a bakery set up so you could frost and decorate your own cake. Marilynn put about 1/2 a pound of sprinkles on her cake. I really wanted to frost one too, so Marilynn let me share hers.


Marilynn served us some great pretend tacos and beans and rice at the Mexican restaurant!

Not sure what this was, but Marilynn was fascinated by it. . .



The grocery store was too cool. It had a meat market, a frozen food section, produce stand, build your own pizza stand, etc. Then, you take your groceries to the little check out isle. Marilynn looked like she was on that game show "Super Market Sweep."

Seattle Center

We played tourists in our own town and went to the Seattle Center today. Marilynn took her first Ferris Wheel ride (Ken was more scared than she was), then they rode the carasoul for something a little closer to the ground. We then headed over to the fountains for a picnic lunch.

Future Farmer?

Marilynn got a green thumb in Sequim this weekend. She loved picking carrots from Granny's garden, harvesting potatoes and picking fresh blueberries (which turned her into a blue thumb). She fed the ducks and made sure that everything was just right on Farm Nilsen.

Postcards From Sequim

Everything that I love about Sequim came together this weekend - family, sunshine, and fresh food. We got to celebrate my mom's birthday and Marilynn was excited to have an excuse for a birthday party. I can't believe that summer is already coming to a close. . .

Future Olympian?

At Greenlake, they had a kids Olympics going on and one of the local gymnastics schools had an area for toddlers. Marilynn tried her hand at the bars, balance beams, trampoline and tumbling mats. We couldn't get her away from it. Look for Marilynn at the Summer Olympics 2020 - oh, wait, she'll only be 14 then. Perhaps she'll have to play for China instead :-).

Marilynn's Dinner Party

The Collins family came over for dinner the other night, and Marilynn got to host the official "kids table." Thank you, Maw-Maw for the picnic table. It sure came in handy!

More Beach Pictures

Yes - we were only going to be at the beach for a few hours, but we still needed to pack the whole house. This doesn't even include the ice chest, stroller and diaper bag.







A baby swing - never leave home without it!

On the hunt for rocks and seashells

Fun in the Sun

Saturday was a record hot day for Seattle, so we took the girls to Matthews Beach in Seattle for some fun in the sun and a chance to cool off in the water. Marilynn loved playing in the sand and Erika slept the day away on a blanket underneath an umbrella. With all of this, who needs Hawaii?

Sharing

We have been teaching Marilynn to share. And while she's getting better about sharing her toys, she is really generous about sharing her food. She offers baby Erika her grapes, she lets me eat the crusts off her toast and often wants to share her snacks with the kids at school. Tonight we had just finished cleaning up from dinner and I caught Marilynn picking her nose. Just as she was putting a gooey booger in her mouth, she saw me giving her a dirty look. She looked up at me very apologetically, and said "I'm sorry Mommy - do you want some?"

Ummm. No, that's okay. But, thanks for sharing.

Confession: My Child is Smarter Than Me

Recently bath time has become somewhat of a chore. So, I try to incorporate new things to make it more fun for Marilynn. One of my finds are these fizzy things that turn the bath water different colors. They come in red, blue and yellow. I like to give Marilynn choices, so I usually ask her what color she wants her bath to be. She almost always picks blue. My hunch is that yellow looks too much like pee and red water looks like a scene from a Psycho movie or something. But, tonight, she said that she wanted green water. I matter-of-factly said that we don't have green - only red, yellow or blue. She literally rolled her eyes at me, then picked up a yellow and a blue tablet, plopped them into the water at once and the water started turning green. Then, she had a very content look on her face, and said, "See Mommy, I made green." Wow - I'm calling Princeton in the morning.