Sleepy Silas.

I love it when the kids are fresh from a nap. Little faces full of sleepiness and blanket lines.
(I also like to smell their breath, but I don't have a picture of that...)

I'm awake!

Camping. With babies.

Oh boy. This weekend deserves a whole lot of vaca time recovery...but it was fun. (?)
Well, we survived!

Weekend begins with a 5 hour drive to Northeast WA. Threw the Cascades to Tonasket's Spectacle Lake.We left as soon as Jude got off work, and then a few hours...about 5:30pm. Getting us there well after bed times.

I was feeling like there was no way I could prepare for camping! It's usually really warm up there, and my parents (who got there a few days before us, and are still there now) said it was hot. So that made me think it would be easier...and I packed for mostly warm weather...
(mistake #1)

Where are we going?!

The drive there was nice. Can't go wrong with Mountain ranges...the view was spectacular and surrounding us. And the kids did great in the car. (Phew!) Here are some pit stop picts:

 (sorry about the fuzzy picture. Jude didn't really want to take pictures, he wanted to get back on the road. How wise he is.)

And when I say late, I mean almost midnight. Super crazy late for us. (we're like that.) We got out, the kids got wired. (thanks grandma and gramdpa...) And we did not sleep much that night. Luckly, our tent was set up. We just had to unload and make our sleeping arrangements.

Typically, the birds would have gotten us to rise-and-shine at O'crack of dawn, but Silas beat them to it. And it was not hot out, but surprisingly cold. And wet. And I'll ruin the rest of the story now by saying it was freezing and rainy the whole time!! But then I'll back up again and add that we did have some great moments...

like when Grey finally did fall asleep...
And then she woke up looking as tired as us.

but still happy...

Hanging with Uncle Matt and Aunt Kirstie!!

...and Jude and I are laughing as I upload this picture because Grey's hand is totally in a box of cookies! And no one noticed. And she succeeds again... 

On Saturday we saw that Silas FINALLY has his two front bottom teeth coming in!! (bittersweet.) We made a big deal about it, gave high fives all around, and told him that he's awesome.

Piggy back rides from Aunt Kirstie (woot woot!)

 Great on-the-lake view...

 Successful nap in a sunlit tent, in the middle of the day (YES!)

Good old monkeying around...

(She really does not like me to take her picture...hee hee. Or else that look was because my head was in a weird place. I'll never know what this toddler mind is thinking.)

And finally going down the slide by herself, again. (she used to go down the slide...after the winter and break from a park, she got scared to do it again. Too many tumbles?) Whatever it was or is, I'm glad to have a cautious child. I'll take it!

And lastly, time with my favorite person...

...Although it was usually because I was calling him to come to 

my aid and help me with a problematic child!

I don't know what the outcome of our trip was. Still deciding. We got out and risked the weather (weather won, or whatever. It was not on our side! SO cold!!) We slept in tents with a baby and toddler. Went without the telly or phones (pretty much.) Swam in the pool and dodged the lake (great job GREY!) Saw our kids get silly and insane from tiredness...wait, we can do that anytime. Still, it's that added pressure of eyes watching your children loosing it. (Grandma & Grandpa, The Twins and both of their wives families!) The excitement of all the people alone was enough to overwhelm the kiddlets. Phew. It was a long and draining day and a half! But...we'll probably do it again. 

In 2 years.

Bye-bye Mountains!

It's potty time, potty people!

WARNING: most surely contains more information than you want to hear.

It's time for potty training and it's going GREAT! I read up on a few different techniques. Although, I really didn't think Grey was ready... I thought I'd totally go for it and then I could say, "See?! She really isn't ready." I chose to do the 3 day potty training. I heard that it works. (Which really isn't 3 days...they just mean 3 days for the child to go on his/her own.) She was doing great within hours!! 

After 3 pees on the floor, (I think she just needed to get used to "going" without a diaper...) I went to change Silas and when I came back, I smelled something worse than a wee... I was terrified that Grey pooed on the floor, a shoe, or most dreaded the shag carpet!!  I walked in to see her sitting on her potty making a #2! After that, she had 100% accuracy in the potty. Poops and pees!

We even braved the store without diapers on the second day. (Without diapers means no panties, pull-ups or anything. Just pants.)

Now she is doing the same, the longest I've gone outside of the house is 2 hours. I'm scared to risk any longer! She does great at home, but the catch is she does not tell me when she has to go, she just goes...so if she's in public, she'll just pee her pants. (maybe it feels like a diaper?!) Or at least that's what I'm afraid of.

The rest of the week we are going to try pants on (no diaper, panties or pull-ups) and see how that goes. She'll learn quick to tell me (I hope!) as wet cold pants are not fun. And they do NOT equal a treat! Jude got M&M's so we are letting her have those too. Although, I keep getting new fruits and tell her that she can try them instead of "chocos" ...she will take kiwi over chocolate. YES! But most of the time she plays, stops to go, and then just carries on and I don't even notice till I actually happen to see a #1 in the potty. I'm super proud!

 Alright, that is not her normal treat, and this is actually a few weeks old...she was sick. That is when I am actually a sucker for treats... But I had to add it because this picture is hilarious! Jude took it. Shirt: Aunt Chollet.

I can't stop taking pictures.

Not sure if anyone has this "problem" with the ease of taking pictures and the crazy amount of space we have to store. I have a ridiculous number of pictures. This is what I'm talking about...

wait, my hands....

Okay, and back to screaming and waving my hands...

and starting to wind down...

 

 And...I think he's done. 

Wow. But still, I have a hard time deleting! All of them show a different side, I feel like I might forget someday his little expressions...If you can choose half of these to delete, I think I need to hire you to go through my pictures! Till then, I will be doing this every to every-other day. 15 pictures of one of them doing an everyday thing, "just because". 

That being said, here's one more. He did his own hair. (Mashed peas, his secret.)

Adventures with Pink Eye

Poor poor Grey! So far she is the only one feeling sick or puffy-eyed. Hope we can get her well and everyone can stay healthy.
In good news, it caused us to stay home most the weekend, which was (Jude said) relaxing.

Grey is totally hanging in there and being super sweet! She's not really a fan of the drops...but that was expected. They are super fast working! Was NOT expecting that!!

Bath time cutie

We just gave Silas a bath in the sink. Saving water and our backs! Plus we mix it up for him...and we all know these little ones will take all the adventure they can get.

Leavenworth WA (about 2 months late!)

It was the first weekend in April - and we drove into snow! This is about as far East that Jude has been since living in Florida. It's fun to get away for the weekend, and through one Mountain pass is an exciting start! (the drive is beautiful!)

Jude: Sleeping and driving, or wearing tough face?

The drive up (and especially getting closer to Leavenworth) we see tons of wineries and a few breweries. Under different circumstances, we will have to hit those up!

Morning after we arrive, we get more snow. My brothers so kindly started the day throwing snowballs at my dad. I told my kids that, "That's not nice." Hoping that I won't get one in the kisser someday... Sheesh!

Poor dad. (these are kinda dark. I did not edit any of them.)

We weren't really expecting snow...so we made due with what we had. Grey has socks on her hands. But, we always put socks on her hands. Not only are they a great fit, but you can get super fuzzy cozy socks to make it even better! (and just change them as needed. Depending on how much snow she wants to play with/eat.) 

The weekend we happened to be here the "Pear Festival" was going on.  We roamed the streets which are basically filled with shopping, wine and beer tasting, and food. Mostly German fare. It's the Leavenworth theme. When we came up to the main tent with all the samples and whatever, Grey was given a little pink Umbrella. (I thought that was really sweet!) And got to meet "Pear Bear." Although, she wasn't too sure of him...I scooped her up and reassured her, he is a friend.  Much better.

There we sampled tons of food. All free. Pear beers, ciders, pear gelado, salsas, meats, cheeses, chocolate...so much. fresh baked pretzels and the mushroom brie was my favorite. I could just eat that for at least a week and be in heaven. Everyone was dressed up in traditional German clothes, feeling festive and just jolly as can be. (Hmmm...the booze?!) Just kidding.

I liked all that, but just hanging in the cabin was nice. It held 4+ couples and the hot tub was all I wanted!! Yes, hot tub, outside in the snow.

We ate a lot of junk food. I tried to keep our little family clear of it, but I am still learning to let go a little. Grey is eating...ughhhh...chocolate!! (She calls it "Choc-o") She knows how to say chocolate. TV has tainted her (it's these music videos that she likes...Choc-o-lot in my pock-o-lot...)

Silas was in the johnny jump-up for a hot minute, so I thought I'd bring it. He just ended up dangling from the beams. He liked it though, so we went with it. I promise we aren't cruel!! 

Also, to go with our junk food weekend habits, we sat around a lot and played cards. I never won.

And with all the distraction, Grey still got glued to the telly. Sigh.

Although she (shockingly!) did look at me for a quick smile. And she never does that, the girl is not a fan of the camera.

 

Luckily, Aunt Kirstie made a little fun out of telly time and made a fort around it. Much better!

Meanwhile, more cards going on. Either Jude or Matt is about to win here...

 And a little camera fun with Uncle Mark.

The weekend goes by so fast. That was all I got from the Leavenworth trip. We'd love to go again...who's with us? We need at least 3 other couples to fill the cabin. So. Let us know.  ;)

Drive back home was even better. We went through the Steven's Pass and it was more scenic. No problems going through any of them (Phew!) Which is great because we did not have chains for the tires.

Down hill. Well, then uphill. But then down hill again. So that's pretty good. Little one's tuckered out and slept most the way home! Leavenworth get-away was to celebrate my dad's 60th Birthday. Happy Birthday Pops! We had a blast.