With the Recent Nice Weather...

We've been able to do some fun things lately when the sun decides to show its face. For Memorial Day we had a little BBQ with Braden's brother Randy. Braden, Kayla, and Randy enjoyed hanging out in the hot-tub. After dinner we all enjoyed ice cream cones. Kayla loved it!

The following Saturday was beautiful! It was in the 70's and we took advantage of the nice temperature and hiked the first 1.3 miles up Mount Si. (Kayla was getting whiny and my belly was getting achy so we didn't climb to the top.) You can tell we aren't used to the "heat" anymore by the glisten on our skin. Whenever we had boulders/steps to climb, Kayla would make grunting sounds as if she was the one doing all the work. Funny girl!

We spent that afternoon enjoying Slurpees and playing at a park. Kayla chased after a giant frisbee up and down a soccer field. We sure had a fun day!

Kayla's birthday weekend (cont.)

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend with my family. We loved being able to spend time playing at parks (when it wasn't raining), blowing bubbles, reading stories, and viewing some great Seattle attractions.

My dad took us to a German shop near Pike's Market and the nice German lady working asked us "Would the little girl like a wiener?" (spoken in a German accent of course.) Sure! Kayla loved eating that German hot dog! The weather was very nice when we went into Seattle on Saturday so we were able to enjoy great views from the Space Needle. We also walked around the grounds where there was a fair going on. It was huge and there were all sorts of interesting people there. We saw people dumpster-diving in the compost bins, and others asking people to sign petitions to legalize various drugs. Some people were dressed in Medieval attire, others wore top hats made of leather. We felt like we were back in Cambridge! I guess there are fun people-watching opportunities in most of big cities.

A Little Birthday Girl

Kayla celebrated her second birthday last week. She is growing up so fast! Kayla knows many of her letters and numbers, colors, shapes, animals (and their sounds), and can recognize songs from "Cinderella" and "Beauty and the Beast" on the car CD player. She is a very sweet girl who loves to laugh and is usually very good a sharing. Some of her favorite outdoor activities are playing at the playground (especially if there is a slide!), bubbles, and chalk. "Beauty and the Beast", "Cinderella", and "Shrek" are the top three movies Kayla asks to watch. She loves to help around the house. One day she spilled her yogurt everywhere while I was cleaning the bathrooms and I found her using some paper towels to clean it all up. We love this little girl who makes everyone around her happy!

My mom and little sister flew up from California to join us for Kayla's birthday celebration. On Wednesday morning Kayla had peach pancakes and OJ for breakfast. Then we all headed to the mall for her 2-year-old pictures. Then we got "moothies" (smoothies) from Jamba Juice for lunch so Kayla could go down for a quick nap before her well-baby check-up. She weighs 26 lbs. 2 oz. (50th percentile) and is 34 in. tall (50-75th percentile). She is developing very well and has almost all of the 2-year molars. After her appointment we went back home where my dad and Braden joined us after their days at work. We had some of Kayla's favorite foods for dinner: grilled chicken, broccoli, artichokes, grapes, garlic bread, and root beer. Kayla's Aunt Melanie brought her three boys over for cake/ice cream and presents. Kayla LOVED being sung to and blowing out candles (we had to re-light the candles several times to get one of these pictures, which our Little Miss thoroughly enjoyed). Now on to some pictures...