Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun!

So, remember when I mentioned in my last post that I bought a second baby and stroller for Sam. Well, I think we've already got our money's worth. Sam and Lauren been having a great time chasing each other around while pushing their babies around the house.

The other night they were especially having a good time with their favorite new activity (pushing strollers). I thought it was hillarious so I got out the camera. Well, as soon as Lauren saw the camera she didn't move and would only stand there and say, "Cheese!" She's such a funny girl. It's been fun to see her personality shine a little more the last little while. I think preschool has helped. The poor girl is constantly in Sam's shadow and now that he's in preschool three mornings a week she gets a little time to herself.

Happy Birthday!

 Last Wednesday (September 22nd) was Lauren's birthday...she's 2 years old!! Evan is super busy at work so we picked him up for a few hours and drove over to Gasworks Park to celebrate. It was a beautiful day and so much fun!

For her birthday Lauren got a baby and a stroller. Wow...I had no idea what kind of a hit this would be. She loved it! I was so happy! Funny side note: Sam also loved the baby and the stroller. Let's just say that by Saturday he had *his* own baby and stroller. I never thought I would do that...buy two of the same toy, but sometimes sanity doesn't have a price tag. :-)

 We had cupcakes with lots of yummy frosting. Sam ate so much that he got a little sick. It's funny because now if his tummy feels sick it's because he ate "too much cupcakes."

 They had cupcakes at preschool this week for someone else's birthday. He made sure to tell me that he didn't eat "too much cupcakes" and he didn't get sick. Phew! :-)

 Lauren loved her stroller and baby so much that she just pushed and pushed it all around Gasworks Park. It was hillarious. The funniest part was that she wouldn't push it on any of the paved paths, just all over the grassy parts.

 She also loved looking at her cards or "papers" as she calls them. She'd push her stroller for a while and then plop down in the grass and read her "papers."

It was also Evan's birthday this week (September 21st). On his actual birthday the poor guy worked the entire day. I think he left home around 6 am and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. We made sure to listen to Earth Wind and Fire's classic song "September" before we went to bed and he did open have a few presents to open.

We had an impromptu birthday party for Evan Friday night. It was so fun! I think we had almost 20 adults here and who knows how many kids. We just ate pizza and had cake. We feel blessed to have so many great friends here in Shoreline and a place big enough to have them all here at once. A fun night!

First Day of Preschool

This past Wednesday was Sam's first day of preschool. Can you believe it?! I know it's just preschool, but it's hard to believe that he's old enough to be attending school of any kind. He goes to preschool at the Shoreline Covenant Church. I'm super impressed with the school and teachers. His teachers' names are Miss Katie and Miss Sarah. Miss Katie has been teaching preschool there for 15 years and she's really good with the kids. Sam loves her. I love her. I think it's a good fit. ;-)

Funny story: On Thursday when I went to pick Sam up he was walking in a line with his class in the hallway back to his classroom. Later when I asked him what he did at school one of the things he told me was he walked in a line...just like in Make Way For Ducklings! So funny! I love that he made the connection from walking in a line to one of his favorite books. Anyway, so far Sam loves going to preschool! Yeah! I knew he would just eat the whole experience up. I'm so thankful he can go this year. Three cheers for preschool!! :-)

Ouch!

Yesterday on our way into the YMCA Lauren tripped and hit her head against the corner of a concrete stair. OUCH!! It gave her quite a gash in her forehead and we had to take her to Children's Hospital to get some stitches. Because we were at the YMCA they had to call an EMT and we had to let them drive us to the hospital in the ambulance. It was all a little traumatizing for Lauren, but I have to admit a little exciting for me. :-) Despite the trauma, Lauren was quite the little trooper and handled it all like a pro. Here are some pictures I took (with my cell phone) to prove it.

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Ouch!

Waiting to have the stitches done. The green "princess" band (that's what they called it) is holding the anesthetic to the wound to numb it. I think she looks more like a little Indian, especially with her hair (feather) sticking straight up.

This whole trip to the E.R. was a little bit of a Déjà vu experience for me. We went through the exact same thing with Sam two years ago almost to the day. Crazy!

Vacation 2010: Cannon Beach

We spent five fabulous days at Cannon Beach in Oregon with Evan's family this month. We had such a great time playing in the sand at the beach, flying kites, cooking foil dinners and having S'mores on the beach, going for lots of walks on the beach, visiting Hug Point, gazing at Haystack Rock from the balcony of our hotel room, playing in the hotel pool, eating clam chowder from Mo's, and visiting Bruce's Candy Kitchen (my personal favorite). We especially loved the opportunity to be with family doing all of these fun things! It was a GREAT vacation!

Lauren was a little unsure of the sand. It took her a while to get used to it. Both my kids don't like their feet or hands to get dirty. They certainly don't get that little quirk from me...that would be ALL Evan! :-)

Sam discovered he could make an endless amount of roads for his Lightning McQueen car. He loved driving them around on the sand.

Haystack Rock...Sam got so excited everytime he saw this (which was often). He kept telling us how HUGE it was. It's not big, it's HUGE! :-)

Sam playing with Uncle Brian. He had a great time playing with him...Thanks, Uncle Brian!

Uncle Brian just got home from his mission to Atlanta, GA.

I love this picture. Sam was sad about something and I snapped this picture as Evan was comforting him. Very sweet.

So tired! Lauren fell asleep as we were packing up to come home.

Summer

I haven't blogged in a while...sorry. My only excuse is that we've been busy. I know, that's a pretty lame excuse. "Summer" has been a little scarce it seems here in the northwest, but we've had a few warm and sunny days. It's funny what I think is "hot" now, after living here in Seattle for a few years. Yesterday it was about 79 degrees with 45% humidity and I thought it was HOT. Thankfully, Mother Nature kicked on her air conditioning again and we're back to a little cloudy and 57 degrees this morning. Phew! :-) Anyway, here are a few pics from our SUMMER 2010!

Kids playing at Richmond Beach Park. They love to go here and throw rocks in the water, especially Sam.

Like I said, we have had a few really HOT days. We've enjoyed a couple trips to the wading pools in the neighborhood.

I love this picture of Sam with his little friend Marie. Marie is moving soon...we're going to miss her! :-)

We had a neighborhood barbecue the other night and the sheriff showed up for the fun. He was nice enough to let my two little kiddos sit on his motorcycle for a bit. They LOVED it!

We recently took a trip to the local fire safety station with friends in our ward. Sam especially loved this trip. It was hard to get him to take off his fire jacket when it was time to go home.

Sam with his buddy Josh. Too cute.

Family Fun

Tonight for FHE the activity was playing Simon Says. The kids are so cute when we play this game. I especially love to watch Lauren try and jump when Simon says to jump. We sure love our kids and love being a family.

The kids have been having a little fun in the bathtub lately. :-)