England... or Fairhaven...

Today the kids and I took a detour to our local England - Fairhaven. Fairhaven is a great little downtown community that we live near on the south side of Bellingham. It is filled with adorable shops, wonderful (often overpriced, but delicious) restaurants, cobblestone walkways and beautiful scenery.
Taylor looks like he jumped right out of the London Scene...

This may be a child being bribed with a treat for a good picture...

There is a particular section by one of my favorite eateries, Skylarks, that reminds me a lot of England. It could be the double decker bus and red telephone booth that give me that impression...

The red bus was our lunchtime destination for delicious Halibut and Chips with our friend, Tara - no fast food here! Made to order, and boy, is it good. I highly recommend Jacci's Fish and Chips if you're ever here.... sorry Marjie, no picture of the goods... it was too good to stop and get my camera out! We also walked up a fantastic toy store, Wild Blueberries. They have wonderful wooden toys, cute hand puppets, and a really cool doll house that is actually a tree house. Fun place! The video of Maddie is at the wrong angle, and I can't figure out how to change it, so turn your head 90 degrees to view:



We finished off the day with a yummy ice cream cone (Rainbow Sherbet and Mint Chocolate Chip) from Colophon Cafe and a trip to Fairhaven Park. What a lovely day....

Cheerio!

Favorite Pasttime?

MOUNTAIN BIKING WITH MY GIRLS!!

This is, by far, the BEST exercise I've ever done. I love getting on my bike, climbing hills (well....), going through mud puddles, biting it hard (still have my endo v-card, though). It is just SO amazing to try new things on my bike. I feel fearless when I am on the mountain. This is the best ministry ever! Thank you God for allowing me to experience your BEAUTIFUL creation this way...

Check out this link to watch some of our biking group's videos from this and last year! There will definitely be more pictures to come from this season!

What are we doing?

We can't stay away from the park! This heat is just wonderful. Make for a good excuse to go to the lake and play. Unfortunately, I didn't put sunblock on my back, so I am burnt to a crisp tonight. I will spare you the view...

This was the dastardly position that toasted me!

Taylor, half the time, would rather hang out with me on the towel (that's one of my BFFs, Jenny, in the background). Hilarious story from today, though, was Taylor was riding on a floaty with Maddie pushing him in the water. I saw it coming, but she pushed too hard, and head first into the water he went (only a foot deep)! His face coming out of the water was priceless. I, of course, went to help him, but I have a really bad habit of laughing when (I think) funny things happen to my kids.... this was one of those times! My first thought when he went in the water - "Crap. Why didn't I have my camera out!" Does that make me a bad mom?

Maddie, sitting pretty, drinking a cold bevvie!

Nothing like a treat after a fun day at the park!

Ahhhhh... Lafeen's Donuts. A legacy in Bellingham!

Tomorrow, we are traveling to England! Well, England in Fairhaven... check back for a report!

Happy Birthday to Me!

July 19th was my 33rd birthday. Yes, I am well into my 30's now, and I am actually totally fine with it! I have never felt better, I'm the smallest I've been in years, I ran my first triathlon, hiked the Grand Canyon, and life is really good! I can't complain.

My wish for my birthday was to be with my friends (minus kids) for the night. You know, try to act like the adult I am supposed to be. Who really wants to act like an adult, though, right?

These are our "Fun Friends," Mike and Amy! They have been great friends of our for many years. We call them our fun friends because we do nothing else with them EXCEPT have fun! They started off the evening with us enjoying some delish food from Kyoto Steakhouse!

This picture is for Marjie, my favorite blogger! She is obsessed with food, and shares it in detail (with pictures) on her blog while she travels the world... and makes my stomach growl every time! While this is not as good as if I'd gotten it in, say, Japan, it was a delicious close second - med. rare Filet Mignon, grilled shrimp, hibachi veggies, and steamed rice, along side mustard and ginger sauces. I even ordered extra sushi. Ah, gluttony.

After dinner, and a little tooth floss snafu, it was off to Uisce's (pronounced ish-ca's) Irish Pub for some Smithwick's on tap with all of my good friends!

The ladies were representin'!

I don't know what the guys were doing!

Holly looks like an advertisement for Guinness!

The gang's all here!

I had a wonderful birthday with all my friends... I am excited for this next year - a lot of changes on the horizon. Bring it on!

Olympia Trip

Some of you know I grew up in Olympia. My kids and I love to go down and visit my parents. They still live on the farm I grew up on. It is my kids' personal Disneyland. They LOVE staying at Nani and Poppa's house. Our dog, Cede, has taken up residence on the farm while we are living in a rental property. Maddie spends all of her time on the back porch playing with Cede. My favorite memory of this trip is Maddie staring out the back living room window at Cede on the back porch. She was kissing the window and talking to Cede through the glass telling her how much she loved her. Can you say "Drama class, anyone?"

A highlight of our trip was going to Lakefair! Lakefair is an annual event in downtown Olympia with the typical carnival, food booths, parades, etc. I used to go down to the fair with all my girlfriends in high school. Many memories.... that's a different blog. The kids and I met up with those said girlfriends, Courtney, Shannon, Christine, and Nicole, and all their kids for a fun day at Lakefair!

Brady (with Courtney) finally got to ride on a ride. He was too little to do most... sad!

Shannon got in on the fire truck ride with Isabella (Christine's daughter), Bailey (Courtney's niece) and Mason (Shannon's son)

The girls... maybe the friendships will go through to the next generation

The canoe ride was a hit!

As was the dragon roller coaster. That's Tristan (Christine's son) in the front with Taylor

Mia (Nicole's daughter) and Brady got to eat the whole time since there weren't many rides they could go on.... lucky them!

This is a funny movie of Maddie showing her dance moves - or should I say hair moves! Should I call "So You Think You Can Dance?"

We loved our time down there! Can't wait to go back in August!

Hot Fun in the Summer Sun!

Wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far (98 degrees), and it was record-setting! This is how WE chose to spend it:

At Lake Whatcom! There were a lot of people, but not too many we couldn't enjoy ourselves.

Maddie chose to stay in the water ALL day! She made a friend (Chloe) and they playing together the rest of the day. I asked her to pose for the picture, and this is what I got!

This is a boy and his stick. Taylor found it, and the rest of the day he was entertained. He made X's and T's with it and another stick, used it as a race track, and of course, became a sword.

Do not be fooled by the cuteness... he was a bit of a handful today. But I do love when I can get at least one good picture out of the boy.... then:

I get this!

Maddie kept running out of the water coming to have a bite of apple saying: "Mom, I'm out of energy... I need to fill up!" Taylor got the idea and ate the rest of the day...

There is that face again?!

We topped it off with a nice, cold pop sickle straight from the Schwann Man's freezer back.

After a day like this... I'm tired and hot! The rain this morning was welcomed! Ahhhh, Washington.

Soccer Team!

Well... not really a team, but soccer class. Maddie and Taylor started a YMCA soccer class today. It was SO much fun watching them learn, have fun, AND get exercise!
Taylor loved doing the warm ups...










This is Coach Thomas. He was awesome with the kids. He clearly "gets" teaching them. Having taught theater to kids for many years, I know it can be quite the task to effectively teaching "pints" as we used to call them. He was great. He got down on their level and really connected with them. Yeah for great teachers!

Maddie loved her class, and believe it or not, she was actually really good! We lovingly tease that Maddie is not the most athletic or coordinated little girl, but today, she impressed me! Mia Hamm, look out!










Taylor's class meets first, then Maddie's is after his. For the entire time Maddie was in class, Taylor was attached to this tree:


Every picture he takes lately has to be upside down... so here is the token upside down pic!








Bellingham is supposed to have record setting heat this week... looks like we will be at the lake tomorrow!

Lake Padden Triathlon

This year I took on the challenge with some of my best friends from church to race in the Lake Padden Triathlon... here is the big day!

Fun in the Sun!

We spent the day at Lake Padden on Saturday while I did the Lake Padden Triathlon. The kids made the most of the beautiful day by playing in the lake, running through the grass and cheering Mommy on!

Maddie looked like a natural beauty in the water. I cannot keep her out of the water - if it's there, she's in it!


Maddie is always on the hunt for the perfect rock. Today, she spent her time searching the shore of the lake for it...

When she found it, she smelled it.

I don't know, I didn't ask.