A new day

For the last year or so we have been grocery shopping in a red race car. That is the cart of choice almost every week. A few weeks Charlie has chosen a blue race car, but that is infrequent. Then, there were the few weeks where we were a two shopping cart family. That was when Gabe was real little and I'd put his car seat in one shopping cart and Tom would take Charlie in the race car. Well, as you can see below we are now with boy boys driving the red race car. I love this transition! What is even better is Gabriel isn't asking me to get out (yet). Charlie is still finding this novel and is also staying put. I will take it as long as it lasts. 

Crawling?!?

This is two videos put together. The first is Gabriel pre-crawling. The second is a small video of him just after he learned how to crawl.

Play Set

I realized recently that I haven't posted pictures of the play set Boppa built Charlie for his third birthday.  I believe that the pictures have been missing because I haven't taken my camera/phone out to the play set with us as I am usually "fishing", pushing Charlie on the swing or holding Gabriel. So, I decided to take my camera out and get a few pictures. Charlie is fishing on his boat in this first picture. We don't call it a play set, but a boat. Not really sure why that is, but it is Charlie's Boat. 

 Gabriel is getting big enough to enjoy the swing on his own with a little push. I have found that Charlie can reach out and "swing" Gabe from the top. This is interesting as Gabriel starts swinging side to side.

 I have returned home to the sounds of Charlie asking his dad to swing him higher. Charlie loves to swing really, really high. I'm looking forward to him learning how to pump. I have a feeling he will fly!

Westport Weekend Away

Tom really enjoys experience gifts. So, this year for his birthday I decided to "give" him a weekend away with the four of us. We chose Westport, WA. We weren't sure what to expect, but heard it had lots of fishing, beaches, cranberry bogs and a lighthouse. Upon driving into town, we were a little nervous as it was rather desolate and industrial looking. However, as you can see from below, we found some great activities and really enjoyed ourselves. 

 There is a watchtower near the mouth of the marina. On top they have these viewers that you can look at the boats and/or Ocean Shores. I'm not really sure Charlie could see anything, but he loved looking. We were up real early this particular morning, so we were able to watch many of the fishing boats heading out to try to catch crab and tuna.

 We decided to try and see how Gabe did in a highchair. It was a perfect fit for the hungry kid. All the playing on our trip really worked up an appetite for Gabe - he ate tons on this trip.

 While Tom and Charlie were off at another beach, the two of us took a nap and then walked about a mile to another beach. I was really excited to see what Gabe thought of sand as this was his first sandy beach trip. As you will see in a picture below, he loves playing with sand. I was impressed that it took him a long time to try to put it in his mouth. The beach was a hit with Gabe.

Saturday was a warm sunny beach day. Unfortunately, Sundays weather turned on us and was really cold. After breakfast of fresh made doughnuts, we walked through the marina. Several boats were getting ready for fishing and many had already returned. Charlie really loved looking at these big boats and making up stories. The stories included him riding on the boats and fishing. We also saw some wildlife - fish and jellyfish. We wished to have seen seals, but they alluded us.

 This picture is a little out of order. However, on our way home we stopped at a BBQ joint that Tom really enjoys outside of Olympia. We found this pig on our way in and as you can see, it was quite fun to play on.

 Ah, one of my favorite pictures from the trip. We allowed Charlie to order hot chocolate for breakfast. He kept informing us how much he loves hot chocolate and he polished it off. Unfortunately, that wasn't true for the pancake we ordered him. Not even one bite went in his belly! Anyway, he sure enjoyed sitting by dad and flirting with him. I also love the smile on Tom's face. You can tell he enjoyed this vacation as well.

 Well, Tom and Charlie got the kite all the way up in the air earlier in the day. They brought the rest of us out to the beach to watch them fly it again. Unfortunately, the wind didn't cooperate. However, I sure enjoyed watching them work together to attempt to get this up!

Summer full of cousins

This summer I had the privilege of watching Maddy and Ella most Mondays. Although this kept me quite busy, I cherished these days. My camera didn't come out all that often, but I wanted to include a few photos of our time together to honor that time. The girls were both so good with Charlie and Gabriel. Maddy packed Gabe around quite a bit of the time. They were buddies. Charlie and Ella had lots of fun running, playing and having fun. Although Charlie is certainly a boy and enjoys the rougher side of life, the girls adjusted. The first picture is from an outing to a local park. If you look closely, you can see Ella in one of her favorite places - the monkey bars. The seats Maddy and Charlie are on spin automatically when you sit on them. Pretty neat. 

 This was one of the funnier pictures I took of these three. We had just finished Story Time at the Burien Library and were getting a treat at Starbucks. I caught them all with interesting expressions.

 Madeline and Ella tied Gabriel on to Charlie's car. They pushed him back and forth between the two of them. He loved it! Each push had a more elaborate set-up. First the blanket, then a pillow behind his back and finally a decorated steering wheel.

 One Monday we met our friends Dana, Emmett and Dwight at a Children's Museum. Here the three cousins are looking at different objects of light.

Friends

This summer we have had the opportunity to spend a little time with some great friends down in Tacoma. It has been really nice to catch up as well as let our kids play together. I love this first picture because it is the first time where Dwight and Gabriel are interacting. Look at Dwight holding Gabe's hand and leg! 

 Emmett has a very elaborate set-up of trains most of the time that we come to visit. This time was no exception. The trains usually bring a few fights as well as lots of fun. Gabe is starting to get in on the action this time.

 Here is the gang of six. Poor little Rosie is very much out numbered by the boys. However, she holds her own in this gaggle of boys.