Crescent Bar getaway!

We planned a quick little getaway to Crescent Bar in Eastern Washington. Doesn't that picture above look relaxing and so great? This place seriously has so many days of sun per year - except when we are there. We headed over and Avery could not have been more excited to go on a little mini-vacation. The day we got there was good...clouds and some sunbreaks, but warm enough for us to all be in the pool all day after we checked in - perfect and exactly what we signed up for!

The next day was not exactly what we were hoping for. See those clouds behind Avery? They were there all morning and eventually turned to rain - in Eastern Washington. We didn't let it damper our spirits, but we did leave a day early. When you are somewhere with a three year old and don't bring any toys because you think you'll be outside in the pool all day, the TV and being inside is not any sort of vacation! It definitely was not enough to dampen her spirits either.

We all rallied in the morning, when I think it was about 60 degrees to get into the pool, followed by the hot tub before getting ready and heading out. The rest of our staycation has been wonderful, we've had great weather and we are loving this special family time!

Run the Bases

It is no surprise that Avery loves baseball, and Mariners baseball at that.   We are a baseball watching, Mariner's cheering, game attending family.  At our last game of the season we happened to be at Safeco Field on a Sunday and the kiddos got to run the bases!  It was a highlight of Avery's for sure!

Simple Color & Fun

Sometimes it is the simple wonderful things that are so much fun! We made a spontaneous visit up to Mill Creek Town Center Saturday morning for a Caspar Babypants show! This is by our favorite kids music and Avery just loves them (she had them at her 3rd birthday with Jackson.)

We were fortunate that the Mariks' were around for a little gathering too since they live so close. We enjoyed some adult chit-chat, sat outside Starbucks, had a Jamba Juice and of course Avery and her sprinkled Top Pot donut! A wonderful, relaxing, and not too busy weekend!

Winemaker Dinner @ DeLille

We had a wonderful evening with friends at the Auction of Washington Wines Winemaker Dinner. Last year Chris and I attended and has such a wonderful time and talked about it with friends that they wanted to join us this year! Dear friends above, Sandi, Elissa, Melissa and Lisa.

Ignore the sunshine, so glad there was some though! Chris and I enjoying a lovely date night out.

The set up at DeLille Cellars was beautiful. It was one long table awaiting the 60 of us that had joined for dinner. And speaking of dinner, the menu was created by recent James Beard award winner Jason Wilson of Crush. Dinner included truffled chevre gougeres, lamb tartar, black garlic gnocchi and wagyu rib steak to name a few things. And of course the wine was spectacular, featuring DeLille Cellars wine and Quilceda Creek Wines. It was evident why so many of these wines had received such amazing scores!

A wonderful evening had by all L to R: Melissa LeClaire, Mike LeClaire, Elissa, Chris, Lisa Marik, Mark Marik, Sandi Marquis, John Marquis.

We can't wait to attend another special dinner next year with great friends and for a great cause, uncompensated care at Seattle Children's Hospital.

PEPSapalooza

We hit up the Redhook Bowl in Woodinville for the 2nd Annual PEPSaplooza.  It only happened to be the hottest day of the summer, so we didn't last as long as we would've liked, but had a fun time all the same!

The Mariks, LeClaires and Darrows joined us for the fun - I only have a couple pics of the Darrows.  If you don't know anything about PEPS  you can read about it here.  It is an organization that we strongly support and I can't imagine any new parents in the Seattle area not joining!

The kids dancing to The Not-Its, a super fun Kids band!  (Avery 3rd from left, Caelin second from right)

Miss Finley joined the dancing at her picnic spot with her mama.

Caelin taking this all in and doing some fancy dancing!

Caelin and Avery listening intently.

Avery was SO EXCITED for her face to be painted, she even waited silently and patiently for all three kids in front of her to go first.  Cutie face!

Avery and mama at the end of our time there.  We had to get into the car and turn the AC on!

Looking forward to the PEPSapalooza celebration in August of 2011!

Vote for Avery

Vote for Avery! I just posted her pic in the Pottery Barn Kids Facebook fan photo contest using the picture above. We think she is just the cutest and think you should share this info!

Click the title above to vote for her!

Sophia's Pool Party!

Sophia had the perfect summer party - a pool party! As much as Avery loves the pool, we thought she'd jump right in, but she decided she had to check out these new surroundings first!

Finally Avery got acclimated to her surrounds. She enjoyed the little slide for a while with daddy catching her. Then, she attemped climbing up the big slide a couple of times without going down. Finally, with about five minutes until the end of the party, she decided to venture down with daddy! The smile below says it all, pure joy! This girl really is a little fish!

Take a listen to the video below, she really does have a great time and proceeds to get about three more runs in!

Thank you Sophia for having a super fun party, exactly what summer should be all about!