Silly Daddy

Memorial Day Weekend

Was a whirl wind tour in Minnesota for my cousin Mike’s wedding.  We flew in Thursday, drove to Cloquet for the night and then were off on our way to Roseau on Friday morning.  Then there was time for visiting with family, the wedding,  playing in the pool, and me to get the stomach flu…YUCK!   

It was a great trip and Thomas did pretty well on the car rides, they never have been easy for him poor guy!  On Monday we were able to sneak in a quick visit with the Laschen side of the family and then it was back to Seattle again.   

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day Weekend.  

2nd Anniversary

2 years into our marriage there has been a lot of chaos, memories, laughter and love.

Reflecting on the last 2 years Mike and I found time over the weekend to look at our wedding album, read some cards, and reflect on all the changes in the last 2 years.

From then to now we couldn’t believe where we have come and the things we have accomplished.   I am thankful that I have had my best friend by my side  for “our”  journey and I can’t imagine my life if Mike wasn’t part of it.  

For our anniversary, Thomas cooked and cleaned and we enjoyed a relaxing night as a family.  Really we spent the evening together and had a couple celebratory Miller Lites after Thomas went to bed to cheers the past two years and the countless years to come!

Here is a little place to revisit our special day…

http://www.jennawalkerphotography.com/slideshows/mikeandstacey/

1 month in Seattle

As Stella was having a play in the dog park by our house I noticed what I thought sounded like SEALS bellowing (or however you describe the sound they make) and thought…huh, I am not in Minnesota, North Dakota, OR Colorado anymore! 

It was then I realized that we now lived in Seattle, next to Puget Sound, 1,600 miles away from our families.

What an adventure this has been and is going to be!  We are steadily settling in.  I have to admit our house feels a bit endless, but every day we are closing in on having our main level completely organized.   Thomas and I have been adjusting to spending all of our time together.  Being a completely stay at home mom is far more exhausting for me than being a part time working mom.  I never thought that would be the case but most nights I am ready to crawl in bed right after Thomas goes to sleep.   There are no breaks and I find that his endless amounts of energy keep me on my toes!  Sometimes I just wish he could share an ounce or two with me!   I wouldn’t change it for the world and feel so blessed that I get this opportunity.  We continue to “get out there” a few times a week to meet other moms and kids for Thomas and I to play with.  There are so many opportunities and family friendly venues here that it isn’t too difficult to do.  So far we have made it to the Children’s Museum, Zoo, and community centers open gyms. We anxiously await Daddy’s arrival and then our family’s nightly routine has been to have dinner, go for a walk/run around the neighborhood, then bath and bedtime.

This too has been an adjustment for Mike and I.  It took us a few days to get our click back and our family’s click back.  It isn’t easy 1st learning to live apart for 3 months and then learning to live together again.  I knew we had gotten there when Mike and I had new inside jokes and when ever conversation wasn’t about moving, finances, our relo package, or something to that extent.  So nice to have that for the most part behind us….I feel like I can say “we did it!”  Looking back it doesn’t seem like it was that long or that hard, but there were moments that I did wonder what in the hell we were doing and putting ourselves and our family through.  I am glad it is over and we are hoping that we can stay put in Seattle for a few years.

Seattle is breath-taking in my opinion.  There is lush greenness that catches your eye all around.  There are flowers and trees that I have never seen and Mike and I are constantly pinching ourselves about the fact that we live near the ocean.  6 months ago we talked about coming here for a trip soon and now we are living here.

Yes it rains in Seattle and the days that it really rains are hard to get out.  Other days it is grey and it might drizzle but that is considered (rain).   The weather has yet to get us down, Stella is a little less amused, so on those days she quickly goes potty outside and then usually sneaks in a car ride trip :-) 

 

It has been a month a successful month.  Learning routines, adjusting to our new normal and exploring.  

As soon as we get the house in complete order (if that ever happens)  I will put some pictures up!

Cowboy

Thomas loves his daddy’s cowboy boots…won’t be long and they will fit him!

Syttende Mai Parade

A parade…really…in walking distance…sure we can go check it out!

How big could a Syttende Mai (Norwegian Independence Day) parade be?  It could be big…HUGE in fact by parade standards.  It was over an hour long, which allowed us time to finish grilling dinner, walk down, and be late and still get our fill of the parade!  Thomas just kept looking at everything going on.  Stella on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the parade.  Poor puppy almost lost her noodles. 

We heard that people in our neighborhood were very proud of the Scandinavian heritage and this parade helped solidify that for us!  Guess we landed in our home away from home in Seattle!  

Twins Game

After Mike got home from work we were off to cheer on the Twins.  We were hoping they would turn their loosing streak around but it was not to be the case.

After sleeping the whole way into the game allowing Mike and I to get food and get to our seats Thomas woke up with a wide eyed and “where the heck are we” expression.   About 10 seconds after that he was taking a bite of my burger.  Thomas had a blast watching the game, eating stadium food (garlic french fries, cheeseburger, licorice and peanuts), and playing peek a boo or flirting with anyone who would give him the time of day.  We stayed until after the 7th inning stretch and then headed home.

We were a couple blocks from home when Mike said “is that a possium” I looked and this giant white thing looked like a HUGE rat.  I tried to grab my camera and document the “impossimible” but the creature had eluded us.  After a quick google search we found out that it was in fact possumable.   How is that for some inside humor :-)

Seattle Zoo

Saturday we headed off to become members of the zoo.  I was so excited and couldn’t wait to see what animals the Seattle Zoo had in store for us. 

There were animals of all different shapes and sizes and we were surprised at how big and jungly the zoo was.  There was a 4 month old baby Ocelot, hippos, many different types of monkeys and apes, and lots of other animals to see. We stopped in for lunch and had an ice cream treat before we went to find the elephants.  It was after we found the elephants that we realized that Thomas just might fall asleep in the stroller.   Most kids to that right…well Thomas had yet to fall asleep in the stroller…but the zoo got him :-)  He was so snuggly and cute sleeping like a big boy in his stroller!   Mike and I enjoyed a little down time and continued to explore the zoo together before we headed home. 

Climbing Mount Hood/Fishing Deschutes River

We left for Government Camp, OR on Thursday after work, picking Doc up at the Portland airport along the way to climb Mt Hood.  We slept for a couple of hours and then got up at 1:30am to get ready for the climb.  We hit the parking lot around 2:30am and started the long slog up the mountain with only the light of our headlamps to lead the way (and Doc’s GPS).  The weather was less than cooperative and about 2/3 the way up the mountain we had to turn around because of 0* temps, 40+ mph winds, clouds and snow.  We walked back down and then threw on the skis after a bit and skied down to the parking lot in time for a cinnamon role by 7:30am.  The day was not a success in terms of summiting the mountain but we had a lot of fun in our attempt and its always fun to use all the gear that we’ve accumulated over the years.

The next day we headed out to fish the Deschutes River and spent the entire day on the river in a high desert canyon.  We each caught a few fish and it was hard to believe that we were only 1 day and 80 miles removed from the blizzard we experienced the day before.  The fishing was a lot of fun in a beautiful area, the climbing was a blast and Hood River, where we stayed, was a great little town that will be a must visit in the future. 

Mother’s Day Weekend

This past weekend Mike was off on a manventure (read about that here) so Thomas and I had to hold down the fort.   Mike claims that he and his buddies did not realize that it was over Mother’s day weekend.  I have to be honest, I was a little unnerved (or more like mad) as I was a little nervous about staying without him in our house so soon.  Thankfully, they had a safe climb and we were able to spend part of Mother’s day together as a family.  

Thomas and I tried to get more of the house in order and also enjoyed our time together.  We made bath time a bit more interesting, worked on getting his room put together, and enjoyed a day out with an old friend from Cloquet, Krista.

Thomas loved coloring in the bathtub and then cleaning it off.  He loves the water so much it is nice to show him different things he can do while in there. 

We met Krista for a walk and lunch on Saturday.   She was very sweet and brought us a guide to Seattle and told me a lot about the city as she has been hear for (I think) 10 years.  Mike and I have been checking out the book and trying to line up our adventures.

On Sunday when Mike got home  we were off running.  Not before he and Thomas gave me very sweet Mother’s Day cards and told me I got to pick what we did for the rest of the day.  Mike wanted to cook a special dinner for me, so we walked down the street to the fish market and picked out a couple crab cakes and  halibut.  Then we were off to get more dirt and plants at Home Depot.  When we got home Mike and Thomas helped me plant the few vegetables we purchased and then cooked our very yummy fish dinner.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Mother’s that I have the pleasure of knowing!  Especially to my wonderful Mother and to Mike’s Mom too!

Hope you all enjoyed your day :-)