Seabrook 2014

Last weekend we took a short getaway for some much needed "family time."  It was also Casey's birthday so it gave us a double excuse.  If you haven't been to Seabrook, I would highly recommend it.  You can rent a house small enough for two people or one big enough for 20.  We picked the cute little Sunset Cottage that had bunk beds in one room for the girls, which they loved.

We couldn't have asked for better weather at the Washington coast.  Since I knew it was only temporary, I wanted to spend the whole day outside!  Brooke was up early with excitement of "being on vacation" so after breakfast we made our way through the the cute little town towards the beach.

Once at the beach there was only a handful of people there.  We truly felt like we were the only ones there.

Even Beau had a great time at the beach.

Finding seashells at the beach is a must with the fabulous Miss Morgan!

Brooke was fascinated by all the muddy puddles everywhere.  Getting her to look at the camera was nearly impossible.

We managed to find a bucket full of shells and decided to go back to the cottage to relax and clean the shells. 

This family getaway was exactly what the doctor ordered!

Stay at Home Day: The Perfect Snow 2014

The East coast has been pounded with snow storms the past few months, but here in Olympia we've seen very few snow flakes.  Except for one Saturday night it starting dumping.  It snowed and snowed all night long.  That Sunday morning, we woke to the most perfect snow.  I barely got a snack in the girls and we were trying to hunt down all our snow gear to head outside.

When we got outside, we quickly started working on a snowman.  We even had some neighbor friends come over to play in the snow too.

Brooke and Kaleb are little buddies and any chance they can get to hang out is the best day in the world in their eyes.   They had so much fun playing on the sled together.

Brooke only fell a couple of times.  Good thing she's close to the ground and has extra padding on today!

We soon realized all the neighborhood kids were at our neighborhood retention pond.  Don't worry, it's dry!  The hills are perfect for our little ones.  Seriously, check out the smiles on these kids' face!

Morgan quickly found her friends and ditched us to hang out with the big girls.  Guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

Here's a picture of Brooke making a snow angel.  Our little friend Riley was supervising to make sure she did it correctly.

Some of the things that made this day so perfect.  1) It was on a Sunday; 2) Casey wasn't on shift; 3) The snow was fluffy and LOTS of it; 4) Pancakes tastes so much better when you've earned them; 5) We had absolutely no place to be except home; and 5) the snow was gone before my Monday morning commute.  Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have the snow stick around but all the stars aligned on our snow day to make it the most perfect day!

Happy New Year 2014

It was a rare New Year's Day in our house. Casey actually had the day off - woo hoo! I've been wanting to go to the painted plate in downtown Olympia for awhile now but wanted to wait until Brooke was a little older.  Since we all had the day off what fun would it be to go on New Year's Day? 

It was a good thing I made reservations they were busy! When we got there our table was all set up and ready to go. First, we needed to pick out a piece of pottery to work with. This was a little overwhelming for the girls. They wanted to do it all! I quickly decided I needed to keep it simple - we would ALL do a plate. 

Next, what type if design? They have so many ideas on the walls. The assortment of colors was amazing. So many options! 

Morgan decided on a peace sign pattern and Brooke went for a heart. The girls had so much fun. Brooke was a little crazy with all the excitement and it took some reeling in but we managed. 

Casey even got into it and decided on a seashell theme. I attempted to do some dots but they look more like clouds. 

I really enjoyed our family time together and will treasure the pieces we made forever.  My only suggestion would be to only let the kids do a piece. They needed a lot of assistance and it was difficult to complete my own piece. After all it's really their work that I will want to keep forever. 

Happy New Year!