Picnic on the beach!

The last night Seth and Naphtali were in town, we went and had a picnic at Newcastle Beach Park-it was a gorgeous evening, the kiddos had fun in the sand, and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset!
My little nature girl. She is either busy gathering sticks and twigs (and organizing them according to length), or digging in the sand!

Caleb, jumping the dock into the seadweedy-water. :)
So then my little-afraid-of-deep-water boy jumped in right after him! Hobbes was NOT scared at all of the lake...he loved it!
Look how far out Hobbes is-and he did it all on his own!
Seth and Nambi being crazy in the car!

Seattle's full of surprises!

Guess who came for a spontaneous visit! YAY Seth and Nambi!
Seth had a few days off, so they drove over to hang out with Caleb, the kiddos and I! Bray was sad to miss them, but we had a blast going downtown, riding the monorail and having a picnic on the beach! Thanks for coming over, guys!

Ooohh, we love this baby!
Down at the musical fountain...we took turns racing to touch the fountain before the water shot back up...I, unfortunately was caught.
Caleb and Seattle's most famous landmark.
Never get tired of taking pics of the Space Needle...
Caleb's on the Monorail!! (and he got the hat in Arizona...)

Caleb and Seth decided to climb the orange sculpture...they were a bit hindered by being barefoot, and the pigeons leftovers at the top...but they had fun!

Sorry about the font/list of names for the below post, but I copied it off the Ravinia website. Bray has been in Chicago, IL for the past 4 days, prepping and rehearsing for this performance! It was an honor for him to sing under James Conlon, who is a well-known and extremely well-respected conductor! YAY BRAY!

This performance is generously sponsored by: Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. This concert is part of the Breaking the Silence Series

Stravinsky's A Soldier's Story Breaking the Silence Tuesday, August 04, 2009 8:00 PM Martin Theatre James Conlon, Conductor Chicago Chamber Musicians David Lefkowich, Director Finn Wittrock, Devil Ben Rappaport, Narrator Andrea Miller, Princess Amari Cheatom, Soldier Bray Wilkins, Tenor (Charlie) James Benjamin Rodgers, Tenor (Billy) Jonathan Michie, Bass (Bobby) Paul Corona, Bass (Jimmy) Amy Justman, Soprano (Jessie) Rebecca Jo Loeb, Soprano (Bessie) Reserved $40/$25 Lawn $10 Gates open at 5:00 PM Program Weill: Mahagonny-Songspiel Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat (“A Soldier’s Story”)

Train Depot!

Since Bray is in Chicago, Caleb has been kind enough to hang out with me and the kiddos. I've been trying to think of different things we can go do (that are kid-friendly) and I realized we had not yet visited the Train Museum! One of my friends has gone a few times, and since Hobbes is a train fanatic, I figured it would be a perfect place to go!
So, despite very hot weather and a bit of a cranky boy, we had a great time! We went and looked in the trains, pretended to jump on them, and then went and ate a milkshake at the Chew Chew Factory. I even got some cheap conductor's hats for the kids!
After that we realized Snoqualmie Falls was only a mile away, so we continued our adventure and headed up there! (see post below) Altogether, we've been having a blast!
The control board.
Dreamin.'
My 'old-time' train picture.
And Caleb's old-fashund photo.:)
Loved the yellow train!
Hobbes and Caleb, driving in the little, mini train.
Jumpin the tracks.
Some much needed R & R on the RR.

Snoqualmie Falls!

This face, although cute, does not depict the excitement and awe we felt over the Falls, but we took it anyway.
Snoqualmie Falls is only 1 mile from the Train Museum-and is absolutely gorgeous! They have a park and a Spa/Lodge right at the top of the Falls, which I might have to visit sometime! Altogether, it made for a perfect end to the day-now we just need to go swimming at the bottom!

Love this picture of my little train conductor.
Uncle Caleb, enjoying the big falling water.
Taller than Niagara Falls, according to the signs.
Gorgeous view, but extremely hot up there!
Caleb, sitting on the fence at the top of the falls! Yikes!

Little Miss Dress-Ups.

Can you tell the latest thing she's into?
Too chic to look at the camera.

Ama & Ampa!

This past weekend, my parents were able to stop over for a quick weekend. They came from visiting my Grandma in Portland, and they brought the extreme heat with them!:)
We did our best to stay out of the heat, but we had to make a few visits to the park! Both kiddos were sad to see them go, and asked if they could go with them!
Lookin like a really big boy with his backpack on!

Family Fun Center!

I think Bray's face in this picture sums up our time at the Family Fun Center-awesome! We've seen this place before as it is only a few exits down, but had not been until this past week. With the record-breaking heat, we needed some AC, so we decided to hit the mini-golf and then refresh ourselves with some air-conditioned arcade games. Altogether, a fun time, and the boys even went back with my dad a few days later!
Riding on the plane with Hobbes- he loved it!
Waiting so patiently to ride the plane!
.Getting ready to putt.
My first ever hole-in-1!

The game is on!!
Bray lines up his shot...and Madeline watches
Relaxin with some juice on the Eiffel Tower.
DDR-they've got the moves.

Keeping cool.

Anniversary Date!

Crazy excited!
Space Needle=SEATTLE!!
The restaurant I've wanted to try since we moved here-Wild Ginger! It was fabulous!
My dinner=Wild Ginger Duck with a peppercorn rub, plum sauce and steamed buns! Delicious!
A nice passerby offered to take a picture of both of us-and it turned out great!
Love this dress-it's like the kind I wanted when I was little, lots of spinny fabric!;)
A handsome man overlooking the water.
Bray was awed over the presence of a Bentley Rolls Royce, and had to take a picture.
My twirly dress-Bray wanted a parking garage-twirling picture...Fun!