our washington vacation

last month joel, lauren, ryan and i flew out to washington to spend time with joel's family. they had never met ryan before so we were really looking forward to this trip. the kids did really well on both flights, always a relief! once in washington we stayed pretty busy with day trips to the beach, ferry rides to port townsend, family bar-b-ques, a trip to longview, hayrides, visiting a few friends and just trying to squeeze in as much family time as possible. our vacation flew by! of course we racked up a ton of pictures, which makes finding the time to sort through them and blog a little difficult to do. so i'm just going to post a few of the pictures without many captions for now. we all had a great time, the weather was gorgeous, joel's parents are wonderful hosts (his mom is an amazing cook), and i hope we can find a way to get out there again soon. but i do have to agree with dorothy and say, "there's no place like home!"

Port Townsend

joe, andrea (joel's sister) and their daughter, gracie.

chris and megan (joel's other sister).

lauren and grandpa

ryan and grandma

greyland beach

tractor rides

story time

lauren loves having books read to her. i think she prefers reading with her daddy since he's great at doing funny voices, while all my characters sound exactly the same. she also loves wearing a leotard that use to be mine when i was a little girl. it's way too big for her, but she doesn't seem to mind.

2 months old!

ryan is two months old today. he has been a wonderful little baby! he smiles ALL the time. he loves doing "so big" and is very patient with his sister who can't seem to keep her hands off of him. every once in a while if she's being too wild or loud around him, he let's us know it's too much by putting his little bottom lip out. he has his limits! :) we are all loving him so much!

lauren's 1st haircut

yesterday, lauren and i went to great clips to get lauren's hair cut for the first time. i hated the thought of cutting of all her cute curls, but the ends were really dry and unhealthy, and i knew it was inevitable. she was such a big girl and did a great job, following all the stylist's instructions. it probably didn't hurt that the entire haircut lasted about 5 minutes and she was promised a sucker if she was a good girl. but nonetheless another milestone has been crossed, our little lauren is growing up so fast!

before.......

and after!

big sister

lauren has been such a wonderful big sister. she is always wanting to hold her little brother and showers him with lots of hugs and kisses. she talks baby talk to him and calls him "ry, ry" or "baby brother" or, as of today, "frosted mini wheat". he gets lots of pushes in his swing and even has an occasional book read to him. we are so thankful that she has adjusted very well to having little ryan around. and we are excited to watch as their relationship continues to grow and develop.

little girls are so much fun!

today lauren, ryan and i went to celia's house for lunch. liz came as well with her two little girls. ryan was the lone boy, but he didn't seem to mind. the girls have a lot of fun playing together, even though there is usually one who is in tears or is being reminded to share. but that comes with being 2 and younger. with seven little ones i don't think there was ever a dull moment, and us "big" girls decided we need a playdate of our own! :)

valleyfair!

last night joel, lauren, ryan and i went to a local amusement/water park. it was a really warm evening, still in the low 90's around 6pm. but once the sun went down it was a beautiful night. ryan was great, watching all the action from the comfort of his stroller. lauren was very adventurous and went on all the rides that she could. there were a few that required an adult to accompany her. so joel and i reluctantly took turns. we all had a lot of fun and i have a feeling this is going to be an annual event.