Too Much

The last few weeks Shannon and I have been off on some  'field trips.'  We had a great day out at Alki and then Lincoln park in West Seattle, and we've been to St. Edwards park exploring the trails and biking.

Last week we took the ferry over to Bainbridge island for a fantastic day out that included Kidimu, the small but very nice children's museum over there.  After that we had lunch at a little mexican restaurant, then on to Battle point park.  The weather was warmer and drier than forecast, so it all went to plan except in the end it didn't.

It was mostly my fault as this excursion came at the end of a very busy week, in which Max and Zoe had pretty much zero down time and about a million adventures.  It started out well enough with us making the ferry in ample time and then the kids played beautifully with their trains and princesses for the 30 minute ride.  They enjoyed playing at the children's museum and there were no melt downs that I recall.

It all started to fall apart over lunch.  Between Max climbing under the table all the time and Miles really not liking what he chose, Shannon and I just took turns taking out kids.  Moods were not good by the time we left, but the park that Shannon found looked great so we carried on.  The park was awesome but Max and Zoe were not.  Max had about a meltdown a minute and Zoe whined continuously, except for when she was full on crying.   So eventually we gave up and headed back to the boat.  We'd been on there about 5 minutes when I had another run in with Zoe, so she spent the entire ride back in the car, while Shannon watched the sane children on the passenger deck.

In the end I felt bad because after we got home she asked could she go "nigh night" and it was only 6 o'clock.  Finally I had broken them, their kryptonite was extinguished and they were at last worn out.  That is until 6 a.m. the following day when Max came in and said "It's morning time mummy and what are we going to do today:)"

    

dress for the weather

It has been a while since I have posted anything.  We have been busy and out most days but for some reason I haven't been much in the mood for photographs.

Anyway here are a few recent pictures.  The first couple are from the hurricane machine that Max and Zoe have come to love.  They have been in it a bunch of times now and it supposed to simulate a 70 mile per hour wind.  There is no way that it does.  I have been in a 50 mile per hour wind on Mt. Rainer, and I had to crawl with my ice axe dug in, lest I be blown off the mountain.  It probably closer to 25, but for whatever reason they think being a wind machine is awesome, so I let them do it.  Most other parents of 3 year olds do not seem to think this is a good idea, but whatever, each to their own.

The last few pics are from this week when the kids were playing outside and decided to strip naked, which is actually a common occurrence. When they came in I told them that it was like winter out and they needed to get dressed.  So they went in to their room and emerged in these outfits.  Hats and boots, shorts and t-shirts, perfect for winter.

Strike!

Last week Shannon had the great idea to take the kids bowling.  We invited a few other twin moms and it turned sort of into an impromptu pizza/bowling party.  We were very relaxed about the taking turns and keeping score and all that until the jobs worth guy behind the desk came to spoil our fun.  However we didn't let him get us down and came up with a sort of turn taking system.

The highlight though according to my friend Jamie was me trying to move a bowling ball that got stuck in a lane.  Bowling lanes are REALLY, REALLY slippery that is all I am going to say:)

Take a Hike

Over the last month Sundays have been just that Sun-Days. Finally it has been time to get outside.

 So with a hefty REI dividend to spend I kitted the kiddos out in hiking gear, including proper mini hiking boots and we have been introducing them to the 'mountains'.  The kids are great walkers and love being outside.  The first hike we did was out of North bend and is called Twin Falls.  No prizes for guessing it is a hike to 2 waterfalls.  It is close to 2 miles round trip and M and Z walked pretty much the whole trail.

After that we got more adventurous and hiked some of the snow covered trail to Cannon falls.   This trail was pretty remote and we didn't see a single other kid out there, but Max had his kryptonite on and just kept moving.  Zoe had to admit defeat after a while and hitch a ride in the back pack, but we still stayed out for 5 hours.

This passed Sunday we hiked up Little Si.  It is 4.5 miles (Round Trip) and about 1,000 of elevation gain and exactly the kind of trail I  never would have hiked pre kids.  It's true in my past life I was a hiking snob.  Less than 3,000 feet gain? Not worth doing! Less than 8 miles? Don't waste my time!  But I really enjoyed this hike with Scott and M and Z, and all those years shlepping a 40 lb pack certainly helped me hoist the Pixie one up the hill.

Fairground Junkies

I am just figuring out how to work the new blog spot format.  I used to have to work backwards, but looks like they changed that so i can type first, then post pictures.  So I'll try that next time:)

Last fall we took a trip to the Puyallup fair and it was a big hit, so I decided to head back this Spring, to the spring version.  The Spring fair is smaller than the big end of summer event, but it had everything we needed to have a great time.  A few of those things were rides, duck dogs, farm animals, song and dance shows, pony rides and of course cotton candy.

Welcome to the realm of Camelot

Camelot is a theme park close to where my sister lives.  As the name suggested it is based on the story King Arthur and the knights of the round table.  We had a fabulous day going on the rides, watching a very exciting jousting tournament and feeding the animals at the farm.  We arrived shortly after 10 in the morning and were still going at 5:15 p.m., in fact we left at the same time as the staff.  Max and Zoë had an amazing time spending time with their cousins and I think the mums liked it too:) 

Ponty Pandy Rocks

So who lives Ponty Pandy? Fireman Sam of course. Max's ultimate hero. Fireman Sam is a welsh fireman that makes his living saving naughty Norman Price from various predicaments. When my mum knew we were coming for a visit she very kindly booked us tickets to the live Fireman Sam show in Southport.

It was a huge hit. I know this because Max sat through the whole 90 minute show without a peep. This is the longest he has ever watched anything. It was a well done show for very young children, though there were a few out breaks of chaos in the wordy parts. If you can imagine hundreds of 2 year old boys in yellow fireman hats all clamoring on their mums shouting "where is fireman sam gone" then you can picture it pretty well.

Such a fun way to spend an afternoon especially if you area 3 year old with a passion for all things fireman.