Hidden Lake Hike

It was a great day for a hike! Brooke even crossed her first "river" with her daddy's help.

How does it go? The fishing was great but the catching was poor? I think you get the idea.

What a beautiful spot!

Happy hikers! Brooke even got the courage to say "hi" to one of the passing hikers. See some resemblance between these two? I do!

I'll end this blog with a sweet hug!

Big Boy!

Oliver weighed in at 12 lb. 6 oz. today! He jumped from the 20-25% to the 66%. The Dr. was happy with his growth and noted he had good head control.

Way to go Oliver!

Family, Food and Fun!

Kent has been dreaming about making a rotisserie chicken since we got our bbq. His parents arrived for the weekend and he got his chance. It was amazing!

Brooke was looking super cute in her polka-dot dress and Oliver was looking so handsome in his... diaper, so we had an impromptu photo shoot.

Grandma Britta had a wonderful time holding Oliver!

Grandpa Bing made beautiful bracelets and glasses out of play-doh for Brooke!

Fun stuff!

Oliver: Two Months Old

I have learned to take advantage of two sleeping children. This monthly update is actually one day early! Oliver is growing and changing every day. Tomorrow is his two month check up. I have a feeling he will weigh more than eleven pounds.

Oliver is such a wonderful baby. His best times are in the morning when he is awake and cheerful. He sleeps most of the rest of the day and is awake in the late afternoon and evening. The last few days he's been a little fussy with a gassy stomach, so I'm going to try and figure out what I need to change in my diet. He likes sleeping on his tummy the best. After I figured that out he started sleeping four to four and a half hour segments at night. Every bit helps!

He's more aware of the world around him. He loves seeing faces and being in someones arms. He has strong legs that inch him forward when on his tummy. He can move his head side to side during tummy time. The hair on top is starting to grow back. We often say he reminds us of my Grandma Colleen who has beautiful olive colored skin and curly hair. I have a feeling Oliver is going to have brown curly hair, but we'll have to wait and find out!

Videos of our Munchkins

The Kids!

Both Brooke and Oliver loved to stand early on. I'm not sure if this is something all babies do. Oliver will stand there smiling and waving his arms, it's quite the workout! I'm so amazed that he can support his body weight (especially that heavy head!), all we are doing is keeping his balance!

He's already cheering on the Bulldogs!


I can't resist another smiling baby photo! He makes it so easy! We would work on getting a smile for Brooke for soooo long, she was a different critter that's for sure! It's nice to have such a happy easy going baby!

Brooke really enjoys coloring books. Today I got out the sidewalk chalk and she was coloring on the steps and in the books... she LOVED it!

Happy Father's Day Kent!

Daroga State Park

Yesterday we headed out for our second ever camping adventure in our camper. We decided on Daroga State Park which is about 25 miles north of Wenatchee. This was a trial run for future camping trips this summer.

This was Oliver's first camping experience at only seven weeks old!

This was Brooke's favorite place to visit during our short stay. We came to the playground and beach area between rain storms!

Brooke was the first and only one to try out the bath... she approved!

The Washington State Parks are so beautiful and well kept. Daroga has a long narrow island to explore and tent camp on. It was a great walk.

We had one happy camper!

We didn't get to use our firewood this trip because of the rain. We were so happy to have a place to keep warm and dry. My only problem is I forgot to pack inside toys. We spent lots of time listening to music and coloring on paper plates!

This is Brooke's favorite toy right now. Dirt, shovel and bucket = HOURS of entertainment!

Nice views and hardly anyone to share it with!

Cassy had fun too!

Summer

Here's our favorite dog! Cassy loves the summertime. She would be outside 24-7 if we let her!

We are still getting used to saying "the kids". It's such an amazing feeling to hold two of them at the same time!

Referee

Oliver is a pretty good referee, although he often lets his mama win...

We get more smiles every day! Today during church he was all smiles with Auntie Caitlin and he even started cooing!

Thumbs UP!

Brooke and Oliver

Different Baby

One month later and much more chub! This little guy has no problem gaining weight! He's so wonderful and snuggly, we love it!

Woodland Park Zoo

Our first destination was Woodland Park Zoo. Brooke loves animals and enjoyed showing us where to go on the map!

It was a beautiful warm day in Seattle.

The elephants were Brooke's favorite animal to watch.

They set up a bear demonstration that was fascinating and kind of disturbing at the same time. Let's watch Bears destroy a badly set up campsite! I'm just glad they didn't have any fake people for them to play with.

After all the excitement of the zoo we headed to my cousin's graduation party. On Friday she graduated from Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle. We had a great time chatting with Leah and her friends. She is such a beautiful smart young girl and is headed to Seattle Pacific University to study nursing. Brooke was in that overly tired WILD mood so I spent most of my time chasing her around the house. She actually didn't sleep until around 9:30pm when we FINALLY got her to calm down. Day two we went to the mall, out to lunch and drove home. Surprisingly, Brooke didn't even take a nap in the car. So right now as I write this she is taking her first nap in three days. It should be a good long one!

The More the Merrier, Right?

Friday night I spent the entire evening cleaning, packing and wondering how I was going to manage an overnight trip with two little ones. Yes, I had my mom and sister to help, but it didn't help with my stress level! By Saturday morning at nine we had everything loaded up in my mom's Honda Pilot and we took off for Seattle.

I purchased two new CD's on Itunes the night before so Brooke had new music to listen to. Oliver slept most of the way but got upset when he was hungry and when the binky would not solve that problem.

One stop for feeding Oliver allowed Brooke to get out and stretch her legs. Ever since we went on the hike a while back she has been using "hiking poles" (sticks) when walking around!

Off to Woodland Park Zoo!

Skiing in JUNE

Kent and Pastor Dave hiked up Mission Ridge so they could ski down. Kent had to prove that it was June 5th by wearing shorts on the way down.

Smallwood's Harvest

Ready for the farm!

We had a break in the weather so it was the perfect day to go to Smallwood's Harvest. We saw all kinds of farm animals and even got to feed them.

One of Brooke's friends joined us. The girls had a great time playing!

The afternoon would not be complete with some fun on the bumblebee swings!

Isn't it incredible what a year can do!