october 2008

recent trip to the seattle aquarium
shirt gremlin! hahah

Welcome Fall--- I think

Well ineviteably it's now Autumn. The leaves are changing- cool crisp air and colder nights are upon us. It was only a matter of time before this was going to happen. Go figure. But that's okay- I have nothing but amazing and fond memories from this summer putting me in an optimistic mood looking forward to what the future holds. With fall comes the final push to be out in the beautiful weather, but also the run of new tv shows and time to watch more movies and figure out what there is to do in Seattle that is inside--- because everything is outside. I want to visit the arboretuem before all the trees loose their leaves. I love photographing children this time of the year as well. Time to bundle up and wear layers. :)
Beyond that- still having fun, focusing on work as usual and watching Kena learn so much in the first grade. She is still busy swimming at her lessons and we're trying to adjust my schedule once a week so I can also get into work earlier and we can hit the swimming pool before it closes for some practice. We'll see how much that happens. But this little angel is practicing and losing her fears of the water. With a little more endurance she'll be swimming like the mermaid she already is.

This past weekend I went with friends to the Italian Festival at the Seattle Science Center. It's so nice to get out and do something besides laying around and doing nothing. Though I love doing that too- it was great to get out to Seattle. There is so much to do down there. Beyond that we ate at Joey's on Lake Union. Ummm- loved it. I could totally see going there for a special occasion or New Years or the like... Speaking of holidays, Halloween is just around the corner and I can hardly wait! It's on a Friday this year, so I plan on taking Makena trick-or-treating then she was invited to spend the evening at a slumber party. This will be my first Halloween where I get dressed up. I'm so excited. With it being on a Friday there are so many different events and parties occuring so regardless there will be fun for all. I can hardly wait to see all the costumes.

I'm leaving you with some new photos from swimming & this past weekend. Enjoy!

My friend Greg "Greggy" from high school- met up at the Rock in Bothell for some drinks- good friends- good times :)

As always, what would be an appearance in photos w/out a photo of me & my partner in crime?!

My little mermaid

A few more photos

Falling into Autumn

Wow! It's been a while since I posted. Soooo- much has happened. Let's see... okay- summer came to an end (as did the nice weather) and Makena spent Labor Day weekend with her dad while I took off with a friend to Napa Valley for some wine tasting.. YUMMM. I've never been an avid wine drinker. In fact, until the last year I didn't really like wine much. Now I LOVE it. I know what I like. Pinot Noir is my fav followed by Cab Sav. Anyhooo- so, we're busy bee's over here. After Labor Day- school began. YAYY!! Took Kena to her first day. She knew the little girl she sat next to and gave to hoots about my leaving her there. Thank goodness for summer camp and seeing familiar faces at a new school. A million times better than her first day last year. She's really come leaps and bounds emotionally, physically & academically. Off to school w/out a care in the world and begging for Math problems & homework. She seems to be on the right track :)

Work is the same for me, still busy as always. Makena is also swimming. I signed her up for swim lessons in August and at a hefty price of $22 per HALF hour (URGHH) she takes lessons from what other moms refer to as 'the swim nazis'. Ummm - okayyy. Basically- they're really hard on them and push them to their limits. The social pressure of other children in the class really helps too. We're on... week 7? and she's diving like a crazy girl into the pool, doing the crawl(?) and backstroke, swimming underwater like a frog and she just can't get enough! She practices during 'free time' with diving as well. This just 'might' be her thing. We'll see. The next class is twice the length... and go figure twice the cost (double URGHHHH).

It's starting to cool off around here, the fleece pajamas have come out and the heat has come on once or twice. I'm ready to stock up on some firewood and can hardly wait to have a fire in the fireplace (minus the mess).

All in all- we're doing awesome! Spending time playing and what-not. Life is pretty good. Summer was great, but I'll admit it's kinda nice to be back into a 'groove' again.

Time to get this little munchkin into bed. Enjoy some photos. xo- mommy & princess kai.

Camping!!

We went camping this weekend East of the mountains. It was GREAT! A really good friend from high school, Dave, who is also a single parent & lives really close to us- has two kids; Jaden 6.5 & Tyler 4.5. We've spent quite a bit of time together this summer with the kids. They get along really great. Well we decided after discussing camping all summer that it was time to get the kids out there since summer is coming to a screeching hault in the next 2 weeks. September will roll around and as usual it will become Fall with a quickness.

So- needless to say- we headed to the mountains where we knew the weather would be great. What a wonderful time. Our other friend AJ (also from high school) drove up in his jeep w/ his dog and met us up there. We camped right off the Wenatchee river. We spent time exploring and throwing rocks in the river and having such a great time. It wasn't too cold- it was perfect. We plan on going in two more weeks before it gets too cold out. Can hardly wait it will be loads of fun :) I'll post pictures later today or tomorrow.

Cheers- happy Monday!

Quotes from California

So here are some wonderful quotes that Makena said while we were in California:

Picture this: 9:30ish PM after spending the day at Disneyland and just finishing watching the fireworks:

"Mommy, the boy who made up this place - really truly gave it all of his heart" (I have her saying this on video once--- i'll post it later)
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"Mommy I'm so happy right now, (with glistening eyes) I almost had happy tears. The boy who made this REALLY gave it all his heart"

(referencing Walt Disney creating the idea of Disneyland) and yes at that moment if she wanted something I TOTALLY would've given her anything. jk... but just hearing that made the entire trip just that much better than it already was.

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"Mommy- thank you soooo- much for bringing me here, this was the most magical time!"

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"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh-- I almost got hit by a rogue wave!!!!"

I didn't realize that the rogue waves from the Deadliest Catch were common on Laguna Beach---- but apparently the day that we were there.... they were :)
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Something she said before California but I want to document:
While leaving a message for her Dad or Gram on voicemail:

"I just went to swim lessons and I dived (yes dived) in. I did so good, I was BRILLIANT" :)

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Hi from Disneyland!!!

I meant to post this from Disneyland but my laptop died and we were on our way out... here is a preview to the MILLIONS of pictures we took...

Lucky Ducks

So this summer has been incredibly crazy. Especially for Princess Kai. Talk about a great summer- so it started off a little rough. Because she is going to a new school in the Fall, it meant a new summer program and new friends. So the first days were spent (her birthday in fact) at summer camp. Talk about reluctant to do something new. She was NOT happy after the first day :( The following week she got to go to Grandma's house.

Side note: Grandma just retired this year from teaching. She normally has summers off and it has always been a plan to spend a lot of summer time with grandma. This year especially because Grandma is permanently on vacation!

Soooo she spent the first week with Grandma and they got together with cousin Sydney and Margaret. They went to Hood Canal and enjoyed time on the beach! The following week Princess Kai was lucky and got to go to Nebraska with her daddy for 10 days.






Makena had a BLAST in Nebraska. I'm not sure when she'll get to go and see the family again- if it will be next summer or if they have another trip somewhere else planned-. Either way it was great for her to spend time with her cousins.

After that, Kena spent another week with my parents. Playing and having a great time. Finally she was back with me and went to Summer Camp. What a fun summer camp too- because they went on 2 field trips... one to the Birch Bay water slides and also to the park. Talk about a fun summer.

Makena also got to go to Vacation Bible School. She attended the same program last year and was able to go to the same program this year. The same teacher was there and that made her feel comfortable as well. She's had sleepovers and friends to come and play too. One of the weekends that she was home - my friends from high school - Dave (and his son Jaden and daughter Tyler) & Becky (with her daughter Madison & son Jake) came out and spent the entire weekend at our place. We spent so much time at the pool, then grilled out it was loads of fun! It's nice to have friends that live close by. And luckily our kids are all around the same age. We're all single primary parents so it's good to have people who know what you're going through and struggles of raising our kids on our own.

Anyways- I'm babbling a bit as I get ready for bed. We are lucky lucky ducks. For so many reasons- mainly, b/c we are loved and have the support of many friends and family. We are lucky ducks b/c we are going on a trip to Disneyland the day after tomorrow!! YAY YAY YAY!! We're so excited. I'll be posting pics. Till then..... ciao!

Disneyland Countdown

Only a couple days (Thursday) till we're on a plane and Kena and I are taking our first trip together all by ourselves!!! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. I FINALLY made our hotel reservations and car rental. Huntington Beach here we come!! I'm taking her to the Walk of the Stars also! We're going to have such a blast :)

A new chapter

This is a new blog-- Mommy Kai & Princess Kai. We'll post lots of pictures... we have lots of updating to do after we've had such a crazy busy summer. So- much going on... this is a diary of our lives together. Check back often *Much Aloha*