Sharing our life - all our adventures and bumpy rides. Family of four with two young boys - moved back home to allow them the similar experiences and opportunities we had living in North Carolina. Come explore with us!
Happy Fourth of July everyone!! We had a wonderful day today! It was a beautiful day so we packed our lunch and headed to Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park for the festivities!
Caroline made Brock that cute animal blanket and we keep it in his stroller for outings :)
The weather was absolutely perfect for a picnic lunch before exploring the park! And the best part - when Brock made a mess dumping out his raisins, we just shook out the blanket!
We were all dressed patriotic for the day! Brock in red, Brent in white and I was in blue! Not even planned!!
Lake Washington
Brock had so much fun running around in the grass and pointing at the ducks. So many ducks!
We walked around the pier and checked out the boats....which made Brent really miss his. Maybe in a few years...? Brock loved watching the water and finding new things to explore!
Checking out the water under the pier
Then it was time to make the long trek back to the car, which was the only time Brock napped for the day! Guess he was so excited to celebrate the Fourth he didn't want to nap.
"Daddy! Let me out! I'll help you grill!"
But we had fun grilling out at home for dinner and playing with our Fourth of July schwag. Maybe next year Brock will be big enough to stay up to see the fireworks (more so than the ones going off in our neighborhood) and jump in the bouncy houses at the park. For now, we are content playing with our own toys, at home, for the holiday.
I signed Brock up for his first swimming lessons this week and I think he mostly liked it.... as long as the sun was out. :) Monday and Tuesday were beautiful! High 80's and Tuesday saw a high of 91!! Gorgeous weather for a 30 minute morning lesson in an outdoor pool in the state of Washington.
Brock loved the cute little songs they sang as we splashed in the pool, learned "reach and pull" and how to kick. We learned the correct way to get out of the water and that he needs to wait for either Mommy or Daddy to get in first before he gets in. It was so cute how he would sit at the edge and reach out his arms for me to bring him in!
Brent was working from home on Thursday so we thought it would be wonderful for him to do the class with Brock that day! Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas and the temperature at the time of the class was a balmy 64 degrees!
I think Brock was cold and took it out on poor Brent! He liked the songs of course, but when it was time to give up his "reach and pull" toy, he was UPSET! At least it was a short class since it was the last class and we were able to get free time all over the pool.... so we all huddled around a water vent that was blowing out warm-ish water. :) Haha we are such southerners - no cold water for us!! We are ready for some Florida water! :)
The Museum of Flight hosted the King County Kids' Safety Day today and I thought Brock would have a blast! He has been all about trucks the last few days and he LOVES airplanes - which we spotted quite a few sitting AND taking off while we were there! Boy they are loud that close!
Brock learning proper water safety while fishing
It was organized really well! Everyone checked in and received a "Safety Passport". The children visited each station and after they completed a little safety lesson (modified for children's ages), they received a sticker. Once the 10 slots were filled up with stickers, the children could turn it in for a raffle ticket to win a bike.
Smokey the Bear was in attendance as was Sparky the Fire Dog. Brock so wanted to go over and say hello to these characters, but once he got close, he would barely give them a high five. My shy little boy.
He loved the wheels, buttons and horns on all the trucks. There were ambulances, water rescue vehicles, three fire trucks and even a big Airport Crash Tender (airport fire truck). And we picked up lots of schwag! Two plastic fire hats, pencils, stickers, flashlights, coloring books, erasers, and even a little dinosaur (how is that safety related??)! What fun!!
I think he had fun because 10 seconds after I pulled out of the parking lot, he was fast asleep. :)
Blaine flew SOLO all the way from Nashville, Tennessee to Seattle, Washington to come visit us for a whole week! We were sooo excited!! I had been preparing Brock for over a week for Blaine's visit, but I guess he was still just a bit surprised as this is how close he would only get to Blaine on Day One. :) After the first day, he definitely warmed up!
Pioneer Square
Since Brent could only take a few days off during Blaine's visit, the first full day he was here I thought Brock and I would introduce him to the history of Seattle first. We booked tickets on the Underground Tour so he learned all about how Seattle was originally built below sea level and how the first batch of Thomas Crapper's "crappers" didn't pan out so well with the tides of Puget Sound.
Too bad he didn't bring his bathing-suit that day!
Solar flowers under the Space Needle that light up the area at night
Then we walked around the Space Needle, Key Arena, and the International Fountain while Brock napped a bit in the stroller. Blaine also got to see a few of the "Ride the Ducks" amphibious vehicles. He said no thank you for touring on those.
On Friday, Brent was able to take off from work so we all headed down to the legendary Pike Place Market. It was crowded as usual, but we managed to purchase some vegetables and seafood for that evening's dinner!
We couldn't pass up an opportunity to check out the Gum Wall while we were there too! Poor Brent was all nerves trying to stop Brock from picking up the "memorabilia" on the ground and the wall. :)
Trying to get a cute picture of a toddler posing with someone else is impossible
Mostly we just hung out and watched the FIFA World Cup... or Major League Baseball.... or the College World Series. Oh my.... did I just get a snapshot of what life is going to be like with Brent AND Brock in a few years?? :)
Brent and I thought it imperative to take Blaine to the Microsoft store at the Bellevue Mall. And since we were there.... we had to check out the Tesla! Yes, Brandi, that is your son in the driver's seat of a $90,000 vehicle.
More hanging out at the house before our big day on Monday. Blaine and Brock were so cute together playing cars!
Monday we had a very busy day! First we stopped by Renton's community center pool. I tried explaining to Blaine that it wasn't a "water park" per se... just a bigger pool with slides and a lazy river. It's no Nashville Shores. :) And somehow even though it wasn't so sunny and we were there for less than two hours, I still managed to get a slight sunburn on my shoulders. Oh yes, that's right - they haven't seen sun in almost two years.
Blaine went so fast down the water slide, I couldn't get a picture until he had already surfaced!
Brent was the exact opposite and he was pushing himself down the slide trying to continue moving!
Monday night we had tickets to the Seattle Mariners baseball game versus the Boston Red Sox! And Felix was pitching!!
I think Blaine had a great time sitting and watching the game with his Uncle Brent!! The Mariners did really well that night - winning the game with a score of 12 - 3.
Brock had other plans for his baseball outting...
Check out the play area....
Give hugs to all crazy-eyed Mariner Moose/Bear things....
Play "hide and seek" from the big Mariner Moose (aka if I hide in Mommy's shirt and close my eyes, he'll go away!)....
.....And finally... watch a bit of the game with Daddy and Blaine!
We had a wonderful visit with Blaine and can't wait to see him and the rest of the Eason/Smith Family in Florida in less than two weeks!!
Brock loves playing in water - especially so as an Aquarian! So what could be more fun than playing in the water table and with his watering can any possible sunny day here in Seattle!
"More water Mommy!"
I worked on showing Brock that he can help Mommy water the plants. He sort of got the idea to walk over to the vegetable bed with his watering can..... but the water didn't quite make it on the plants!
Thanks Aunt Beverly for the adorable watering can and shovel and rake - we're using them in the water table (to scoop the water) for now. :)
Here's a little video of Brock's outside water adventures today.
And in case you were wondering, the bigger boys were inside napping while we were having fun outside. (Our nephew Blaine is here visiting from Nashville, Tennessee) But be prepared for some fun pictures and videos of our week together!! :)
One more picture of Brock cheesing for the camera after he drank some yummy water table water.
