Summer Fun

We have been trying to soak up the last few weeks of summer here in Seattle! The weekend before last, our friends Katie and Jeff were in town after an Alaskan cruise. We met them at Snoqualmie Falls and had brunch at the Salish Lodge. The dining room has really great views of the falls {not to mention amazing food} but you have to make reservations a few weeks in advance. We didn't think to do that last time we ate there {while my parents were in town} but the lunch menu at their other restaurant is also really delicious. It was so great to see them and hear all about their cruise, which we would love to do one day! Maybe not with toddlers though...

 

Last weekend, we went to the Woodland Park Zoo with our friends Libby, Jon, and their baby girl, Paige. Claire is still a little young for the zoo {though she got more out of it than her last trip there} but she really enjoyed all the animals she could see up close, like the gorillas and hippos. We're looking forward to visiting the aquarium next!

I actually really love Claire's transition to one nap a day because we get out and do stuff so much more. When she was napping twice a day in the winter, I feel like we rarely got out of our neighborhood. You know how everyone says with kids "the days are long, but the years are short?" It seems like the years are really long too because Claire changes so quickly and then we get used to a new routine! I seriously cannot remember what I used to do during her morning nap. Anyway, I think we did a pretty good job of seizing the summer around Seattle's east side, even if we are wearing long-sleeves in half of these photos.



We went to a little farm run by the city.



Picked raspberries and blueberries.



Visited the farmer's market, mostly for the snow cones.



Had lots of picnics at our favorite spot with views of the cascades.



Swam at the lake.



Ate way too much frozen yogurt.



And finally made it to the splash park.

 

We also took full advantage of the play structure in our apartment complex. It's become our routine for Adam and Claire to hang out there while I finish making dinner.



Anytime it gets above eighty degrees we rush out to the complex's pool.



Because the next best thing is playing with a bucket on our balcony...



We also visited pretty much every playground in town. The ones that get a return visit are those that are safe enough for Claire to climb on all the structures by herself. Because my eight-month pregnant self is absolutely not wiggling through any tunnels!

Even though it's tempting sometimes when I'm waiting in line at the post office to think about how Adam never has to do that kind of thing, I try my best to run all our errands during the week, so we can do just fun stuff on the weekends. When I'm in a grumpy mood from listening to toddler whining all day, I have this fantasy that his job is fun, fun, fun all the time. In my defense, his department did have volleyball and cricket tournaments this month. And he's currently at a party for the release of their latest product. So...

Anyway, we usually need a nudge from family and friends, but we made it into Seattle quite a bit too.



To Pike Place Market.

The Chihuly Museum.

The Children's Museum.

 

The Space Needle.

And the aforementioned zoo. One day we'll get our act together and take a ferry to Bainbridge or Whidbey Island. The lavender festival is also on our list for next summer, although it's kind of a hike to the Olympic Penninsula. It's become a summer tradition to visit our Canadian relatives in Vancouver, but we'd love to eventually make a trip south to the Oregon coast. It's a little embarrassing how much we want to tour the Tillamook Factory.



For the last two months, Claire has taken swim lessons at the Y. Our last day is on Friday. Lessons are absolutely not necessary at her age, but they were pretty inexpensive and since we can't really rely on warm weather here, it was nice to make sure she got in some swim time each week. She definitely understands the concept of kicking now and is so close to blowing bubbles. Probably the biggest success is that she is now content to lay on her back in the water, both in the pool and in the bath at home! I don't think the Y has the best quality swim lessons or instructors, but we'll probably continue there for the next couple years. Especially because I can put Maggie in the nursery next summer while Claire's swimming. {The "tot" class is for six months to thirty-six months but I really feel like kids under one wouldn't benefit at all.} The price is pretty hard to beat too!

 

Eventually we'll switch to lessons through our neighborhood swim team. I think swim team is the best sport around and, while it will ultimately be up to them, I really hope our kids are into it. I love that meets are family affairs because all the kids race at the same place, at the same time and get to hang out with friends/each other when they're not swimming. It's also a nice mix of individual/team sports which is great when you're not very athletic {and our kids do have our genes, so the odds aren't exactly in their favor.} Basically, I just really don't want to never have dinner as a family because someone is always at sports practice and drag everyone to everyone's else games all day on the weekends.

This turned into the longest, most rambling post ever. But I'll need this to look back on and remind myself of the amazing pacific northwest summers when it's raining from October to April. Thanks for humoring me!