Beginners Silk

Updates on Clifton -
He has been wanting to drink from a big boy cup lately so we have let him try and he does really well.  The tough thing for him is he cannot carry it around like he does his sippy
We are still trying the potty training but it is not going anywhere as of now.  I am not pushing him very hard because I feel if I will push he might just not do it or fight back by peeing all over the place.  So I am trying to go at his pace.  I did go to the store with him and pick out a few cheap toys he wanted and put them in a basket.  I explained that if he goes potty on the toilet he can pick a toy out of the basket.  So far he wants the toys and will sit on the toilet but he does not go potty:/  We will keep trying.

Updates on McKay -
She has had stood a few times without holding onto anything.  Of course when she noticed she fell down:)  She keeps growing and growing and it is way too fast.  She is starting to play by herself better these days and that makes me happy.  She loves watching Clifton and Evan play and often tries to join in.  The boys are usually very nice and let her, until she crawls all over them and tries to use them to stand up.
She also has another tooth poking through.  So two in the bottom front so far.

This week was crazy and crazy fun!  Alex left for Washington DC this week for work.  He only went for one meeting so had a lot of time to roam around and explore Washington DC (I am not going to lie I was a little jealous).

He enjoyed going around and seeing the newer structures they have built.  He also loved going to the Smithsonian Museum and spending way too much time there.  Alex was there for 9/11 and they had some memorial services going on at the Pentagon for people that died and people who lived because of others.  He was very touched by their words and felt lucky to be there.

Monday morning at 5AM our house fire alarm went off.  I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to see no smoke anywhere.  I quickly grabbed the kids and tried to comfort them while trying to figure out what was going on.  Finally it stopped after opening a window, which freaked me out.  (This was about an hour of alarms going off).  I was not sure I should call 911 so I waited till the fire station was taking calls and asked what they thought.  He suggested I call 911 and make sure it is not carbon monoxide which is what I thought it could be.  So I called 911 and she tells me to get out of the house NOW and the firefighters will be there soon.  That freaked this worrying mother out.  So we went outside and waited for the firefighters.  Of course Clifton and Evan were excited to see a fire truck again and right outside the house.  In the end, there was not a significant reading of carbon monoxide and I still have no idea why it went off.  It was a very scary and tiring morning.

 Since Alex was out and about in Washington DC looking at museums I decided to take the boys to one near us.  I have never been to the Puget Sound Navy Museum and it was right next us.  So we took a visit.

 It was a lot of fun.  They had a cute little kids area for the kids to roam around.

 And even in the rest of the museum they had a ton of buttons to push, structures to climb on, and things to play with.  The boys enjoyed it.

 However I think they enjoyed the water fountains outside even more!

I saved some of the packaging from the BBQ we got a little while back and I was planning on letting the boys play with it.

I gave them some tools and set them to work destroying the styrofoam.

Thursday night I escaped for the evening.  I took my bike over to the ferry and went over to Seattle.  So I have never taken a bike on the ferry.  For some reason in my head I was thinking that I was not taking a car so I must go load where the pedestrians load.  After a few weird looks I realized I was supposed to load with the cars.  Oh I felt so silly.  Very embarrassing, but now I know for next time.  Once I got to Seattle I biked over to Emerald City Trapeze Art where I meet my sister-in-law, Rebecca, and took a Beginners Silk class.  So biking in Seattle is a whole new experience.  It was fun and a little scary.  The roads are scary driving but even more scary riding a bike, mainly because I am in the cars' way.  Anyway I survived!

 It was SO much fun!  It was extremely hard and tiring but very fun.  Even after losing all the baby weight and getting back into shape my body still struggled to pull myself up and to balance.  It takes a ton of core strength and grace.  Which I am sure I could use more of both of those;)

Friday we went to the zoo for the first time this summer.  This was the first time going with Clifton where he was really excited and understood what we were doing and knew what they different kinds of animals were.  It was fun!

 McKay loved the shark tank.  She was amazed by it.  She also loved the fish tanks too.  She would kick her legs in excitement and make her ahhh face.

 The walrus was cool.  It would swim right next to the glass and you felt so tiny next to it.

 McKay is such a trooper.  She is a real good girl and is easy to do things with even if it throws her schedule off a little.

McKay's first ride on a carousel.  She loved it as much as Clifton does. 

Clifton and Dad looking like studs in their sunglasses.  Like father like son. I tried to get one with them looking at me but Clifton took them off before I could.  Love this photo!


We went to go visit our good friends over in Redmond this weekend.  We all went to visit Snoqualmie Falls and had a little picnic together.

 The falls were beautiful!

All the kiddos playing together.  It was great getting together and seeing their little one grow.  I love getting together with friends:)