What a Weekend!

What a weekend we had! The weather was gorgeous and we took full advantage of every moment of it. On Friday night Jack's friend, Maggie, came over to play while her parents went out for the evening.  It was such a beautiful night that we decided to take the kiddos for a ride around the block in the wagon. They seemed to be having fun and at one point, Jack even attempted to give Maggie a flower. She didn't seem too keen on it given her facial expression (see picture below). About half way around the block, both Jack and Maggie decided that they had had enough of sitting still in the wagon. So Tom and I ended up carrying them the rest of the way home. Oh well!

On Saturday morning we woke up, got dressed and headed out into the sunshine once again. This time we went to Alki for some beach time. The sunshine, ocean, and bustle of Alki made it feel as though we were in California. Jack had fun wiggling his toes in the sand and picking up rocks to throw.

Saturday night Jack got another round of fun when we babysat for Caden and Linnea. We played outside for nearly an hour in their backyard. Jack decided that he liked their toy lawnmower and pushed that thing around the entire time!  Needless to say, by the end of Saturday, Jack was ready to hit the sack!

Sunday morning Tom and Jack spent a few hours at the zoo while I did some grocery shopping and preparing for a BBQ later on in the day. Always a hit, the zoo is the perfect hangout for Daddy and Jack time.

Sunday afternoon we got to attend our first Syttende Mai parade in Ballard. The Lund family invited a bunch of people over to have BBQ and watch the parade, which goes right in front of their house. Jack was completely and totally mesmerized by all of the action in the parade. He got to pet a Norwegian Fjord (horse), listen to many marching bands, eat a lollipop that was thrown to him, and see some Viking boats. He was enjoying himself so much, he actually joined the parade and started marching down the street!

There were lots of kids at the Lund's house, which made it even more fun! All of that sunshine, fresh air, and action sure made for one tired little boy at the end of this busy weekend!

The Aquarium

Today we had a special outing with Grandma to the Aquarium. We couldn't have gotten there at a better time. Right when we walked in, there was a presentation going on in the giant tank complete with scuba divers. Jack literally sat mesmerized as the divers talked to us through microphones. At the end of the presentation, the diver motioned for Jack to come up to the glass and give him a high five. Jack wasn't too sure about that and decided that he preferred to watch from a distance.

From there we headed into a huge room where we saw a very active octopus, a giant ring of jellyfish, and lots of sea anemones and starfish in the touch tanks. Jack didn't stay at any one exhibit too long, but rather ran from tank to tank babbling the entire time. He is really into steps right now, and this octopus cut out had steps behind it, so Jack climbed right up there to pose for a picture.

Although Jack enjoyed the fish and other sea life, this last picture captures the elements of the aquarium that really held Jack's interest--the rocks on the ground, the blue lights on the wall, and things that he could bang his hands against.  But hey, who says those things shouldn't be interesting too?!

After the aquarium, Grandma took us to Ivars for some fish-n-chips. When we had finished eating, Grandma and Jack threw french fries to the seagulls. Jack liked dropping the fries over the edge and watching the gulls fight for them, but he wasn't so sure about it when Grandma had a seagull eat a french fry right out of her hand. I guess some things, in Jack's mind, are better seen from a distance.

What an adventure!

The Beach!

Over Mother's Day weekend we got to spend some time with Grandma in Kingston. We missed having Grandpa there with us, but we are excited for the time when he will be able to join and play with us again. On Saturday afternoon we went to a great beach in Indianola. Jack LOVED throwing rocks into the water and spent pretty much all of his time doing that. It was a beautiful day, so Tom attempted to shield Jack's head from the sun with his hat. It lasted for a few minutes, during which I got some cute pictures.

 

Jack also had fun digging in the sand with Grandma.

In Case You Haven't Heard...

 

 

 

Jack is going to be a big brother! I'm nearly 17 weeks along and feeling great. The current due date is October 20, but that could very easily change. We don't yet know the sex, but we are anxious to find out when we have the big ultrasound in a month or so. Jack and I are so busy that most days I forget that I am pregnant. Jack loves coming up to my belly and giving the baby a hug or a kiss. He is going to be the best big brother!

Opening Day

  On Saturday morning we ventured out into the bleakness to catch some of opening day of boating season.  Going to opening day is a tradition of ours and we didn't let the dismal weather stop us. We got down to the Cut pretty early, not realizing that the races didn't start until 10:00. We had fun walking around and Jack enjoyed looking at all the boats. We managed to watch a few of the races before the rain really started to come down. Jack loved it when the crowd cheered for the races. He clapped and danced shrieking with excitement. 

Smelling Flowers and Penguins!

I took these pictures last week while Jack and I were playing outside, but I am just now getting around to sharing them on our blog. Jack's newest thing is to smell flowers. As you can see from the pictures, it is more like kissing/licking the flowers. He loves to do this on our walks. I've been trying to get him to just sniff with his nose, but he seems to like this way more.

It is so beautiful outside today that I knew Jack and I had to spend it outside. So we spent the morning at the zoo. What a day for the zoo. It just so happened to be the big opening of the new penguin exhibit with today being a preview day for members. The line to get into the exhibit was enormous, so we checked out the rest of the zoo before heading back to the penguins. Jack was particularly interested in the animals today. The gorilla, giraffe, lion, and brown were remarkably close to us. Jack also really enjoyed the birds today. We went into one of the exhibits and he wanted to sit down on the bench and watch them. He got himself up on the bench, and I had to use the opportunity to take some pictures.

The second picture is what he did when I asked him to smile. This is his new smile, a scrunched up nose and eyes. Now, where did he learn that?

When we finally made it back to the penguins, the line had died down and we were able to go in. It is a pretty cool exhibit, but we had trouble finding the penguins, at first. We should have just followed the crowd to the other end of the pool where they were all playing in the water!  By this time, Jack was pretty spent so I snapped a quick pic and we headed for home.

Finally, here is Jack resting in his favorite chair at home, sans clothes of course!