Ethan's Birthday Celebration

The last weekend that we were in Washington we decided to have a late 1st birthday party for Ethan. Much of my extended family hadn't met him yet, and we figured this way a lot of us could see each other all at once! We also invited just a few close friends and their little boys, who are close to Ethan's age. My parents were nice enough to let us use their backyard and the weather actually cooperated with us for the day! Here we are hanging out waiting for the party to start.

Time to eat!

Helping Grandpa grill (carefully!) the burgers and hot dogs

Anderson crunching on some chips
A mouthful of grapes!

After we ate we let the kids run around and play for a bit. Ethan has never really liked swings, and this one was no exception. I was glad that Skyler loved it so much--that way Grandpa Walker didn't go to all that trouble hanging it for no reason!

Going for a wagon ride with Anderson
Mowing the lawn like Grandpa with my Aunt Cec

Hanging out with our good buddies while the kids play...it was so good to be home!

We decided to take some family pictures while we had the chance. It was a little bright--poor Ethan!
Ethan with Grandpa and Grandma Walker

Ethan with Grandma Bernard

We decide to have a little pool out since Ethan LOVES the water so much. Grandpa Walker even filled it with warm water! Judging from this picture, I would say Ethan was glad we decided to have a pool at his party!

Ethan was wayyyyy into it, Skyler not so much! (In his defense, it was his first time in a pool and it wasn't all that warm out!)

Opening a few presents...as you can see, he got sidetracked by the previous gift, so I had to "assist"!

Reading the book that Aunt Kelly got him
Time for some cake!

He really wasn't that into the party hat. He played with the string the whole time it was on his head.

Since his enthusiasm was lacking, I decided to try to motivate him into digging into the cake with a taste of the sweet frosting.

He still never really dove into the cake...I guess we can try again next year! It was fun to get to celebrate Ethan's birthday with his extended family and friends--even if it was a little late! Here's to a great second year!

A Day at the Aquarium

While my dad was still on vacation, we decided to make a day-trip up to Seattle to visit the aquarium.

Checking out the fish with Grandma and Grandpa

Touch and feel tank

Looking at the shore birds with Dad
Happy and slobbery

Time for a photo op by the otters

Playing around

The coral reef exhibit was, by far, Ethan's favorite part. I think he likes the bright colors.

After a busy day we headed out to sit in traffic. Ethan was in pretty good spirit considering how tired he was and being cooped up in the car for so long. We ended up meeting Kelly, Justin and Anderson for dinner at Dirty Dave's (one of my favorites). It was a great way to end the day.
It was nice to spend extra time with my mom and dad while he had vacation time. Ethan loved getting to spend time with his grandparents!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

We definitely wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather and enjoy some time outside while we were home...especially since Ethan LOVED being outside so much. My dad took his vacation time while we were there, so we decided to have a picnic at a local park one day.

I love this picture! Ethan was so excited about the playground, as you can obviously see here!

Found a steering wheel...Ethan loves to "drive"!
Enjoying the view from above

driving, driving, driving

Sliding with Dad
Trying out the climbing wall

Another steering wheel!

How is Grandpa doing that?
We got an unexpected visitor!

Picture with the Grandparents

My dad found this Barbie car at a garage sale and Ethan loves it! So of course, Grandpa brought it to the park for him!
Playing in the grass with Grandma and Grandpa

Getting a better view
We decided to make a trip out to Ocean Shores with Tristan's mom, even though the weather didn't pull through like it was supposed to. We stopped and got some KFC and figured we'd find someplace covered to eat...no such luck! So we happened to find a somewhat covered picnic table and got out during a lull in the rain. We were in such a hurry to eat before it started pouring that we didn't get any pics of us all together, but here's one of Ethan exploring the camp ground area. Thanks for the fun adventure, Grandma Bernard!
Overall it was a lot cooler than we were expecting while we were home visiting, but it actually felt nice to NEED a coat...sounds crazy, I know, but try living in this humidity and you'll understand! Thanks to both of our families for taking such good care of us and entertaining us while we were home!

Family and Friends

By far the highlight of any trip home is the time we get to spend with friends and family. The difficult part is that it's a delicate balancing act--trying to fit everyone in and trying to feel like we got good quality time with them. It's even more important and fun now that Ethan is older and most of our close friends have kids, too. One evening we stopped by to visit our friends, Rich and Allisha and their son, Skyler. I've known both Rich and Allisha longer than I've known Tristan and we spent a lot of time together while Tristan and I and Rich and Allisha were dating. It's fun to have kids close to the same age and to get to spend time together.

Enjoying his accomplishment of making it to the top of the hill
After being tickled by Tristan all evening, the boys decided to gang up on Tristan and get him back!!

Skyler was so sweet! He kept giving Ethan hugs, which as you can see, Ethan didn't really know how to react to it. It was fun to watch him play with his older friends and see what we can look forward to as he grows up!

Ethan LOVED rolling down the hill with his dad!
Watching the airplanes

Rich showing us how to play baby polo...I know you can't really tell in this picture, but Skyler was CRACKING up. I promise you, he was not being tortured!

Have I mentioned yet how very much we appreciated having a house to stay at with lots of space and great baby stuff? Thanks again Tom and Julie!!! It was nice that sometimes we could ask people to come to us instead of traveling to see them! Ethan loved being outside, especially with his Grandpa Walker!

Grandma Bernard had a birthday present she had saved for Ethan to open and play with while we were there visiting. He seemed like he would have been content with just the ribbon! Too bad it was attached!
Starting to figure out this unwrapping thing...

Trying out his new ride with Grandma

He's not having fun at all... ;)
Checking out all the bells and whistles

Playing with Aunt Tennille
This is Tristan...well, being Tristan! I love seeing him around his family because he is usually at his finest. Although I can't blame him for this--Desiree's peach cobbler was super yummy!
We cherished every minute that we had to spend with our family and friends while we were home in Washington. It was fun to see Ethan interact with those we love and miss so dearly. Another visit to see all of the special people in Washington can't come soon enough!