Tacoma Splash Park

Rich and Allisha have been talking about these awesome splash parks up in Tacoma and I had really been wanting to go to one.  One weekend while Tristan was gone I tagged along when they headed up to one and I'm so glad we did!  It was a great little park and the kids had a great time!

A picture of the water features

All the boys "getting their feet wet"

Carter loved watching the water pour out of this one.

Ethan having SO much fun

The other great thing was that there was a perfect little kid playground there as well.  Carter was more drawn to that than the water park!

Carter and Dylan

Wheeee!

Climbing the stairs

Allisha was Ethan's favorite playmate.  He loved it when she would swing him through the water.

Trying out the water gun

Carter crawling over the bridge

There was also a bigger kid playground on the other side, but we never played over there.  In the background you can also see part of the field.  It's actually a huge, grass field with lots of space to run and play.  This park had a little bit of everything!

That's Ethan in the orange and that little girl next to him was his little friend he made.  He always ends up making random friends when we go places--it's really cute.  She was quite a bit older than him, but they followed each other around and talked and played for quite a while!

Apparently this is one of several parks like this in the Tacoma area.  We will definitely be exploring more of them next summer!

Puyallup Fair--2012

I always enjoy going to the Puyallup Fair, if for no other reason, the yummy scones!  But this year I didn't even get them!  The lines were just too long and the kids were just too antsy.  So at least I also love going to see the animals.  Ethan always loves to see animals, too, so we headed to see the piglets first.  These sweet babies had been born the night before I took this picture.  They were so cute!  We decided to skip the line for the petting zoo this year and go do some of the other things we had on our list this year.  We stopped and had a little picnic and then were able to meet up with Tristan's mom and sister for the second half of our day!

 Ethan was finally big enough to go on rides this year.  We let him choose 3 rides.  He chose these airplanes first.

 Once the ride started he was cracking us up.  He kept sticking his tongue out like this when he was shooting his gun!

 The other funny thing he did was that he kept ducking.  Every time he came around so I could get a picture of him he would duck.  Tristan thinks he kept thinking he was going to hit his head on the canopy bar that you can't see in this picture.  But the point is, I had a hard time getting good pictures of him because he kept ducking!

 He chose the boats next.  I love how into it he is...I mean he was cranking that steering wheel!

 He also kept looking at the ground going by underneath him.

 His last ride was this car ride.  We were starting to sweat a little because this was his first choice but they were taking a long time to open it up.  No one could tell us when it would start, but finally it opened and he was able to go on it!

 They paired them up with random people if they didn't already have a partner, so I don't know who he's riding with.  He had a really good time driving that car!

 Happy (tired) boy with his daddy.

 Carter spent most of his time lounging in the shade.  By this point everyone was a little pooped out!

 Bass Pro had a trout fishing station, so Ethan was able to go catch his first fish!

After fishing, we said our goodbyes and headed home.  Tristan had to leave early the next day so we didn't stay as long as we normally would have.  But we were glad to go for a little bit and have some fun at the fair!

Welcome, September!!

On one hand, I can't believe that summer is over.  On the other hand, I look back and think of all the fun we had as a family and all of the fun things we were able to do and realize how much time has really passed!  Fortunately, September is like an extension of summer here in Washington so saying hello to September didn't have to mean saying goodbye to sunshine!

We love this new water feature and the new Hands on Children's Museum.  We met a group from church down there one afternoon to play for a bit.  Carter never really got into it this summer but I bet by next summer he will be loving it!

We went and had a BBQ with our dear friends, the Cramers at their beautiful home on the Puget Sound.  All the kiddos enjoyed the yummy BBQ food as much as we did!

 The sand box was still in full-swing as September rolled in.  They just got so DIRTY every time they were out there...Carter especially.

 Hard at work

 Yummy!

 Our friends, the Knightons, from Louisiana recently moved to the Seattle area.  We had a Labor Day BBQ here at our house.  It was fun to catch up with them and the kids all played so well together.  Ethan was being silly in, go figure, the sandbox!

 Serious face

 Carter was N-A-S-T-Y this day...not only does he have the normal sand mess all over him, but he had spilled a whole cup of apple juice down his shirt.  Boys!

 Playing in the September sun

 Happy, dirty boy!

 I went to check on the boys and found them both on Ethan's bed quietly looking through books...any mom of boys knows that this RARE occasion deserved a picture!

We had a great time catching up with the Knightons and enjoying the September sunshine.

Bubble Wrap and Big Boys

It's amazing how simple entertainment can be for toddlers!  We had some of that bubble wrap with the really large bubbles left over from Ethan's birthday present and we decided to spread it out and have at it one day!  Ethan thought it was the best thing ever.

 Tristan getting in on the action!

 Our boys are getting so big!  It was finally time to move Carter out of the infant carrier and into a convertible car seat.  Ironically, he was more interested in Ethan's new seat than his own new seat.

 Ethan seemed to remain loyal to his old seat!  Eventually we got both boys into their own new seats and the rest is history!

 We took the boys over to the Regional Athletic Center to play and let Ethan ride his bike one sunny afternoon.  He did really well, but was really uncertain about how to stop still.  Maybe by next summer he'll have it down!

 Watching those feet pedal, pedal, pedal!

 Me and my big boys!

It seems like our mile stones are getting closer and closer together these days...they are getting so big so fast.  I love all the fun our boys bring into our family.

Uncle Kelsey's Birthday

The day after my birthday we headed up to Manchester State Park to celebrate Tristan's brother, Kelsey's, birthday.  We arrived there ahead of everyone else and took some time to scout out a good gathering place and enjoy the scenery.  

Ethan liked watching the ferry go back and forth.

 The boys played in the sand in the volleyball pit for a bit.

 Trying to figure out how this shovel-thing works!

 When the rest of the family arrived we broke out the trackball!  Ethan had fun trying to catch the ball and had some help throwing it from Uncle Kelsey.

 Tristan, Kelsey and Ethan playing trackball

 Our little picnic shelter had inside and outside seating, so we could stay nice and cool on the beautiful, hot day!

 Eventually we got Carter to go down for a nap and laid him on a blanket in the shade.

 Cake time--seriously, the BEST carrot cake I've ever had!  Nicole did an amazing job making it.  I love how excited Ethan is over the cake--and don't think that he accidentally ended up next to the cake.  He beelined straight for it when he saw it come out!

 Birthday boy!

It was such a pretty day and it was fun to get together with most of Tristan's family--it can be hard to get us all together at once!  We had a blast celebrating Uncle Kelsey's birthday!