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!

Puyallup Fair (Part II) and a Trip to Tolmie State Park

So I thought I had finished posting about the Puyallup Fair, but apparently the pictures downloaded from the camera funny and there is more! After a quick lunch, we hit up the petting zoo. I was excited to see how Ethan did with free-roaming animals. It was a long line, but it moved pretty quickly. While we held the spot in line, Ethan checked out some of the other sights like the baby chicks!

Petting the goat while watching the other animals...he tried really hard to multi-task!

After all that time out at the Boyer's home on the other side of the fence, he FINALLY got to get up close and personal with a sheep! This one was named Oatmeal, and he was really hairy...he kind of had the sheep version of an afro. He was super soft and sweet!

Petting 5 week old bunnies
I brought a stroller with us to the fair, but Ethan really didn't want to be in it. He was much happier roaming free, which made me panic a little--the crowds were rather large and it was very busy. Fortunately he had Grandpa Walker as his shadow and Grandma Walker and Bernard as back up! He did great and LOVED everything that was going on around him!

Ethan was fascinated by the rides. He especially liked the kiddie roller coaster and loved watching it pass by over and over again. He was a little too short this year, but maybe next year!

Having fun at the fair! (This was before we waited in line for scones for 2 hours--and yes, they are THAT good!)

After the fair we decided to stop by Kelly and Justin's and give the boys some play time (and deliver some scones!). Anderson and Ethan had a great time playing with all of Anderson's fun toys. While we were home Ethan really discovered his love for riding on things. He loved this little car that Anderson had (he also really liked Maddy!).

Two little boys ready for bed!
Story time on the iPod Touch with Tristan

After a fun start to our second weekend in Washington by going to the fair, we continued the fun with a trip out to Tolmie State Park for Ethan's first trip to the beach. It wasn't as warm as we were hoping it would be while we were there, but we decided to bundle up and do it anyway! Grandma Bernard had all sorts of fun beach toys to take with us. He wasn't sure what to do with the shovel at first, but luckily Grandma Bernard showed him how to use it.

Checking out the rocks on the beach...he kept trying to put them in his mouth at the beginning.

Ethan was not a fan of walking barefoot on the beach, although, I don't really enjoy walking in my bare feet on seaweed either, so I don't blame him!

Learning about the beach from Dad

Tristan, Ethan, Aunt Desiree and Grandma Bernard relaxing on the beach

While the weather wasn't what we expected from Washington in September, it was still nice to be in cooler weather and get a chance to introduce Ethan to the great outdoors! We sure enjoyed the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.