Do Over

Since everyone was feeling better yesterday, we decided to do a "do over" of our Downtown Seattle trip (the one where Jeremiah got sick in the back seat and we ended up at the Elephant Car Wash, instead of the Pike Place Market!). So, after breakfast, a short story time, and the time it took six people to get dressed, we piled into two cars and were on our way!

Caught with a full mouth.

Poor babies, they get absolutely no privacy!

"Reading" one of Zoey's favorites, "Are You My Mother?"

Someone got a hold of the Chapstick...and was applying it, in a circular motion, to her tongue!  

Look at all those teeth (a few of which, undoubtedly, got Chapstick-ed, too)!

We made it to the Market! Hooray!

After hunting down parking spots, then hoofin' it up the hill to the Market's main entrance, then realizing that Zoey needed to be changed and the diaper bag contained ZERO diapers (Oops, my bad! I blaim Zoey for distracting me while I was packing up ;), we had to make a slight detour. Fortunately, just a few blocks away was the City Target (that's actually what it's called) and we were able to buy a small-ish pack of diapers, change Zoey, and then get back to our regularly scheduled program. Phew!

Love the view from the park across from the Market. 

You can see the water and ferry boats, The Great Wheel, Mount Rainier, both stadiums, and so much more. So beautiful. Oh, and our little family's not looking too bad, either!

Some of the random things you'll come across at the market: a large assortment of eggs (chicken, quail, ostrich...), and some rocking toys. Of course, we had to stop for a ride.

Oh, and the deliciously disgusting Gum Wall!!

This is only a very small portion of it; there is SO MUCH gum! Yuck.

Zoey was having a tough time sitting still inside Red Robin, so Michael brought her outside while we ordered our lunch.

He scored major Daddy points for snapping a few cute pics of our rowdy, but oh-so-sweet, girl :)

Overall, the trip was a success and our California friends had a great time!

This morning (7/16), we had to say goodbye to Tebria, Cedric, and Jeremiah. It's always bittersweet parting ways with out of town friends. Everyone knows that they're going to miss each other, but we're all also excited to return to our normal routines. They get to go sleep in their own cozy beds, reunite with their dog, see all of their other friends; and we get our bathrooms back, Zoey's the only one after her toys, etc. You get the point...

So, after dropping them off at the airport, it was back to business as usual. Zoey got dressed in her rainbow polka dot pants, which always bring a smile to my face, and we went about our day.

Fun In The (Extremely Hot) Sun!

Despite the fact that (after taking care of Jeremiah all yesterday afternoon) Tebria was sick all day today, we decided not to cancel the BBQ we had planned. Jeremiah was feeling much better, and Cedric was still up for mingling with everyone. I felt awful, knowing that one of our guests of honor (and my good friend) was upstairs in bed, but we were given the green light, and the show needed to go on. 

We had a blast this afternoon with the family and friends who were able to make it out. We blew up the kiddie pool, fired up the grill, and engaged in a little friendly competition over games of Lawn Pong and Keg Toss!

Too excited to wait for the water

It didn't matter how much or how little water we put in, Zoey was just thrilled to be in the pool :)

A friendly brother-sister showdown. (my mom and uncle)

(Lawn Pong= just like beer pong, but it's buckets of water and bouncy balls, instead of keg cups and ping pong balls. Oh, the things that college life taught us!)

Another bucket down! 

Happy as can be!

Sidewalk chalk!

I thought this was a great idea, but I started having doubts once we caught her coloring her shoes. Then, when we noticed that her lips, teeth, and tongue were blue (she took a bite), we called it quits!

She did not stop buzzing around the entire time! 

The Keg Toss!

Three kiddie pools (each worth a different amount of points), one mini keg, and a bunch of giddy adults! It was definitely fun hurling the keg and trying to rack up enough points to beat out the competition. (And it's not as easy as it seems, to land the keg in the pool!)

Before saying good-bye to her grandpa, Zoey manage to get a story out of him :)

We are so thankful for the time we got to spend with our loved ones today. Tebria was even able to make it downstairs for a brief visit! We don't let a little sickness hold us down for too long! ;)

Hawkins Vacay

The Hawkins family is here!!

My good friend, Tebria, is in town with her husband (Cedric) and son (Jeremiah), and they're staying with us for a few days! Tebria was able to visit us shortly after Zoey was born, but this is the first time Cedric and Jeremiah are meeting her. We have all been anxious for the kiddos to meet, and so far it's been going really well. ...Umm, pretty well... OK, it's just going "well". Let's leave it at that.  

"Umm, I'm trying to play with this barn. Can someone kindly remove this girl?" (7/11)

(Zoey is 15 months old and Jeremiah is 3 years old--sharing doesn't always come easy :)

Enjoying a few stories before starting our day (7/12)

Monkey trade??

Zoey wanted a minute to check out Jeremiah's monkey that he brought, but he wasn't very receptive to her Mr. Monkey (that's him on the floor!). See what I mean, about the sharing? :)

While Michael and Cedric enjoyed an afternoon at the go-karts raceway, Tebria and I took the kids for a walk, and then to a nearby park.

Before she slides down, she says "Byye-byyye!"

Look at that handsome boy! Such a sweetie.

Oh, and speaking of sweet...check out the chocolate covered strawberries the Hawkins had delivered to our house, as a "Thanks" for having them as our guests!

Obviously, no thanks were necessary, but I was more than happy to accept! Yum!

We all woke up pretty excited today because we had planned a trip to Downtown Seattle. We knew we wanted to see The Fremont Troll, The Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and a few other things along the way. Well, we only made it to one stop, before our whole afternoon came to a halt. More on that in a minute...

The kiddos, before breakfast

My little cheese ball!

So, once everyone was well-fed and dressed, we hopped in the car and headed downtown! Yay! Our first stop: The Fremont Troll!

This big guy, who actually does live under a bridge, is clutching a real Volkswagen Beetle car! 

Another fun fact: the street that runs uphill towards the troll, was renamed "Troll Avenue" in his honor! Pretty neat.

We look so small next to his giant hands!

After our visit with Mr. Troll (and about 30 true, slightly annoying, tourists), we piled back into the car and headed toward the Market. As we rolled down First Avenue, searching for a place to park, I heard Jeremiah's tiny voice say "I don't feel good". I then heard his parents ask him what was wrong, to which he again replied "I don't feel good". Before they could offer up any words of encouragement and assure him we were almost to our final destination, his little body gave up the fight and he vomited all over the back seat!! AHHHH! 

Oh, and I just realized that I forgot to mention that Mike was not traveling with us today (he had a work golf tournament). Everyone knows that I'm the "poop handler" and Mike is the "vomit handler"! O.M.G.! I immediately pulled the car over and frantically rolled down the windows as the stomach-churning smell wafted toward the front seat. As I tried to avoid looking at any actual vomit, I checked on Zoey to see if any had gotten on her. Fortunately, she was clean, but looked a bit shaken! 

As soon as the car had come to a stop, Cedric jumped out, grabbed Jeremiah, and whisked him off to a nearby retail store. Once I saw that Zoey was alright, I noticed we were conveniently parked in front of a hotel. I explained to the concierge that I was in need of many, many paper towels and a cup of water. He was super helpful and I was able to return to the car with supplies, within seconds. 

Ugh, I'm going to skip the yucky details of the clean-up process (which Tebria took the lead on, while I sat on the sideline like a wimp), and jump ahead to the Elephant Car Wash. Fortunately, (Thank you, Lord!) there was a car wash a few miles away from us, and they were able to shampoo the portion of the backseat and floor that was soiled. In less than 30 minutes, we were back on the road (headed home!), and the smell of vomit was replaced with the sickeningly sweet, yet refreshing, scent of vanilla. Oy...what an afternoon!

When we got home, Jeremiah went down for a much needed nap while the rest of us ate lunch and tried to calm ourselves. Not only did I feel bad for J, but his parents had been through a lot as well. :( 

Leave it to Zoey to return the smiles to our faces.

She grabbed a book, brought it to Cedric, and happily sat on his lap while he read :)

(Wondering why his smile looks a bit smug?? Because it was! Poor Tebria has been trying to hold Zoey for the past few days, and Zoey won't let her! So, Cedric was definitely rubbing it in. Tisk, tisk!)

What A Hoot

Yesterday morning, I took Zoey to her very first casting!! A casting is basically like an audition, but in this case, they already knew they wanted to use Zoey and just had to make sure she would cooperate for the shoot...before they could actually cast her. The shoot is going to be Halloween themed, for Amazon.com. 

When we arrived, everyone was very welcoming and friendly. I could tell that every single one of them was used to working with children, and that immediately helped calm my nerves. After some quick introductions, they got right to business and showed me Zoey's wardrobe: an owl costume! My first thought was that it was adorable, but that it also had a lot of "parts" to it. I wasn't completely confident that she was going to wear the suit, the feet, and especially the hat, without a bit of fussing. As I changed Zoey into the outfit, one of the assistants came back and had some great interaction with her. By the time the costume was on, Zoey no longer seemed concerned about it. In fact, she actually wanted to put the "feet" on.

Next was the test shoot. We had the costume on her, but was she going to sit still in it...and smile?! When I put sat her down on her mark and began to walk backwards, she was not thrilled with the idea of me "leaving her". Fortunately, she stayed put and kept her eyes on me; I was standing right behind the photographer. She offered up a few smiles, and then a few squeals, and then a few "I don't hate this, but I certainly don't love it" type expressions. Any time we had to go in and fix the headpiece (because she kept messing with it), she didn't want me to "leave" without her. But again, she stayed on her mark, and finished strong!

I was so relieved the hear the producer and crew singing her praises once I had her back in my arms. They said that they probably had enough good shots to choose from, but that they wanted us to come back today (the actual shoot day), just to make sure they had what they needed! Phew! I knew that she had done well, but each time she frowned, I was worried that they weren't going to be understanding. I mean, come on, what toddler wants to sit/stand still in a strange costume, in the middle of a room full of strangers, with a camera snapping and lights flashing in their face?? But I was quickly reminded that these people were professions, and just kind people in general. 

(Bonus: The produce said that she could tell Zoey is a really good girl. She said it wasn't just because she did well with the lights and the cameras and all of that, but also that it was obvious to her that Zoey has a sweet spirit. She said that there's just something about her. 
When she said that to me, I didn't know if I wanted to smile or cry. Both would have been out of joy. I haven't been a mother for long, but I know that one of the best feelings in the world, is when a stranger can sense how wonderful your child is. For her to see what I see in Zoey, in such a short time, made me even more proud of Zoey than I already was. Parents love their kids to death, regardless of what others think, but it is so nice to hear things like that every now and again. :)

So, yay! Zoey got the job!!  Her first job...as a baby model...for which she will receive a paycheck!! (Her college fund will be happy to see an increase, outside of the few cents she "earns" each month just for having money in her account!) 

When we left the studio, we made a quick stop at a nearby Starbucks and I tried to snap a few celebratory pics with my girl...

Fail...

Fail...

Yes! Nailed it...

(If I can't get a smile out of her, I will almost always settle for a "Scrunchy Face"! It never gets old!)

Modeling is hard work! 

After a nap and some food, I had my goofy girl back :)

Today was photo shoot day! 

"Five more minutes, pleeease!"

"But I don't wanna get up and go to work!"

Dressed and ready to go. Enjoying a good book while waiting for me to get ready.

When we arrived at the studio, it's was game time!

They had added some padding to the suit, in order to give the chest a "puffed out" look!

We read a couple books and played with a few toys that we brought from home. Wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

Standing on her mark!

That lady in the picture with her was so sweet. She was making all kinds of silly noises and faces, and made sure that Zoey knew she was on her side.

She looks so tiny out there, all by herself!

I stood behind the photographer again today, and did some pretty embarrassing things in an effort to get Zoey to smile. Everyone got to hear my terrible singing voice, my ridiculous animal noises, and all of the jokes we tell at home about "stiiiiinky feet". Just like yesterday, we got a wide range of expressions, but overall, she did fantastic. She stayed put, stayed calm (for the most part), and made a room full of people fall in love with her :)

And that's a wrap!

I had to share this picture because she climbed into the car all by herself, grabbed my water, and took a sip! My baby is growing up! (And stealing things! Haha j/k)

Kandle Park

We had such a blast at Kandle Park today!! 

Zoey and I had actually been to this water park before, when she was months old, so I was really excited to go today because I knew it was going to be a totally different experience for her. Last time we were there, she watched her older cousin play in the big pool while she simply dipped her toes on the sideline. This year...she went all in!!

She used us for support when she needed to, but most of the time she was on her feet, taking full advantage of every ounce of freedom she was given!

She immediately fell in love with all of the overhead water features!

She got such a kick out of the dripping/tipping buckets.

The giant bucket was her absolute favorite. She would stand and point at it while she waited for it to tip.

The thing is massive! I was actually quite surprised that she wasn't more fearful of it.

It was so fun to watch her reaction each time the water came rushing at her! I'm sure she enjoyed it so much because she was safe in her daddy's arms :)

There she goes again!

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I got extremely anxious when Michael asked to take her into the wave pool, but he did a great job keeping a tight hold on her. Though nervous, I was able to keep a huge smile on my face (which wasn't hard because watching Zoey have fun brings me a ridiculous amount of joy!) and get great pictures and video of her bobbin' up and down :)

She's such a brave girl!

Splashing around under the fountains

There were a couple minutes where all she wanted to do was squat down and pop back up! Over and over again! She loved when the waves hit her back.

Checking out the small gurgling fountains

Enjoying some yummy grapes.

Right next to the water park, there is a playground with activities for kids of all ages. Zoey played her heart out on the slides, swings, and bridges!  

Wrong way, Missy!

Introducing: The AeroGlider!

I had never seen one of these before. You can pile people in on both sides, and everyone rocks back and forth to make the whole thing slide back and forth. Kind of like the Teacup ride, but back and forth, instead of round and round...? It's a lot less fun than the Teacup ride though.