Camping with the little ones

We had a busy weekend (my weekend is Wed/Thurs/Fri) this week, it was the boys' first ever camping trip. Aaron couldn't come because he had to work, so we went with my sister and her son. The boys had so much fun! And Miles was such a trooper... he's a big time napper (minimum 4 hours per day) but he managed with only about 20 minutes per day on our trip. He really was a good little man.

And Matthew was so excited - so many new experiences! He got to ride on the ferry, sleep in a tent, experience his first campfire... he was so excited the entire time! I was a bit worried about him not being able to sleep but in the end he smooshed his sleeping bag in between Sandie and I, and he slept just fine.

To truly describe our trip would take more time than I have, and require more writing than anyone probably would care to read about it... so here is our trip in pictures:

Miles helping me get ready (I had to make sure we had a hat

that would fit that wonderfully large head of his)

The ferry ride out ... we camped at Fort Flagler State Park

Setting up camp, this is an old cot that I believe my Grandmama made... as it turned out, Miles was just too heavy for it. It made for a decent place for him to play but not so much to sleep in!

Matthew with his special lantern Sandie brought for him

Ah the highlight of our trip... Miles waking up at about 5 am the first morning and not being able to go back to sleep... he just wanted to play. I mean, the sun is up - why is everyone sleeping!?

We drove in to Port Townsend and went so a little place that

had touch tanks full of starfish and other things that kids could pet

Flying kites! That's Matthew's kite at the top of the picture - his kite flew so easily and he was able to get it up really high in the air

eating ice cream... it was so hot even Miles got to have a little ice cream to cool off

our second morning, Matthew enjoyed being all bundled up by the fire

packing up camp - Matthew made sure to help out by dancing on the picnic table for us

ferry ride back home... the boys had fun but they are sure starting to look tired...

I can't resist those blue eyes

aaaaand... crash. Almost as soon as we walked in the door Matthew completely crashed on the couch

removing the last vestiges of our trip... those boys were so dirty! But thanks to some soap and water they are back to their pasty white selves... I mean porcelain. We have porcelain skin. It sounds much nicer.

busy, busy!

I have about 5 things to post up... and I haven't had time to take any pictures! That's what happens when I have too many projects going at one time. I've been busy getting ready for Halloween... which means I'll have Matthew's costume to show (and my abhorrent sewing skills), and some cute Halloween goodies (assuming they come out right... I haven't finished making them yet!)... plus my bedroom makeover is coming along nicely! Slower than I'd like, but that's life. Updates on that soon, too! In the meantime, check out the cuteness that is the Matthew Man:

This is him in his hat for Halloween... and this is probably the only time I've actually gotten him to leave it on his head! Seriously, this kid has an issue with hats. Even as an infant he would scream if you tried to cover his head. What's up with that? I think he only wore it because it reminds him of Woody... so... I'll give you one guess as to what he's dressing up as!

So that's what we've been up to, I'll have lots of pictures soon! What are your Halloween plans?

a weekend away with the sisters

This weekend I had a much needed weekend away... I love Aaron and Matthew and everything, but sometimes I need a break from the mom/wife role! Well my sisters and I (minus one sister, who lives out of state) planned a weekend away together and my mother in law Kathy was nice enough to let us use her house are our retreat!

We went shopping, did pedicures, watched a girly movie (French Kiss - the best!), had junk food, and got all dressed up to go out to dinner... all the things I don't normally get to do with a husband and toddler in tow!

These are my sisters Sandie (left) and Windy (right), and that's me in the middle... this is us when we went geocaching. We very nearly found ONE cache... except it was in a rooftop garden that was only accessible during business hours. Lame! Oh well, we got distracted by lots of boutiques and quickly forgot about geocaching.

We had lots of fun... Kathy says we should do this every month! I think our families wouldn't be too happy with us. Neither would our bank accounts.

Anthony's in Gig Harbor... it was such a beautiful night!

On the phone saying goodnight to my little Matthew Man... this was the longest I've spent away from him... so hard! He is such a sweetheart! (The conversation consisted mostly of "mommy! buzz! mommy mommy, buzz!" ..."buzz" as in Buzz Lightyear... yes, he and I apparently rank close to the same, although I did hear more "mommy" than "buzz".)

We had lots of fun... definitely something we will have to do again! Maybe next time we can get Merry up here! We missed you Merry!

I made it home just before Matthew's nap time on Sunday... and came in the door to hear his sweet little voice saying "Mommy home! Mommy home! Mommy home!"
... I love that little guy, he sure knows how to make a mom feel loved!

...and apparently he also knows how to make a dad appreciate his wife a little bit more!
love you Aaron

french inspired flea market

This weekend I went to a great little french inspired flea market with my mother-in-law... I never get out to these things! My husband isn't exactly jumping at the bit to take me to stuff like this... so I wasn't planning on going at all until Kathy called saying she wanted to go! She always tries to make it when her favorite designer/blogger My Sweet Savannah is going to be out selling things!

We started out our morning with the breakfast of champions: gluten free

coconut cupcakes at this great little bakery called Sweet Cakes

Kathy picked one up for Melaine as well, since we were headed there first. A lot of you out there already know who Melaine is (not to be confused with Melanie - my name), and I got to meet her for the second time this Saturday... she is just too sweet!

It was Kathy that originally introduced me to her at a flea market last summer... before I'd ever even found her blog. Kathy is a big fan... my husband jokes that Melaine will think Kathy is stalking her, but really she just loves her style and that she lives close enough to come support her! 

Don't worry Kathy, she knows you are just a big fan!

And rightly so, her little booth... tent... whatever it's called... was so cute

Kathy picked up a tea towel and some blackbirds from her, and being so sweet (and knowing how poor I am) picked up one of Melaine's French pillows for me which says "joie de vivre"! No pictures of that just now, but it's now my first new addition to my bedroom which I'm only just getting started on (hopefully more to come soon about that!). It must be comfy though, because as soon as I got home my husband fell asleep with it on the couch. Not bad!

There were some other cute vendors, one was the woman behind Angel Heart Designs... her booth was so cute... she sculpts all kind of things: clocks, jars, plates, ...even some cute little cupcake night lights!

We picked something up here, but I won't be showing off off till the end of this week!

There were lots of great vendors, unfortunately I didn't get any other names, but I did get a few pictures:

I loved this mirror... love the shape, love the color!

Loved these pillows too!

  

 I thought this sign was really cute, something is hanging over

the end so you can't see it all but it says "good golly"

We also took a look inside Haley's Cottage - I believe they were the ones responsible for putting this whole thing on. Their store is amazing! I just want to decorate my house with everything in there! They had some clothes too... I wouldn't have thought to look for clothes there, but they had some truly gorgeous stuff! My favorite was this coat:

It is to die for cute... but it cost something like $170... so needless to say, I didn't get it.

I can dream though.

 When we were done, my two favorite boys came to meet up with us for lunch...

  

(Aaron is probably not happy with me posting this picture - it's kind of a weird angle

of him, but overall I think it's a cute picture! We honestly have so few pictures of all

three of us... we really should do something about that.)

Then we went to hang out down at the waterfront... it is so nice in downtown

Kirkland... and we live sooo close, why don't we come here more?

Matthew loved it, especially this statue of children running... he was

so sad when I finally prised him away from it

 On our way back to the car we came across a little boutique - really cute (of course I didn't get the name) and they had this couch there... ok the dog pillow in the middle is weirding me out a little bit, but the couch was to die for!

Such a good day! I'm sorry the summer is ending and there won't be much more of this kind of thing. Yes, here in lovely Seattle it is already time to pull out sweaters and raincoats... thankfully the weather was nice, but I think we have very few days like this left this year!

Anyway, thanks for a great day Kathy!