Bub-bles?

Every bath is exciting, but there is NOTHING like bubbles in the bathtub. We keep a bottle of bubbles in the bathroom for these very occasions. Check out Emily! Don't forget you have to pause the music in order to hear the video. Just scroll down and press pause on the music piece on the left hand side.

An Addendum to our Palm Springs Story....

Here is an awesome video of the giraffes Todd, Emily, Dave, Scott, & I saw at the Living Desert in Palm Springs last weekend. Check it out! Doesn't it look like we are in Africa!?!

Simply pause the music to hear the video

Happy Valentine's Day in Palm Springs, CA!!

For the long Valentine's Day weekend, Dave (Todd's dad for those that aren't aware) and Scott (Dave's awesome partner) flew us down to Palm Springs for a mini vacation! It was fabulous in every sense of the word! Saturday morning we left and headed to Sea-Tac airport. After getting thru security and having them test Emily's juice (right, like what would I have her drinking from that sippy cup anyway?!) we played in the airport play area and Emily waved and said "hi" to every kid in the joint. The plane trip down was not the greatest to say the least but it could have gone a lot worse. Emily colored, played stickers, ate snacks, anything we could do to keep her busy.

That night we had a lovely pot roast dinner with Dave and Scott at their resort home in Cathedral City. Emily went down for a much-not-wanted sleep for the night and Todd and I finally got to really relax. Scott lit the tiky torches and candles around the jacuzzi and we went out with a couple drinks and relaxed. The stars were out and it was soooooooooo romantic!

Sunday was an eventful day. We went nice and early to the Living Desert which is a huge zoo with fun creatures from Africa and other deserts. We saw giraffes, and zebras, and all kinds of goats and camels. It was amazing! And the weather was perfect for walking around. Emily had so much fun. She met lots of nice people there and ran around. She barely made it back into the car and she was fast asleep.

That afternoon we had some swim time in the jacuzzi and took Emily too. It was perfect because she could stand on the steps and swim around. She was very brave and jumped around and swam and kicked and played with all the pool toys. It was definitely the highlight of her day!

For dinner, we took Dave and Scott out for some Babes - which is the best barbeque food around! It was soooooooooo yummy. Emily's favorite part of the meal: Papa Dave's cherry from his fruity drink, and an order of pineapple juice with a straw!!!

Monday was the most relaxing day of the weekend. We had a pancake breakfast and went swimming again in the jacuzzi with Emily and played some games and had Scott's sister and her husband come visit.....AND ready for the best part? We all took naps!!! It had been raining all day - a lovely tropical rain - and it made for the best napping weather. So, that's what we did! That night we left Palm Springs and flew back to Seattle.....

We are definitely missing Dave and Scott, and Emily knows who her Papas are now. She took home a little souvenir from the pool - a "scuba steve" toy that we played with. She's been carrying it around ever since we got back. It's not a trip she'll soon forget, and nor will we. Thank you Dave and Scott for a fabulous vacation!!!

Off to Palm Springs

Our family of 3 is off to Palm Springs for Valentine's weekend to see Dave and Scott (and Rudy too) and soak up a little sun. We hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day and love to all our family and friends. Pictures and stories to come...........Off to Cali we go!!!

Girls Night!

Friday night was a night just for girls....and it was Emily's first time to go to one! Todd was still away on a business trip and was due to be home that night. But before he did, Kayse and Kate came over for some Chili Thai and the four of us hung out, had some good food and wine, and played some games. Emily had such a blast and warmed right up to Kayse. She was begging them both to sit on their laps and read books. Here's a couple pics of the fun night.

Annual Cabin Trip 2009

So, our annual cabin trip arrived (finally) and we went up to Ashford this past weekend for the best weekend in a long time!! Our group includes Kate, Pat, Stephanie, Justin, Doug, Franki, and our other Justin. Every year we reserve the biggest cabin at Mount Haven Resort in Ashford and we kick back and have a great time. This year Todd and I both took Friday off so we could spend some time with Emily. She spent the weekend with her grandma, and it was hard for me to let her go. After a day of running around with Emily, we hit the road and met up with Stephanie and Justin and carpooled up to the mountains. We were second to arrive. Kate, Pat and Justin had already arrived and started a warm fire. Franki and Doug arrived an hour later and we stayed up until 2am playing games and drinking, and just having a blast together. The cabin is really cool because it has one bedroom (we trade off each year) and a loft with 4 beds. It's great!

On Saturday we all woke up (barely) and had a slow breakfast and then headed to the higher mountains to find some fresh snow. Our cabin had gotten a ton of snow, but we wanted more and some big hills to go sledding. We found a great one! Todd brought his snow board and we all went down the hill quite a few times. Soup to warm our tummies, and for some there was whisky and coke (I could not even think about that venture!) After playing the snow and wearing ourselves out, we headed back to the cozy cabin to start a fire and play cards and prep for dinner. Each couple was in charge of a meal that weekend - which worked out great - and our single friend, Justin, was in charge of munchies. That night we played Guitar Hero on the Wii and more games but this time, bed was a little earlier....we were pooped!!!

Sunday we woke a little sad to be leaving. There is a book at the cabin and everyone who visits writes in it. It was our 3rd year and we had a blast. So we all puts our heads together and wrote a fun poem in the book and packed up and headed out. I so look forward to this trip every year. It's such a bonding experience for all of us, and it was really great for Todd and I to get a little getaway together. Same time, same place next year!!!

Left to right: Justin M, Me, Todd, Stephanie, Justin B, Kate, Pat, Franki, and Doug