Cooperation

Hey boys, sit back to back and look at me!

No, Ok. Zachary!

Hmmm. Hey Alex!

Don't eat Daddy's potatoes, he'll be sad.

Finally, someone is looking at me!

Before & After

Moments before his first haircut:

Still in shock after:

Settling into the new look:

Jump!

Some friends and co-workers of Phil's are moving, and they decided to have a party for their girls to say good-bye to friends. Although the boys don't attend the child development center, we were invited to join in the festivities at Pump It Up. It was a lot of fun for everyone, in fact, I think some of the jumpies were a bit advanced for the little ones. Alex had a great time jumping around and trying out the slides. Zachary seemed to prefer sitting on the edges and being bounced.

We wish the Reeds good luck in their new adventure!

Fair Time

We finally heard about the County Fair before it happened and were even in town during its run! Our big plan was to head out early and beat the heat. Out early? Check. Beat the heat? Um, not so much. Tons of sunscreen? Check! I have mostly been to state fairs, and was surprised by the small size of this fair. It was good though, we were able to spend some time checking out the animals before going to the petting zoo. They had some crazy animals in the petting zoo. There were the typical pigs and goats, but they threw in a deer, a llama, and a wallaby! So, in the last couple of weeks, Alex has ridden a camel and the boys have pet a wallaby. Crazy!
After a lunch break Alex rode a bunch of rides. He is so brave, just climbs up and sits there like a big boy. On the last ride, I was a bit concerned he was going to fall asleep! In between rides, the boys tried their hands at some carny games. Zachary was so excited to win a "medium" lamb. When the lady held it up for him, he stared at it for a couple of seconds and then lunged out to hug it tight! So cute. The last stop was a carousel ride for Zachary. He had the biggest smile on his face for the whole ride.
More photos!

Progress

Here's a look into Zachary's busy week...

I've been trying many different foods hoping to discover what Zachary likes. He has surprised me with some of his choices. Chicken tikka marsala, cheddar wurst, hummus and cucumber roll sushi, probably not your typical (pre)toddler favorites!



Alex has been really good about acknowledging that the new toys are Zachary's. You might hear him asking for a turn. Zachary is a great sharer too!

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Zachary is 1!

Zachary may only be one, but he had two parties. First, our friends Alene and Mark came down for dinner and angel food cake with strawberries. Zachary wore his crown and enjoyed/shared his balloons.
On his actual birthday, he helped me ice the "back-up" cake and applied the sprinkles. Later, Alex helped me put sprinkles on the official ice cream cone cakes. And then enjoyed a little bowl of frosting and sprinkles. Yeah, I know...the day was one big sugar rush.

Zachary and Alex had so much fun eating their cone cakes and getting messy!

What a wonderful birthday week!! Happy Birthday Sweat Pea!

Federal Way and Beyond

First, the link to the photos!

One of our first adventures was a trip to the Zoo. Zachary wore his Oakland Zoo hat, way to represent! We spent quite a bit of time watching the walruses do swim bys of the underwater viewing area.

Zachary really enjoyed watching the fish in the aquarium too. Let's see, we also saw some apes, a tiger, and elephants. The kids' area was really cool, if we lived near there, I would get a membership just to hang out in the play area. Alex's highlight of the day had to be his camel ride!

Alex had some other firsts this week too. G was much braver than me and let him do some finger painting. Alex made a few different pictures and then picked one for me to bring home. It is hanging on the fridge. Our first artwork! G set up a big boy bed for him too. Alex slept there for his naps and adjusted to it so well. Don't get ahead of us~I'm keeping him in the safety of his crib as long as I can!

The 4 of us journeyed to Seattle for a day. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of this adventure. Odd. Anyway, we met Alene and Mark for breakfast, drove to Golden Gardens (just a drive-by this time), a quick tour of Queen Anne, Pike Place Market, and the Coast Guard Pier.

Phil and I totally took advantage of having "babysitters" on call. We went out at night! (gasp) Nichole met us for a night with the Mariners. They lost, as usual, but it was fun and the views are amazing.
There was a lot of time spent driving the car in the driveway, blowing bubbles, playing with toys, cuddling and being adorable! Thank you G and Grandpa for all of the good memories!

Busy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!! Alex wanted to show Zachary the ropes at the parade, so we scheduled a later flight to Seattle in order to catch the festivities. We scoped out a different location to watch from this year. It was earlier in the parade, but more crowded. Since we had to leave before the end in order to catch the flight to Seattle, it was better to be closer to the start. We saw both local high school bands, the dancing Mexican horses, and some other random and crazy things. Alex scored a lollipop, so he was happy for the day.

We have grown weary of taxi companies not showing up as scheduled, and waiting for buses that don't come either, so we tried a new transportation option...a limo! No, seriously. Alex was amused and kept saying "Zach ride forward. Mom ride backward. Dad ride backward. I ride forward" and so on. They arrived right on time, were friendly, and provided a fun experience!

oh yeah

Did I fail to mention that 10 is the tin/aluminum anniversary?

Happy 10!

Today was Phil and my 10th anniversary! A bit unbelievable really.

Now, for those of you who have been following us will recall, last year at the big 9, I predicted a slightly more exciting anniversary celebration for this year. Well, here you have it! Drum roll please!!

After a morning of shopping at such exciting locales as Babies R Us and Old Navy, we had Chipotle for dinner. Yes, I know, it is almost too much to take in. But wait, there's more! Without the knowledge of our anniversary celebrating ways (obviously), this is truly how the wonderful folk at Chipotle labeled our to-go order: