Washington part 1- Airplane & the Museum

Our flying day started early on a Wednesday morning. We had driven down to Concord to stay with family friends the night before our flight and our friend drove us to the airport and let us park our van there. When we got to the airport I couldn't believe how nervous I was! It was like it suddenly hit me that I was mom and these babies are flying with me. I was in charge. It wasn't until we got through security (which was a breeze) that I started to relax. I had them running all over the place before our flight which was perfect. Levi was passed out by the time where we moving on the runway he was gonzo.

making friends

keeping occupied

Walking on the first time!

SO excited!

 The great thing about Scott's work is that Addilyn has sat in airplane seats before, so that was one less scary thing for her. It was wonderful. She held my hand only for our first take off and landing and all our other flights she was a big girl and didn't need to.

Gonzo...

Her "kid" size headphones that didn't fit. My scarf came in handy for that. And actually, she only watched a movie for the last hour of our 5 hour flight. I thought we'd be utilizing all our movies but she was having a blast entertaining herself on the plane.

A big event on the first flight from Charlotte to Salt Lake was a woman who had a medical emergency. Long story short- the last hour portion of our flight the lady two rows in front of me had a seizure, went unconscious, needed oxygen and chest compressions because her blood pressure was almost non-exhistent. (I know these details because, hello, it was right in front of me). She aspirated a LOT of blood. They landed with her still lying in the isle and we parked and immediately EMT's were on board taking her off. I later found out that she had passed away. And honestly, it was probably while we were still in air.

Our second flight both of the kids were passed out while people were still boarding. It was AWESOME. Or so I thought... The pilot announced that our plane weighed too much so they had to remove fuel and it'd take about 15 minutes. After that time he came back on and said, "I just want to start by saying that it's not my fault..." He proceeded to tell us that this particular plane's fuel is in the center of the plane and cannot be done with anyone on board. Ok, remember my sleeping babies? Ya...I passed Levi to the lady who was sitting with me (she was heaven sent) and I held Addilyn. It was rough. It wasn't until we were boarding again I had the stewardess buckle Addi (by this point she was awake and I was holding Levi) and it was me trying to buckle myself that was when Levi woke up. We had an additional  2 hours of flight which was spent watching movies and playing with stickers.

an overcast Seattle

Driving through the city

It was a long, long day. We got into Seattle about 3pm and got to my mom's house about 5. The first thing we did was order Teriyaki. You seriously haven't had good teriyaki until you've gone to Washington. It totally hit the spot and I'm craving now....ugh

the view from my mom's room

dinnnnnerrrrr

One of the many highlights of our trip was hearing all of the "choo choo trains" that go by my mom's house. She lives up on a hill that overlooks downtown Stanwood, farm fields, an equestrian center, the Puget Sound, Camano Island and Whidbey Island, and a train track. We finally found out after some great debate that they have a total of 19 trains going by during the day. Four are passenger and fifteen are freight. Every time we heard a train it was a great event.

Getting ready with Grandma

 We were up at 4 am. FOUR IN THE MORNING. We were bored! There's not much to do in a small town on a drizzly morning. So luckily our good friend Pat was up so went to her house that morning and stayed until about 10:30am (because Levi was just about ready for his afternoon nap).

He really wanted to play with her

Pat Powell holding Levi

Small town...we hold flags to cross the road so people can see you

 Before we went home, we were trying to extend nap time as much as we could, we went to Wayne's Cafe. It's a new place that is in a building that has had a million different restaurants. They last for a couple years and then they die out or something like that. This place was GOOD! And it's seriously like 2 seconds from my mom's house and outside the window is the train.

One very exciting event was having Katrina and her husband and daughter make a trip from SLC. I last saw Katrina when we were moving from Idaho to North Carolina. Addilyn was only a few weeks old. And now Katrina has a baby! Well, she's about 2 months younger than Levi. But it was SO exciting to see them all again! And we did it at our friend Natasha and David Pehrson's house. They too have a sweet little newborn.

Natasha with Gretchen, Me & our two, Katrina with Lily (Class of 07!)

Another goody visiting my home for Addi besides the trains- the COWS and all farm animal life. She demanded to see cows when we left my mom's house for an outing and viola, we have cows a few feet from the road. Do you see their heads poking out of their stalls in the above pic? We did a lot of mooing during our trip.

my mom's view

Friday we spent the morning at the Everett Children's Museum with Katrina and her fam. Thanks to our awesome pass we have, it was free for my family and my mom! It's got a few of the same features the Children's Museum here in W-S has. But this one had some pretty cool highlights- like the rooftop playground. That was the coolest in my eyes. And I only uploaded one photo from the rooftop which was this cool dinosaur dig area. They also had this massive playground that had tunnels and crazy things.

digging for dino bones.

It was so neat to see Katrina- even if it was for such a short time. I'm so lucky that they were able to make the weekend trip. Yay!

Last month

My last few posts I've complained about how I'm slacking in my blogging. It might not seem like a big deal to many, but it is for me. It's the only way I can document my life so that I can remember this time. Yes, I have a gazzilion pictures. But they just sit in albums on my phone/computer without any story or dates to them. I like my photographed and documented life. And you, my readers/fans/groupies/forced-by-email-updates/loved ones, get to see it. Since I'm terrible at keeping up with anyone- you can keep up with me via my blog. And I'll continue reading your blog posts, facebook updates, tweets, instagrams....

Another free day at the Salem Gymnastics. Woo! Addilyn was running everywhere, so they're mostly blurry. She loved the running trampoline. Addi would jump, fall, complain, get back up, jump, fall, complain...She was a bit more wimpy this time around when she would fall. But she still had fun.

Levi enjoying the gym

This picture below was so funny. It was when Addi finally found Avery. We knew they were coming, and then when they found each other in this foam pit they tried so hard to swim to each other. It was so cute. 

With her BFF Avery.

The slide dumped into the foam pit.

Addi & Avery

Addilyn is so helpful (usually). When the dishes are all done, she gets really upset. So much so that I have to sit her down and tell her that it's okay and that there will be more dishes to do tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I have her help wipe the counters to get her mind off of wanting to do dishes. Did I mention she also sweeps the floors?

Addi still loves to hold Levi. She tries to pick him up now... eh.. But he is a good sport. I have to run over and grab his head before she drops him. Every so often if Addilyn is playing with him, he'll start wincing and screaming when she gets close. It's mostly because he's tired and she's been wacking him with something. 

The Dixie Classic Fair was in the beginning of October. Addi, Levi, and I went with a friend of mine and her two boys during the day. It was LAME!!!! I was so disappointed. Apparently there is a new law here in NC where we can't pet the animals. So they were all blocked off. They didn't even allow the public through where the show animals where being held just to make it easier for them to keep people from touching them. The picture above where Addi is petting a bunny was probably breaking the law. It was after a kids magic show and the guy let people come pet his bunny and chicken...What the heck. That's the best part of the fair is seeing all the animals and petting them. My life is ruined when it comes to fairs in NC. I'm moving. :) Stanwood-Camano Fair has never looked so good.

 

Addi, Carter, Landon

Pig races

Reading her morning magazine

Addilyn is such a character. One moment she's twirling and laughing, the next she's pretending she's upset and distraught. Life as a 2 year old can prove to be interesting. 

And again, we are geocaching. This one was really easy. We love doing it because we find out places of our town that we never knew about. We had been on the main trail many times before (it's our biking trail). However we never went up to the park that was just off of it. It was so beautiful. Especially with the leaves starting to change. 

a delicious dessert brought by our home teachers.

Sype date with Katrina and Lily

Above: I was able to chat with my best friend from high school. Oh her sweet girl is just so darling. I'm so glad that motherhood has been so great for her. Lily sounds like such an easy baby! Below: Addilyn taking care of Levi. His trusting eyes...

Addilyn putting Cabo's 'necklace' on.

Out to eat

Waiting for our car to get aligned.

 

This girl is too much. She loves her brother. Levi was getting upset being in his carseat while in Costco. So the only thing I could do to get him happy without holding him was to put him in the car next to Addi. I do love the double seat carts. Every store should have these.

Living on the east coast we have several breeds of trees. Most of which lose their leaves. We have TONS of leaves. And on beautiful days where chores inside can wait, we go out.

Enjoying the fall sunshine

At the library with dad. It was a rainy day and after the library we had a packed lunch in downtown. 

Post bath cutie.

Sitting up!

Just after Levi's 5 month mark he started sitting up. He's very wiggly still and it's hard to practice with his sister nearby. He does very well though. Addilyn still loves to pamper him with her toys and read to him.

Who's got two thumbs and some olives? This girl!