Cousin’s Dinner
For Christmas in 2010 Cora hosted a Cousins Dinner as her gift to all of us. We all went up to Bellingham and ate dinner and played games afterwards, a delightful night for all. This year I hosted the 2nd Annual Cousins dinner in February.
I wanted us all to feel like we were eating like queens and kings so I set up an art station for everybody to make their own crown when the arrived. I also had a bunch of Maggie’s stickers available, which everybody took advantage of. Morgan was the only non-cousin until Barry showed up later, he had gone to help celebrate his grandpa’s birthday.
Phil did “Baby Magic” for Maggie, which I really can’t describe, except to say that it was odd. Of course Maggie loved it and has since insisted on having Phil do more when she sees him. I served a multi-layer cake from the Momofuku cookbook that Phil and Geneieve got me, it was a true labor of live. I can’t wait to make another one because it was so involved and rewarding, not to mention super tasty.
Happy Saturday to you.
family
Boomerang Part One
Before last week happened we had happily been like a boomerang going from day trippin’ outings with friends to back home again. This weekend and today we’ve stayed extremely close to home. Today I sat down to look at the images from some of our latest antics….
Lara & Marc got some new chicks and we jumped at the chance to join Cole & Caroline to see them. Maggie was delighted and wasn’t the least bit scared to touch the little birds. I, on the other hand, was a bit skittish.
Being in a ‘playgroup’ with Lara, Nicole, Krista & Erin is so easy. It isn’t quite convenient with all of us spread out, but when we get together the kids have a ball and us girls do too. (But Marc, it is a play date….not a girls weekend.)
Back home, Maggie has finally figured out how to open our backdoor on her own (only if it ‘s unlocked, so don’t go worrying too much) and constantly is letting Sydney in and out. More often than not we’re also ‘invited’ outside with Maggie to stomp in the puddles, get into the gardener’s shed or balance on the wall.
We’ve gotten to a point where she can get her own boots on and will drag our (either my or Barry’s…sometimes both) shoes out of the closet too. We last about 30 minutes before she starts saying “Burrrr” and rubbing her arms. That doesn’t necessarily mean that she always wears shoes…or a coat, but we try. This and that don’t seem that far off.
Tomorrow we’re boomeranging up to A-Town to take some pictures of some friends and do some other business related things. Will you do your sun dance for us because we don’t like to take rainy pictures…
Hope your week holds some friend-filled adventures…
Caroline , family , friends , house , life , MMM , Thomas
To The Beach, We Say!
We’ve been going to the beach a few times a week lately – the bad weather and horrible rain got nothin’ on us and we’re determined to be there, even if we’re a bit freezing. Last week we saw a man wind surfing, so our tough-factor was bumped down a few notches after we watched him for a few minutes. But we’ve been balancing on logs and tossing rocks into the water, hard to imagine in a few months (more like 6 or 7) we’ll be sparing on sun screen and fighting crowds.
One of the highlights of the Edmonds beach area is that trains often come roaring around the corner and captivate our attention. The anticipation builds quickly as we hear the far-off whistle. Maggie is pretty dramatic about covering her ears and yelling “Loud” as it rumbles by. After we can no longer hear or see the locomotive, she promptly asks demands for another. It is one part adorable and one part bossy-pants.
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With a few hours of daylight left this weekend we pile into the car to find a good walk to do with both Maggie and Sydney. We ended up along the waterfront, an old standby that we never tire of, and watched the ferry come and go before ditching the backapack and Syd in the car (No dogs allowed, remember?) to frolic on the beach and wait for trains to come.
I now know why I was alway boiling hot when I was pregnant ~ it’s because Maggie NEVER gets cold. Ever. She is as warm blooded as they come and I’ll be the first to admit that I am ALWAYS cold. Always. At this point she doesn’t fight when we ask her to put coats and hats on, but know that day is coming. Whenever we go outside and the elements (read: freezing, snowing, pouring) are not uber enjoyable, she outlasts us, every single time.
Walking up and down the beach, throwing rocks and digging in the sand can now be moved to almost the top of Maggie’s Favorite Things list, the girl loves the beach and everything about it. I love that about her. I have visions of our sumer adventures already forming in my head….Jetty Island here we come!!
Before I get too far ahead of myself, fantasizing about tank tops and popsicles, I have no doubt that we’ll squeeze in plenty more impromptu trips to the beach just minutes away from our house. No need to pack the beach bag quite yet, a winter coat will do just fine.
I love her smile in this picture. Totally Maggie.
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