Happy 8th Birthday Logan!

This weekend was nothing less than relaxing. It is very rare for us to have hardly anything on the calendar during any given weekend. And when the one thing that WAS on the calendar was an 8th birthday party for Steve's cousins son, Logan... then life is good.

The party was "Pirate" themed, and cousin Debbie went all out. Check out this amazing cake!


Here's Molly taking a swing at the pinata. Let's just say that I don't think that baseball is going to be her sport.


And of course, the pirate theme was complete with a lot of playing in the pool.


And of course the birthday boy had to be thrown into the pool for good measure!


Garrett and Paige enjoyed watching the party guests, but didn't wander too far from my side the whole time. I think they get a little overwhelmed by large groups. That's alright.... it just meant more cuddles for me!

The latest stats...

Here's our family picture from our Canada trip! There's not a whole lot going on around here. I've been trying to keep the days filled and I'm desperately looking forward to school starting so we can get into our fall routine. The excitement this week came with Garrett and Paige's 18-month check-up. It's always difficult hauling all three kids to the doctor's office, but this visit was compounded by the fact that all three got immunizations... 3 for Molly and 4 for each baby. It was not an easy feat with three screaming kids, but we got through it.

Garrett is officially 28 lbs 3 oz (77%) which is two pounds more than his 12-month appointment. He also grew 1.25" in six months and now measures 2' 9.5" (79%). Paige on the other hand actually LOST weight in 6 months and is now 25 pounds (58%). She also only gained 0.5" in height and is 2' 7" tall (25%)... 2.5" shorter than Garrett. Paige also went from being in the 90th-percentile for height, to the 25th-percentile which is interesting. Maybe she'll end up inheriting some "short genes" after all. They're definitely starting to look less and less like twins as Garrett is 2.5" taller than Paige and quite a bit leaner looking.

Garrett is also blowing us away with his verbal skills. He's stringing words together already, saying things like "where Daddy go?" and "bye bye Daddy!". Paige on the other hand seems to be a late talker, much like Molly was. So we may end up in speech therapy with her too. But one thing about Paige, she definitely knows how to make her needs known. She also has ALL of her teeth now except her 2-year molars, whereas Garrett is 5 teeth behind her.

They're also starting to interact with each other more. Sometimes it's really sweet when they try to comfort each other when crying, or share their snack with the other. But a lot of the time it's brawling over toys. They both ADORE Molly, and will do anything she wants. A couple of days ago they were giggling in the other room, and when I walked in Garrett and Paige were lying next to each other, and Molly was taking turns sucking out their noses with the suction bulb. They seemed to think that was hilarious! I'm really happy that they all enjoy one another!

In search for the perfect picture...

Being a photographer, I'm always in search of the perfect picture of my kids. So I took them out today for 5 minutes, knowing that's how long they would last. And I was right... almost to the minute. Anyway, I wanted a red backdrop because this picture is going in my "red couch room". Which one do you like better?


And here's one of Molly... just because she's so stinking cute...

Canada Trip: Part 7 (The final days)

Our final days up in Canada were very relaxing. Steve and I even got some time away from the kids. Molly got to spend a special afternoon in Victoria with her two aunties and cousin Maya. They took a harbor shuttle out for fish and chips and then visited the Bug Zoo. And of course Molly LOVED the Bug Zoo and embraced the opportunity to hold every bug she could.


Steve and I even got a date night when my mom and sisters took care of all three kids for an evening. We went for a nice dinner on the harbor in Victoria and then walked around and enjoyed all the street performers. I only got one decent picture though because my battery died on my camera.


My sister Trish also enjoyed a special day on vacation when she won over $6000 in the lottery. The picture of her says it all!


We also spent some more time relaxing at the beach.


And we spent some more time relaxing at my parents' house.


And then it was back in the van and time to endure the long road trip home... about 1000 miles each way (2000 miles total). We stopped for a short stop in Portland and mini-visit with Christie's family, but couldn't spend too much time with them because poor Christie had whooping cough! But I must say that the kids exceeded our expectations in the van and did such a great job on the road. Molly spent most of her time playing quietly in the back seat. Garrett spent most of his time talking to anyone who would listen. And Paige... well, Paige was usually comatose.


As we crossed south over the California state line, we laughed as we watched the temperature climb outside. The daily highs at my parents' house were around 78F. And as we came down into the Sacramento Valley at 9:00 at night the temperature was around 90F. But we were greeted with a beautiful view of Mount Shasta.

Canada Trip: Part 6 (Aquarium)

Alrighty... it's taken me a bit to get back to sifting through all the pictures from our vacation. This post is about our trip to the aquarium. It was the only day that our ENTIRE family got to hang out together because my Dad had to work a lot when we were there. We decided to take a trip to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Center. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and the kids had so much fun enjoying the exhibits... particularly the touch pools.


After our time at the aquarium, we went out to lunch and then took a wonderful stroll along the ocean. It really made me miss living on the coast. There's nothing like Vancouver Island on a warm sunny day.


And I loved this picture because it shows you that I come by the "photography bug" honestly. I love how everyone is sporting camera gear!