Leavenworth 2012

We went to Leavenworth for the 4th year in a row last month and seriously cannot get enough of the place. Fair enough to say that there are too many restaurants in the place that I don't think we'll ever get to them all for at least another couple of years. I'm thinking with our expertise in the Leavenworth department will continue forward for years to come, provided we come up with a plan to keep the fam in line. For the first time we actually took pictures so this might be a WHOLE BUNCH POSTS! The good thing is that you get to benefit from my witty banter about pictures and we'll all be better people because of it!

For the first time on our trek over the mountains, we stopped at Lake Wenatchee. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous and since it was early spring there was still snow on the ground. V was all over the snow too. It's funny when you've probably never seen snow without rain how much you love the idea. I'm positive it only happens twice a year in the ole Puget Sound area. Here are some pictures from the sweet weather and wild frolicking in sunny Eastern Washington:

Tranquil, serene and not at work... vacation rocks.

I actually got a shot of the moment the rock hit the water.

V: This snow is COLD! How am I supposed to play with this stuff?

V: Dad = The ultimate in warmth and comfort.

V: Let go Mom! I can totally do this by myself!

V: I did it! See mom? Now back up 10 feet so I can do a backflip off this log.

V's Second Birthday Bash

So it wasn't your normal birthday celebration but we did get some killer Ice Cream Sundaes and some quality in-law time. V was pretty sugared up after the event but we survived nonetheless. Steve the House Plant, on the other hand, did not survive the party. After a raging game of "Throw the balloon upstairs near the house plant" April's exquisite derriere failed to notice the plant behind her and thus, Steve the House Plant is no more. It's good to have these moments because then you're able to teach your children about the cycle of life and the value of a strong carpet cleaner.

The party itself was a raging success with "V Language Trivia" and "Guess how many decibels the mother-in-law reaches when she's excited." Twas fun for all. Here's a trivia for you when V says "noodle" it means "yogurt." When she says "wapemoi" it means "trapezoid." We're still learning, faster than we think: Today April pulled up to a stop sign and V said "heyegon" which is Toddler for "Hexagon." That's progress! Who cares if it's an octagon, the kid is putting things together! Yeah, I know... I'm a dad. Sue me. Here are some awesome pics from V's Second Birthday Bash:

Uncle Ryan decided it was best to scare V with a puppet so she would open her presents and we could get to the ice cream.

English: Play-Doh. Toddler: Faydoh.

V: I thought I'd have to wait 'til I was 16 to drive! AWESOME!

  
V: The frog said there'd be ice cream... Where is it?

V: Aw yeah... Sour gummy worms are the perfect compliment.

An empty sundae bowl and Mamaw at her side, it's been a good birthday.

Easter: Small Human = More Fun

Here's the thing: When you have a 1 year old, Easter doesn't mean much to them. In fact, there's not much that they get excited about except food and food. This year with a two year old in tow, we had a great time teaching her about Easter. Though she still is struggling understanding the true meaning of Easter, she definitely understand egg hunting. We went down the road to the in-laws neighborhood and being excellent parents sent her around the neighborhood looking for eggs. They do a great job hiding eggs in various houses all over the place. So with basket in hand and determination in our hearts, we ventured forth into the unknown world of egg hunting:

After our calisthenics warmup, we pose for our adoring fans.

A basket full of eggs gives us the sweet dance of victory.

Her first egg hunt under her belt, it's time for a nap.

Then off to color eggs! V is a master of mulit-colored eggs.

If she messes up, she gives "The Sorry Face" and everything's OK.

On Easter morning, she gets her two favorite things: Veggietales and Jesus' resurrection. Happy Easter!

Hockey Rocks

So last month we went to a hockey game and got to have an amazing experience. Last month you say? Yeah I forgot about it until now because I'm too busy writing about kids and wives and blah blah blah. No this post isn't about the kid either. Ya know what? March is OUR month so BACK OFF! Can't we have one month without Kid pictures, especially since next month is her birthday and you'll get millions? Yeah, yeah... I know, you want V. Next month, I promise that you'll get tons of Kid pictures.

We walk into this minor league hockey game in Kent and 8 seconds after we get in, a guy comes up and asks if we want to be part of the intermission entertainment. After considering the safety and legal ramifications of such a crazy endeavor, we ask what we're going to do. He says "Ride tricycles." We decided that they were going to have to pay us first said "HECK YEAH!" So they give us instructions and we tell no one else in our group. So just before the first intermission we head down to the floor. They give us helmets, we sign damage waivers, meet our competition, get a run through of the course and then get lead out to the ice. The fans scream their delight as they've never seen two more attractive people grace the ice as we. Below is a frame by frame remake of the carnal thrashing that we laid upon the mortals that challenged us:

This guy asks me if I think we're going to win. I ask him "Is Jeremy sarcastic?" He agrees that we're going to win pretty soundly.

The picture is blurry because April is breaking the sound barrier.

She's smiling because she smells the Wing Dome buffalo wings we're going to win in approximately 2.74 minutes.

The bird kicks the cone out of my way. We're so fast that I have time to get off my trike, punch him out and I'm still ahead.

As I cross the finish line victoriously, April runs into my arms and kisses me maniacally. This is the typical response from her after I do anything insane.

As we accept our reward, the bird comes back for revenge. I won't show you the pictures but April totally Crane kicks him into next week.

The Dawn of a New Era

Tomorrow is the day. It is the day to which all women are measured. The pinnacle of life on this planet for the female gender. Yes friends, it's April's 29th Birthday! What does that mean? It means the beginning of the end! You will never know her age again unless you start keeping track of it. As your personal friend and informant, I am telling you this so that you will be able to give her a hard time in 10 years when it's the 10th anniversary of her 29th birthday. Then you can start making over the hill jokes ya'll! To commemorate the occasion, I give you some of her greatest hits from the first 29 years (or at least the last couple):

2007: We love each other!

2008: April like's showing off her booty to everyone.

2009: She's practicing dress-up for V in a couple years.

2010: There's our kids and we're just getting started.

2010: After kid, looking extremely white and enjoying the outdoors.

2011: April CAN get tanned and as she ages, keeps getting more beautiful.

Leap Year Day

So if you only get one chance every four years to post an entry on February 29th, ya better take advantage of it. So what does one write about on a day such as this? Well I know what YOU want me to write about: The Kid. Yeah I know. I'll write about the kid; but first, let me wax eloquent about something I feel very passionate about. Leap Year Day is the coolest day to be born ever. I always thought it would be really cool to be twenty and say that you're five. I've only ever known one person who was born on Feb. 29th and she was annoyed with it. Seriously, it would be the coolest. Let's just act like it's the coolest just and pretend like you're humoring me.

Anyway, today was V's first Leap Year Day and we had one of the best Daddy Days ever. We've taken the side of her crib off so that we can more easily access goodnight kisses among other things. This is also nice for when she wants to go to bed she just dives in. However, she now can exit the bed just as easily as entrance. This morning she met us in our bedroom at 6:30. Needless to say we were unprepared for this new venture. She's really a different child now because she's mobile. Ya'll know what I'm talking about if you have kids. It's da coolest and the worst at the exact same time. Yeah yeah, I'm getting sappy... Here's some pictures:

V: No spoon for Ben & Jerry's? Cue the sad face.

Dad: DAD TO THE RESCUE!!!

V: Sad face gets 'em every time! Ice Cream is DA COOLEST!

V: Is it OK that I'm wearing Daddy's shoes? What if I try walking in them?

V: That didn't work out so well...

V: I can't believe Mommy doesn't do this more often. Look at Daddy's face!

V: Aaaaaannnnnnd... Model pose! Yeah, that's nice!

Huge Snow Storn

I wanted to add several adjectives to that post title but if you were anywhere near here, you don't need adjectives to know what happened. Approximately three weeks ago we had the most devastating snow & ice storm Washington has ever had. The storm knocked out power to over 100,000 homes, some for almost a week. It crippled the transit systems, blocked people into their homes and threw trees across yards all over the region. No muy bueno.

At work, we threw away thousands of dollars of food. The worst part was that there was no way to salvage it: Normally if we lose power and the food is in danger of going out of temp, we can reduce the price quickly to sell it. However, if every single person in the city has no power, they aren't exactly going to come running to fill a freezer that's probably not going to keep their own food frozen. It was frustrating. Especially since we had limited supply of Duraflame laws, flashlights and D batteries. It's amazing that we probably sold more batteries in that week than we had in the previous six months.

Just so you know, it wasn't ALL bad. It was V's first snow as a "Cognitive Human." We weren't exactly sure what she would think about it because the first time she saw snow, she just played in the yellow snow sat there. Thankfully, she loved it and hear are the pictures to prove it:

Heavy snow people. What's that... Not heavy you say?

Look at this action Chump.

So we got bundled up and proceeded to get our "cute" on!

It's time to teach V how to create the perfect Snow Ball.

Now let's slide down the 4% incline in our front yard!

OK, it's cold and Daddy won't let you sled. Let's go back inside.