Getting Ready for Christmas

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas for the last month or so. Our tree is up and decorated. Our Christmas cards are made and sent out. We had our neighbors over for a brunch.
We made Christmas presents (more blog posts on those will be coming). And most of our presents are wrapped.
Now that most of that stuff is done I feel ready for Christmas and ready to reflect on the coming our Savior and the meaning of the Season.

Disneyland Day 3

On Saturday we were able to get into the park at 7am. And since it was my birthday we wanted to spend as much time at the park that we could. We took advantage of there not being very many people in the park by taking some pictures and walking onto rides. It was so nice to be in the park and have it not be crazy busy like it was on Friday.
When California Adventure opened we went over there to ride the new Toy Story Mania ride. It is such a fun ride. It is a lot like the Buzz Lightyear Astroblaster where each person has a gun type thing that they use to hit targets. Only the Toy Story one is in 4D and you get to wear some great glasses.
By then it was time for lunch. We went to the Wine Trattoria restaurant and shared a wonderful lunch. Then it was time to go shopping!
After some time in Bug's Land we went to the Blue Bayou for my birthday dinner. My family has a tradition of going to the Blue Bayou every time we go to Disneyland, but this was the first time we were able to sit next to the water. We had a nice dinner and time of celebrating.
After our dinner we went to Main Street to watch the Candlelight Processional. We were lucky to be at the park on the day they did the processional. It ended up being my favorite part of our whole trip. At first the choir members walked down Main Street signing sacred Christmas songs. Then when they got to the train station they formed into a living Christmas tree. Jon Voight was there to read the Christmas story from the Bible. It was amazing to see so many people hearing about our Savior's birth!
Overall it was a wonderful 30th birthday, and I don't think it could have been any better.

Disneyland Day 2

On our second day we woke up early so we could be in line before the park opened. Then we headed for some rides. First, we went on Finding Nemo subs. Andrew didn't seem too impressed.
After a morning of getting on as many rides we could, we headed to our character breakfast. I thought Andrew might be a little afraid of the characters, but he actually did pretty well. At first he ignored the characters and became engrossed in his breakfast. He was even taking his blueberries and placing them on top of his waffle. When Chip came over he was imitating Andrew, it was so cute. When Captain Hook came by we told Andrew he is a pirate, so Andrew did his sign for pirate. Capt. Hook thought that was pretty funny.
Then it was time to go to California Adventure for the Playhouse Disney show. Andrew had fun sitting next to Nana on the bench watching Mi mi. We rode some rides, then headed to the hotel for a nap. After we rested for a few hours we headed to Disneyland for the Jedi Training show and Toon Town. For dinner we met my parents at the Golden Horseshoe and watched the show while we ate. The rest of our evening was spent going on a few rides and then saving a spot for the Fantasmic show, only to have it canceled. It was a big bummer!

Disneyland Birthday Trip

Since Disney was doing the get in free on your birthday promotion I wanted to go to celebrate my 30th birthday. When we started planning the trip it was just going to be me, Micah and Andrew going for one day, and then it ended up being me, Micah, Andrew, Justin and my mom and dad and we all went for three days. It was a wonderful trip, and so much fun to see Andrew's reactions to everything.
For the first time we took the Disneyland Express bus instead of renting a car. It ended up working pretty well, and we didn't have to bring a car seat for Andrew which was nice. We got to the park around 1pm. And when we walked in we got to ride in one of the fire trucks. Then we walked through the castle to find Alice and the Mad Hatter. And Alice was the first character I got my picture with on my first trip to Disneyland. So it was fitting that she is also Andrew's first character. Then we took Andrew on some of the Fantasyland rides. We ended up running into my friend Starr, who we knew was going to be at Disneyland the same time we were. It was fun seeing her and her family there.
Later that night we met up with some family friends who live in Southern CA for ice cream sundaes. While we were eating them the castle was being lit for the night, so we went into the middle of Main Street to watch. After the castle was lit it snowed on us. Andrew loved the snow, it was priceless watching his reaction!
And a great way to end our first magical day was to spot Mickey and Minnie on our way out of the park. Before our trip I had Andrew watch a Disneyland sing along video and told him who the characters were. And right before we left whenever he saw a picture of Mickey he would say Mi mi, Mi mi. And when we were waiting in line to get our picture he kept repeating Mi mi, Mi mi. It was so cute!

So You Think You Can Dance

Last Saturday Micah and I got to go to the SYTYCD show that came to Everett. My hairdresser and I always talk about the show when I get my haircut, and she happened to have tickets to the show, but found out she couldn't go so she offered the tickets to us for FREE! We had such a great time watching all of our favorite dances from the show. The dancers are so amazing! It is one of my favorite TV shows, so it was fun to see the dances performed in person. And it was their last show on tour, so they threw in lots of silly things that weren't "planned".

It's Signing Time

Before we even had kids I knew I wanted to teach my babies sign language. I saw how it helped little ones communicate before they could talk, and thought it was a great idea. So when Andrew was just 6 months old we started teaching him some basic signs (all done and more). As he learned those we taught him more signs (thank you and please). And just recently we found some DVDs at the library that are wonderful! They are called Signing Time and have an adult and two kids teaching signs and doing songs with the signs. They are very well done, and Andrew LOVES them! Since we have started watching them he has really started doing lots of signs. It is so fun to see him communicate with us this way. He is starting to talk, too. Here is a list of the signs and words he knows (I may have forgotten some, but these are the ones I can think of).

Signs Andrew does:
All done
Please
Thank you
More
Airplane
Helicopter
Car
Bus
Shoes
Clean up
Water
Boat
Eat
Milk
Sign
Night-night
Light
Bye-bye

Words Andrew says:
Mama
Mommy
Dada
Ah Dun (all done)
Pane (plane)
Bo (boat)
Coter (helicopter)
Cah (car)
Buh (bus)
Shhhu (shoe)
Bubble
Cacker (cracker)
Ball
Nana
Papa
Kitty
Hello
Ha (hot)
Baa (bad)
Down
Oh Woah (oh wow)

Little Getaway

This last week Micah and I went to downtown Seattle to have a little getaway. It was our first time leaving Andrew overnight. We decided to stay at the Inn at the Market right at Pike Place Market. It was a wonderful hotel, and since it was a Thursday night and one of their suites was open they decided to upgrade us! It was soooo nice. We had a two floor suite with a view over the market and the Puget Sound. It was spectacular. After dropping our stuff in our room and checking it all out we headed to the Seattle Art Museum to see the new Michelangelo exhibit. Then we had dinner at a crepe restaurant in Pike Place. We had a strawberry and nutella crepe for dessert, oh so yummy!
The next morning we were lazy and ordered room service and laid in bed for as long as we could. It was so nice to wake up whenever we felt like it. And it was our first time having room service, so that was a fun experience. We had a crab omelet and a bagel and cream cheese.
It was such a nice, restful time for us to spend together. And Andrew had lots of fun staying with Nana and Papa. While we were gone Uncle Justin made a little house for him out of boxes, and he loved playing in it.

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween we dressed Andrew up as a cowboy. He wasn't too happy about wearing the hat and bandanna, so they didn't last for very long. We stayed home and passed out candy to trick or treaters and then we headed over to my mom and dad's house so they could see him all dressed up.

First Trip to McDonald's

This week I met one of my friends at McDonald's to chat while our kids played. It was Andrew's first time in a McDonald's. He didn't know what to think of the Playplace, but had fun running after the other kids. After playtime it was time for lunch, and Andrew got to experience his first Happy Meal. He enjoyed the apples the best, and only had a few bites of his cheeseburger. Going out for a Happy Meal is one of my favorite memories as a kid, and it is now fun to pass that along to Andrew.

Pumpkin Patch

On Tuesday my MOPS group had an outing to the pumpkin patch. It was Andrew's first year going. When we got to the Schotlz Farm the kids played on a big wood chip pile. Andrew really liked all the little cars. Then we went through the cute corn maze.
After that it was time for some lunch and then we went in search of some good pumpkins.

Laundry Basket Fun

Lately one of Andrew's favorite toys is the laundry basket. He loves to have us give him "rides" in it, and even whines when we are done. So after I refused to give him ANOTHER ride he decided to give kitty a ride. And Leo was nice enough to let Andrew pull him around. It is so fun to see Andrew and Leo play together.

Hawaii Day 6

In the morning we drove to Diamond Head to hike to the top. It was a warm day, and a good hike with LOTS of stairs. And poor Micah had to carry Andrew the whole way. But once we made it to the top we knew it was worth it. What an amazing view! The water is so crystal clear and blue. And while we were hiking we had more Japanese tourists who enjoyed taking pictures of Andrew, and even wanted to get in the picture with him. They were too cute! At one point we were almost to the end of the hike and Andrew had had enough of riding on Daddy's shoulders so he was reaching down to anyone who would grab him and put him down. So one Japanese lady reached up and took him. Then she had her husband take pictures. She thought it was so great that Andrew wanted her to hold him.
After all of our hard work we stopped for some shave ice to help us cool off. Then we headed to the Kailua Beach for some relaxing in the sun.

Hawaii Day 5

On Friday we headed to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling. On our way we stopped at Blowhole to watch the waves come up through the lava tube. It was an amazing site.
We weren't quite sure this was going to be the perfect day for snorkeling since the water was kind of choppy, but we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of us in our stylish snorkel gear. But we did snorkel around the bay and saw lots of fun fish. I am not a big fan of snorkeling. I just do not like the feeling, and I have to see something in order to forget that I am wearing the uncomfortable mask and have to breathe through my mouth. Once I am seeing fish I am okay. Micah was great and really helped me. But this wasn't my favorite snorkeling experience. For one thing we had to swim over the reef to see the fish, and I get nervous I am going to touch the reef, or an eel is going to come out, or ... And the water was choppy and the further we went out the scarier it was. But Micah, Bob and Patti all got to see sea turtles and swim with them for a bit.
In the evening we went to Waikiki to watch the sunset. We got there right when it was setting, but it wasn't nearly as beautiful as at Sunset Beach. While we were at Waikiki we walked around and looked at the shops and stopped for some ice cream. Then it was time to head home and get some rest.

Hawaii Day 4

On Thursday we started our day off by going to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. I was nervous about how Andrew would do, and it turns out I had reason to be nervous. He fell asleep on the drive over, and then woke up when we took him out of his car seat. This started him off being cranky. So when it was our turn to watch the video before going out to the memorial, he was not happy. Micah tried to keep him entertained while watching, but it wasn't working and Andrew started screaming. So Micah ended up missing the last half of the video. It was so not fun. It was hard to appreciate the memorial while we were trying to keep Andrew quiet and happy. But it is an amazing thing to see an entire battleship laying under the water and thinking of all the men who lost their lives that day fighting to maintain our freedom.

After Pearl Harbor we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
While we were there we took silly pictures, fed the fish and ate yummy pineapple whip ice cream cones. They were so good we were so focused on eating them before they melted that we didn't take a picture. :( But definitely one of the best ice cream cones I have ever had. Also, while we were there some Japanese tourists thought Andrew was the cutest thing and took video of him. We thought it was fun to have strangers want video of our adorable boy, but also a little weird.
We ended our day by going to Turtle Beach. Our guide book said that sometimes there are turtles just laying on the beach, and I was really hoping we would see some. But we didn't. It was still nice to lay in the sun and watch Andrew play in the sand. We also took a walk up the beach. Our guide book also said the Lost beach is just a little bit up from Turtle Beach. We thought we found the Lost beach, but we weren't sure.

Hawaii Day 3

On Wednesday Bob's sister, Valeri, offered to watch Andrew so we could do something that isn't kid-friendly. We thought about going kayaking, but decided against it since it would be in the sun all morning (and the sun is not Micah's favorite thing). Instead we went on a hike up to a waterfall. It was a beautiful hike, and reminded us of the TV show Lost. When we got to the waterfall we got into the pool, and took our time getting used to the cold temperature of the water. Then the boys went right to the waterfall to jump off it. After some convincing I eventually swam through the cold water over to the waterfall, but there is no way I was going to jump off of it.

After our hike we all ate lunch at home, got cleaned up and headed back out. We stopped for ice cold coconuts, mmmmm. Then drove to different beaches looking for sea turtles, but didn't find any. Then we Waimea Falls (where a couple of scenes from Lost were filmed). It was a nice walk up to the falls, there were beautiful flowers all along the way.
Then we were off to find some dinner, and then to Sunset Beach to watch, well the sunset. It was gorgeous, the best I have ever seen.

Hawaii Day 2

On our first full day in Hawaii we wanted to relax on the beach, so we drove to Kailua Beach. Andrew fell asleep in the car, and ended up sleeping for awhile on the beach. So we were able to do some swimming while Bob and Patti laid on the beach and kept an ear out for Andrew. Then we enjoyed some laying on the beach, and Micah tried to find some shade.
After Andrew woke up we changed him into his swimming gear and took him for a dip. He held on really tight to Micah, and was the most comfortable when both of us were holding on to him. He was too nervous to really enjoy it.
After the beach we got some shave ice. Oooohhh, so yummy! Much better than a snow cone. Once Andrew got a taste of it he wouldn't let us take more bites, he kept pulling it towards his mouth.
Then we headed back to the house to get cleaned up. Then we were off again. We went to the Pali Lookout and saw some amazing views, but it was REALLY windy so we didn't stay long. After that we went to the macadamia nut farm, then home for dinner. It was a full day.

Hawaii Day 1

We flew to Honolulu, Hawaii on September 28th. I was a little nervous about how Andrew would do on the plane, but he ended up doing really well. He only slept for about an hour, there was just too much new stuff for him to look at that he didn't want to sleep. Anytime he got cranky we pulled out Micah's pocket PC and played a Baby Einstein video we put on it. Andrew loved it, and would sit mesmerized. After our almost 6 hour flight we arrived at the airport where our friends Bob and Patti greeted us Hawaiian style with leis.Then they drove us to Waikiki Beach where we walked around, put our feet in the water, and stopped at a Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream to cool us down. The water in Hawaii is amazingly beautiful! I loved just watching the waves.

When we were done at Waikiki we drove to where Bob's parents live in Kailua, which was only about a half an hour away. We dropped our stuff off and changed into our bathing suits and headed to the beach. Kailua Beach is on the windward side of the island of Oahu, and it is very windy. So we didn't go swimming since we weren't too warm. Instead we just put our feet in. Andrew wasn't too sure what to think about the water. I think it made him nervous.

Feeding the Ducks

When I was growing up I loved going to the lake and feeding the ducks. I remember begging my mom if we could go. A couple of weeks ago we saw a little boy and his parents feeding ducks at a little pond and it reminded me that we should take Andrew. So, last week we walked down to the lake by our house, Lake Fenewick, and looked for some hungry ducks. We had to go all the way to the far end of the lake to find some ducks. At first there were only two ducks, but once the other ducks saw we had food there were ducks coming at us from all over. Andrew did enjoy seeing the ducks and was fascinated by them. I don't think he quite got the idea of feeding them. He liked feeding himself some of the bread, and he would toss in whole pieces to the ducks, but they would land right down in front of him. I am sure next year will he will enjoy it even more.

Eating with a Spoon

Recently I have let Andrew try to feed himself with a spoon. So far we have tried yogurt and cottage cheese. He was interested in playing with the spoon and the food more than eating it. And with the cottage cheese he ended up just picking it up with his fingers, it was faster and easier to get it into his mouth. But we will keep trying.

Hiking Little Mt. Si

Last week we decided to go hike Little Si. It is where we got engaged, and we thought it would be fun to go hike it with Andrew. We had fun reminiscing and taking pictures at the same spots we did over 7 years ago when Micah proposed. It rained on us when we were over half way up, and we decided to head back since we didn't want to get stuck in the rain. It gives us a good excuse to go climb it another day.

Cleaning Great Grandma's House

Last week we went to visit Great Grandma Galicic while Micah, my mom, dad and brother painted the outside of her house. It was fun to hang out with Grandma and let her see Andrew. Andrew had lots of fun finding things to play with. He especially liked this little dust buster. The things he likes to play with the most seem to be things he wants to figure out. He really wanted to get the latch open to see what was inside the dust buster. But he was content to vacuum her living room instead. Hmmm, maybe I should get one of those for our house.

Day at the Water park

On Wednesday we joined my Bible study group for some fun at the Renton water park. It was a beautiful day, and close to 90, so it was a perfect day to play in the water. Andrew wasn't too sure of the water at first, but once he realized that I would hold him the whole time he had fun. He especially liked the steering wheels they had that when you turned them they sprayed water out into the pool. He just liked turning the wheel, he didn't care that he was spraying water. This picture is of Andrew with Dillon, my friend Heather's son. Dillon is the one who has passed down clothes to Andrew, and we are soooo thankful!

Baby in a Basket

Recently Andrew has enjoyed taking all of his toys out the baskets, and sitting in them. It is so cute to watch. And then he starts putting the toys in the basket around himself. He is so funny!

Playing with Jack

Last week Andrew and I went over to Miss Lyndsay's to watch her boys for her. Andrew had lots of fun playing with toys he doesn't see everyday. The play kitchen was lots of fun to explore. It was fun to see him play next to Jack, and they even had some interaction.

Family Camp Days 2-3

The first morning of camping Andrew woke up at 5am, oh joy. So I got up with him and we just played in the tent for a little while and then went and got ready for the day. We ate breakfast and then got ready to go to a local water park. But...after we got all ready we found out they closed the park due to the risk of lightning. Oh well. Instead we put Andrew down for a nap, and we ended up napping too. Micah and I got a 2 hour nap in, and Andrew slept for 2 and a half hours! Then we had fun hanging out with family, playing games and snacking. And trying to stay dry and out of the rain. Thankfully it stopped raining when we started fixing dinner. After dinner we went over to the volleyball court, and we enjoyed our family tradition of playing volleyball while camping.
That night it rained, and rained, and rained. It rained for over 12 hours straight. When we woke up in the morning the blankets at the end of our bed were soaked. And I later found out Andrew's bag was on top of a puddle that was under our tent, so all his clothes and diapers were damp, and some were completely soaked. We decided we would be leaving that afternoon, unless it got sunny enough for everything to dry out.
After getting ready we helped my aunt and uncle make crepes for breakfast. Yummy! Then it was time for Andrew's nap. While he slept I packed up our stuff as much as I could. After lunch we packed up the car. Then we headed to the volleyball court so Micah could play a few games before we had to hit the road. It was another LONG drive home, but we had fun, and of course Andrew kept wanting to eat. :)

Family Camp 2009 Day 1

Every year we go camping with my mom's side of the family. This year we all headed to Eastern Oregon to Farewell Bend State Park. It is located in an area called Hell's Canyon. We were a little worried about the weather since it was unbearably hot in Seattle the week before camping (we reached a record 103). So needless to say, we weren't too thrilled to be going camping where we were expecting it to be hot. Well, it turns out we didn't need to worry about the sun. It ended up raining--a lot. More about that later.
But first, we left Wednesday morning and caravaned with my parents and brother. And thanks to Justin's iPhone we were able to have a nice picnic lunch at a winery in Yakima. It was wonderful to sip wine and eat lunch under walnut trees. And Andrew enjoyed finding a toy alligator someone left behind. Then we were back on the road. Did I mention that it is over a 7 hour drive from our house to Farewell Bend? I was nervous that Andrew would fuss for the last few hours of the trip. But he did really well, although he didn't sleep as much as we wanted (only 2 hours the whole day). We listened to a book on cd and snacked. Andrew either wanted to sleep or eat the entire time he was in the car. It was a good thing I brought snacks for him, and toys. Sometimes I tried to distract him with toys since I didn't want him to eat for hours on end.
We arrived at the campground around 6:30pm, and we saw big rain clouds in the distance. So we quickly set up our tents and unpacked. Thankfully it didn't rain while we were unpacking, it waited until we went to bed and rained most of the night.

Harvesting from the Garden

It has been so much fun watching our garden grow, and now we have been enjoying reaping the rewards of our labor. We have been able to eat fresh tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, sugar snap peas, lots of zucchini, marionberries, raspberries, blueberries, artichokes, carrots, and potatoes. It is amazing how much better they all taste straight from the garden!As this was our first year doing a garden we have been very happy with how it has gone, and we have learned what to do or not do next year. We definitely don't need 9 zucchini plants. We could have thinned out our lettuce, and planted only one row at a time with a week between plantings. No broccoli next year, it just didn't get big enough. We don't need 4 rows of carrots, but we need more rows of green beans and sugar snap peas. And our pea poles need to be taller. But we definitely like having a garden. It is so much fun to go out and get fresh produce. Andrew loves going to the garden and eating anything he can get his hands on.
Our garden is reaching the end of it's growing season, but we are still looking forward to our corn and butternut squash getting ready. And we have one little pumpkin, and it didn't even come up where we planted the pumpkins. But at least we will have one pumpkin for Andrew to "carve".

Playing with Cousins

Andrew played so well with his cousins Eden (age 4) and Violet (age 9 months). It is so nice that Andrew and Violet are only a few months apart. Andrew would even pat Violet's head when she was crying. So cute! He played very well by himself and with them while they were here. When it is just the two of us at home he wants me to be with him all the time. It was nice to have them around so that he had some other playmates.

Point Defiance Zoo

The day after we got back from camping was the one year anniversary of the day that Micah's uncle and cousin died in a plane crash. And it was our niece, Eden's birthday. Some of the family went to the crash site, and some of us went to the zoo. At the end of the day we all went back to our house to celebrate Eden's birthday.Andrew waves at the sharks.
I remember loving this big polar bear carpet thingy when I was a kid.
Family picture in front of the elephants.
In the aquarium they had all these costumes for kids to try on. We had to get a picture with the crab since Andrew had a crab on his shirt.
Aubrey and Sabrina (Micah's second cousins) pose in some of the costumes.
Uncle Luke joins the fun with Andrew.

Bathing Cousins

While Micah's family was here I wanted to have Andrew and Violet take a bath together. I have pictures of me and my cousins in the tub together when we were really young, so I thought it would be fun to do it with Andrew too. At first Andrew was a little scared and didn't want to get in the tub. I think it was because he is used to taking a bath alone, and not having another little baby in there with him. Violet loved it, and had fun splashing and eating the washcloth.

Alaska Airlines Picnic

The Saturday before Micah's family came out was the Alaska Airlines company picnic. It was at Remlinger Farms in Carnation, WA. Most of the activities were geared for elementary age kids, but they did have a little toddler play area. It was fun watching Micah and Andrew have fun with the little kiddie toys.

One Year Pictures

At the end of June we took Andrew to get his one year old pictures done. Yuen Lui was having a great deal, so we decided to go there since we have had great experiences with them in the past. One of the deals was if you spent a certain amount you got a disc with all of the digital images. So...we ended up buying enough to get that deal. I am excited to be able to keep all of the shots, and be able to have them for back-up.
Andrew was so cute when he was getting his pictures taken. He did a great job of looking at the camera and smiling. And when we set him next to the chair he was supposed to hold onto it, but instead he wanted to check out the sheet on the floor. I love how that shows his curious nature.

Dinner and a Haircut

On Thursday we left Walupt Lake and got back to our house around 4:30pm. We quickly took showers, washed cars and unpacked, and then headed over to my mom and dad's house for dinner. We had a wonderful meal and great conversation. After dinner some of them played volleyball while my mom and I took Andrew and Eden around the yard in the wagon. Then it was time for Andrew's first haircut. We asked Micah's dad if he would cut Andrew's hair since he cut Micah's hair when he was growing up.

Andrew's long locks
The first snips
Distracting Andrew
All Done!!!

I am amazed at how getting a haircut makes him look like a little boy, and not a baby.

Camping Trip Part 2

We only had one full day at Walupt Lake. While we were there we sat around the campfire, made s'mores, walked to the lake, talked with family and played games. It was a nice time of all being together, although we would have preferred that the mosquitoes weren't there. Most of us got LOTS of bites. Those mosquitoes were vicious.