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.

Storer Camping Trip Part 1

This week Micah's family has congregated in the Seattle area. We have had lots of fun while they have been here. We've been busy with going to BBQs, hanging out with my family, going to downtown Seattle, and going camping.
On Tuesday we left and headed to Mt. Rainier for lunch at Sunrise. It was a beautiful day. We had fun eating lunch and ice cream bars, then we tried to leave. But...there was a jack-knifed truck and trailer blocking the road down the mountain, and we were stuck at Sunrise for 2 hours. It was hard to try to keep Andrew, and the other young kids busy while we were stranded in the parking lot. Thankfully Micah's aunt Lynette rented an RV, so we had fun hanging out in there.
Once we were able to leave we traveled the 2 hours to Randal and then on to Walupt Lake. We quickly set up camp and cooked a late dinner. I was ready for bed after a long day. Andrew did pretty well, but he did get cranky in the car, thankfully I had some snacks to keep him busy. And he slept in the tent with us, so he thought that was fun, and wanted to explore before bed, but then he slept well.

Tour de Pierce

It has been awhile since we have been able to blog, but we are hoping to be posting more frequently. Here is a picture of Micah and our friend Bryan before they started out on the 30 mile Tour de Pierce bike ride. They did it last month, and started in Puyallup. Andrew and I came along and walked around with my good friend Melissa, Bryan's wife. We had a nice morning walk, and even stopped at a farmer's market while the guys were riding.