Seattle & Summer

Well, I finally caught it! Not the flu, thank goodness, but that infectious excitement that comes along with summer! And, lucky for me, a little bit of excitement about moving to Seattle came with it :) Sweet!

The last few days I have been daydreaming about packing. My thoughts went a little like this: "This would go perfectly in a box of so and so items" or "This is in my way. I'd love to put it in a box." Yes, I'm actually looking forward to packing (and hopefully getting rid of a lot). I'm particularly excited to see Emma's reaction. I KNOW she will have endless hours of entertainment undoing all of my hard work by unpacking the boxes (after all, that's what she seems to enjoy doing on a daily basis). This will be motivation for me to move quickly and always have tape on hand. Bring it on!

It turns out our visit to Seattle over Memorial Weekend was a great way to calm my nerves a little bit about the move. I discovered a few things while we were there:

1. Seattle is just a city. Duh! I had built it up in my head as this terrifyingly huge place, when truthfully it is very similar to many other cities that I have lived close to (Denver and Dallas). I'm not looking forward to the traffic, or bringing my own bags to the grocery store, but I think all in all it will be an awesome experience. 
2. I still love on campus housing. I know, NERDY! But the family housing at UW had the same atmosphere of community, friendship, and fun that I have been missing so much from our BYU days. So, we are praying and crossing our fingers that we will get into family housing before fall quarter starts. Wish us luck!
3. Vacations ARE less fun with kids. I know, I'm eating my words about wanting to bring my kids along for every vacation. But boy, it was hard. How do you fit two naps and four meals into an already crammed packed vacation schedule (not to mention the lack of a high chair and crib as you're touring an entire city). Needless to say we didn't accomplish this very well, and Emma got her first serious cold as a result :( My poor baby! I think my mother-in-law now understands why I stress Emma's schedule so much. Emma is not a happy baby without it! Good thing we had a trial run vacation so we could learn our lesson before we take any big ones :)

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Sleeping beauty at the pier seafood restaurant :) She was so exhausted she wouldn't even eat. Poor thing!

What can I say?

On the ferry to Bainbridge Island :)

Sleeping on the ferry :)

Mariner's Game :) They lost, but after this game they pulled out of their losing streak finally! 

The Gum Wall at Pike's Market. Yuck!

Sleeping again at the Mariner's game...

Weird shrimp-like sculpture by the pier :) RUN!

Nate finished up finals last week, spent his three day break on a 15 mile hike and camp-out for the scouts, and started his RUOP internship on Monday. I know, crazy! He works 7am-5pm most days there, but lucky for me, he has Wednesdays and weekends off :) I'm so proud of Nate for working so hard and learning so much! He is doing all sorts of fun things at his internship (shots, extractions, etc.), so he should be very well prepared for next year :) He's definitely had a fun RIDE this year haha (the program he is in is called the RIDE program). Next year, he and his 7 RIDE buddies will join up with the rest of the UW dental students and hopefully get along. We are sooooo glad he joined the RIDE program! He really loved it and has learned so much more than he would have otherwise. 

RIDE Christmas party

End of the year group photo :)

Nate always keeps things interesting, even teeth :)

End of the year party :)

I am extremely proud of myself for being totally brave and independent while Nate was at the camp-out for two nights in a row! I didn't cry and I slept just fine. I must be growing up! Not to mention I kept it together despite Emma deciding to completely go crazy for a few days. She was spitting baby food, deliberately disobeying and being super cranky and destructive. We made it through though! Also, I've been reading a ton (fiction and non-fiction), working on a quiet book for Emma, working out, and even attempting to learn piano. I think I've been using all sides of my brain :) 

Awesome book I'm reading right now :)

Emma's typical destruction...

Hiding behind the rocking chair eating her night light.
She decided to drop and smash this same night light while Nate was gone haha :)

Homeless?

Emma "helping"

Tearing apart the fridge while Nate was gone. So naughty!

I finally got her to sit still be turning on "Tangled" in Spanish :)

She was engrossed :)

We've been attempting to enjoy the warm weather now that summer is rolling in :) We took Emma for her first swim in the pool and went fishing with the Stringhams. I've also been hiking a little with our ward's moms group. Fun fun fun! Hopefully more fun stuff is in store this summer :)

The girls enjoying the sunshine and snacks :)

The boys getting the boat ready for fishing :)

Nate studying and entertaining Lily while fishing lol :)
He passed his finals even with all the awesome distractions!

Watch the progression here: Emma squirms and complains.

Emma asks to go to me. 

Now she's happy. Haha this happens everyday!
I've got myself a major mama's girl!

Emma and daddy on the swing :)

She loved the swim suit, not so much the water lol  :) 

Her swim suit is a pineapple. It is so cute but hard to tell in the picture.

Mommy daughter hike :)

Many more adventures await! We're so excited for SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Oh, and I guess I forgot to mention, our little cutie is officially a walker! Watch out! All crazy has just broken loose! :)

-Kamie