This Week-ish

This week isn’t over yet but I’ll be out of town for the weekend to be 12 again and attend camp with some moms from one of our playgroups, leaving the kiddos overnight for the first time. So, to keep myself caught up on recording what we’ve been up to, here is a rundown of this week (-ish to include last weekend since I’m caught up until then):

Saturday

The day was pretty bland; we ran a few errands and kept things low-key since we had a birthday party to attend in the evening. One of Blaise’s little gal friends turned two and had a bash at My Gym (awesome place!). The kiddos had a blast, and after getting home past bedtime they were both fast asleep after baths, despite eating delicious sugary cake.

Sunday

Another low-key day. I knew this week was going to be busy with something planned every day so we took Sunday off in preparation. I don’t like to overdo it with the kiddos every day, and I want them to have days where nothing exciting goes on so they can still entertain themselves without a planned activity. We did make a quick trip to Redmond Town Center so I could exchange a pair of jeans (because I bought them too big, score! thanks, running). We made a pit stop at Starbucks for Brian and the kiddos had some milk. They just need Macbooks now to become Starbucks regulars.

Monday

The start of another sunny week, and we’re soaking it up as much as we can before the impending winter gloom arrives. We made plans with a former coworker of mine who has a super cute little guy two weeks younger than Laine. We met at Kelsey Creek Park where Blaise discovered the sandbox which occupied him for over a half hour, Laine was bothered by the sand on the wooden bench so she tried to clean it between stealing the bucket and shovel Blaise was using. After playing in the sand we checked out the animals then had lunch on the grass. I left with worn-out, tired kiddos. (Warning: Picture overload. I took too many sandbox pictures and couldn’t pick just one.)

Tuesday

I’ve known about Idylwood Park for forever but had yet to make it over there. I decided it was about time we check it out so I packed the kiddos in the van with a loaf of bread for duck feeding and we were on our way. It was a perfect time, we had the park to ourselves besides the weed-blower guy and the overly aggressive ducks. After swinging and sliding, we went to the ducks. Clearly, they are used to people feeding them because as soon as they saw us approaching the water they all flew within a few feet of us. I tossed some bread to them so the kiddos could get the concept, then handed them some bread. Laine wasn’t interested, she was more worried I would abandon her and leave her to be raised by ducks. Blaise was game, but he was too slow for the ducks. He was in the midst of tearing up the bread slice when the ducks decided he needed to speed things up and grabbed the bread out of his hands. He laughed, then lost interest. I finished feeding the gang (herd? … according to USGS a group of ducks is called a brace, flock (in flight), raft (on water) team, paddling (on water), badling … learn something new everyday), caught up to Blaise who was down by the water, saved Laine from the aggressive ducks who thought she might have food since I was out, and went to the water. Blaise loves to throw rocks in water. Laine likes to eat rocks. I like to skip rocks. We all spent time doing what we do with rocks then called it a day at the park.


We stopped by Target on the way home to get diapers after the closest call yet, we only had three left. I did my pay-it-forward move of the day in the parking lot. A young girl in her mid-20s came up to me and asked if I could help her out. She said she had just gotten off the streets and that it sounded weird but she was trying to raise money for food and rent so she could stay back on her feet. Lucky for her I only had 20s so I gave her one. She was very appreciative, I felt good about it (and still do even if her story wasn’t true though I think she was legit).

Wednesday

We’ve lived in Issaquah for over six years and have known about the fish hatchery since but had yet to check it out. I’m not really into fish—I don’t eat them or catch them—so I never really thought to make a trip to the hatchery until a friend suggested meeting there. I’m glad we went. It’s a really nice park-hatchery-museum-thing. Not only did we get to be outside, there’s a great view of the Issaquah Creek from a bridge where you can see all the salmon waiting to die spawning. There are also glass viewing areas where fish occasionally swim up to and there are fish breeding beds (technical term there) where you can see the next generations. Salmon live interesting lives, I’ve been reading up on them and it’s almost opera-esque.

After wearing the kiddos out in the morning, they napped well, then I took them for a run on the trail in the late afternoon. Best running partners ever!

Thursday

Back to Kelsey Creek we went. It was a sunny, warm, gorgeous day to be outside. We made plans to meet a friend and her two kiddos, also super close in age. It was their first time there so we walked around and checked out all the animals who were shy, staying close to the back of their yards. Except for the goats, they were super friendly. After checking in on the animals, the kiddos thought climbing the amphitheater seats was fantastic (see the two specs in the picture below). We finished our park visit with a snacky-lunch on the grassy area before leaving with tired kiddos.

Today, Friday

Blaise had his two-year well-child visit this morning. He’s 31 pounds and 32.5 inches, a little short coming from a tall family. Our doctor said he’s likely between growth spurts and will shoot up soon enough and called him sturdy. I’m not terribly worried since all the men on my side are over six feet, I’m tall, and Brian is just shy of six feet. And if he’s short, we’ll still love him anyway! They are now napping, Brian will be home soon, then I’m off to “camp” in a cabin for the weekend (I had to order a sleeping bag for this … we’re not campers, unless you count the one time I stayed in a three-star hotel in Hawaii. =) Talk about roughing it!).

More Pictures

As if there aren’t enough kiddo pictures above, here are a few more from this week:

They emptied the toy baskets then climbed in.

Blaise’s new way to sit on the couch. Weirdo.

Blaise likes to have “coffee” with us in the morning.

Toddler cage wrestling. Laine was laughing the whole time.

Post-nap Laine bedhead.