The zoo!...

Last week, we joined our good friends, Miriam and Jamie and their kiddos, for our first trip to the zoo this year.  We each have a toddler girl and a baby boy and all the kids are within a few weeks of each other!  It was an extremely successful day considering the odds with 6 kids. 

The girls had a great time and I'm excited for more trips to the zoo once the weather stays consistently warm...if that's possible ;)

Build a Bear...

A good friend gave me the idea to take the week before our due date and plan some good quality one on one time with Maya before baby arrives.  She suggested a fun 'Mommy and Me' outing to the Build a Bear store in the mall.  

I assumed Maya would love picking out a bear and enjoy all the "fun" in the different steps to put it together...seems like a reasonable assumption.  Boy, was I wrong!  I think little miss might be a little young for the Build a Bear concept...or she just wasn't in the mood.  

She was completely disinterested and at times hesitant about the entire experience.  She didn't want to pick out or even hold any of the bears, she didn't like (or as Maya says, "I don't like it") the sound options, she was frightened by the machine used to stuff them and could care less about all the clothes and accessories.  The only part she was marginally interested in was picking out the little hearts and putting them inside the bear before he was sewn together.  Oh well, we tried!

Fortunately, she warmed up to "Bear" once we got home and gets excited to see him everyday :)

 I took this video as we were in line to pay.  I can't help but giggle every time I watch it...love the way she says "the build the bear" at the end :)

Snow Day...

Since living in Washington, we've had a few days of snowfall, but never enough to really "play in the snow".  It barely sticks to the ground and is generally gone by the afternoon.  Not that we mind too much...Maya loves it and it's very exciting for these California natives.  

We had an opportunity a couple weekends ago to go sledding with some friends so we were very excited head to some "real" snow!  And the best part was we only had to travel a little over an hour to get there!  So much nicer than 4 hour drives to Tahoe!

Maya was cute as can be in her snow suit, but didn't actually enjoy the whole sledding experience.  She didn't even really want to be pulled around on a tube...it was all very anti-climatic for Brad and I.  Bummer.  Hopefully next year will be much more exciting for all of us!

33...

My hubby turned 33 on the 18th!  I can't believe we're closer to 35 than 30...next is 40...oh my.  To celebrate his birthday and as a last hurrah before this little bundle arrives, we decided to have a night away!  We didn't go to far, but it was so needed and so refreshing!!  We had a great dinner, saw a movie, stayed in a cozy hotel (with a fireplace), slept in, had a great breakfast and finished our morning off with massages at a nearby spa.   To say it was just what we needed is an understatement!  We loved every minute and are so thankful that my amazing sister-in-law and her husband were able to watch Maya (overnight!) with zero issues!!  SO THANKFUL!

'making dad a cake'...a mixing bowl, a wisk, flour and water...who knew it could be so fun!?

waiting for dad to arrive home from work!

Happy Birthday daddy!!

Cute little courtyard view from our balcony

Such a pretty spot

Happy Birthday Babe!

Halloween at Little Gym...

Tonight was the Little Gym Halloween party!  Maya was able to wear her halloween costume for the first time and enjoy lots of games and activities...and some candy too ;)  

My dad had bought her a cute elephant costume for this year, but she's very anti anything on her head, so she wasn't at all interested in putting it on :/  Her exact words were "all done, mama, all done!"  So as much as I would have liked to dress her up like an elephant or some other adorable fluffy animal, I knew I needed a more subtle option.  When I came across the Seahawks cheerleader costume at Target, I knew I found a winner; no crazy head gear, wings or other accessories, plus it would be a big winner with dad and most everyone in Washington.  She wore it well and even let me put her hair in pigtails :)

We found our friends Andrea and Hallie as soon as we got there.  Maya loves seeing Hallie every week at Little Gym and talks about her all morning till we get there!

We played lots of games and Maya enjoyed getting candy :)

And she showed off all the "skills" she's picked up over the last couple months to dad...

There was also a craft table set up where she could decorate her own trick or treat bag.  She LOVED the stamps!  Her hands were a mess, but it's fun to see her try :)

We finished the night off with a walk (or 5...Maya loved this part) down the "catwalk" for the parade of costumes...

Thanks Little Gym for a fun family evening!  I think we're officially ready for the main event next week!

Pumpkin Patch...

I'm a little behind on this post, but a couple weeks ago we had our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Washington.  We were invited to join our friends Joe and Taunya and their two girls Coura and Ella (and some of their family and friends).  They took us to a great Pumpkin Patch in Snohomish called The Farm.  Besides the Pumpkin Patch itself, there were all sorts of fun activities offered at The Farm including a giant kids' play area, a corn maze, a petting farm, wagon rides, live duck races, plus some super yummy food options. 

We had a great evening!

 

What's new...

Maya is quite a character these days.  She has more personality than I think I can handle.  As we've always seen, she's very independent and must do everything by herself.  She is repeating everything and communicates pretty well with some two to three word phrases.  

Here are a couple recent videos of our little monkey...

One of her favorite things to do these days is read!  We often hear her babbling to herself as she flips through a book.  

We recently took advantage of what is sure to be one of our last dry days around here.  We headed to our favorite park where there is the perfect "Maya-sized" structure.  She's getting quite good at the slide and is clearly very proud!

So behind it's ridiculous...

Seriously...June 13th!  That's the date of my last post.  Can we say SLACKER!  We have been busy busy busy these days!  Between settling in, visitors and a trip to CA, there's a whole lot to catch up on! I'll focus on our visits and use some pictures to walk you through the last month...

We actually had four sets of visitors and loved every minute with our family and friends who came to see and spend time with us!  Our friends, the Mongers, came first.  They were visiting family in Oregon and made the drive up a few hours to stay a night with us.  It was so good to see Ryan, Janet and their twin boys, Henry and Andrew!  Grammy and Grampy were next.  We enjoyed time with them as well, but unfortunately we got no pictures of either visit!  Booo.

Paul and Tina came in town the week before 4th of July.  I loved having my little brother and his wife  here with us and I felt so loved that they decided to take time off work to make the 16 hour drive up to see us!  We loved our time with them and got to check out some fun touristy spots!

Unkie and Maya at the Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo

Yumm...thanks for the ice cream unkie!

Cheesy Space Needle Picture...definitely Paul's idea

Next, these three came to see us!  I just love the Burgers and had been missing my dear friend Lacie so much!  It was so great to spend time with them and I'm so thankful they also made the 16 hour drive to come see us!

Friend love

We took a ferry to San Juan Island for the 4th of July

Maya throwing rocks with Grammy down by the water

We took the Burgers to Whale Watch Point.  I didn't get a picture of it, but we saw a whale!  It was awesome!

At the 4th of July Parade

Enjoying a sunny day at the beach on 4th of July

Stutzmans and Slyngers at the beach

So thankful for this girl xo

Silly family picture :)

And the boys just couldn't pass up LEGAL fireworks in WA...go big or go home!

A couple weeks later, we took a trip to CA to visit family and friends we were missing so much!  We enjoyed a surprise birthday dinner, time at Happy Hallow, trips to the park, and BBQs with family and friends.  It was a great trip!

Maya sat in her own seat for most of the flight!

A trip to CA wouldn't be complete without a Happy Hallow visit with our best buddies

And we loved hanging out in the California sunshine at the park

With Papa at Happy Hallow...yes, we went twice during our visit...we just love Happy Hallow!

We ended our CA visit with a playdate with our Las Madres friends!  We sure miss these guys too....so much, the kids just cried and cried ;)

Ok stay tuned for more updates specific to miss Maya B.   She is growing, changing and learning by leaps and bounds these days!!