Clara and the Chocolate Factory

Our big event with the Issaquah Mom's Group this week was getting to tour the Boehm's Chocolate Factory, which has been an establishment in Issaquah since 1942. Sadly after living in Issaquah over six years, this was my first trip, but I know it will not be our last. Kevin remembered making stops there as a child on his family trips from Quincy to Bothell to visit his grandparents and based on their preservation philosophy, I doubt it has changed much since then.

It was a little challenging with a whole lot of 2 year olds who were expected not to touch anything, but I was very pleased with how well Clara did. At first I wasn't sure if I would get her to keep the cute paper hat on her head, but since all of the kids and adults wore them too, she seemed to agree to wearing hers and then eventually forgot it was even there.

The whole factory and the authentic Swiss chalet above that was the living quarters of Julius Boehm smelled AMAZING to tour, therefore we were all very happy when given the opportunity to sample the delicious chocolate!

We came home happy girls from our little outing!

Silly Daddy, Silly Daughter!!

Having a silly Daddy is the BEST!!!

Kevin and Clara have so much fun together! Kevin's unique sense of humor is one of humor is one of the traits I absolutely treasure about him and I take even more delight in watching him be silly with our little gal. Clara's own sense of humor seems to have taken off lately. She notices so every detail so one of her favorite jokes is having something that is completely out of place like counting "1,2... 4". The kicker is that she hasn't fully mastered her timing, and will typically start laughing before she even makes her joke. Some of our other favorites are singing songs or reciting books and changing a word, Saying something like "Momma doesn't like ice cream," or even wearing her dress up clothes incorrectly. The best one is when she emerged with her kiddo sized oven mitts on her feet. Daddy (and Mommy too) like to play along, like in the above photo where Daddy went to sleep in C's bed!

Poor Kevin has been working like a dog lately and I am so proud of how he always makes time for his girls (C & Mommy who requires a little more TLC these days). Clara has questioned several times about why he has to go to work, and I am doing my best to help her understand how fortunate we are to have a Daddy that works so hard to provide for our family so that Mommy doesn't have to go to work. I know some day she will truly appreciate his commitment to being a present father at home while continuing to be successful in his young legal career.

Kevin, we love you like crazy and honor you this upcoming Father's Day weekend!

Playdate for Scout

Monday we had a fun playdate with our Mom's group at Clara's pal Wayland's house. She had so much fun running around his yard that day that she has been talking about the fun ever since. It is neat to see how Scout's play is changing - she has always loved being around kids but now the interaction is the focus of the play as opposed to the toy. There were several other younger kids at the playdate allowing an opportunity to directly observe the developmental differences in the play. Clara loves riding in the wagon, but really only wanted to do it when other children rode with her. When it was her turn to sit out she opted to pull the others around. I was impressed with how well she kept the wagon with almost 90 lbs. of kiddos moving!

One negative side effect of my pregnancy is just being warn out all of the time. I try and keep Scout busy with activities during the day, but I notice little differences: 1) I have given up battling with C about her clothes. She now likes to pick out things on her own and while it sometimes the combinations she comes up with kill me, she feels so proud! 2) I am not as prepared with all the items in my bag. Mainly the little things, but I find myself forgetting to bring the camera along a lot more and taking a lot less pictures in general. Thank goodness the other mom's in my group remembered their cameras and posted photos on the website!

Wayland is lucky enough to live next to a horse pasture. The pony, Wilson and his horsey pal, Cooper were delighted to see the kiddos run up with their carrots. Clara wasn't too sure about letting the Wilson take the carrot from her hand, but was so thrilled once she did.

Scout and this little cutie, Autumn played really well together. We have been talking a lot about Autumn lately, especially since she has a baby sister.

A basketball player in the making, maybe!?! I bet Papa Mark hopes so!

Friends in the making...

This past weekend was such a treat for Mommy because I got to celebrate my dear friend Wendy and her baby girl who is set to arrive just ten days after our precious "Gem". Wendy and her husband Karl have been living on the East coast and while it is so fun to be pregnant together, it is hard to be so far apart. Luckily, the are only temporarily so far away and hope to be back on the West coast shortly after their little "Karl's Jr." arrives. Our little gals are sure to grow up pals just like their mommies!

During Wendy's visit there were two fun showers and two opportunities of these silly tummy shots!

I am SO much bigger already and Wendy's little bump is absolutely adorable!

Fun with "Eeyore"

Last week, Clara and Mommy had a long-overdue visit with the Ami-ad family, finally getting to meet their new addition, baby Gahl, and their wonderful new home. It had been a while since we had all gotten together and so Clara didn't really remember Ori and Itai. I was talking about them before our visit and telling Scout how they got to be big brothers. Later on she asked me, "Mommy, when are we going to go see Eeyore?" It took me a while to figure out what she meant. She has an Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh) toothbrush, but that didn't make any sense... Then I realized the was combining the EEE sound from Itai's name with the OR sound from Ori's name and efficiently calling them "Eeyore." Too cute!

This silly incident reminds me of when my cousins used to call my identical twin brothers (Matt and Ryan), "Matt-Ryan" because they could tell them apart. Even funnier was that they were so used to being mixed up, that they both always responded!

Clara really enjoyed her visit with Ori, Itai & Baby Gahl - and us mommies even had a few sentences of adult conversation, too!

Scout brought a belated birthday / big brother gift of art supplies to her pals and they all quickly settled in making craft projects. Above, Itai is making nice designs with markers.

Clara was fairly interested in the glitter glue (a substance she had yet to encounter) at first but then spent the majority of the craft time eyeing and attacking the grapes! This kid is unstoppable when it comes to fruit!

Ori attacked his glitter glue & puff ball craft very methodically and came up with a wonderful masterpiece!

We both loved getting to meet Baby Gahl. He is a few weeks younger than cousin Brendan although about half B's size! He made lots of happy sounds and expressions for us. I am excited to see Clara's increased interest in babies and hope that it will persist until her sister arrives.

Scout's Trip to the Ballpark

On Sunday, lil' Scout got to go to Safeco Field for her very first Mariner game! She was pretty excited to go since we (Kevin) watches baseball on TV and we talk about the Mariners and of course, the Mariner Moose mascot.

Kevin's firm hosted a family baseball day at the ballpark and since they booked a suite, we saw it as the best opportunity to let Clara experience the ball park. It ended up being a perfect way to take a potty training toddler. There was a nice food and beverage buffet, kids to play with, indoor and outdoor seating, and of course clean, bathrooms that were close by and not busy.

Clara liked sitting in the outdoor stadium seats and listening to all of the announcements and music. She LOVED clapping when the M's made a good play, too!

After her hamburger lunch the kiddos got to make their own Mariner sundaes in these cute baseball hat bowls. A lot of this treat ended up on Clara's pink M's shirt!

The highlight of the game may have been a visit from the Mariner Moose. Clara wasn't too sure what to think of him, but was willing to pose with Daddy for a picture and give him a high five as he headed out!

Later in the game, we went down to meet Auntie Michele who has season tickets to the game. Michele was quick to march Clara into one of the merchandise stores and allowed her to pick out a special souvenir. While Auntie Michele was willing, Mommy and Daddy talked Clara down a few sizes in the Mariner Moose stuffed animal she selected. As it was, the one we ended up with is literally half her size.

Thank you, Michele! Clara LOVES her Moose!

She was entertained by him the rest of the game and the whole car ride home!

Clara clapping and cheering with the crowd

Momma, Clara and the Moose

Happy 88th Birthday Great Grandma Elaine!

This past weekend we met up with Grandma & Grandpa Stevens in Auburn to spend time with our sweet Grandma Elaine who was celebrating her 88th Birthday! Grandma's memory is continuing to decline, but this visit she appeared peppy and upbeat. After a nice lunch we went to a park that was near her old home. She talked about the area seeming familiar but didn't seem to recognize her previous home of over 50 years after being gone over 2 1/2 years. Clara enjoyed playing in the park where Mommy, Uncle Matt & Uncle Ryan grew up playing in as children. All of the play equipment has changed and some of the large trees have been taken out, but it still has the same feel.

Peek-a-boo

4 Generations

Clara swinging with Papa Mark - you can't tell by her facial expression but she was having a blast!

Clara and Grandma Jan

We all enjoyed the lovely June weather, after all of the rain that we have been drowning in, it was a nice break - too bad it didn't last long, as the next day the rain returned.