Thanks Auntie Sue!

Today Holly had her very first caramel apple... it was a hit!!!!

Just Too Tired!

This is how I found Hudson this morning after breakfast~ he was just too tired! So sweet...

Great Wolf Lodge

Sunday we had a wonderful day at Great Wolf Lodge with friends... something we'll have to do again! Great Wolf Lodge has the best water park I have ever enjoyed - truly great for folks of all ages. The kids were overjoyed with water all day long. Holly just enjoyed going back and forth between various kids areas and the wave pool.

There are a lot of different water slides, Holly did not really take to those. After watching her friends go down a few times she was finally convinced to try it once.... and it ended up being only once. I guess she gets that from me. I went once on a tube with Bryan - scary at first. Should have gone again, but we just didn't make it back.

Even Hudson had a very fun day!

Discovery Pond

Snake Lake Nature Center in Tacoma recently opened a new play area called Discovery Pond and Saturday we headed out to see what it was like and take a nature walk at Snake Lake. The weather was perfect and our family was in some serious need of sunshine, nature and fun... making for a perfect time!

We spent a lot of time in the play area, had a picnic lunch and then took a walk around Snake Lake to learn about wetland and pond life. Along the way we made some fun discoveries - various vegetation, turtles, ducks, bugs galore, foot prints in mud, an ant pile, mini mushrooms, a birds nest and more. It was a wonderful day.

Bug Day @ The Burke

Today we headed up the Burke Museum with friends for their annual Bug Day. This was our first time, however friends turned us on to their Dinosaur Days... and if it were anything like that, it had to be great! And, great it was.

The Burke Museum had so many wonderful bug options we really only hit a few during our visit. They had a small bug zoo where kids could hold bugs of all kinds. A couple of bug drawing stations, many places set up with microscopes to study bugs, bug specimens, live ant camera, honey bees, entertainment by Nancy Stewart (a favorite of ours) and of course the Bug Chef. A lot to enjoy and explore. We also headed out for a nice lunch with friends to end the afternoon - a really nice time today!

We started off with a bug concert from Nancy Stewart - the kids wiggled, wriggled and squirmed like bugs. They enjoyed the classic 'There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly' and then Holly and a friend got to be helpers for Nancy Stewart with a ladybug lesson & song. Even Hudson was enjoying her music. It was really fun!

After that we watched a brief segment from the Bug Chef... aka- kids eating bugs. Yuck! Then we headed in to see bugs, bugs and even more bugs. It was very cool as there was just about any kind of bug you could possibly imagine today - it was amazing!

Holly at a bug drawing station - she did wonderful on this, even drew the little clear resin cube the beetle was in.

Okay - be forewarned this bug is not for the squeamish... however it was one of the coolest and the largest spiders I have ever seen - larger than your hand (yikes!!!). In fact it is the largest spider they have in their collection. It is a tarantula.