Final Bash

This year for Holly's birthday we decided to separate the children's party and the family party - our house is small and a combined party is a full house to put it mildly! So, this year we opted for two different celebrations instead. It made for less crowding and more time to visit at each party.

Last night we enjoyed a beautiful Spring evening over bbq'd food, family and birthday fun. They sun was an amazing touch to a perfect night! After some good food Holly opened her birthday presents, enjoyed some cake and then spent the evening playing with her cousin, auntie and family friend... a whole night of hide and seek (we have the perfect yard for it). She had a blast and a perfect celebration to ring in her 5th year!

Mellow Moments

Just some mellow shots of sweet Hudson! He was just hanging out for the longest time, happy as a clam - inspecting his hands, inspecting the camera and then being entertained by Holly for a bit! Just one of those moments we slowed down to enjoy!

Dinosaur Artist

For Holly's birthday she received a book on various art projects you can do about dinosaurs. Many of them are drawing, sketching, coloring and painting inspired art works. She has been loving this book and exploring it a lot.

She has sat down and followed the various step by step instructions on how to create dinosaurs. Her art is so cute and personally I am impressed at her ability to take her time and really try out the project at hand with pretty good success. Granted she is five and her art work is a child's work, but I think she has done a really nice job and most of all is having a lot of fun while doing it... and that is what is important!

Here she had to draw the dinosaur in a step by step method and erase the parts not used in the final product. She then drew a simple scene and water colored the picture. You can see her artwork and then the book teaching her.

Here she drew the dinosaur (green one) with a home made dinosaur (not sure what it is) chasing it through a scene of stickers. Again, her drawing is first and then the book.
Finally here she did water color eggs in various colors with either dinosaurs hatching out of the tops of the eggs or the middles peeping through. Below her painting is the books example she copied. This one was a lot harder for her to do, not sure why but it was. She worked through it though and was happy with her final project.

Celebration at the Zoo

On Holly's actual birthday we have a tradition of spending the day together as a family, typically we head to the zoo or a children's museum. This year we chose the Point Defiance Zoo. The weather was a bit sketchy - clouds and rain. We took our chances though and headed across town and lucked out with wonderful weather! It did not rain one time the whole day we were at the zoo and in fact the sun peaked through in time for an out door picnic at the zoo.

We had a great time checking out the far side of the zoo that we normally do not hit - the birds, polar bears, walruses, sea otters and seals. They were all very active for us and we lucked out for a polar bear talk and feeding as well as a feeding and talk at the sea otter exhibit and the sea lions. As well, we caught the animal presentation they are practicing for the upcoming summer season and saw baby meerkats! It was such a wonderful day!

Three Months

Hudson hit the three month mark this weekend. He is growing so quickly and is such a wonderfully happy little guy! We are a pretty on the go family and he has adjusted really well to our life style and goes with the flow very nicely. His smile brightens the room, the blue eyes are something to melt your little heart and his laugh... well, you have to hear it to truly appreciate it - but it makes my heart smile every time!

Nature Walk

On Sunday we headed down to the Nisqually Delta National Refuge for a nature walk. This is such a beautiful area, well preserved, amazing and just simply a peaceful place to be and explore! The weather was perfect as we enjoyed a nice casual walk through nature. The high light was a robin's nest that Bryan discovered just a couple feet from the boardwalk. We stopped to watch the mommy bring back worms to feed her three babies. A very pleasant experience that we all loved. The day was perfect!