Sunshiney Weekend Spent Outside

This weekend, being the last weekend before we leave for KAUAI, was a beauty.  We look advantage of the nice, dry weather by spending every second possible outside.  On Saturday we ventured to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge- a favorite of ours.  Upon arriving we realized that Evan hasn't been there since he was in elementary school!  So it was Makenna's turn to play tour guide for her Dada.

Crazy child of ours was not liking the idea of a "piggy-back ride".  What kid doesn't like piggy-back rides?  Ours.  She would much prefer walking or stomping about on her own accord.

Chasing after Dada in a field of rocks.  It took us a while to pry her away from the thousands that littered the ground. 

Showing off her bear crawling/walking skills.

On Sunday, yet another nice day, we packed up the stroller & leashed the Wayne Dog and took off to a nearby elementary school to play!  Makenna put on her glasses all by herself.  Can you tell?

One must go through the tunnel to arrive at the promise land of the slides.  She is no longer leery of tunnels and happily crawls through them with a sense of adventure.

Her first time going down a twisty slide.  She got a little squirrelly because of her shoe catching on the side. 

We convinced her to have a second go at it and explained that she had to keep her feet forward and presto she was sliding with speed!

Trying out some climbing skills.

Dada helping her on the balancing beam.

Soon it was time for a snack.  So we set up for a little "picnic" and shared with Wayne Dog our treats.

After a few stumbles & falls in the mulch Makenna decided to grab fist fulls and sprinkle it on the ground, toss it up in the air and yes, even taste it.  That is of course what exploring & discovery is all about. 

A Quarter of a Century

Happy 25th Birthday, Eric!!

Uncle Eric with a Makenna original! 

Uncle Eric keeping a watchful eye on Makenna as she "investigates" his wallet.   With that look on her face I would be concerned, too.

Makenna has had a lot of practice with the birthday song and for Eric she sang to him.
Love this photo <3

I don't know who is more excited about blowing out the candles.

Taking her place in her Uncles arms to assistant in the candle blowing.

Salivating over the delicious birthday apple pie.



Double-Deuce!

Happy 22nd Birthday, Shandel!

Makenna is starting to understand the importance of birthdays- CAKE (or in our case many times it's PIE)! 

Birthday picture with her Aunt Shandel, the birthday girl.

Makenna has become the official birthday candle blower-outer assistant! 

Volunteering to share dessert with Makenna mean poor Poppa only gets a couple of "tiny" bites.

Another birthday dinner deemed a success!



PLAYground

Our girl loves playgrounds.  And if you say you're going outside one of the first things out of her mouth is:  "playground".  It unfortunately doesn't come out as a question but rather a statement of expectance.  Most of the time a playground is already on the books for nice days, but when it's not there is a lot of explaining to do.  :)

Last Sunday is wasn't raining and was warmish so we took off up the hill to an elementary school to play.  It's a good distance so it also gives us a chance for a nice walk.

At the playground she is on a mission.  Stairs, then find a slide, then repeat.

This playground was for older kids and had a bridge.  Wayne needed to investigate.  He was concerned about the safety. 

Of course there is a much smaller- more Makenna size slide- but what does she pick:  the big, steep, big kids slide.  And she loved it!  She must have gone down 20 times.

Like I said it was steep.  Evan & I alternated who was up & who was down to catch her.

Return to Seattle Aquarium

Octopus Week!  It so happened that our visit to Seattle's Aquarium was the start of their Octopus Week- which so happens to be a favorite of mine at any aquarium!  It brings back fond memories of KG the octopus at Underwater Adventures.  And many great memories from my stint in Minnesota. 

The resident Giant Pacific Octopus being incredibly active.  I think it knew who the star was.

Makenna peering into the touch pool at all the sea stars and sea anemones.  She wasn't so sure about putting her fingers into the frigid water.  Not to mention having to lean over SO far to reach.  I do believe she had little faith in her Momma in keeping her out of the pool & dry.

Then she offered to take a sea cucumber out! She was so sweet and was great with Makenna & me with all my questions. It pays to just ask, otherwise Makenna wouldn't have gotten this opportunity.

A really nice staff member took a sea star out of the pool and placed it into a container so Makenna could see it up close & touch it.  She was thrilled and readily put her fingers in to touch her new friend.

Makenna the octopus!  Thank goodness she doesn't have 8 arms!  She is busy enough with the 2 she has!

Makenna in the tunnel.  :)  Apparently every tunnel is a crawling tunnel even when there is a very high ceiling!  It was quite a challenge to keep her from getting stepped on or run over by the numerous strollers, but she insisted even after I showed her that she would walk in this very special tunnel.  Our silly girl.

This was by far Makenna favorite exhibit at the aquarium.  There was this one species of fish, a bottom feeder, that she just loved.  It had her in giggle fits.  The fish has a couple of long whiskers by its mouth that it used to feel about the bottom of the tank- which was covered in small rocks.  It would suck in a rock and spit it back out.  Two things Makenna loves:  fish & rocks.  So a rock spitting fish was a huge hit!

Both excited to see the Tufted Puffins.  I may have a little birder on my hands.  :)

Sitting on the model of the Orca dorsal fin.  It was "comfy" according to Makenna.

Makenna & the giant octopus parachute.

As we were getting ready to leave the staff started an octopus parachut game with beach balls! Makenna was excited and then became upset by the fact that she couldn't hold the balls that kept bouncing away.

Family picture.

A trip to Pike's Market & a nearby Starbucks to meet up with Justin & his mom rounded out our fun day date in Seattle. 

Car Washing & Jet Ski Racing

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood, won't you be mine?  Won't you be my neighbor?"

It was a beautiful March day that happened to fall on a weekend!  So we took to the outdoors.  Evan washed his car, while Makenna & I set off for an adventure- via jet ski.  Yes, jet ski.  And no Evan was not creating a new fresh body of water just for Makenna's enjoyment.  Her jet ski, a present from the Myers on her first birthday, has wheels & one killer radio.  :)

She has no mastered the "scooting" motion to our delight and her enjoyment.  We rather quickly made our way past our house and towards the start of the path behind our house.

We decided to take the jet ski down the rather steep hill.  I strategically placed myself in front of her a few feet in order to "catch" my racer before she picked up too much speed.  She wasn't wearing a helmet and in hindsight it rather resembled a lough.  A helmet might not have been a bad idea. 

Feet up.  Smile from ear to ear.  And moving FAST!  She loved it of course.

Soon it was back to Dada & the soapy puddles that he created in washing the car.

Makenna makes waves where ever she goes.

This was the weekend right after I had my wisdom teeth extracted.  Would not recommend to anyone if given the option to prolong that procedure.  It definitely doesn't get any easier with age.  Thankfully I didn't morph into more of a chipmunk than I already am.  Thankfully my fantastic in-laws took Miss Makenna for a couple of days & my husband took a couple of days off to get a jump start on the healing process.  I am officially 10 teeth short of the average person.  Yes 10.  When I was 12'ish I had oral surgery which removed 9 teeth, 8 being adult teeth & 1 baby tooth.  This was to make room in order to have a straight smile.  The curse of BIG teeth & a little mouth.  So I have now 2 fewer teeth and am back to eating with the remaining ones.  :)