A Day at the Beach

This morning we decided to beat the heat by meeting up with some friends at the beach :) The kids (and moms too) had fun splashing around in the water digging in the sand.

Terrace was giving Hannah a lesson on geoducks (gooey ducks) and both girls thought it was fun to see the little spouts of water come up from the sand.
Hannah loves the water and wasted no time walking out as far as I would let her.

Hannah and Isabella had fun splashing each other.
The kiddies having fun :)
The Moby Mommies with their sleeping babies :)

7 Months Old

Our little man is growing up! At 7 months, Michael thinks he should be able to do what all the big kids are doing - walk! He can now pull himself up on the furniture and has started trying to "cruise" (take steps holding on to the couch). He also tries letting go and turning around once he's up, and is always a little surprised when it doesn't work! :) Michael is drawn to the stairs and thinks that climbing them is so much fun- - we've had to remember to shut gates again :) We had forgotten just how busy an active little baby can be, and it doesn't help that we weren't expecting Michael to be quite this active already! Michael loves to eat anything he can get his hands on, and is already showing a major preference for feeding himself finger foods rather than be fed baby food (when he can't see the finger foods, he does just fine). He is also starting to show a preference for people - there still isn't much stranger shyness, but Michael can get a little fussy if he thinks Mommy should be the one holding him and she's not! He loves his big sister and her toys :) Thankfully, Hannah also loves him and is usually ok with sharing with "baby Michael". Hannah loves to give her baby brother hugs and kisses, and does a great job of reading him stories, giving him toys, and making sure he always has a blankie and nuk close by.

Mommy and Michael are leaving tonight for New Orleans, and will be gone all week. We are taking the youth group down for the National Youth Gathering and are looking forward to great trip! Grandpa and Grandma Sower are staying home with Hannah and Daddy for the week. We'll make sure to take lots of pictures while we're gone to share with all of you when we get back :)

Birthday Party Fun

We had tons of fun helping Hannah's friend Terrace celebrate her 3rd birthday this weekend at Jungle Playland!

Hannah's favorite place to hang out was in the ball pit :)
She also loved the slide - - especially when Grandpa Gehry, Grandma Jan, and Mommy went down with her.
Michael found the 'lil Jungle and wasted no time crawling and climbing everywhere!
Michael's attempt at crawling to the top - - the blocks were a little too big, but he tried anyway :)
The "little" kids hanging out during lunch
The "big" kids getting ready to decorate cupcakes
Hannah LOVED her purple cupcake :) yummy!!
We all had a great time celebrating with Princess Terrace!! Thanks Stephanie and Brad, for the GREAT party!! :)

Fourth of July Fun

This year we decided to go a little non-traditional for the Fourth of July and spent the day in Canada :) I promise, we had a good reason! I have family that was visiting Vancouver for a few days, and Matt was lucky enough to have the holiday weekend off from work - so we hopped across the border to meet up with the girls and spent a beautiful day at the aquarium. We had a lot of fun at the aquarium (it's hard not to smile watching the antics of the seals, dolphins, and whales), and then found a great spot for a picnic in Stanley Park. It was great to see Gavi, Melissa, and Cassie again - we had a great time catching up and it was fun introducing them to the kids :) Michael especially appreciated all of the extra attention!

The dolphins always put on a good show
The seals were looking for lunch :)
I'm not sure why Matt took this picture not-quite-right-side-up, but here's Mommy, Michael, and Hannah enjoying "Nemo" and friends
Michael with Auntie Gavi
Michael with Auntie Melissa
Michael with Auntie Cassie
Hannah running around the park with "her" bag of cherries
We were sad to leave, but did manage to make it back to the states in time for dinner. And of course, as soon as the kids were in bed, our neighborhood lit up with firecrackers of all shapes, sizes, and loud booms! Thankfully the kids slept through it, but our puppy Hero had to sleep inside for a few nights because of all the commotion - she's not a big fan of the loud booms :) A couple of days later we met up with the girls again for dinner and spent the night visiting back at our house before they had to head home again.

Here Comes Trouble

Michael has been on the move and causing trouble wherever he goes :) Here are a couple of his latest shenanigans

Climbing the stairs - - the first time we saw it happen, we were hoping it was a fluke. After all, our sweet little 6 month old baby can't really climb stairs already, right? Wrong! Michael taught us that it was time to start using our baby gates again, and fast :) Any time he sees those stairs, he makes a beeline for them, and he's really getting quite good! (eek!!)
Finding Hannah's kitchen toys. . . . . . .
Getting caught with Hannah's kitchen toys (who, me?). . . . . . . .
Playing with Hannah's kitchen toys.
Basically, if it's supposed to be a "big kid" toy (coloring books and crayons, puzzles, doll strollers, you name it) Michael is sure it must be for him :) Hannah has not been amused.

Random Fun Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Hannah's wild daily adventures :)

Checking out the "ocean" view from the boat at Boulevard Park
Hannah REALLY loves pudding! It's hard to see, but she even got it in her eyebrows :)
Helping Daddy give Hero a bath

Busy Boy

We've finally caught Michael's crawling and climbing (yes, I said climbing) on camera :) Yay!! He's been practicing and perfecting his technique since he turned 5 months, but every time I would take the camera out, he would stop. He's a little ahead of the game on the crawling - most of his baby-friends are still working on maybe rolling over - but my attempts at telling him to slow down have been met with big grins and a quick climb into my lap :)

A clip of Michael climbing over obstacles in the playroom -- He REALLY wanted Lily!

"Who's this handsome kid?"
On his knees checking out the books on the bookshelf
A new favorite game - climbing in and out of the bottom of his saucer.

Summer Fun

We've been having tons of fun outside this summer, and taking every opportunity to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful weather :) Hannah wakes up every morning asking to go to the park, and Michael has been reveling in crawling through the grass (and yes, trying to eat it). Here are a few pictures from some of our outings:

Hannah loves visiting and feeding the animals at Hovander, even though a couple of them have tried nipping her fingers - - the geese and goats can sometimes be real pigs!
Another visit to Hovander, this time enjoying a ride on the tractor with her friend Noah.
Michael locked in on Grace's cup and made a beeline for her :)
Michael giving his buddy Easton a big kiss - - Michael thought that rushing Easton and tackling him was a lot of fun, but Easton really didn't agree!
Our little water baby - - Hannah loves spending time in the pool and had a ton of fun going down the slide over and over and . . . .
"Let's do it again!"
Hannah thinks she should be allowed to drive. . . . . .