50 years down, 50 more to go!

Happy 50th Birthday, Grandpa Dan!!

We love you like crazy and hope your birthday is fabulous!

Fruit Smoothies

We have been making a lot of fruit smoothies lately and Koen loves to help with the process. Our exact recipe changes from day to day to keep it interesting, but we usually end up throwing some or all of the following into the blender:

• Frozen organic fruit (blueberries, mango, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, or cranberries)
• A banana
• Kefir
• Wheat germ
• Kelp powder

Dee-licious! Sometimes it's so thick we have to 'drink' it with a spoon. Koen really likes that, as you can see.

The other day, I had the bright idea of leaving Finn to his own devices with some frozen blueberries. Wow! I forgot how messy those little suckers are! The following photos show what he can do with five wild blueberries and three minutes.

Other updates

The boys' new favorite place to play happens to be my least favorite place...the bathroom! I can't tell you how many times a day I have to clear them out of here. Oh, but they have so much fun in there...I'm not even sure why?

Notice Koen's two favorite 'trucks' are in there as well. His Diego transport vehicle and his fire engine. Lately, he's been driving his fire truck all over the house 'saving' all of us in one way or another. He parks the engine a few feet from the rescue point, and then his fingers become the 'fighter fighters' that scramble over to the victims (sometimes Oscar gets saved, sometimes they save my foot, etc.).

Lastly...it's random, I know...but the picture below captures the sight I saw when Koen crept downstairs to our bedroom the other morning at 6 AM. It was dark, so I had to really focus my sleepy eyes to believe what I was seeing. He had stripped down to his underpants and put on his backpack...oh, and he had his Automoblox car with him as well. As tired as I was, I couldn't miss the photo opportunity. What a crack-up.

By the way, he still wakes up between 6 and 7 AM, but I'm happy to report that he no longer gets up at all hours of the night (yay!). Finn is sleeping really well, too. Now if I could just get to bed before midnight, we'd all be well rested each day!

Jessy-Wessy & Jakers!

We got Aunt Jessy and Uncle Jake all to ourselves for five whole days during spring break! They busted out of school early to go catch a plane on Tuesday, and we literally hit the ground running with them. We ran them completely ragged with activities and events, dawn to dusk, until they left on Sunday night. Whew! It was so fabulous, though. Koen and Finn loved every second of it, and we miss them. The house feels strangely empty now. :( Can you guys come again next month?

Here is a lightening fast break down of our busy week:

Tuesday

• Pike Place Market for a stroll
• Red Mill Burgers for dinner (We learned of Jake's mild obsession with onion rings)

Wednesday

• Open Farm Week at Willow's Edge Family Farm (We met some beautiful Norwegian Fjord Horses, Jake planted some cilantro seeds...which have yet to surface in the pot...and Koen practiced his tractor driving skills)
• The Zoo!!! (We witnessed a rather unpleasant behavior of gorillas...I'll spare you the details. But GROSS!)

Thursday

• Seattle Aquarium (Koen is crazy about the divers in the tanks...who cares about the fish! He enjoyed playing dress up in a mini wetsuit with flippers.)
• Olympic Sculpture Park for a stroll...in the rain.
• EMP and Science Fiction Museum! (Couldn't pass up the FREE night...plus we saw ET, Yoda and The Terminator! Who could ask for more nerdiness in one room?)

Jumping...a new skill.

Friday

• Children's Museum Egg Hunt at the rainy crack of dawn. (Koen scored a whole bucket of eggs he then turned in for a little prize cup and a squishy rubber ducky...which only lasted about 2 hours before it popped.)
• Monorail ride to Westlake center and fountain (freezing cold, but the Mrs. Fields cookies warmed our bones on the return trip)
• Molly Moons after dinner. (Jake wowed us with a triple scoop monster cone which he devoured in about two minutes. Dad, you have some competition in the ice cream eating arena.)

Saturday

• Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, followed by ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls at Calico Cupboard Cafe...Mmmmm.
• Collin & Shandy came over for an early Easter dinner and egg decorating.

Sunday

• Easter Brunch at Ray's Boathouse
• Carkeek Park for a walk on the beach
• Decorating Easter Cookies at home! (Jessy and Jake pulled out some serious skill with the icing. They made some truly beautiful cookies, which we promptly gobbled up.

Koen practicing his swing with the club from the scary Easter Bunny

(Koen is not o.k. with the thought of a giant Rabbit sneaking around our house at night...

...and why should he be?)

A common sight to behold this week.

There you have it! The abbreviated version of our awesome week. Of course, the blanks were filled in with tons of game playing, book reading, coloring, batting practice, and giggling. I think Jessy and Jake will be happy to never see the Hungry, Hungry Hippos game again, or to hear the Spanish rendition of the ABC's again either. :)

Thanks for coming to visit, guys! We will never forget the glorious memories made while you were here. It meant so much to us! We love you!

Ps. Next time you come, we'll be sure not to miss the Space Needle, Theo Chocolate Factory and Wooden Boat Sail! Plan on it!

Click the Picasa album below for more photos:

Jessy & Jake

I also want to send a shout out to my mom on her birthday...

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you!