skagit valley tulip festival

It's that time of year again, the daffodils are finishing and out come the tulips- its a little early this year on account of the warm winter we've been having. Just a quick trip this time, I wasn't feeling super awesome, the kids weren't exactly in to the tulips this year (They did, however, love the mud and the kites), and it was super-windy. 

 We are one attraccctttivvvee family. This one was seriously the best of all of us, and I gave up after a few separate tries. Its kinda funny though- I think Jeff is laughing and Andie Lu is, of course, scowling. 

 Baby Avie LOVED this game. A painter came up to Jeff later and said he took some photos of them playing to paint a picture of later- shockingly, no one said the same of me. 

 

....WEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

 And this look is accompanied by her screeching "....UUUPPPPAAA!!!!"

 ...daddy got tired from throwing her up in the air.

 They loved the kites- They kept pestering me to buy them some. 

 I can't believe I made three sisters. *Sniff* As someone with only brothers, this melts my heart. 

 Oh, to be that happy and full of joy...its those simple pleasures, really.

Daddy and his girls. 

This little cutie was loving the mud. She would barely stand still (actually, she wouldn't stand still at all) to have her picture taken. Last year, I took an awesome photo of her next to the tulips....crying. Oh well. Maybe next year. 

 

 

 

Copying daddy...this could've ended badly, but it was pretty cute. 

we love lummi island

Our whole family had this past weekend off...a rarity! I'm on break from school, too, so that made it extra-relaxing. Jeff had some ACLS to teach up in Bham, so away we all went to Lummi Island for the weekend. 

 The view from Jeff's mom's deck. Not a bad place for morning coffee and hot tubbing.

 There is a little school near the house that we take the girls to play at sometimes. I wonder what it must be like, to go to school on such a tiny island. The bigger kids take the ferry in to Ferndale. 

 Working on her monkey bar routine...

 Someone joined us from the ferry! 

Everything has been blooming early this year, what a weird winter. So happy for spring, though.

 

The Beach Cafe, near the ferry dock. Smelled so good, I was bummed I'd already eaten! I have been coming here awhile now, and have yet to eat here. 

 We drove by the Willows, a super-trendy B&B and restaurant that serves farm-to-table style food for about a bazillion dollars a plate. I hear Martha Stewart's eaten here, and Hillary Swank (a native of the 'ham) had her birthday party here...

 I would have gotten better pictures, buuutt there were people enjoying wine and apps outside on the deck, and you know, a bazillion dollars, and my kids were doing THIS:

I KNOW, I KNOW. Covered in mud, screaming out the windows, not properly in their car seats. I let them stick their heads out the window to feel the island breeze because its a tiny little island, we were going really slow, and....yeah. They were having fun. We buckled them back up after not too long, but the rules just don't seem to apply here. Needless to say, we didn't stick around by the Willows for long.

We then headed over to the other side of the island (Jeff's parents live on the side facing Bellingham), where you can see Orcas island. That side is just so beautiful, you can see several of the San Juans from over there. 

 This beach was not made for running. Sure is pretty though, and its a dog's paradise.

 

 Orcas Island in the distance. 

 ...Sheep!!

 ...Lummi island art work....?

 Flip flop lady lives by Jeff's parents- She has hung a ton of flip flops in the trees all around her house, and has mardi gras beads up in the trees as well. There's never a shortage of bizzare unique people on Lummi. 

 Back at the log house, getting ready to catch the ferry...

 (Ok, I just had to throw this one in there of baby Avie from our weekend, eating a crepe. Maybe its because of the field I work in, but you know what my first thought is? Good airway.) 
 

 And here we are, another weekend gone too soon. Barely made it on the tiny little Lummi ferry- the girls were looking at how close we were to the edge and were discussing what to do if the car rolled off the back. I like Aili's answer best: "Wait till we sink, then push the door open and start swimming!" Eeeekk. Sounds cold. 
Pretty soon, a new quarter will start, and we've got our hands full until then. Really looking forward to being in California in a couple weeks, I could use a little more R&R :-)

😍💗❤️

Lisa's pic of my little lady... Happy Valentines Day, dear family and friends. Hope you all are feeling loved and blessed this year. 

...just because it's been awhile

The quarter's over, and I for one could not be more delighted. I'm a glass of wine and 3 shots in, and just celebrating. It occurred to me that I haven't blogged in quite some time...might be time for an update ;-)

In September, someone started the first grade, and someone else started preschool...

So far, things are going ok in the school department this year. Both girls are doing fine academically. Aili sometimes talks too much ("constantly," according to a comment one day per her teacher...) but, is loved by all, including the teacher. She's friends with everyone, nice to everyone, and is doing well. So proud of her. Now Andie Lu...well, lets just say it's been an adjustment. She's not a morning gal, and apparently spends the first 15-20 minutes of class pouting in the corner with her arms crossed. She warms up after that, though. We have some work to do before kinder...

 Baby, is no longer a baby. She is 100% toddler...I hate it when that happens. She is into.everything.constantly. We can't keep up. While we are cleaning up one thing, she is breaking another. Thank goodness she is cute and sweet. 

 This year's holiday card, possibly showing up after x-mas this year. Sorry. I never claimed to be domestically perfect. 

 By the grace of God, I managed to do ok in school this quarter, despite far less studying and an increased FTE at work- 97% in stats (should be 98-99% by the time the last grades are in), and 96% in theory. I.hate.theory. So glad to be done with that. Makes stats seem like a dream in comparison. Most of the time, I felt like I was just fumbling through theory. My brain just doesn't work that way. So, I am just very thankful. 

Christmas this year will be spent in a few places. I'm working the eve, and then will be spending the morning with the girls and Jeff, before flying out in the evening for California. I'll spend a few days there, and then back I come to ring in the new year at work. 

This year has been...interesting. Too much wine to blog about it in any detail (that makes sense, anyway), but at least there are some updates in the meantime.