Discovering Washington: The Wetlands at Theler Center

I grew up in a small town in Washington called Allyn. Its only claim to fame, that I know of, comes from the show ‘Dirty Jobs.’ In the episode where Mike Rowe (swoon!) is digging for geoducks. He was digging around waist deep in mud, in my town. (Sadly it was filmed years after I moved away.)

This town is not even big enough to justify a school system. I had to go to school in the nearby town of Belfair. It’s because of this, I consider both Allyn and Belfair my hometown.

The second I graduated from high school, my parents moved out of the house I grew up in, and I never looked back.

I was shocked to find out in college that people knew about Belfair because they grew up vacationing there! I couldn’t believe it. What is there to do in such a small, po-dunk town.

Now, as a mom, I get it. It’s a place people go to unplug, which I daresay, means a whole lot more now, than it did back then!

The Terrible Twos Have Arrived

My baby is officially a toddler.

Ok, Fine. Maybe he’s been a toddler for a while now. Supposedly once they start walking they’re a “toddler,” but I was still referring to him as the “baby.”

While he is the youngest and he’ll always be my baby, he has the emotions and attitude of a toddler.

This little guy was born smiling. He was always happy. He made everyone in his wake feel great about themselves because he smiled at them. (We were nice enough to refrain from telling people he smiled that big at everyone.) But now things have changed.

I kept saying, “He’s teething,” or, “He’s going through some growing pains.” It’s gone on too long to be either of those. He’s officially entered the terrible twos.

Easy DIY Garden Markers

Thanks to my dad and husband, my dream of having a garden this year has become a reality! 

My dad brought over the materials for a raised garden bed and showed us how to put it together.

My husband and I don’t build things together often, so this was a lot of fun.

7 Things I Thought I Would Be Able To Avoid as a Parent

There are things I hoped I would never have to deal with in my life. I always knew I wanted kids, so sleep loss and playing with baby poop was a given.

But there are some things my kids enjoy, personality traits they’ve developed, and issues as a parent I really thought I would be able to avoid.

Potato Leek Soup

We’ve had some really rare weather here this year. But even though it has been sunny and incredibly beautiful, it’s still really cold (not East Coast cold, but cold.) So the good old comfort food standbys are still appealing.

Discovering Washington: The Olympic Game Farm

On Monday, we thought we would go on our first big Washington adventure. It was a spontaneous decision but it was a beautiful day and we refused to stay inside.

We decided to make the hour and a half drive to Sequim so we could go to the Olympic Game Farm.

The drive was great because we had an incredible view for most of it.

A Weekend of ‘Firsts’

Last weekend, we had a few really fun “firsts”.

We celebrated the first Valentine’s Day my daughter will remember.

We got her Disney Princess chocolates that she had seen at the grocery store earlier in the week. The boy got a book about love. (I’m still not ready to give him his own candy, he doesn’t notice anyhow.)

Discovering Washington

My husband and I love to travel. Or, rather, we would love to travel.

At this point in our lives, we’re on a pretty tight budget, so plane tickets, hotel, activities, etc…, for four, just aren’t feasible.

So the only place we go every year is Lake Chelan with my family.

The other day I started thinking, why do we have to go far for a fun family adventure? Don’t misunderstand, we do fun things with our kids, we just stay really close to home.

My Take On Fifty Shades

There’s quite a bit of controversy surrounding this book and the upcoming movie.

Why was it so extraordinary?

There are plenty of erotic novels out there. There’s a plethora of porn on the Internet. People just happened to be really into this one. Or really, really offended by it.

Valentine’s Day Fun with the Kiddos

I have had such a great time with my girl the last several months celebrating the Holidays.

This is the first Valentines Day that she has been aware of. She keeps telling me, “Mommy, Valentines Day is coming up!”

Since its this weekend, I wanted to have a few fun V-Day activities for us to do, spread throughout the week.