little black journal

It’s been a jolly month, packed with all of our favorite traditions.  We’ve spent lots of time with the gang, eating and drinking and shopping/sledding (more on that later),  and the house feels extra-cozy, lit by the sparkle of our Christmas tree.

Gosh, I love a good tree.  And ten years of trekking out to Mountain Creek Tree Farm has made us experts in the art of tree-choosing.  I wanted to bring Juliette fully on board with the excitement of the tree hunt and spent the whole drive out to North Bend pumping her up. “We’re going to find the perfect Christmas tree!!!  This will be so fun!  Christ-mas tree!  Christ-mas tree!  Christ-mas tree!”  I was bound and determined, she would love it.

But after wandering among the pines for 45 seconds, I could see she was unimpressed.  She looked up at me and whined, “Where’s my Christmas treat, mamaaaaa?”

Thank goodness for that rogue Halloween lollipop I found buried at the bottom of my purse!

Once sugared up, Juliette was ready to get in on the game of choosing a tree.  The whole concept of appropriate sizing was lost on her, though…

Finally, we spotted it!  A perfect Fraser Fir.  Tall but not too tall, full but not too full – a few hacks and it was ours!

A tree that good deserves an apple cider cheers.

Juliette helped me trim the tree that night – I gave her a little felted penguin as this year’s ornament and she proudly hung it up.  Then took it down.  She’s been carrying it around with her ever since, sleeping with it in her crib every night.  Next year I’ll give her something a little less cuddly.

One of the most cherished things on my December calendar is my annual weekend getaway with Nance and La Verne.  We had such a great time at Cedarbrook Lodge last year that we decided to book a room there again for a night of eating/lounging/livin’ la vida kid-free.  But first, shopping!  We spent the afternoon at the Auburn Supermall, starting with a leisurely perusal through J Crew and Loft and Old Navy, and ending with a mad tear through Gap and Banana Republic for a few last purchases before heading to the hotel for check-in.

We did good.

We spent the evening soaking in the hot tub and then stuffing ourselves at the hotel restaurant.  I woke up on Sunday morning relaxed, refreshed, and a little surprised to see that I’d slept until 9 am!  That hasn’t happened in…27 months!

It’s hard for me to put into words how much these ladies mean to me.  Seriously, it’s hard – when La Verne started to express her gratitude for our friendship over breakfast, I got all choked up and misty-eyed.  Suffice to say, I love them like sisters.

As we lingered over our morning coffee, I wondered how Shane and Jules were faring.  Answer:  GREAT.  He and Jason had taken the kids up to the mountains for some snow-packed adventures, and Juliette was lovin’ that freshy-freshy-pow-pow.

The whole weekend had gone off without a hitch – so well, in fact, that we’re already talking about next year!  Up to the ante to two nights away, maybe?

Finally, FONDUE.  December just wouldn’t feel right without gathering the whole gang together around pots of melted cheese.  First, though, some appetite-building at the Seward Park Pre-Fondue 5K.  Nailed it.

And a quick run up to the mountains for some sledding and snow-gazing.  Shane has become quite the snow-bird this month and has taken an intense interest in mountains and cross-country skiing (I think it’s the new all-wheel drive car).  Jules and I wanted in on the fun, so we tossed our new sled and all our warmest clothes into the trunk and headed east!  We ended up at the Hyak Snow Park, impressed by their monster sledding hill.

Juliette had a blast, tearing down the hill with Shane.  I decided to give it a go – Juliette nestled into my lap and we were off!

And it was super fun, until the sled started to tip a bit and I had to put my boot out to level us – the ensuing snow-spray was pretty unpleasant.  I’m afraid Juliette’s laughter quickly turned to tears.

So we took a snack break in a snow bank while Shane headed out for a short run on his skis.

(Meet Subaru Shane!)

We cajoled Juliette into one last run down the hill and left on a high note.

We warmed ourselves that evening at Jack and La Verne’s house, feasting on cheese-dipped bread and veggies, then chocolate-dipped marshmallows and fruit.  The White Elephant gift exchange is a critical part of the evening program, and people really stepped up their game this year.

Baby A was surprised to find that the amber liquid in that cute little bottle tasted nothing like apple juice (kidding, it’s not open!).

“What…is this?” was muttered throughout the evening.

There was much, much cheering when Jason opened the one remaining gift to find…a goldfish!

Christmas came early this year, huh, Gryff?

We wrapped up the night with our active rendition of the The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Everyone had a different part to mime, and wow, by my fifth round of playing the swan-a-swimming, I was out of breath!

Things wound down after that as people rushed their little ones home to bed.  Ok, clearly, these big kids are not winding down.  I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here – are they trying pull that poor boy’s limbs off?

Jules and Nico snuck in one last duet before we said our good-byes.

We capped off our merry weekend with our annual “family dinner” with the Rusts and the Chens on Sunday evening.  Jack popped open the best bottle of champagne I’ve ever tasted, Nance whipped up her special soup and homemade biscuits, we exchanged gifts and kicked back, savoring all the joy in that house.

Happy holidays, friends.

Holiday season is officially here, ushered in with a cozy Thanksgiving weekend in Portland with my brother and his family.  We rolled up to their house Thursday around lunchtime and settled right in.  Morgan and Elise, how I’ve missed you!

Jules was also thrilled to be reunited with her cousins, hardly leaving their sides for the duration of our stay and whining, “I want to see Morgan and Eliiiiiiiise, mama!” when it was time to head downstairs for nap or bedtime.

While Mitch and Kathryn slaved away in the kitchen on Thursday afternoon, Shane and I gladly took on kid-duty, bundling up the girls and running around with them in the backyard.

I love you, Jules.

The wind picked up and froze our fingers and noses, so we headed inside to drink tea and paint turkeys.

We feasted that night on beef stew and turkey and stuffing and roasted veggies.  We took turns saying what we’re most thankful for, and family topped the list for each one of us.  Actually, Morgan might have said cookies, but I’m sure family was a close second!

Friday morning was chilly but sunny, so Kathryn and I jetted out for a trail run while Shane held down the fort at home.

We came home to a house of stir-crazy girls, so we all headed over to a nearby playground to get the wiggles out.

Ahhhhhhh, that sun!

Sufficiently dosed with fresh air and vitamin D, we were all content to spend the afternoon inside, doing puzzles and reading by the fire.

We went out for dinner that night at a nearby brewpub, threw the kids in the tub, promptly tucked them into bed, and then opened up a bottle of Port to commemorate a day well spent.

Saturday was another gorgeous day, but we got a slow start and let the girls hang out in their comfy polka dot footie pajamas until mid-morning.

Finally, we rallied and drove over to George Rogers Park to check out the beach.

Who says you can’t play in the lake at the end of November?

I think Juliette was wearing thin by this point, a little fatigued by trying to keep up with the big kids.

Luckily, I had a magic fruit snack in my pocket!

Morgan was insistent that we check out the playground, which turned out to be an excellent call, as it was a sunny spot stocked with beautiful new play equipment.

They even had Twister!

Elise and Morgan took turns riding in the back of our car as we went to and fro, and Jules loved having a backseat buddy.

We spent another quiet afternoon back at the house, again curled up by the fire for a book/puzzle/board game bonanza.

We said our good-byes and hit the road to Seattle on Saturday night.  Juliette chattered and sang until finally letting her eyelids fall shut around 9:30, when we were just 20 minutes from home.  Luckily, she hardly protested when I moved her from the car to her crib, too tired to put up much of a fight.  We’d all played hard over the past couple days.  We had run, swung, climbed, skipped rocks, laughed, done that dang monkey puzzle 87 times.  We had found much to be thankful for.

I think I say this every October (and then again on our first warm, sunny day in May), but Seattle has never looked more beautiful.  I’ve been obsessively toting my camera around (you think?!), wanting to capture every Fall color and texture and hazy glow.

Shane and I were so taken with Ravenna Park when we jogged there a couple of weeks ago that we went back on Saturday for a more leisurely stroll, to wind our way up and down the wooded paths and over the bridges, stopping in open fields of grass for a quick game of tag.

Jules dug around for the biggest leaf she could find and proudly waved her autumn flag.

This. Tree.

And, as icing on our golden cake, a zipline!  Juliette’s new playground favorite.

This season suits her, don’t you think?

On Sunday we set out for our weekly family run, this time at Carkeek Park just north of Ballard.  And once again, Shane’s trail-scouting skills proved absolutely superb.

Mid-loop, we stopped for a breather at the beach – after swooning over all that green and gold, I forgot how much I love blue and gray, too.

We hit the trail for the final leg of our run, not entirely sure where we were going, but…ka-pow!

It was so pretty there that we let Juliette hop back out of the stroller to soak it all in.

Three cheers for Fall!

These colors, this cool, crisp weather – October is killin’ it.  So we’re more than happy to oblige Juliette’s persistent requests for “outside time?  outside time?  outside time?!”.

Last weekend we romped through the Carpinito pumpkin patch with the gang – Juliette went nuts when she saw the mounds of orange and white, momentarily putting down the beloved Percy train she’d borrowed from Nico to grab a pumpkin from the bin.

But ultimately, Percy won.

This was one of those days when I relished her blossoming independence, when it felt so good to sit back and watch her run free.

Juliette is into all things insect these days and could hardly contain herself when she found a little ladybug crawling on this pumpkin.  Simple pleasures…

These boys have become like big brothers to Juliette, contentedly playing magna-tiles together one minute, snatching toys out of each other’s hands the next.  I love watching them grow up together.

Two seconds after I took this photo, the wheelbarrow tipped over.  Whoops.

We finally settled on a long-stemmed beast of a squash, strapped it in the stroller, and called it a wrap, chuckling a little as we reminisced about our less-than-ideal visit to Carpinito two years ago.  We’ve come a long way!

We’re on a family running streak and spent that afternoon zipping down the trails at Ravenna Park – how have we missed visiting this gem in the past ten years?!

Jules and I met up with our pals at Volunteer Park on Friday morning for a go at the playground and a “splash” in the leaf-strewn wading pool.

Turns out dried leaves are a fairly decent substitute for water!

And Juliette’s hair is the perfect Fall camouflage.

Buddies!

I know, Jules – these colors make me feel all warm and huggy, too.

One final embrace for the road…

Ok, I’ll stop now.

Who am I kidding?  More orange and gold magic coming your way – we hit the parks hard this past weekend.  Stay tuned.

Shane’s mom left yesterday after a week-long visit – it was a full few days, packed with parks and sight-seeing and plenty of at-home Lego-building and choo-choo time.  We’re missing her today – Juliette’s first words when we came downstairs this morning were, “Where Grandma go?!”  I know, kiddo, it was awfully fun having her around…

Last Sunday was a beautiful Fall day, so we rented a boat at UW and paddled around Lake Washington.  It was a little windy out there, and the water was a little rougher than we anticipated, but after some frantic rowing on Shane’s part, we made our way to the calm, sheltered waters of the arboretum.

Juliette couldn’t resist leaning over to run her fingers through the water, but Grandma kept a firm hold on her life jacket to make sure the rest of her stayed dry.

This photo captures our crossing back to the dock so well – Juliette and I snapping pictures while the wind whipped our hair, Shane grimacing with each stroke of the paddle as he struggled to keep us on course.

Whew!  Made it!

Shane went to work on Monday while the rest of us headed to the zoo for some animal-gazing.

We lucked out and saw most of the animals up-close, from giraffes to hippos to these magnificent tigers.

And penguins!!!

Juliette loved the flamingos and did her best to mimic their one-legged stance.

We said good-bye to our furry and feathered friends around noon and headed home for naptime – Juliette snoozed the afternoon away but woke up ready to get back at it, so we caught the last of the day’s rays at Jefferson Park.

Juliette went to daycare on Tuesday while Shane and his mom did some sight-seeing, and then stayed home with Grandma on Wednesday for some bonding time (which didn’t go quite as planned, stubborn Jules!).  Thursday was Grandma-Mama-Jules day, and the three of us spent the morning at the mall and the afternoon at Luther Burbank Park.

Shane biked over after work to meet up with us and have his own go at the playground.

The four of us were together on Friday and decided to spend the cool, gray morning indoors at the Museum of Flight.  This kid looks ready to fly, doesn’t she?

We headed to Kubota Gardens in the afternoon and wandered down the tree-lined pathways, soaking in all the greens and reds and oranges.

Tuckered out.  Finally.

We said good-bye to Pat yesterday morning, with lots of hugs and a few tears.  Thanks for making the trek out here, Grandma!  Thanks for riding along with us so patiently on the roller-coaster that is toddler-hood.  For loving Juliette so fiercely.  Come back soon.

It felt so good to pull up to Amanda and Josh’s house on Thursday afternoon, unstrap Jules from her carseat, and tell her she was free to wander through the house, to run through the backyard, to go enjoy the luxury of space after several days in a hotel.  Coincidentally, my dad was in town for work through Friday and was able to pop over that evening for a visit.  Juliette ran right into Grandpa’s arms, as if we’d left their house in La Pine just last week.

Juliette and Sadie were fast friends – they woke up Friday morning ready to play hard and get dirty.  So dirty.  (Look at those feet!)

Amanda and I have a ritual of visiting our favorite discount shoe warehouse every time I visit and thought it was time to inaugurate our daughters.  They loved it, pulling shoes off the shelves and strutting down the aisles in sneakers and sandals and bright pink boots.  Girls after our own hearts.

Turns out Juliette has a flair for flashy footwear.

Sadie and Jules were attached at the hip throughout the whole day, saying a very tearful goodbye once their bath was over and it was time for them to settle into their separate beds.

Poor Sadie woke up with the flu on Saturday morning, so Shane and I took Juliette out to Knights Ferry to give her buddy a play break.

We scaled a few rocks and found a perfect little nook down by the water to get our feet wet.

I know, the Central Valley isn’t known for it’s beauty, but it has its gems.  This is one of them.

There’s a beautiful old covered bridge over the river – a perfect RUNway for Juliette.

Sadie perked up in the afternoon, much to Juliette’s delight.  My delight, too, as I was tired of pushing that car around!

This girl really doesn’t like to wear clothes.  My word, though, can’t blame her for wanting to show off that belly.

A few friends came over on Saturday evening for backyard pizza and some quality catching up.

GIRLS.  Old friends and new!

Sunday morning was go-time – Sadie and Juliette squeezed in a few more precious moments of playtime, and then we said our sad good-byes.

Amanda and I remarked over how hard it is to miss watching each other’s daughters grow.  But our girls make these annual visits extra-special, make us feel extra-close as we share in each other’s mothering joys and struggles and anxieties.  Amanda’s so good at getting me, so genuine in her exclamations of, “I know what you mean!”, so wonderful at offering advice without even the slightest twinge of condescension or judgement.  I miss her already.

Sunday was a long day of travel, but we made it back to Seattle without any major hiccups, thankful for a week free of illness or sleepless nights, a week so full of adventure and beauty and time with friends.

After all the excitement of the museum and the pier, Jules and I were ready on Wednesday for an easy-going day closer to our hotel.  I opened up Google Maps and was happy to see there were two large rectangles of green about a mile up California Street, so we grabbed a breakfast sandwich at Flour & Co and set out for some park-hopping.  First stop: Lafayette Park in Pacific Heights.

Winding, wooded paths criss-crossed the block – plenty of trees to climb and flowers to smell.

I resolved not to rush us along and let Juliette move at her own pace.  This meant letting her stop to touch every single sprinkler head along the path.  Twenty minutes later, every fiber of my being was screaming, “LET’S MOVE IT!”, but I held my tongue.

Finally, her urge to run kicked in.

We were stoked to find a great playground at the other side of the park and spent an hour exploring the terrain.

From Lafayette, we walked a few blocks up to Alta Plaza Park – Juliette and I came here last year and I was eager to revisit the super-active playground.  And the view!

Seriously.  That view.

After a picnic bench lunch at the park across the street from our hotel, we settled into our room for quiet time.  By this point, I’d given up on calling it naptime, as Juliette doesn’t want to have anything to do with afternoon sleep anymore.  She was pretty good about entertaining herself with books and coloring for about…12 minutes, at which point I’d succumb and let her watch an episode of Curious George while I took a breather.

We headed out after quiet time to meet up with Shane – Juliette was a champ in the stroller while we were in the city, patiently sitting still while I pushed her up and down Nob Hill several times over.  She loved using her new vocabulary, pointing out motorcycles and flags and green lights.

I needed a boost and we popped into Bread and Cocoa for a short Americano and a tall milk.  Coffee dates with this kid are my new favorite thing.

Seeing Shane at the end of the day was always so thrilling – the way Juliette ran into his arms, you’d think he’d been gone for weeks!

We opted again for an outdoor dinner and grabbed burgers from Super Duper to eat on the lawn at Yerba Buena.  My old friend and college roommate, Brieanne, joined us and we compared notes on motherhood and work and the quest to do it all.

Juliette was fried by the time we returned to the hotel, as was I, so Shane offered to take care of bath and bedtime while I headed down to the hotel lounge for a glass of Prosecco and some cherished time to myself.

Shane had a pretty light conference schedule on Thursday, so the three of us ate breakfast together at The Grove and then bopped around for awhile.

This little plaza off Mission Street contains some of my favorite public art.

I’ve seen this sculpture a couple of times but didn’t realize it was so “interactive” until Juliette pulled us into it for a 15-minute game of peek-a-boo.

Shane headed out around 10:00 to catch his morning session while Juliette and I walked over to Rincon Park for one last stint by the Bay.

And one last visit to the Ferry Building, for a vase from Heath Ceramics and macarons from Miette.

We ate our treats on our favorite bench, snapped one last pic, and then called a wrap, as it was time to head back to the hotel and pack up our things.  And not a moment too soon – Juliette and I had a really, really great time romping through the city together, but shortly after this photo was taken, she took off running in the wrong direction and smacked me in the face when I scooped her up to put her in the stroller, at which point I had to exercise the utmost self-control not to toss her in the bay.  We were both wearing thin after so much go-go-going.  The museum and the carousel and the countless parks had been a blast, but they had left us exhausted.

Case in point:

Thank goodness for a chance to recharge with old friends in mellow Turlock!

Jules and I have been flying solo these past couple of days, as Shane has been busy at his conference.  Chasing a toddler around the city was much easier with a partner, but I’m hanging in there and when I’m not yelling at her to “wait for mama!!!”, we’re having a really great time.

The California Academy of Sciences was at the top of my list of places to take Juliette, so we set out for Golden Gate Park on Monday morning.  First, though, coffee.  I knew I was going to need it.

We got to the park 45 minutes before the museum opened, so we took a walk through the botanical gardens.  The sprinklers were on and hitting our pathway, but I thought we could dart through them, super-quick, and stay relatively dry.  I was wrong – just as I barreled down the path, another sprinkler rotated just-so and drenched us.  Jules was a good sport about it, but my hair was not so forgiving.  Oops.

We headed back toward the museum and found a sunny bench where we could finish drying out, while taking in the view of that beautiful De Young.

Our first stop inside the Academy of Sciences was the rainforest – parrots squawked from tree branches while butterflies fluttered overhead.  A few of the butterflies fluttered a little too close to Juliette’s face and sent her running to my arms, but she eventually loosened up and was taken up in the magic of the place.

From the rainforest, we descended down into the aquarium for some serious fish-gazing.  This was a hit – Juliette has just started to master her colors and loved pointing out the orange fish, the yellow one, the blue one, the purple one…so many fish.

We took a quick spin through Africa after the aquarium, but hit the road just as Juliette was threatening to climb into the zebra exhibit.

We grabbed lunch at a little cafe near the park and then caught the N train back toward our hotel.  Jules was wearing a little thin by the time we rolled up to our stop…

And then this happened, 10 feet from our door.  Can’t.  Walk.  Any.  Further…

We spent a couple of hours recharging in our room and then headed down to Yerba Buena to meet up with Shane for dinner.  Juliette was back on her game by this point, running and running and running.  And running.

We chowed down on Indian takeout at the park and then called it a day and headed back to our hotel.  I love being on Nob Hill – the climb is brutal, but the views are amazing.

We kicked off Tuesday morning with coffee at Blue Bottle and treats from Frog Hollow at the Ferry Building.  Gosh, that Ferry Building – I find something new and delicious every time we go there.

Plus, the wide open hall is perfect for…running!  (Notice a theme here?)

We strolled along the waterfront after breakfast, stopping every 10 piers or so to look at the boats or go for a quick jog or play a game of peek-a-boo behind the lamp posts.

Finally, we made it up to Pier 39 to see what the sea lions were up to.  They were out in full force, active and loud and so fun to watch.

I took Juliette here last year and she just stared at the docks blankly, unimpressed by the action.  But yesterday I could hardly tear her away from them, as she arf-arfed back at them and exclaimed, “look at that one, mama!  splash!”.

Fisherman’s Wharf has always felt like a giant tourist trap to me – it’s not high on Shane’s and my list of San Francisco hot spots.  But dang, the look on her face when she saw those horses.  I couldn’t resist.

Jules was pretty heartbroken when the ride stopped spinning and she was asked to say goodbye to her shiny plastic zebra.  This is where the responsible mom would calmly explain that the ride was over and that whining afterwards can take away the fun.  Or, you could just distract your kid with a trip to the candy store!  I gave Jules a bucket and let her wander down the rows of taffy barrels, telling her she could pick out a few pieces.  She picked out about 50 pieces (and I put 40 of them back when she wasn’t looking – I’m not that much of a pushover!).  We shared a piece on the bench outside the store and then I hid the rest away in the bottom of my backpack.  This girl on a sugar high?  I feared for my sanity.

I strapped Jules back into the stroller and we made our way toward the hotel, stopping at Washington Square Park to eat our lunch and have a go on the swings.  She constantly insists “higher!  faster!  higher!” – this is probably as high as it goes, baby.

We “rested” (I use that term loosely – stubborn kid is on a nap strike!) in our room and then met up with Shane to catch a ride over to the Mission for dinner.  We picked up burritos and took them to Dolores Park to eat on the lawn with all the champagne-sipping, guitar-playing hipsters.

Jules looks a little out of place, doesn’t she?

But the playground there!  Now we’re talkin’!  It’s amazing – tons of places to climb and swing and slide while enjoying a great view of the city.

Jules and I turned in early last night while Shane went out to party with his fellow techies – sun and strolling and swinging had us both beat.  We’re rockin’ this city.

When Shane told me that he’d be going to San Francisco again for his annual VMware conference, there was a moment of pause in deciding whether or Juliette and I should join him.  But it was a brief moment of pause – forget about last year’s trip, with it’s plague of roseola and sleepless nights in the hotel!  I’d be danged if I was going to turn down a chance to spend a few days in one of my favorite cities, even with all the challenges that come with bringing our feisty, unpredictable extra baggage.  Let’s do this!

We left Seattle yesterday morning and landed in SF after an exhausting day of travel.  A two-hour flight should be no big deal, but when you factor in security lines and waiting at the gate and waiting in the plane while other passengers board and runway taxi time at both ends and waiting for baggage and getting from the airport to the hotel and checking into your room, you’re looking at about six hours of desperately trying to keep your toddler quiet and entertained.  Six hours of asking, with increasing levels of panic, “Do you want your new coloring book?  Do you want pretzels?  Do you want to play with mama’s phone?  Do you want dried mangoes?  Do you want to look out the window?  Do you want pretzels?  Please, just EAT SOME PRETZELS AND BE STILL!”.  Ok, I’ve dramatized the journey a little, and Juliette did pretty well, but it wasn’t without a great deal of effort on Shane’s and my part.   We were beat by the time we unlocked the door of our room at the Fairmont.  We unpacked a few things, laid down for about three minutes, and then headed back out, because Juliette was plum full of energy after sitting all day!  Thankfully, we found ourselves a boost in the form of margaritas and carnitas tacos at Tacolicious.

Best-looking kids meal I’ve ever seen.

We took a spin around Washington Square Park after dinner to burn off those last few wiggles.

It worked.

We headed back to our hotel, soaking in that marvelous San Francisco golden hour.

Hotel living can feel extra-tight with a kid in tow, but it has its perks – I can lay in bed while keeping an eye on Jules during bathtime!

Juliette hit the hay hard after just a couple of books.  She conked out around 7:30 and I wasn’t far behind her.

After a solid night’s sleep, we set out this morning in search of breakfast.  We walked down California Street, stopping to enjoy each glimpse of the water, and eventually landed at the Ferry Building.

We spent awhile enjoying the waterfront (and a Blue Bottle Americano) while we waited for Il Cane Rosso to open for the day.

We eventually landed a couple of killer breakfast sandwiches and an outdoor table.  The makings of a perfect Sunday.

After breakfast, we headed across the street to the Sue Bierman playground.  Spin, swing, slide, repeat.

We spent the afternoon at the Giants game – again, there was pause in deciding whether or not Jules would be up for it, but c’mon!  It’s the Giants.  And Juliette ended up being a champ through the whole thing.  We had to vacate our seats a couple of times to let her run laps around the club level, but there were periods when she actually seemed interested in the game, shouting “Hit it, Buster!” as each player stepped up to the plate and gasping with excitement as each foul ball sailed into the stands.  She’s a fan!  And I’m over the moon about it.

Speaking of being over the moon, do you know that on Sundays kids get to go down to the field and run the bases?!  How fortuitous!  Skipped nap be damned, we were doin’ it.  Shane might have been even more thrilled than Jules.  The sight of the two of them, rounding third at AT&T – I’ll remember that forever.

(She was so proud of herself.)

(Crazy proud.)

We snapped a couple last photos and then shouted “Bye bye baseball!”.  What. A. Day.

Shane and I were again pooped by 5 pm, so we kept dinner easy and picked up a pizza and salad to eat at the park across the street from our hotel.  Juliette ran around the playground, a regular Energizer Bunny.  I’m in denial over the fact that she seems not to need an afternoon nap anymore.

One last go on the slide (seven times), and then we headed back to our room.  Juliette went to bed with very little protest, Shane headed out for drinks with some friends, and I made myself a cup of tea, watched a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls on the iPad while going through photos, and put together this post, so thankful for the quiet.  But also thankful for a day full of running and clapping and laughing.  This trip is off to a pretty grand start.

The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are getting ever-so-slightly cooler – summer has begun that sad, inevitable process of waning…  But we haven’t pulled out our sweaters and holed up just yet.  Rather, we’re doing our best to seize the 82-degree days, hitting our favorite hot spots and doing some quality outdoor exploring.

We still love our Thursday evenings at Jefferson Park, where Shane meets us after his post-work bike ride and Juliette romps in the splash pad.

And Saturdays at Lincoln Park – an oldie but a goodie!  Shane and I used to come here a lot for summer sunsets before we had Juliette.  Now that she’s in bed by sunset time, we’re hanging here in the mornings instead, eating donuts with the Rust clan or reconnecting with our community group.  Shane borrowed Brian’s paddleboard and took Jules out on a very short tour of the Sound a week ago – they didn’t make it more than 20 feet from shore before Juliette was asking to turn around, but we’ll try again some other day.

Shane and Jack logged their annual Redhook ride out to Woodinville last weekend, but this year we introduced a twist – La Verne and I met our biker dudes up at 192 Brewing in Kenmore with the kids, and Shane pulled them the remaining few miles up to Redhook in the bike trailer.

I guess this is what a pub crawl looks like for us these days…

Beer, burgers, bikes, success!

We made it!  (A celebratory hug.)

The weather was a little cooler last Thursday and Juliette and I opted to stay closer to home, taking our afternoon treat across the street to the greenbelt.  This girl will be sorely disappointed when popsicle season comes to a close.

La Verne texted me as we were leaving the greenbelt and asked if we wanted to meet up with her and N for a walk/bike ride at Seward Park.  The kids have matching balance bikes and we figured the wide-open path there would be perfect for trying out their new wheels.  Plus, it was just a tad too cool for them to take their usual dip in the water.

Or…not.  They darted into the lake before we could even strip them down – I managed to fish Jules out of the water long enough to pull of her soaked pants and salvage her mostly-dry shirt, but then she and N were off to the races again, reveling in the late summer rays hitting their pale, bare bellies.

Shane and Jules have done some quality cruising on the bike this summer, taking regular spins to the grocery store or along Lake Washington Boulevard.  Despite Shane’s urging that I get a bike so that we can make this a family activity, I’ve resisted, happy to play the part of the spectator.  But on Saturday the lure of afternoon sun and time with friends was hard to turn down, so I borrowed Nancy’s bike and we all set out along the Green River Trail for a slow, easy spin.  And you know what?  It was kinda great.  Easy, breezy, perfectly paired with a mid-ride picnic dinner.  I might put a bike on my wish list after all.

And Jules was pretty stoked about our matching helmets.  “Mama ride bike?  Mama ride biiiiiike?!”

Yesterday morning we drove up north to check out St. Edward State Park – I had been wanting to check this place out for awhile and am so glad we made the trek.  After a quick go on the huge playground, we hit the trail down to the water.

The forest fires in Eastern Washington have been terrible it was hazy even in Seattle yesterday, the smoke hanging in the air like fog.

Juliette crashed in the stroller before we reached the water, so Shane and I had a few rare, quiet moments to ourselves.

Just as I spread out my blanket and reached for my book, though, she was up, wanting to come say hello to the ducks that had waddled onto the shore.

She lays it on so thick when she wants to.

Those few freckles on her nose have gotten darker with each passing weekend.  I’ll miss them if they decide to leave the premises come rainy season.

We headed back up the hill and through the forest once we’d had our fill of rock-throwing and pretzels.  Green, green, GREEN.  So good.

We spent the evening at Seward Park with the Chens, this time more prepared for a swim in the lake.  Jack lifted weights while the rest of us sipped wine on the lawn.

We packed up our things as the ultra-orange sun began to set, wondering what on earth we’ll do when it’s 40 degrees and dark at 4:30 pm.  I mean, I don’t want to sound too gushy about summertime in Seattle, but dang…it’s magical.