Squirty park

One of our favorite things to do in Palm Desert is go to the "squirty park" where the water flies out of objects and the ground. Such a great way to cool off! Today we tried out a new place in Bellevue - Crossroads Park - which also has a squirty park. I just let them wear their clothes but bathing suits would probably have been easier. The kids loved it!

Uncle Nuk & Auntie Roons

I'd like to introduce you to Ragen & Maggie's fairy-godparents...Chad & Ronni Collins. Chad was a Fiji with Jeremy and Ronni was a Theta (but she & I didn't meet until years later). For three years we were neighbors where "back doors are legal" meaning we could just walk thru the adjoined backyard to the other's house (poor person who's townhouse was between ours) at anytime. We spent countless hours together and have made tons of lasting memories. We got very close to their son Bailey as they didn't have other family in town and we didn't have kids yet. They ended up moving back to Spokane when Chad graduated from his residency program and we miss them tons. They are god-parents to both our kids and love and spoil them like crazy. Their boys Bailey (6) & Carter (4) are very special to us as well and to them, we're Kiki & Fifi.

So, it was time for a visit and we always have the best time. Ronni is an amazing hostess and they always make the entire visit seem effortless. We had a fabulous dinner and even better wine at home Friday night and the kids played outside in the bouncy house for hours. After putting them to bed Jeremy & I were introduced to Guitar Hero which was great (although I hated that I wasn't instantally an expert but Kiefer was a serious rock star). We spent all day Saturday on Lake Coeur d'Alene on their new party barge which was super fun (well, Maggie wasn't so sure about it but she loved playing at the beach). Ragen went tubing for the first time which was a riot (all 3 boys were on there together and the front end took a nose dive which was freaky but funny at the same time). We were amazed at how quickly Maggie warmed up to Chad & Ronni since she's pretty shy these days. All 4 kids played so well together all weekend and Ragen was devastated when we left (he cried a truly sad cry for at least 20 minutes).

We had a quick but wonderful visit and we look forward to seeing them again soon. We are so lucky to have them in our lives and we truly are better people for knowing them. Here are some pictures from the trip (and for those of you wanting to see miracles from the new camera, it was a busy weekend so I was mostly shooting in auto plus my battery died).

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Auntie Roons & Maggie

Uncle Nuk and some guitar hero action

Concentrating so hard because this just didn't come naturally to me.

The infamous "Derailer" drink on CdA. Sort of hard to tell but it comes in a bucket.

Captain Ragen drives with some help from Uncle Nuk.

This is when Carter, Bailey & Ragen (left to right) went head first while tubing.

All 4 kiddos!

Ragen on the fun island.

Home Sweet Home

With the weather starting to be a little less predictable, Nana & Bumpa decided to give Maggie her birthday present a bit early since it's an outdoor toy. She anxiously opened the paper (with tons of help from Ragen, of course) and had no clue what it was. Once outside, as it was blowing up, she realized what it was...a blow-up house! The kids instantly filled it with all kinds of toys and even begged to have dinner in there. Thank you so much to Nana & Bumpa - it's a hit!

6 years

Today is our anniversary - it's been 6 years since Jeremy and I got married. I hadn't been back to the Sunset Club (where our reception was) until just this week for a baby shower. It brought back so many wonderful and anxious feelings! In some ways it feels like we were just going through the wedding planning and in other ways, it feels like I can't remember life without being married. I am so thankful for my loving and patient husband. I'm so much more of a "me-person" than he'll ever be. He makes me laugh every day which I'm grateful for. He's the best father and our kids adore him. He puts himself dead last every time it comes to making a decision. I wish he'd focus on himself more. We went out for a fantastic dinner at Daniel's last night and while I'm sure he would rather have seen The Dark Knight, we went to see Mamma Mia instead. Luckily he thought it was about 150% better than he was expecting (for the record, I loved it!!)

Tennis

Who knew that when we introduced Ragen to tennis lessons a couple of weeks ago, he'd be so into it that he'd be constantly asking us to go out and practice?! Jeremy used to teach lessons so he decided to take Ragen out to the courts by our house and go over some skills. Maggie & I tagged along and it was really fun to watch the two boys doing their thing. After Ragen was done, Jeremy and I played a bit and I had such a great time! I am anxious to find a little bit of time (what's that?!) so I can take some lessons and maybe even play in tennis week next year at the STC.

We have no dress code for practice at our house - undies & different crocs work just fine!

Love the form!

My knight in shining armor...

Ragen has been wandering into our room lately in the middle of the night. He is eerily quiet about it and just lays right on the floor next to my bed until Jeremy finds him when he gets up in the morning. I ask him about why he does this and his answer is always the same..."so I can protect you." It's the sweetest thing! We all know it has a little more to do with him needing to feel protected but I tell him he's my knight in shining armor anyways. Tonight he wandered in earlier than usual - we were still downstairs watching TV. So I moved him back to his room only to head upstairs awhile later and find him like this in the hallway.

A day at the track

Jeremy's company, Brighton Jones, sponsored a race today at Emerald Downs as they celebrated being named one of Washington CEO Magazine's top 100 companies to work for! It was a gorgeous day here today - maybe too gorgeous. Our poor kids cooked outside at the racetrack. We had a private tent but of course they didn't want anything to do with it...there were bouncy houses, magic shows, face painting, and pony rides all within feet of our tent. So on a day with no nap and lunch not served until 2:30, we decided to just bake our children too. Needless to say they both crashed the minute we started to drive home. How's this for a small world...my friend Jodi Laiblin from college was the private event coordinator for Emerald Downs so we just ran into each other at our tent. I managed to win one race with 9-2 odds but unfortunately lost the race that Brighton Jones had sponsored. This was a great celebration!

Brighton Jones recognized on the scoreboard

Daddy with Ragen & Mags

Becoming a pony-riding-pro!

Fun in the sun with Madison

We had a great day with the Tucker family today. First Courtney & Madison joined us for some fun at the Tennis Club. Poor Jeremy was stuck in the lake for a long time with the kids and he may have even thrown his back out chucking the kids up in the air.

Then we went to dinner at the Tucker's house to check out their new landscaping and christen the new patio. It looks fantastic! Both Ragen & Maggie had so much fun with Mads today and are definitely pooped from all the sun & fun.

Sam's 1st Birthday!

Little Sam Headrick celebrated his 1st birthday last night with a pool party bash at the Headrick's house. The kids had so much fun!



Ragen jumping off the diving board



Maggie has floaties & back up floaties

Spoiled by Nana

Yesterday Ragen had a special date with Nana. They went to see Diego Live! I was going to take him but instead I took Maggie to Riley's birthday party and Nana took Ragen to the show. They had a great time and poor Nana got suckered into buying all the Diego crap they could carry! Tattoos, t-shirt, spinning light thing, popcorn, face masks, etc...Ragen is still talking about it today. Thanks Nana!!

Finally Summer

We're finally getting some consistent weather in Seattle and it's been so wonderful! Ragen started tennis clinics at the Seattle Tennis Club this week and since it's so early in the morning, today we just stayed down there to spend the day a the beach. Maggie is getting fearless when it comes to the lake - she'll just lay down backwards and push out until her head is underwater. Ragen is making friends on the beach and they run and play and splash together - just like when I was a little girl.

Ragen's ready in his "whites". Surprisingly no stains in any of the new white tennis clothes!Action shot!

Getting tips from pro Jonathan Stark

Beach babe

Maggie & Bumpa doing motorboats

Happy Birthday America!

It's the first thing my husband says every year on the 4th of July...Happy Birthday America! It's one of his quirks that I chuckle at every year. This year he had Ragen burst in to tell me while I was still sleeping. Passing on a tradition, I guess. I know I said I wouldn't back-post but the 4th of July is still a recent event so it's legal, right!? In the morning we attended our neighborhood picnic & bike parade. The kids loved it! The parade is supposed to be led by a fire engine but the Bellevue fire dept was called to a big Mercer Island fire so it had to speed away - lights and all. Then we went to the annual celebration at the Seattle Tennis Club which is always fun. We actually lasted until the fireworks this year which was a first.

Fighting the urge to back-post

After contemplating for weeks about starting a blog, I've decided to give it a whirl. I love staying updated on friends through their blog and I figured if my friends don't care what I'm up to, then they don't have to look. Since I'm new to blogging, I feel like I need to back-post and tell you everything I've been up to and post a ton of pictures of our summer events. But, I'll fight the urge. I'm still working on the layout and how to work this whole Blogger thing so if anyone has any tips, I'm always listening. Also, if you want to be listed as a blog I visit (haven't added the feature yet), let me know and I'll post your link. This should be fun!