Our first family vacation

On October 17th we went on our first family vacation to the Suncadia Resort.  It was our gift to Patrick for his 30th birthday. The resort is situated right next to the Cle Elum River, which I thought would be perfect for fly fishing.  On Saturday it was pouring down rain, which was a bit discouraging, but the weather cleared up for the most part once we arrived and it was nice for the rest of the weekend.

Nelia slept the entire car ride (about 2 hours), which was perfect. When we arrived I went to check-in and the girl asked if we had ever been to Suncadia before (which we hadn't). I told her that it was my husbands 30th birthday gift and my daughter's first vacation.  Long story short, she upgraded us for free. It was soooo nice of her!  We had a beautiful suite with a kitchen, a living room, a seperate bedroom, and a huge bathroom and a view of the river.

Saturday afternoon we attempted to go fishing with Patrick, but that didn't really work out so instead Nelia and I went back to the room and Patrick went fishing. Nelia took a nap and I relaxed, which was really nice. That evening we decided to order room service instead of trying to go out to dinner. I had a panini sandwich and Patrick had a hamburger and we ordered the chocolate molten cake for dessert. Yum!  Amazingly Nelia slept through the night! I was a bit worried because it was pretty noisy at times and we didn't have a white noise machine, but she did an awesome job!

On Sunday we woke up and headed down to the coffee shop in the lodge for breakfast (super yummy scones and coffee).  Funny, but gross story- it was really crowded in the coffee shop and while we were waiting for our coffee Nelia let out a burp and spit-up everywhere!   It was funny though because several people heard the burp and we all knew what was coming:)  Needless to say, it was a bit embarrassing, but we recovered quickly.  Enjoyed breakfast and then headed back to the room so Nelia could nap. We wanted to go swimming (they have waterslides too!), but by the time she woke up we didn't have enough time. Next time!  So instead we decided to hike down to the river so Patrick could go fishing.

The hike was about a mile. We took Nelia in her jogging stroller, which worked out really well. It was definitely stroller off-roading:) There were a few areas on the trail that were really rocky so Patrick took her car seat out and just carried her.  We got down to the river and Patrick fished while Nelia and I hung out in the sun.  We stayed for about an hour before hiking back to the car.  We drove into Roslyn and had lunch at Village Pizza, which was really yummy before heading home.

Overall, it was a wonderful first family vacation. I can't wait for many more to come!

The Suncadia Lodge

The view from our room - the Cle Elum River

The kitchen

Success! Rolling over from her back to her belly:)

Chocolate molten cake:)

Hanging out by the river

Happy Birthday Uncle Brent

Happy Birthday to the best brother and uncle in the whole wide world! 

And here is one of your favorite pictures that always makes you laugh:

Happy Birthday Aunt Deanna!

Happy Birthday to the best sister and aunt in the whole wide world!!!!

Maris Farms - 2009

We took Nelia to her first pumpkin patch last weekend and it was the cutest thing, even if she got a bit grumpy towards the end:)

Before leaving we did a quick photo shoot at home. Her onesie says 'Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch' and her hat says 'Baby's 1st Halloween' (thanks Nana!).

Patrick and I have always gone to Maris Farms, a really cool pumpkin patch in Bonney Lake.  Of course this year was better than any other because we had Nelia with us!

We tried our best to capture some cute pictures of Nelia with the pumpkins, but she didn't seem too amused. Not to mention it was pretty cold and wet outside.

She was wayyyy more interested in her hands at the pumpkin patch. She has discovered her hands and she loves to not only look at them, but put them in her mouth all.the.time. Silly monkey!

Wardrobe change:)

Not looking too thrilled to be sitting by the pumpkins

Okay, time to go!

Happy 30th Birthday Patrick!

October 10th - Happy 30th birthday to my amazing husband:)

We began Patrick's birthday weekend with a trip to Mt. Rainier, just the two of us. Nelia stayed home with her Nana for the day (which for the record, was the longest I have been away from her since she was born!).  When we got to the trailhead (Sunrise - Palisades Trail) it was 31 degrees and snowing! Luckily we brought some warm clothes. We began the hike, which was pretty easy since it was all downhill (but of course that also meant that coming back was going to be a lot harder).  We arrived at Clover Lake, which was really pretty.

Can you see the snow falling?

Patrick did a little bit of fly fishing. Unfortunately I don't think there were any fish in this lake. Boo!

Us:)

After a bit more fishing and a quick lunch at the lake (because it was freezing) we headed back.  The hike back was definitely a lot harder for me, but it was so nice to be outside hiking.  We are already looking forward to next summer when we can share our love of the outdoors with Nelia. This hike was the perfect hike with a little one:)  We headed towards home and stopped for dinner.  We were still in our hiking clothes so we didn't go anywhere too fancy, just a new restaurant (Hop Jacks) in Bonney Lake.  We got home and according to Nana, Nelia did an awesome job. What a relief!

The next morning I woke up bright and early in order to get ready for Patrick's party. For those of you who know Patrick really well, you know that he is quite modest. He really didn't want the big typical 30th birthday celebration.  So instead I hosted a small party at our house, which I think was quite the success:)  I have to give a shout out to brother Brent for helping out soooo much!  I don't think I could have done it without him.  And to Diane who helped with some of the food. THANK YOU!

A drooly Nelia with Grandpa Brian.  Last week Brent and I went to Party City and bought out all of their 30th birthday decorations.  Nelia is looking at the super cool 30th streamers hanging from the ceiling. They were all over the place in our house. It was like a giant mobile for her:) We still have them hanging up because she is so into them.  I imagine we should take them down eventually, but I think we will wait until she gets bored with them, or until I turn 30. Just kidding!

Hanging with Nana, although she looks a bit grumpy in this picture. She had on the cutest outfit for her daddy's birthday - a little baby Gap blouse and corduroy pants. Of course she had a really poopy diaper though and we had to have a wardrobe change, as did Nana since she was holding her at the time. Oops! Sorry!

A tired Brent - he had been awake for 32 hours or something insane like that. I think this is a good picture of him though despite the tiredness.

For those of you that know Patrick and I well, you know that we are a bit extreme when it comes to gift giving.  For example, one year I took Patrick to the Metolius River for his birthday, but he had to put together a puzzle in order to figure out where we were going. Another year he made this really cool CD and had a little plastic doll bungee jump from our staircase when he gave me bungee jumping as a gift. So this year I had him go on a scavenger hunt in order to get his gift:)  It was pretty fun and I think he was happy with his gift (a trip to this resort called Suncadia).

I didn't make him blow out 30 candles:) He requested banana cream pie or lemon meringue pie for his birthday treat.  I made him a banana trifle (which was quite delicious) and Diane bought a lemon merinque pie so he got the best of both worlds:)

Hanging out with great Grandpa Bob after a nap. She is looking at the TV in case you are wondering.  In the last few weeks she has become obsessed.  She will really go out of her way (as you can see in this picture) to get a glimpse of the TV. We have to constantly turn her away so that she doesn't become focused on it.

With great Grandparents Bob and Lois

With Grandpa Roy

Overall, I think Patrick's party was a success! He said that it was perfect and exactly what he wanted for his 30th.  He got to do something that he loves (hike and fish), he was surrounded by people who he cares about, and he got some pretty great gifts (the best being his first birthday with his daughter).  Thank you everyone for coming and for making his party a success:)

For Auntie Sarah:)

Look at her arms and legs from 1 month to 3 months!  She has definitely chunked up a bit:)

And her head control is so much better. At one month she could barely keep herself up!

Looking at it this way really puts things into perspective - she is growing way tooooo fast!

xoxo

Photoshoot with Nana

Diane (my mother in-law) was kind enough to come over last weekend and take some family pictures for us. We have a billion pictures of Nelia and we have some of her with either Patrick or I, but hardly any pictures of us as a family. We took a ton and got several that we really love. I am excited to hang them up in our house.

This one cracks me up because it looks like Nelia is sticking her tongue out at her daddy:)

My favorite:)

Picture Post - weeks 14 and 15

All bundled up for a walk:) Big brother Roary finds her quite intriguing.  We recently purchased a BOB jogging stroller, which is awesome. Such a smooth ride - she almost always falls asleep.

This is Nelias' favorite way to do tummy time and she especially loves if she can have a conversation with her seahorse:)

Hanging out with cool Uncle Brent - isn't it cute how they are posed the exact same way (which wasn't on purpose by the way)

I love my little girl:)

Tummy time - checking herself out in the mirror:) Such a pretty girl!

Laughing at her monkey on the activity mat

We have a busy week planned!  Today we went walking with Katie and her little boy Riley.  Tomorrow we are meeting Eva and her little girl Olivia at the mall.  We are hanging out with Uncle Brent on Wednesday. We still have some plans in the works for Thursday and Friday.  The days go by so much quicker if we have at least one thing to do each day.  It is nice to get out of the house, especially this week since it is supposed to be sunny!  We are also getting ready for Patrick's 30th birthday celebration this weekend. Woo hooo!

Nelia just started reaching for toys this week, which is really exciting.  She has also been talking up a storm! It is so fun listening to her little voice:)