WHAT?

I can't believe the things my 3 year old says to me... When did he turn 12? The other day I was supper frustrated with him. He had a time-out which lasted at least 30 min from start to finish since he kept getting up and was hysterical. Anyway, a few hours later I was sitting down with my head, in my hands, rubbing my eyes. Cooper saw me and said "Mom why are you crying?" I told him I was just really frustrated with his bad behavior and it really upset me. He then surprised me by saying "Mom, I'm really sorry, I want you to be proud of me!" Where did he come up with that? I love this little guy; challenges and all!

Milestones

Delaney is officially a crawler (Army style), can sit up on her own, has two bottom teeth and knows how to get what she wants. She puts everything in her mouth and has come close to chocking once. I have to watch her like a hawk as her big brother seems to drop everything choking size only where she can find it.

Where does the time go? Her hair is really starting to come in and is on the auburn side. Her eyes are turning a bit green. She is really starting to slim down and already fitting into size 9 months cloths. Next she will be walking... how do I stop her getting older.... HELP! I don't want my baby to grow up!!!!

Love this picture... such a cutie!

A bit blurry, had to hold her down while taking the picture... she wasn't happy.

NW TREK

On the 3rd day of our trip, we left the beach and headed in-land. We checked into a hotel in Tumwater, Washington. Our goal was to get closer to our destination for the next day, the Northwest Trek. The hotel we choose had a major requirement which was an indoor pool. We all went swimming shortly after arrival. Cooper and Payton went swimming a second time that evening. Cooper and Payton had a blast.

The next morning, after eating a quick breakfast courtesy of the hotel, we headed to NW Trek to meet up with Nana, Papa and Kendall. The drive from the hotel was about and hour and a half.

Northwest Trek is a 723-acre wildlife park featuring a 435-acre free-roaming area tram tour. Pacific Northwest native species are exhibited in a natural setting. It has a little bit of everything: lakes, trails, meadows and plenty of animals. Northwest Trek is home to more than 200 North American animals.
Northwest Trek has dozens of natural habitats in its walkable core area filled with mesmerizing animals like grizzlies, cougars and otters. From the tram bighorn sheep, deer, Roosevelt elk, woodland caribou, mountain goats, bison and more can be seen.

It was pretty chilly and cloudy, but we had a great time. We all rode the tram together, but Nana, Delaney and I stayed behind while everyone else went on the walking tour. Pete was our photographer for the day and got some great pictures, except while on the tram as our driver had a bit of a lead foot. This was a worthwhile trip and we had lots of fun.

Starting the tram tour.

All the animals were starting to loose their winter coats.

This is a nest with swan eggs.

Vacation Day #2.... Beach, Site-Seeing & SMORES

The second day of our beach trip landed us on the beach litterly... In Washington you can drive on the beach. So I got my first beach driving trip. It really was fun and I was a bit gitty. You would have thought I was one of the kids. I took a ton of pictures with us driving on the beach, parked on the beach and playing on the beach. It really was chilly when we went the first time so we decided to site-see.

We headed to see a light house. We came upon a really old small town called "Oysterville". It was established in 1854. There were still a dozen or more original houses still standing. They were amazing and were right on the bay so they had even better views. On the way back to the beach, we ran into a black bear that decided to cross the road right in front of the car before us. It was really neat!

We then tried our luck for warmer weather at the beach again... no such luck, but the kids were dying to play in the sand. So we parked and got out chairs and sand toys. Of course they had to go in the water. Cooper tripped and got all wet. It didn't phase him a bit. Payton and Cooper loved digging in the sand just as much as playing in the water. Delaney and I tried to catch a few rays and Dad just enjoyed watching us all have fun.

After, playing on the beach, we headed to the little town of Long Beach for lunch. We ate shrimp cocktails, clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl and fish and chips. Totally Yummy! This town had a ton of souvenir shops so we got the kids "Long Beach, WA" sweat shirt. Then, we rode the merry-go-round and got ice cream cones.

We ended the night with SMORES! There are two things I love about the out-doors... a "camp fire & SMORES!" We had a great second day & an even better night.