Seaside Weekend

Matt and I decided on a spur of the moment trip to Seaside a few weekends ago. It was much needed and turned out to be an excellent decision. We found a place last minute that was super close to the beach and we could bring the dogs- it also had a separate bedroom so Lyla could go to bed and Matt and I could hang out. It also had a kitchen. All good things.

Our dog Alice gets crazy nervous the second her schedule changes at all. Traveling just about does her in but we continue to take her everywhere because she is part of our family and does have a good time once she calms down. Her biggest issue is that her stomach goes crazy the minute we travel which often means lots of trips outside and usually at least one accident. She did not disappoint this trip. We arrived at the condo and Matt was outside getting our bags out of the truck and I was changing Lyla's diaper in the bedroom. Little did I know, Alice was in the living room dealing with her issues. Well I finished with Lyla and set her down- she ran out the living room before me and promptly stepped in Alice's situation and then screamed. Well I instantly called to Matt because it was too much all at once for me to comprehend. It was a pretty humorous start to our trip. We finally got everyone cleaned up and officially got our mini vacation started.

The beach was a quick two minute walk away and so nice. There weren't many people and it turned out to be a nice day. We gave Lyla a bucket and she was so excited to fill it with interesting beach finds.

Anyone who knows Lyla, knows she doesn't sit down- EVER. To get her to stop and hang out on a log for a few seconds was a miracle.

There was a carousel in town and Lyla was obsessed with it. She rode it five times and it would have been fifty had it been free. She was not pleased when we left. The funny part about it was that she only smiled one or two times the whole time she was riding- she took it all very seriously. The carousel was an awesome little find.

We discovered the most fantastic swing set ever. It is right on the beach! That is as close to perfection as it comes in my book.


One of my favorite things about little mini trips is the change in routine. Matt and I discovered that we like to do puzzles together. We found one in the condo the first night and had fun so we bought another one the next day in a cute little toy store we found. It was a nice little discovery. Truly a weekend filled with great memories.

Sweet Lyla

In an instant she can melt my heart.

Easter

This year, Easter was way more exciting for Lyla. She didn't fully get it still, but she was more engaged. We did an egg hunt on Saturday morning and it was complete with a bunny, a fire truck and eggs to "hunt" for. Lyla found a couple of eggs but she didn't really understand what to do so it was kind of fun just to go with the flow.



On Easter morning me had a little basket for Lyla and she was really excited once she saw it. We also hid some eggs in the yard for her and she figured that our pretty quick after having a practice round the day before. Overall it was cute to watch her expereince everything. Each holiday keeps getting better and better because Lyla starts to understand it more.




This was a little game of post egg hunt dress up. Mind you, I had the same thing tied on my head as we played. Too funny.

So many things...

So many new things have happened lately. Things have been good and despite the 28 days of straight rain, we have been super busy with projects and fun trips and new business ventures. Plus our sweet little Lyla has magically grown into this charming sweet little girl that says "arf" to all dogs, loves being outside and has just discovered that spinning in circles in the most scary and exciting and hilarious thing ever.

I took a trip up to Orcas for a few days with my friend Bianc and her fam. It was a much needed trip for me. I love Orcas Island. The place is peaceful. I have no doubt we will have our own little piece of that island one day. For now, I have to settle for every little chance we get to sneak back.



We have also been refinishing a few pieces of furniture which I will post soon. We also started a mini remodel on our bedroom. New paint color, diy headboard, shutters and a little closest organization. We are half way through- pictures will come soon.

I am super excited about a fun little business project Matt and I have together. We are going to be selling milkshakes at two different farmers' markets this summer. Our business is called Moo Shakes and we will feature 11 different flavors such as the standards of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry but we will also have raspberry, blackberry, peach, chocolate malt, cinnammon, honey lavender, banana and coffee. Most of our products will be local and as fresh as possible. These are gonna be some tasty milkshakes. I'm feeling good about this and we have some cool ideas in motion to make this work. We start May 22nd.

We were up visiting our friends Lynsey and Ryan and their darling little girl Lula this past weekend. She is also 16 months old so it was really fun to watch her and Lyla play together. We also had a fantastic day at the zoo. So nice to hang out with good friends.

10K Beach Extravaganza!

We just had a fantastic weekend in Lincoln City. It has been a goal of mine since I had Lyla to run a race of some kind. I was thinking about a half marathon for awhile but just wasn't ready. I decided to focus on a 10k (6.4miles). My training program left much to be desired but I maintained the entire time that is was more mental than physical. I knew I was a healthy relatively in shape 33 year old and there was no reason why I couldn't run the race. It turned out to be mind over matter after all - I completed the race in 1hr11min; 9 minutes under my goal.

Two friends also joined Matt, Lyla and I for the weekend. Bianc and Emily came down from Seattle to run the race with me and hang out for Saturday and Sunday night. We had the dogs with us too so it was a full house of fun. The weather turned out to be beautiful, the house we stayed was a stones throw from the beach and the company was hilarious. Perfect.




This is a photo I will treasure my whole life.


I immediately asked Matt if he had any experience with cheerleading- pretty good form.

Sunny Saturday at a new park

A few weeks ago I found a new park that isn't to far from our house. It was a little cold today but the sun was shining so we took the opportunity to go check out the park. It was the perfect size for Lyla and there weren't too many kids so she could just roam as she wanted. It was a fun little outing.

Little Miss Lyla: 14.5 months

Wow! Lyla is one fantastic little lady in my opinion. She is a happy little girl who just roams the house playing and exploring at her own leisure. She loves her stuffed animals, in particular Wocket, Huey , Miss Puff and Mr. Moose.
Books are a favorite but only to speed through- it's like she is being timed or something- very endearing- one day Biscuits trip to the pumpkin patch will slow down.

She is fascinated with a book shelf that we have and all of the items on it. She spends plenty of time in front of it pointing and jabbering wildly until she is picked up and then she selects the item with great determination- she has her eye on a specific item- usually our fish Holiday, but sometimes he loses out to the volume knob on the stereo.

Charlie and Alice (our dogs) are favorites for sure. She pats them quite a bit throughout the day and can often be found smiling and waving at them as well.

Lyla jabbers most of the day and she loves yelling because she's excited. She is understanding more and more of what we say. We can't say the word bath or she heads straight to the bathroom and if we say bedtime she walks to her room. We are quickly learning that she is listening. Matt said the word "vacuum" today and she walked to the closet where it's stored and staring banging on the door.

It really has been so special to watch her grow into her own person.





This was a completely random picture but has actually turned into one of my favorite family pictures thus far.