Thursday, July 25, 2013

Oaks Park Fun

Oaks Park is the oldest amusement park in the United States (cool!) and it is right here in our fair town! Doug's company used to have its annual picnics there and I have been to a few wedding receptions, but we had yet to take the kids there. That all changed yesterday! During the summer the park has "preschool mornings" where the little kids can come and for a pretty good price, they can ride all the kiddie rides as much as they want for 2 hours. We met up with some friends and had a great time!


Evelyn going down the big slide. She loved it. Matthew... not so much!!

Carrossel time with Juliet!

Love her!

Girlfriends on the train ride. 

They enjoyed trying to shoot me as they went around on this ride!


Matthew and his "fwend" Colin. It was good for him to hang with his buddy!

Motorcycle ride...a favorite for the boy!

Love my boy!

I happen to think she is pretty lovely! 

And he is so stinkin' cute!

For their last ride of the morning, the kids picked the shoot 'em up plane ride and enjoyed shooting at me. Again!



A very fun day with friends!!

Monday, July 15, 2013

A Special Reunion

One of the highlights of my "youth" was spending the year after graduating high school in Alexandria, Virgina as a nanny for the Bailey family. Sarah and Perrin were 6 and 4 at the time and being their full time babysitter and living with them and Anne & Russ, their parents, was such a special time for me. A year of fun, growth, adventure, and life lessons that I will always cherish.

It has been fun being able to stay in touch over the years via Christmas cards and now facebook. I have seen the Bailey's twice since I left Virginia in 1990, the last time being soon after my wedding. Perrin, the youngest, was married just last month although I was sad to not be able to be there, I was excited to hear that they were going to be in Washington last weekend... ALL of them, including Perrin's new husband David. Better yet, they were going to make time in their jam-packed schedule to see us!!

 We met them for breakfast last Saturday and had the most amazing time chatting and catching up. They enjoyed meeting the kids and were regaled by many of Evelyn and Matthew's adventures. Perrin's husband is a Brit and is postively delightful! We seriously could have chatted all day, but alas, they needed to head back north to Seattle for a Mariners game. It was a sad goodbye, but such a lovely visit that made me cherish my time as a part of their family even more!

Me and the Bailey clan

Me and "my girls"! All grown up and lovely in every way!

The whole bunch!

What a special reunion.. one I hope happens again soon!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Fourth of July Fun

We once again went to Enchanted Forest for the 4th of July, and once again had SUCH a great time together! I cherish family time and soaked it up as much as I could this day!

Ready to go!

They were not happy that I wanted to get a picture at the entrance.. they just wanted to go IN!

Happiness and beauty...

Joy and charm....

Being crooked outside of the "Crooked House"

Matthew didn't want to do the bumper boats, but Evelyn did and she had fun even tho she was by herself!

They loved this silly train again this year!

Once again we spent most of our time here.. the beloved "Shoe Slide"!




Such a fun day! I will be sad when they don't want to come to this magical place any more!

Happy Fourth!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Another Retirement

My mom's husband officially retired last week! He has worked at Intel for almost 20 years and there was a lovely reception for him that we attended. The kids were so excited to see where "Grandpa Doug" worked. They even got to have name badges AND got a special tour of the building (which is amazing, if I may add!). It was a fun afternoon to celebrate with Doug and his coworkers!



 They think he is pretty neat!



These are people from the very first group he worked with when he started at Intel!

We are so proud of Doug and thankful for his dedication and hard work over the years. We are so fortunate to have him in our lives!!

Congrats Grandpa Doug!! We love you!