Lopez Island

Eliot has some gigs up here in the San Juans, so we are hanging out on Lopez Island this weekend. Sadly, James has a really bad cold, so bad that he can't breathe when he lays down. So he has spent a lot of time skipping naps and being crabby, and I've spent a lot of time being exhausted.

But regardless I was determined to have some fun today. I took James down to Watmough Bay to see the Puget Sound for the first time, and he loved it! It was so eerily quiet, I actually heard the leaves fall. When we got to the bay, the only sound was the sound of the waves lapping at the shore and an occasional bird or two. It was quite peaceful and we actually had fun!

Then I took James to the other side of the island to go to the one and only grocery store, where we cleaned them out of every baby-illness item they had. James was a good sport, and I figured it wasn't too bad to take him there since he got to snuggle up with a blanket and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the ride there and back. During our drive, the shun came out and gave us a spectacular sunset with a view of the Olympic mountain range.

I guess the theme foe the weekend is to make lemonade out of lemons or whatever. All I know is I nee dto go eat before he wakes up crying again.

Here are some pics of James's first ride (on the ferry from Anacortes to Lopez), bumming around our friend's house with a gorgeous view of the Olympics, and of course our trip to Watmough beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a little video to bring you the peace of the islands this Christmas.

Christmas with the Cousins

Tonight we got to visit with James's aunt, uncle and cousins and celebrate Christmas. We had a lot of fun hanging out and watching the twins open their gifts. I also got to help the boys drive cars in a video game and also helped them take pictures with my camera (hence some of the blurry or close up shots). It was cute the way they insisted on being models for each other and then switching places after each shot (as you can see in some of the pics, Levi in the pic and then Asher). James was pretty content just playing with all the new toys and running around. He helped me stack some things and put some toys on the shelf, but mostly he played until he was thoroughly exhausted. We bathed all the cousins together for the first time, and tucked James in bed.

The twins, on the other hand, got some super cool spiderman watches from someone (ahem...us) and totally freaked out when they had to give them up to go to bed. While they liked the dino tails and toolbelts I made them, the silly watches were the clear winner, making bedtime quite an event. They yelled "MeeMaaaaaaw" (spiderman) like they had lost all that was valuable to them in the world. Quite humorous, while frustrating.

Regardless, we had a great time with our family. Here are some pics from our evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Now that we've completed most of our Christmas prep, we are starting to relax a bit more and have fun with our little guy as he experiences his second Christmas season. Eliot spent most of yesterday putting up lights on the house (it was a little bit Clark Griswold-esque at moments when he got them all up and a portion of them wouldn't light). We also made Gingerbread cookies and two other family favorite cookies, many in fun shapes of cookie cutters we've collected over the years (Buffalo from yellowstone, Mickey from Disneyland, and a Moose from James's baby shower, see pic below).

James also opened his first Christmas present from us a bit early... a froggie knit hat to wear on our upcoming trip to the San Juans (Eliot has some gigs up there so we are staying with friends a few days and enjoying the islands). \

So here are a few pics of our holiday festivities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone is having a very merry Christmas season so far!