Aaron's New Truck

The rear seat.




The front seat with the bells and whistles.



2008 Toyota Tundra SR5

Seattle

We had such a great time in Seattle this past week. We rented a condo and split the expense with Dan and JaNeil and their family. JaNeil and I went to a continuing education course together two of the days, (which was great), and the rest of the time we saw all of the sights. Penelope had a great time with Lane and Owen and was asking for them for days after we got home. She also does a really good impression of "silly uncle Dan." Overall, a great trip and I took so many pictures. The only thing I didn't get pictures of was the Museum of Flight, (the dads took the kids while the moms were at the course).

The day we arrived in Seattle, we had to kill a little time before we could get into the condo we were renting, so Tom Tom found a mall for us to go to. At first we were a little disappointed because it looked a little deserted, but then we happened upon this awesome childrens museum. There were so many fun things for the kids to play with, and the dad's had some fun too. :)

I had a hard time getting Penelope to pause long enough to get a picture.

Eleanor had a good time feeling the different textures of the rugs in the baby and toddler area. Lane and Penelope at the Seattle Zoo.

Our family at Pike Place Market. This window had a great view of Puget Sound, but you can't really tell from the picture. We bought the girls these matching hats at the market.This restaurant in Pike Place was in the Sleepless In Seattle movie. The restaurant had little plaques on the counter where Tom Hanks and (I forget the other guy's name) sat in the movie. We were sitting by the entrance and we had a big window that looked out into the market. It was kind of fun to sit there and people watch.This is a shot of Puget Sound from the aquarium. My favorite part of the aquarium was the dome where you could see the fish swimming all around you. I could have stayed there for hours watching them swim. I also really loved watching the sea horses swim. The kids liked seeing the fish that looked like Nemo and the scubadiver who was cleaning one of the tanks. The guy gave each of the kids a "high-five" from inside of the tank. They thought that was really cool.Daddy and Penelope getting attacked by an octopus at the aquarium.

This is a picture of the toddler area at the Pacific Science Center. It had some amazing exhibits. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the butterfly room where butterflies flew around us.Aaron and Penelope getting attacked by a giant praying mantis. I love Penelope's scared face.They had so many interesting things to play with at the PSC and of course the kids are allowed to touch it all, which Penelope loved. I got a kick out of the giant chair and table. Penelope; not so impressed.They had an IMAX at the PSC and a movie was included with our tickets, so we went to see one about the ocean in 3-D. It was amazing. Penelope had to take off her glasses a few times. She found that having the fish that close was a little too scary for her.We stayed at the space needle long enough to get a quick picture and then went back down. This was our last day and everyone was a little tired. Most of the time we cooked dinner at the condo, but we decided to eat out the last night we were there. Aaron taught Penelope how to crack the peanuts and then swipe the shells onto the floor. (Yes, it was allowed in this restaurant.)

We had such a great time. Thanks to Dan and JaNeil for planning everything and changing their original plans to include us. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Lamby

So we were talking about Penelope's Lamby this weekend in Utah and I thought I would just post a quick picture of what Lamby used to be. I found a replacement Lamby in Las Vegas last year at the sisters weekend and Penelope will sleep with the replacement only if Lamby is having a "bath."

Notice the difference in color and fluffiness.

I now know not to buy a white stuffed animal for Eleanor. :)

Utah

We had such a great time in Utah this last week. We went for Morgan, Katie and Stephanie's college graduation and ended doing a lot of other fun things too. We went to Hogle Zoo with Grandma, Angela and Cael and Maliyah, Eva and Josh and Stephanie. We had a great time.

After the zoo we drove to Vernal to see Christa and her new baby Annabelle. Annabelle was only a few hours old when we got to see her so that was great. We stayed the night in Vernal at Ma'am and Papa's house and enjoyed visiting with Melinda and Garrett and Jana and her boys. Then we drove to Logan the next day and spent the next couple of nights at Penny and Jeff's house. It was so fun to see the older cousins playing with the younger cousins. Can't wait to get together again.Eleanor didn't get much out of the zoo, but she liked being there anyway. It was such a beautiful day.We caved and let Penelope ride the carousel. She loved it, of course. Yes, we had Penelope on a leash at the zoo. She loved it and we had peace of mind. Of course, before I had kids I made fun of people like me. :)Isabelle (Penny's youngest) holding Eleanor. Penelope holding the new kittens at Penny and Jeff's house.

Josh (Eva's little boy) giving Penelope some love. Shortly after this picture they both tumbled to the ground, still hugging. Penelope wasn't quite sure what to think of that.Katie (Penny's 2nd child) with Eleanor. Katie was so patient playing with Penelope. She was great!Isabelle and Josh, Katie and Penelope.

Fun Filled Week

So, I go through phases where I take lots of pictures and then I don't take any for a month. Well, I have some pretty cute pictures that I wanted to share from this past week.

Aaron went to church with us on Easter morning, but he missed out on the Easter baskets. And then he left that evening after dinner and was gone all week for some training in Havre. We kept plenty busy this week, but we still miss him when he is gone.

Penelope had such a great time and was so excited when she saw the baskets in the living room. I was only able to get one picture of both of the girls looking at the camera, but Eleanor looked confused and Penelope looked like she was off in daisy dream land. At least in this picture they are both smiling, even if they are not looking at the camera.Penelope loved her chocolate bunny. She bit the ears off and then filled the bunny with her jelly beans and other small candies and then just carried it around shaking it. Penelope in her "Easter dress." She was posing, but absolutely refused to look at the camera.See what I mean about not looking at the camera?Aaron insisted on getting a picture of Eleanor and I,

but then wouldn't let me take one of him. I love Eleanor's smile.

Her whole face lights up when she smiles and I love the little eye wrinkles.

On Wednesday we had a fun birthday party for my friend LaDonna. We found the largest balloon known to man and it had the sweetest little blue fringe thing on it and, of course, Penelope loved it. (So did LaDonna.)

We had the party at Colleen's house and this is her dog Chester. Penelope loves Chester, but what is funny is that Eleanor loves Chester even more. She would lean toward Chester and kick her legs and try to grab at him. I wish I had gotten a picture of that. I couldn't believe how much she loved him.

We made LaDonna wear this tiara the whole time. Well, not the whole time. Penelope confiscated it toward the end; after all she is the princess.

Eleanor is doing really well with solids, but she really likes to blow raspberries with it too. I have decided that I need a full body bib, gloves and goggles when feeding Eleanor.

She thinks it is fun though.

This morning we walked down to story time at the library with Eleanor in the stroller and then after the library we walked to the park. Well, on our way back, Penelope started crying for the "car seat" so I had to squeeze both girls in the stroller and push them up the steepest hill ever created. The girls thouroughly enjoyed it.