Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

We took our 2nd trip to the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday and it turned out to be a beautiful day at the zoo! It was afternoon so most of the animals were either resting or our grazing after their lunch. Olive even got to pet a few animals in the Family Farm section. We saw lions, gorillas, giraffees, hippos, zebras and lots and lots of birds. Olive loves birds so she didn't mind. She definitely loves the animals!


This jaguar was resting right by the window - it was crazy to see it so close - it was such a beautiful cat. You can see Olive's reflection in the glass in the picture!


Waving to the black and white Colombus monkey!


Olive seeing her first real live cow up close! And boy were they big!

She really really wanted to touch these goats!

Finally we found the petting farm area and she got to pet a goat! and a bunny and a mini donkey too!

Had to post this picture - the lions were taking a nap and we thought it was hilarious that the male sleeps just like our dog Apollo! =)

Lunch and Play with the Stone's

While Tonya and Owen were in town we met a friend from high school, Shane Stone and his family for lunch at Red Robin at Bell Square - great place for kids hopped up on M&Ms for sure! Shane and his wife Courtney have 2 darling little ones - Nate (3) and Clara (1). Clara is only a month and a half older than Olive. Too bad they live all the way up in Mill Creek, I am sure the girls would be good friends!

After lunch we went into the mall and let the kids run off some energy at the Kid's Cove. It was Olive's first time there and she loved it - the play structures are so cute and I didn't realize they were all super padded, even the floor is bouncy - so the falls don't hurt so bad!! Olive had a blast cruising around the boat, ferry and sand castles. She literally walked all the way around one of the boats - too cute! We will definitely be back!


Nate and Olive at Red Robin


Nate and Clara Stone


Owen and Olive in the little motor boat at the play space.

Practicing her walking and checking out the cute crab.

Mommy and Olive with their friends Shane and Tonya! Good Times!

Visit from Tonya and Owen

Tonya and Owen finally came up for a visit this summer, it was so good to see them! We kept busy meeting old friends from high school who live in the Seattle area. We had dinner one night and lunch the next day with people - it was a fun but quick visit from the Martin's! Thanks for coming to see us!!


Owen (4) and Olive posing. Olive thought Owen was pretty cool and just wanted to check him out.


Reading with Auntie Tonya!


Dog pile!

Trying to pose, Olive wasn't into it!

Giddy Up Horsey!

It took her a while but Olive has finally warmed up to the toy horse we got her a while back. She actually enjoys getting on it and "riding" it now - but she hasn't figured out how to push herself on it yet, so Brad decided it needed a lead rope. Actually its quite a good idea since now he can just pull her vs. having to bend behind her and push. Giddy Up!


Horsey at the hitching post (aka the treadmill)


Nice Horsey


Let's go Horsey!

Daddy fixing the bridal

The Vent

One of Olive's new favorite places to play is the heat/AC vent upstairs near her toybox. When the air is on she likes to sit there and put her face over it and make noises into the vent - and recently it has become one of her favorite spots to do a little business.... if you know what I mean! Hey what's wrong with doing your business with a little cool air to help you out! hehe


Doing her business


You can't see it under the baby and toys, but thats where the vent is.

The Box

After putting away diapers and wipes from Costco, Brad decided to see if Olive would have any fun with the wipes box! So he piled in her pink hippo and Hello Kitty stuffed animals and fun ensued! She actually stayed in there for a little while and seemed to enjoy it, especially when Daddy drove her around in the box. Too cute!


Seriously Dad, a box?


Okay this is fun!


Hi Mom!

The Big 1st Birthday Party!

Well I think the big 1st Birthday party was a success!! I think everyone had fun, I know I did, I am pretty sure Olive did!! She loved playing with her friends and cousins and seeing her Aunties and Nana and Papa - and even Great Grandma! I am so happy everyone was able to come up - Brad's Mom flew out for a few days and my family drove up from Vancouver for the day.

The theme was Flowers, and I think it looked great! Thanks to Brad and my Mother-in-law for helping decorate and set everything up!

Olive skipped her afternoon nap and went to bed early that night - she definitely celebrated big! Thanks everyone for coming over and celebrating Olive's first birthday with us!


Nana and Papa hanging out on the back patio - decorated with paper bag flowers!! The inside was decorated with the flowers too, but I didn't get a good picture!


Food/Plate table

Daddy and the Birthday Girl

Yum Cake! It took her a few seconds to figure it out, but once she tasted it - woah!

Birthday Girl with Nana!

Presents! Olive actually seemed to enjoy the present opening - she really liked looking at the cards and playing with ribbon - and she really perked up when the gift was a toy - clothes, not so much!

Space Needle

Olive got to go to the Space Needle for the first time last week! Her cousins were in town and wanted to see the city - and it just so happened that the Space Needle was free that day - Thank you Bausch and Lomb for sponsoring! =) So we packed up the kids (skipping Olive's nap, hoping she would sleep in the pack - yeah right!) and headed into the city.
We only had to stand in line for about 30 minutes, and the line moved, so it didn't seem that bad. It was a fabulous day so the view was great - you could even see Bellevue, even though it was a little fuzzy.
Then we roamed around and found Zeek's Pizza and had a great lunch! What a great day - and a fun way to see the cousins off onto their next stop on their road trip back home!


Daddy, Mommy and Olive in front of downtown Seattle


Aunt Jennifer, Grandma, Julia, James and Jacob enjoying the scenery!


Grandma and the boys! So cute in their rocker monkey t-shirts!

Lunch at Zeek's! The girls got to sit next to each other and tried to share food.

A visit with the Boise cousins!

The week before Olive's birthday was a busy one! Brad's sister and her family came into town on Wed and stayed with us until Friday. They came from the Oregon coast and we were one stop on their road trip from Boise. It was fun to hang out with them and Olive got some quality time with Julia - they are about 6 months apart! Grandma Robertson also flew in from Boise on Wed too - to hang out and celebrate Olive's 1st birthday! It was a busy week, but lots of fun!


Olive, Jacob (3), James (6) and Julia (1) in their cute monkey shirts from Grandma!


The girls swinging with Grandma Robertson


What a fun toy! Olive's cousins got her this cool tunnel for her birthday and after watching Jacob crawl through it a few times - she didn't hesitate to join in the fun!

Olive and Jacob in the tunnel - with Aunt Jennifer taking pics at the other end!

Happy 1st Birthday Olive!

Wow! One year old! Well I guess she still has a few hours until she is officially 1 year old. I think about this time last year I was working REALLY hard to bring her into this world! And man has the time gone by fast! Fun birthday party today which I will post more pics later - but I wanted to get a post in on her actual birthday - to wish my baby the happiest of 1st Birthdays ever!

We love you so much Olive! You are our precious little girl and you are becoming such a sweetheart! Happy Birthday!


Birthday girl in her flower tutu!


So excited!

Morning with the Rogers

My good friend Lindsay came over this morning with her girls - Zoe (7) and Darby (3). I don't think I had seen Zoe in over a year - they are getting so big! Zoe was our flower girl in our wedding 4 years ago - man how time flies!

Olive loved watching the girls play and Darby was very sweet and tolerant of the baby touching and playing with her - so sweet!! So I wanted to get a picture with all the girls together, but Olive was not really cooperating as you can see below.

Thanks again girls for coming over to visit! Let's do it again soon - I won't let another year pass by without checking up on you!! Love ya!


Sweet girls and an escaping baby


At least you can see all of their faces! Love Darby's cheese!


Ahh success!! Thanks Zoe for holding the little one down!

Party time!

Olive got to wear this cute outfit from Grandma Robertson to the neighbor girls 2nd birthday party yesterday! Lately she hasn't been wanting to pose for pictures, so this is the best one we got - she looks like such a big girl!! The twins, Jessica and Sabrina, are exactly one year and one week older than Olive!

She actually didn't mess with the giant flower on her head at all during the party! And I love her little curls in the back. Oh she is so cute - yes I know, I am biased!!


Ready to go Mom!


No more pictures please!

Walker and a bonk

Olive has had this walker toy for a while now and she loves playing with it - but hasn't been into walking with it. Well we tried it again last week and she finally has the strength and body control to walk with it a little. She is still a little wobbly - but she is improving every day. She walked across the downstairs with it and then had a little accident - oops!! It looks awful, but she was fine, the futon is nice and soft... as you can sort of tell by the bounce!

Inspiration

After lunch yesterday, we did a little browsing at Crate and Barrel and I found some inspiration for Olive's big girl room. No we aren't working on it yet, it will be a little bit, but I couldn't pass up snapping some pictures of these flowers. Thanks designer from Crate and Barrel, we are totally stealing this! So simple, yet so perfect!

I am pretty sure my sister can recreate these adorable flowers on Olive's big girl room walls, right Annie!

Fun with Aunt Kassi

Olive and I celebrated our birthdays with our friend Kassi today, with a yummy lunch in Bellevue. Hard to believe its already been almost a year!
We have been having lunch dates with Kassi on a regular basis all year, which has been fun! But Olive is definitely looking forward to Aunt Kassi babysitting again! hehe
Love you so much Kas!

Here is when they first met!


And now! Such pretty girls!

Whole Milk - Yum!

We are running out of formula and since Olive will be a year old in another weekish - I decided to do an experiment and see what she thought of whole milk. Well, she pretty much LOVED IT! She sucked most of it down. I don't think we are going to have a problem in that department (still crossing my fingers just in case)!!


Happy Milk face


Yummy Daddy


Oh yeah she even tried to suck it up off of her tray! Yeah Gross!