Big Kitchen Helper

From Emmaline Ruth

Meredith & Theo get to stand up at the counter on their step stool to help Mama and Daddy make things. I guess I'm not big enough yet. But I'm big enough to pull up on the toy kitchen and pretend that I get to help too! I can't wait until I get to help my Mamma and Daddy like my sister and brother do!

Spinning!

From Emmaline Ruth

My sister and brother love having Daddy spin them in their bilibo toys. I have one too, but I haven't spun around in mine yet ... until a couple of days ago. What fun! Daddy spun me slower than Meredith or Theo, but I still liked it! What else can I use my bilibo for?

From Emmaline Ruth

My Walker

From Emmaline Ruth

I'm beginning to learn how to walk. I'll walk if someone holds my hands -- like my Mama, Daddy, or even my big sister or brother!

I've also figured out that if I grad a hold of one of these chairs, I can walk around by myself in the living room. Aren't I smart?

All Smiles!

From Emmaline Ruth

Look, Dad, I have teeth! What is that clicking sound coming from the camera?

From Emmaline Ruth

Who's that in the reflection in my eyes? That's my Daddy. I may look like my Mama and Papa (Mama's Daddy), but I still love my Daddy too!

From Emmaline Ruth

I love smiling for the camera!

Geocaching!

From Meredith Jane 3 Years

Have you ever gone geocaching? It is kind of like a treasure hunt! Daddy does something special on the computer to get the treasures on his GPS. Then we go around hunting for the treasures. Sometimes inside we'll find a bunch of small toys. We bring something to put in the geocache and get to take something out. What fun!

Daddy & Mommy thought we would like to try it out and the Richland Parks & Rec department was holding a geocoin challenge. If we found 10 of 12 geocaches hidden in the Richland parks, we would get a geocoin. Well, you know what?? Even though Mama and Daddy didn't think we'd get much past 3 or 4 geocahces in a day, Theo & I LOVED it... we just kept wanting to find more treasures! We ended up visiting 11 parks yesterday, 10 of which we've never been to! Translated... we got to play in 11 different parks yesterday! On Friday we found one in our neighborhood park.

So, yes, that means we found all 12 even though we only needed to find 10. Let's just say I'm goal oriented ;) Don't you think the geocoin is pretty? If we want to, we could hide it in another geocache and as long as the people who find it log where it is, we can watch it travel from place to place!

From Meredith Jane 3 Years

Tall Things!

From Seattle 2011

When we went to Seattle last weekend, we saw a lot of tall things. But, you ask, where's the tall things in this picture? Well, we had to hike to get there... through a forest of TALL trees ;) Some of them weren't as tall, like the tree stumps we're standing in for this picture.

From Seattle 2011

What is one of the tall things you think we saw (and walked under, around, and over)?

From Seattle 2011

The bridge at Deception Pass State Park!

From Seattle 2011

We could (barely) see the north Cascades from on top of the bridge. Do you see them out there?

From Seattle 2011

See, I told you we walked over the bridge. Hold on tight!

From Seattle 2011

Do you know which mountain (volcano) this is? Daddy says it is Mt. Baker.

From Seattle 2011

At the beach we saw the Olympic mountains.

From Seattle 2011

I'm tall too, but not as tall as a bridge or mountains!

Sea Life

From Seattle 2011

When we visited Seattle last weekend, we visited a couple of beaches. Guess what we found?

From Seattle 2011

Rocks!

From Seattle 2011

Smiles!

From Seattle 2011

Lots and lots of crabs!

From Seattle 2011

Do you see it?

From Seattle 2011

And sea anemones.

We saw a jellyfish too, but we didn't get a picture of it :(

Woodland Park Zoo

From Seattle 2011

We went to this place last weekend that had a BUNCH of animals in it! What fun! We saw all kinds of animals. In the picture above I'm looking at the gazelle and oryx. We also saw...

From Seattle 2011

Birds

From Seattle 2011

Giraffes

From Seattle 2011

Lions

From Seattle 2011

And bears -- among many, many other animals... check out all of our pictures here. But, do you know what our FAVORITE animal was?

From Seattle 2011

I liked it...

From Seattle 2011

Theo liked it...

From Seattle 2011

Even the ducks liked it! Meredith did too, but Daddy didn't get a picture of her watching it :( Do you know what it was??

From Seattle 2011

An ELEPHANT!

Dinner Time vs. Nap Time

From Emmaline Ruth

Mama didn't want me to fall asleep before dinner because it was too close to bed time. Something about not going to sleep when I need to tonight... I was tired then, and I'm still tired now. See what happens when you put a tired baby in a high chair to eat dinner? The baby falls asleep!

Spelunking Boulder Cave

From Boulder Cave

We had a busy day today. Wonder why?? Because we went spelunking! (and hiking!) Mama, Daddy, Theodore, Emmaline, and I went hiking up to Boulder Cave. It's in the Wenatchee National Forest northwest of Yakima, WA. It was FUN! In this picture, Theo and I are geared up and ready for the hike to the cave.

From Boulder Cave

Emmaline had it easy, riding on Mama's back. But of course that means Mama didn't have it as easy...

From Boulder Cave

Over many, many thousands of years Devil Creek has formed a deep slot canyon. Up the trail from here, it caused a part of the canyon wall to cave in and create a cave -- Boulder Cave!

From Boulder Cave

WATER! (the platform looks down on the canyon)

From Boulder Cave

There was a small waterfall at the opening of the cave. We like our waterfalls!

From Boulder Cave

Flashlights? Check!

From Boulder Cave

Let's go! The cave is about 350 feet long and 30 feet wide. The trail followed right along the creek through the cave. It was dark and cool, but fun! We went through twice! Did you know the cave is the home for Pacific Western Big-Eared bats that hibernate in the cave during the winter?

From Boulder Cave

We made it!

From Boulder Cave

After hiking to, through (twice), and back from the cave, we took a break in our wagon and let Daddy pull us around a path along the Naches River. What a great trip!

If you want to see more pictures, take a look here.