Happy Father’s Day! June 22, 2009

Today was all about celebrating Father’s Day. We woke up bright and early and headed out to breakfast. Then we all got in the car and headed for a morning of fun at the Seattle Center.

When we first arrived we decided to visit the Sci-Fi Museum which is connected to the EMP. They had a Jim Henson exhibit that they were running that we really wanted to visit. I had gone to a similar exhibit when I was younger and this one seemed to be pretty small compared to when it was previously at the Science Center. It was still neat to see the Burt and Ernie puppets and some of the older puppets. They even had these walls that were made out of the Muppet fur that you could touch.  Jeff and Ethan even got to get their picture taken on the Sesame Street Step.

 

After the Sci-fi museum Ethan was ready to run around and burn off some energy so we went to the Children’s Museum. While there he got to paint a picture, play in the water, and of course his favorite thing of all which is driving the vehicles.

   

 

 

Then to sum up our adventure we decided on the way out to do a few rides at the Fun Forest. Ethan had never been on an amusement ride before and since he loves cars so much we new which one had to be his first. He enjoyed himself so much that it was hard to get him to leave when the ride was over.

 

 

 

Hope that everyone had a fantastic Father’s Day! XOXO

Farmhouse B&B on Whidbey Island, WA. June 14, 2009

My mother-in-law Alison had purchased for Jeff and I over Christmas a gift certificate to the Farmhouse B&B. I was really excited when we opened up this gift because on top of getting away for the weekend she also provided us with babysitting while we were gone. So we decided that we would use it as an anniversary getaway since our 8 year wedding anniversary is on Wednesday. We had a fantastic time and lovely weather to boot.

When we arrived at our lodging for the weekend we were greeted by the very friendly Inn keepers and taken on a tour around the property which was located between Langley and Freeland on Whidbey Island. We were shown all of the local resident bunnies and the resident donkeys Leo and Cleo. The bunnies followed us around hoping for us to provide them with carrots which they rushed over as soon as they were aware that is what you had with you. I think we spent a good part of our stay feeding the bunnies and the donkeys and I am pretty sure that those rabbits and donkeys never go hungry.

On Friday night we decided to head into town and go and visit the local wine shop. There we of course participated in a wine tasting which was fantastic and ended up bringing home a couple of bottles to enjoy. Then we headed to dinner at Prima Bistro in Langley for some tasty mussels and fantastic dessert up on their deck.

On Saturday we had a big dinner planned at the Inn at Langley so we decided to take it easy and just relax. We were actually able to get through a bunch of our books which was nice. We visited a few farmer’s markets in the morning followed by shopping in town. For lunch we went to the Chef’s Pantry in town and they made us a picnic basket of a bunch of cheeses, meats, and bread which was really tasty. In the evening we headed to dinner and boy was that a fantastic meal. Two of our favorite dishes they prepared was the Taku Salmon with peas and bacon, and for dessert they served a honey mousse with chocolate sorbet. To die for.

I’ve included a bunch of pictures below of our stay and I highly recommend visiting the Farmhouse when you are on Whidbey and tell the bunnies and the donkeys hi from us!

   

   

   

Furry 5K 2009 June 8, 2009

This past weekend Jeff, Ethan, Bindi, and I participated in the Furry 5K race to support the Seattle Animal Shelter. This has been I believe the 7th or 8th year that we have participated in the race. We were able to wrangle up some of our friends to join us as well so it was a day of doggies, babies, and walking. Luckily the weather cooperated and it was a little on the cooler side. I also think that this was probably the biggest turnout that they have had since we had to park about 2 miles away from the start of the race so technically we did a 8K.

 

Getting stuff done… May 31, 2009

For the past two days I have been working on cleaning up the side of our yard that is below our kitchen window. This used to be the overgrown Amazon forest over on this part of the house, mostly because we never really paid attention to it. Since my home fix it list was growing I decided to tackle that project this weekend. It took a lot of effort to pull all of that stuff out of there plus a lot of scary encounters with spiders and a few trips to Home Depot but its done. I was also so excited to because I really wanted a wine barrel planter to place there and after searching on the internet and becoming discouraged I found one at Home Depot. Go figure.

 

 

Here are a few pictures I took from our adventure to the Woodland Park Zoo last weekend to see the Penguin exhibit.

Before leaving for the zoo.

Grandma and Ethan

Close up of the giraffe.

Penguin Exhibit

Willis Tucker Park May 31, 2009

After a bunch of yard work that included mowing the lawn and completely ripping out the side yard we decided to hop in the car and venture to Willis Tucker Park in Snohomish. Since the weather was pretty warm out we outfitted Ethan up in his swim apparel and ventured to the Splash Pad for some water fun. I had never been to this park before and heard about it from a bunch of parenting sites so I thought we would give it a try. Ethan had a great time trying to chase the water and watch all of the kids running around. He was a little obsessed with a birthday party that was going on and of course some of the gifts included ride on toys that he desperately wanted to hop on. Unfortunately most of our time was spent trying to block his advances towards the above mentioned toys but he seemed to enjoy himself and it was a good close by outing to enjoy the tremendously nice weather.

Tomorrow we are probably heading back to Home Depot to pick up more rocks for our side yard landscape job and maybe the dog park. Then on Monday Jeff heads off to the E3 tradeshow for the week for lots of smoozing.

    

Happy Mother’s Day! May 11, 2009

This morning Jeff and Ethan took me out to breakfast as one of our favorite places in Kirkland for some pancakes. After our morning adventure we headed home and hung out at the house. Jeff’s mom came over for a visit and brought a lovely flowering plant. After her visit and Ethan’s nap we headed to the lovely town of Edmonds for the afternoon. We played at the beach by the water, did a little shopping, and then had lunch in town at the Red Twig. For Mother’s Day Jeff and Ethan also got me a gift for the spa which I will definitely use in the very near future. It was a fantastic  Mother’s Day had by all. Below are some pictures from our time in Edmonds and I also included one of Ethan playing in his new car. Enjoy!  (*If you want larger pictures of the ones below just email me and I will send them along to you. Thanks!)

 

   

   

Colorado Trip May 1, 2009

Ethan and I have returned from our trip to Colorado with Grandma Mary to visit my sister and her family who live in Winter Park. We were only there for what seemed like a short visit but did a lot. We had a great time and had some good weather, consisting of mostly sunny skies. We did get some snow on the day we left though but thankfully it melted by the time we flew out. As most of you know our trip was cancelled previously due to blizzard conditions there so I was hoping that it wasn’t round two.

Winter Park Bear

At the Winter Park ski area.

While there we visited the Denver Zoo which was jam packed that day with people. We saw lots of different types of animals and had a really fun time. This was probably the hottest day while we were there so we enjoyed the nice weather immensely.

Eating lunch at the Denver zoo. Posing in front of the Elephants.

 

One of the days we ventured to Echo Mountain to watch my nephew Birk compete in a jumps and rails competition. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating that day and the fog decided to make an appearance. Ethan and I tried to watch Birk’s competition but unfortunately we were unable to see anything. Instead I pulled Ethan around in the sled.

Sledding with Grandma, aunt Stephanie, and the pups.

 

Sledding at Birk's competition.

I think that the main highlight of the trip for Ethan was riding in his cousin Svea’s Jeep. Ethan was obsessed with this vehicle and loved riding around and enjoying the scenery. It was really hard to get him out of it when the ride was over. I see one of these possibly in his future when he gets a little older.

Riding in Svea’s jeep.

 

 

Jeff definitely missed having us at home but had a nice bachelor weekend playing video games and hanging with friends. Its good to be home but we loved hanging out with family. Luckily though they are coming to visit this summer so not too far away.

Happy Easter! April 12, 2009

Today to kick off our Easter weekend celebrations we headed down to Puyallup to attend Jeff’s dad’s neighborhood egg hunt and brunch at their house. Ethan was prepared with his felt basket/sack for the occasion and was ready to look for some eggs. There were quite a few kids there but luckily they gave the little kids a head start so Ethan did pretty well. He did pick up the eggs off of the lawn and place them in his bag but then wanted to take them out again and put them back on the ground. He had a good time though and even got to have a Hershey’s kiss from his findings.

   

 

After the brunch we headed to another Easter Egg hunt in Issaquah but unfortunately we arrived right after it started. It was at the Fox Hollow Equestrian Center. They did however have many animals to see including several horses, a pony, baby ducks, and chickens so it was not a total wash.

 

Once we got home we decided to dye Easter eggs, well actually I dyed them and Ethan painted them but we had a great time.

  

From our family to yours, Happy Easter!

Long time no post… April 5, 2009

The Kalles clan has been really busy these past couple of months and I finally have some spare time to enter a post before we head to our neighbors for dinner. The weather was beautiful in Washington this weekend and Ethan and I took full advantage of it while Jeff had to work at Emerald City Comic-con. He only worked Saturday but while he was away Ethan and I ventured up to Bellingham to visit my dad and Jackie. We ventured to the newly opened Sonic Drive-in in Ferndale and got to pull up to the car port and place our order. Once your food is ready they deliver it by roller skates bringing it out to your car. The place was completely packed and luckily we were able to find a place to park before Ethan starved. After lunch we went down to the Harbor and took a long walk before heading back home.

Today was spent running errands and getting sand for Ethan’s sandbox. He had a great time playing in the backyard today since it was again so nice out. We spent almost the entire day enjoying the weather. I guess you have to take advantage of it while you can.

Below are some photo’s of a recent visit we had to Pike Place Market as well as our trip to Bellingham. Enjoy!

Trip Cancelled. :( March 27, 2009

Ethan, my mom, and me were supposed to fly out to Denver Colorado to visit my sister and her family this afternoon but unfortunately they were having severe winter weather there today. You can click here for the news reports. We made the decision to forgo the trip for safety reasons for ourselves and my sister having to drive down and pick us up and take us back up the mountain.

I’m bummed about it but at the same time traveling with a little one is stressful and add long airport delays and snow and winter conditions on top of that and it would of been a miserable start to a vacation. Plus I would have been a nervous wreck on the entire flight knowing what we would have been flying into. I felt bad because my niece Svea was especially looking forward to us coming and had told her first grade class so much about it that they had wrote stories about us coming. She even got out of school early today to come with her mom to pick us up and was terribly upset when she found out we were not coming. Luckily though we scheduled a new flight in late April to come out and visit so the weather should be better then. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that they don’t have another crazy weather day. It just amazes me that at the end of March they are having a bunch of snow and wind and white out conditions but I guess that is what you get when you live in the mountain regions.

A plus to this is that Ethan and I get to greet Jeff when he comes home from his business trip tomorrow and the weather is decent here in Seattle. Ethan and I will have a mom and son day on Saturday while Jeff hangs out with friends as well.