Gnomes' Paradise

We headed over to Orcas Island, in the San Juans, to celebrate Mommy's birthday and Mother's Day.  We had a great time exploring the island, including hiking down to Cascade Falls and heading up to the top of Mount Constitution in Moran State Park.  We also had some tasty meals and visited a fun farmer's market in Eastsound (including a cider and mead festival).  But the best part of the trip was definitely our lodging:  the Gnome House, which included not only lots and lots of gnomes, but also a hot tub, playground, sheep meadow, and Cedar the dog, who spent hours playing fetch with Soren and Amelia.

Here Comes the Sun!

Like most Seattlites, the moment the sun comes out, we rush outside to enjoy the few glorious hours (and get immediate sunburns)!  We spent most of this weekend outdoors, cleaning up the garden and planting new plants (Amelia took the lead planting the leeks), watching Mommy in her tennis tournament, and playing in the park after brunch with Autumn, Sonia and their parents.  Hopefully, the first of many great weekends this summer!

  

Soren's Style

Soren has been taking charge of what he's wearing over the last few months, but he's recently taken it to a whole new level, putting on fashion shows in the evening.  Here is one of his favorite outfits!

Rollerskating

After our winter success with ice skating, we decided to give roller skating a try on a rainy Sunday.  Soren went for the popular shorts-over-pants look, while Amelia wore her favorite princess dress, both of which looked great with the rink rental skates!  The kids took a little while to get their roller-legs under them, but by the end, they kept insisting on "just one more time" around the rink!

Victoria

We had a great long weekend escape to Victoria, BC.  While we packed in a lot during the weekend, some of the highlights included Miniature World, high tea at the Fairmount (and lots of swimming in the pool there), the Butchart Gardens (particularly the carousel and sunken garden), and the scoop shop where Mommy used to go on her family visits as a young girl.  We've got a few other long weekend trips planned later this summer...hopefully, they will all live up to this one!

Hailing in Seattle

We didn't receive any snow this winter, but we've had a few hailstorms in early April.  Amelia and Soren had a blast making hail-balls and tracks on the tennis court...at least for the half-hour until the hail melted!

  

Swim Lessons

Amelia has recently started up swim lessons again and she is having a blast!  She is not quite swimming on her own yet (though the floatie she is using is so small you can barely see it), but she is close!  Here is a brief video of this week's lesson highlight!