Holden Village

I grew up going to Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center in the Cascade Mountains that was once an old mining town. It's quite an adventure getting to Holden--a four-hour drive to Lake Chelan, a three-hour boat ride up the lake, and then a 45 minute bus ride to the village. We left our house at 5am and arrived in the village by 1pm just in time for lunch. Still it's worth the trip just to be in such a beautiful place.

We went to Holden because I was invited to join the faculty of Trinity Lutheran College (where I teach) on their annual faculty retreat. I have to admit that I went partly to be part of that faculty group and also partly because I love Holden and my children had never been there.

Anyhow, it was a great three days at Holden. We'll definitely go back. The kids loved the freedom of running around the village, hiking the trails, spending the morning hours playing in Narnia (the childcare, school part of Holden), and getting to know a host of new friends. Seems like just a few years ago that I was at Holden doing the same thing.

Here are some pictures from our days in that beautiful place.

Here are the kids riding the Lady of the Lake II from Field's Point to Lucerne on Lake Chelan.

Two smiling kids after their first fun day at Holden. I love how the walls in the lodges are all wood. The beds were really comfortable too.

And they are still smiling after a few days in the village. This is the porch swing on Lodge 4, where we stayed.

We LOVED our time at Holden and hope to return there soon.

Maya's 5th Birthday

On Wednesday, June 2, we celebrated Maya's 5th birthday. It's hard to believe our girl is five years old already. How the years fly by!

Here is the birthday girl on her last night as a four-year old. 

 Daddy designed her cake, as he does every year. Maya's theme this year was "Carousel Horse." I think Aaron did a great job, don't you?

Sam got in on some of the excitement too. He even got his own present to open as Maya opened hers. Don't you wait, Sam. Your birthday is in just a few weeks too.



 
 Boy, oh, boy, we have two very smiley kids. Parties are like nothing else when you are little. I actually still remember my 5th birthday party (and I have pictures to prove it).




 

Maya opens presents as her friend Angelina supervises. That ribbon looks hard to get off.

Even Mama gets a picture with the Birthday Girl. Happy 5th Birthday, Maya Grace!

Silly Mr. Sam

We have the silliest boy in our family. His name is Sam. Sam is silly, and Sam smiles all the time. Except when he's being grumpy. But that's not often, thank goodness.

Parker's Hundredth Day, May 17th

In the Korean tradition, the family of a baby throws a big party when the baby reaches his hundredth day. The historical reason for this stems back to when many babies died as infants, and reaching 100 days was a huge milestone in the child's longevity. Of course we had no worries about Parker making it to 100 days, but we still gathered to celebrate in the Korean tradition. My sister cooked a spread of delicious Korean food (bulgoki, kim-chee, chap-chae, kim-chee soup, and a whole host of traditional side dishes). Yum. Plus there was cute little Parker to celebrate. He was in good spirits for his party. Happy 100 Days, Parker!

Here is Parker, sitting in a little chair for his Hundredth Day Picture. We have a similar picture of my sister, when she was still in Korea, on her hundredth day.

Parker is really patient in putting up with all our pictures (our family is still pretty enamored of him), but at this point, I think he's not so sure about all the cameras and flashes.

And here are the three cousins. Happy Hundredth Day, Parker!

Family Times

One of the benefits of living with family is that my kids (and Parker, their cousin) spend plenty of time with their grandparents. Here's just one example: a relaxing evening at home with Marmie (my mom). Sam has finally figured out how to look at the camera and smile.

Spring Sing

Maya's Spring Sing at Preschool was a few weeks ago. I didn't get any pictures of her singing with her class since the lighting in the church wasn't good. But here she is with her brother after the performance, as well as with her preschool teacher Mrs. Sams. The kids sang around 30 short preschool songs, plus each child had a speaking part also. After the concert, we all enjoyed treats organized by moi. It was a great evening of music and friendship.

Cousins

Maya and Sam sure love hanging out with cousin Parker. I know they wish he was a little bigger so he could actually play with them. But that will come soon enough.

Easter Sunday

We were lucky to have a beautiful, sunny day in Everett for Easter this year. We went to church in the morning, then the kids got to do an egg hunt in my parents' backyard. They had a great time.

Easter eggs are just SO pretty, even the plastic ones!

Easter Baking

A few days before Easter, we had a play date with our friends Amelia and Alec, and together we baked and decorated Easter cookies. Not just any cookies, though--the BEST sugar cookies in the entire world, topped with delicious (and bright-colored) frosting. Even Sam got to decorate a few cookies, although he ate his weight in frosting before the afternoon was out.

Aunt Amy came too and brought cousin Parker, although he napped through the entire festive event. Parker, next year we PROMISE you can actually frost some cookies of your own.

Here is Maya, showing off her creations.

Amelia shows off her pink bunnies.

And here's the whole gang hard at work.

Naked and Loving It!

Here's the story: It was a warm, sunny Saturday today. Maya and Samuel were playing outside in the yard, digging with trucks in the dirt, when Maya came and asked if she could hose off her dirty feet. Since the hoses are still in the garage from the winter, I told her that instead, I'd get a bucket of warm water and she could wash her feet off in that.

I ended up getting one for Sam too. Then Maya asked if she could take off her clothes and play in the warm water. Sure, I said. Of course Sam wanted to do the same thing. So both kids ended up naked in these little blue buckets playing in the backyard.

It was hilarious. I'm not sure what's worse--playing naked in March or the fact that my almost-five-year-old daughter still fits in a bucket. Here they are above, with big smiles. About a minute later, they were shivering!

Cousin Parker is Seven Weeks Old!

Parker is seven weeks old tomorrow, and the time feels like it's just flying by. His mom and dad are doing such a great job of taking care of him. Yes, they are exhausted, but they also have such a great sense of humor about everything. We feel so lucky to live down the street from Parker and his parents.

Here are some of his newest shots. His Auntie Ree is a little ga-ga about taking pictures of him, but he's just SO cute. We love every minute that we get to spend with Parker.

A Visit to Sequim

We have been meaning to make a trip to Sequim to visit my aunt and uncle since moving back to the Northwest. This past weekend we finally found time to make the trip.

Gary and Claudia live just up from the beach in Diamond Point. We had a wonderful two nights with them. The kids got to walk along the beach and collect rocks and shells.






Both Maya and Sam also got to take a "pretend" ride in Uncle Gary's airplane. Maya pretended like she was flying.
The night before we left, Sam had a fun bath in the utility sink.


And here he is singing some of his favorite songs.

Three Cousins

On Saturday, Amy and I decided to take the kids and run some errands around town. I have often heard it said that it IS possible to get three carseats in the back seat of a Subaru, so we decided to test the theory.

It works!

Northwest Adventure

Last week, our friends Phil and Kaitlin came to visit us in Everett, and together we took a little trip up Whidbey Island and into Bellingham. We took the ferry across from Mukilteo to Clinton, then hiked on the beach and saw a pod of whales just off the shore. We also watched a bald eagle fly along the shoreline. Then we had lunch in Coopeville, played at the park in Oak Harbor, then stayed overnight at Camp Lutherwood and spent a wonderful morning exploring Bellingham.

Kaitlin and Phil brought gliders from Astoria for Maya and Sam to fly.

Sam LOVES his hat made by my friend Rachel.

Maya found wonderful treasures on the beach.

Here are Phil and Kaitlin hiking down from the trail to the beach.