California Visit

I made a spur of the moment (as in I decided the day before) trip down to California to see my family.  My family was going camping and both my brother and sister and their kids were driving home to go with them.  So I decided to give Christopher some time to focus and study for the bar and take Mason down to see my family.

Mason was especially fond of Jake, the only other boy cousin there.

We camped in Bodega Bay in the Bodega Dunes camp site, a place my mom had camped a lot during her childhood.  Mason had the best time with his cousins he mainly followed them around but still loved having other kids around to watch and play with.

The majority of Mason's day consisted of hitting things with sticks...surprise, surprise.  He would find a stick and hit trees, the dirt, acorns that fell off the trees, weeds, sand, stumps, the fire pit, and just about anything else you could think of.

We did make a couple trips to the beach, one of which we hiked through the sand along whichever path looked the easiest. Mason loved being in the freezing cold water, he didn't mind that his legs were purple and he shivered uncontrollably, but I figured he should probably get out of the water at some point.

He was not happy that I pulled him out of the water. He screamed and cried for a long time till he was distracted by playing in the sand.  He only tried to make a break for the water a few times before we had to hike back to camp.

It was a longer trip to and from the beach than I would have liked to walk through the sand carrying Mason, but he had so much fun at the beach it was worth it.

Camping was definitely an adventure having Mason by myself, and him sleeping in a sleeping bag for the first time and not a pack n' play.  But having Mason spend time with family, and the cousins especially, was worth all the effort.

The rest of the week we spent at the park, doing marble works, jumping on the trampoline, swinging in the "baby swing",  sitting in the little kid pool, and playing video games with my sisters and his cousins.

We did make a trip to Fairytale Town, Mason had the best time going down slides, looking at the animals, climbing on everything, and running around after his aunts, cousins, and grandparents.

We of course made a trip to Leatherby's on our last day for lunch. Mason ate almost his whole serving of sorbet and loved eating ketchup and fries.  

My trip was amazing and Mason had such a good time. It was worth all the time, effort, and craziness to make memories.

Skit to Sea Weekend

So over Memorial Day Bellingham is crazy busy with a massive relay race they have been doing for over 100 years. There are different legs of the race that start up on Mt. Baker and end up down in the bay. Some of the legs are a down hill ski, run, canoe, sea kayak, mountain bike, and road bike.

On Saturday they had a big parade for the race. We were't sure how Mason would do sitting for a couple of hours during the middle of his nap time, but he did great!  Some of Christopher's family was there and Mason did well when he was sitting by the other kids.

He loved watching all the dancers and listening to the music. He would also dance and sway when the bands would play, and kept signing for more when the bands would walk past us. He wanted them to come back and play in front of us more.

Mason loved the parade, seeing the cars, service vehicles, dogs, dancers, bands, and performers.  He smiled and grinned the whole time and only got a little tired during the last ten minutes.

Christopher's dad is over the mountain bike leg of the race.  We went to Hovander Park where the canoe leg ended and the mountain bike leg began.  It was a typical Northwest day with overcast and drizzle all day. Mason loved watching all the people on their bikes and the dogs and all the chaos. He was as happy as could be sitting with Nana eating strawberries.

We went to the park and looked at animals and played on the playground while the race was going.  He loved running around and having so much space to play.

Christopher went back to help Pop Pop haul canoes while Mason and I joined Nana and Linda at the tent with the results boards.

It was quite a show down at the water as the canoes came in. It could get a little crazy when a lot of boats would come in and all try to get out at the same time on the smaller beach space. People were getting knocked down, canoes were getting hit by other canoes, and people were getting tipped out of their canoe into the water.  They would have to haul their canoe up the hill and across the line before their biker could take off.  Once across the line the racers were either happy or they would collapse.

The race was super fun to watch and Mason had a great time running around in the rain and getting completely soaked.  The parade was a huge success and Mason had a great time at both the parade and the race.  We look forward to the race next year. Christopher keeps saying he wants to put a team together and race again, something he hasn't done in a while.  Who knows maybe next year we'll be watching him race.

Law School Graduate!

Christopher is an official Law School Grad!!

We spent a few days in Spokane visiting with friends and catching up. Mason got reunited with his buddy Conner who I used to watch when we lived in Spokane. Conner is a very nice and gentle boy, and Mason, well is not. Conner liked seeing Mason and showing him his toys, but was a little scared of him. Mason would of course make every toy a bat and swing it.  Conner mostly stayed out of Mason's way while they played but they had fun.

We also spent an afternoon at the park and had a picnic with the Owens and their family.  It was so fun to see them and see how much their kids have grown.

We spent our nights lounging around the "villa", an amazing home with even more amazing owners! Not to mention Mason loved the huge dogs, I mean bear-dogs, he got to play with. Thanks again for housing us and taking us in for the weekend.

We did get to visit our favorite restaurant...WADDELLS!  It was amazing and totally worth a trip in itself.

Christopher's graduation was Saturday morning and was quick enough that Mason almost made it through the whole thing.  Christopher made it across the stage, he didn't trip and looked awesome in all the grad garb.

It was a great trip and so much fun.  Congrats Christopher! We are all so proud of you!

Phillips family comes to town

We were so lucky this spring break my Dad, Mom, and little sister Lindsay could come up to visit us.  We lucked out the weekend they came in with weather that permitted us to go on the ferry to Friday Harbor.  Mason liked being on the boat looking out to window at the water and seeing he birds fly by.

On the island we walked around a farmer's market and checked out some of the interesting local shops.  We stopped and ate lunch at the Hungry Clam before getting back on the ferry to head home. Mason was surprisingly happy in his stroller almost the whole time and even took a short nap while we ate. We had a fun time running around on the ferry and playing with Grammie, Paka, and Lindsay.

The next day we had dinner with Christopher's parents and sister's family, they even did a little Easter egg hunt while the kids were there. Mason didn't care about the eggs at all, they were empty, not that he bothered to look. He was distracted by his bucket and shovel, and was constantly putting rocks in his bucket and digging holes.

The rest of the week was spent going to parks, playing fun games in the house, going on walks, and enjoying our time. We even did a round of frisbee golf at Cornwall.

Mason was really good being in the stroller the whole time, and was the unofficial frisbee holder.

We did make it out to the Tulip Festival, it was cold and windy but the rain held off long enough for us to walk through and enjoy the gardens. My mom absolutely loved them, she even said she'd have to try and visit again in April. 

Mason loved Lindsay. She slept on a fold out bed in our living room and in the morning Mason would come out, walk over and start excitedly yelling at her face.  He would also take advantage of anytime she was on the floor by running over and jumping on her and laughing.

Mason performed well by showing everyone his swing which now consists of a step, swing, follow through, and him saying "boom".

We enjoyed Rocket Donuts which we discovered makes a donut without milk. As you can tell from Mason's picture he approved. We will be going there again shortly since he can actually eat the same thing as us.

  We also had lunch with Christopher for the first time since he started his externship.  We met up with him at the Bagelry and had time to stop by the pet supply store to see animals.

We stopped by the Institute building by Western to check out their view, which was very pretty, and checked out Western's bookshop.

We spent an afternoon at the beach near our house.  Mason loved running around the beach, throwing rocks, walking along the logs, and playing swords with Grammie.  Grammie had to be careful not to get hit by the extra long stick Mason had and swung with enthusiasm. My dad and I would throw rocks while Lindsay drew pictures in the sand. We had a such fun time at the beach, Mason of course cried when we had to leave.

One rainy day we walked around the mall checking out shops and Lindsay decided to get her ears pierced!!!

Their last day in Bellingham we went to the Fairhaven Bus to have fish and chips for dinner.  We then walked along the boardwalk to Boulevard where we played on the playground.  Mason rode on Paka's shoulders the whole way down to the park.  Mason loved being on the playground with Grammie and yelling through the speaker tubes to Paka.  Nana and Pop Pop got to come along as well.

We happened upon some people slack lining over the top of the bay, it was windy and they didn't get too far as you can see.

We finished off the night with Mallard's ice cream.

We spent nights watching movies and playing games, which Grammie won almost all of (good thing too, she's a sore loser) :) We talked and told stories until someone, mainly me or my mom, would say they were tired and it was time for bed.

We absolutely loved having my family here. We had so much fun talking, shopping, walking, eating, and laughing with all of them.