Santa Visit 2017

Our Santa visit was a success! Kallie was a bit shy at first but warmed up for a cute photo. For weeks she had talked about asking Santa for a FurReal Tiger and Fingerling Monkey but to my surprise she told him she wanted a cast and crutches for her American Girl Doll because she is a gymnast and might get hurt?!?!? He smiled and said that sounded like a good idea!

Annual Tree Hunt

We set out to find the prefect Christmas tree at Trinity Tree Farm near our house. Kallie loves it there because there are train rides, a big bonfire, hot cocoa and lots of hustle and bustle. We had fun exploring the farm but could not find a tree we liked so we decided to hit our favorite tree stand just down the road. Well good thing we did b/c we found an amazing tree! I guess you could say we got the best of both worlds.

The next day cranked up the Christmas music and decorated the tree. Kallie loves talking about each and every ornament as we take it out of the box. Our tree is sort of a mish-mash with old ornaments from childhood and new ornaments from our adventures each year. We have a fun tradition of buying a new ornament when we go on vacation, at this rate we might need two trees pretty soon!

Let the Holiday Season Begin

Crack Crack is here!!! As always he appeared on December 1st with a pair of Christmas jammies for Kallie. She was so excited he arrived and just as excited to start opening her advent calendar. Our house is decorated, outside Christmas lights are up and we even found the perfect tree over the weekend. Let the Holidays Begin!

Happy Halloween 2017

Halloween is a much-anticipated holiday for Kallie. She starts talking about what she wants to be in September and usually changes her mind daily. This year she knew exactly what she wanted to be and did not go back . . . a “nice” Witch. We even found the perfect costume at Target on the very first try so that was a huge win.

We trick or treat with the neighbors every year which is a ton of fun and even had a friend over from school to join us. The kids went crazy running from house to house and did not want to stop and we were fine with that because for the first time in years it was not raining.

From family pumpkin carving to a fun party at Cougar Club and one in her class I would say Halloween was a big success.

Orange Ruler Fun Run - IVE

Well it is that time of year again . . . The Orange Ruler Fun Run which is the big fundraiser for IVE. Kallie loves calling everyone in our family and guilt-ing them in to donating! She takes the "fun" run very seriously making sure she runs fast and tries to beat everyone. Meanwhile the rest of the kids are holding hands, walking & doing cartwheels. Yes, we have one competitive little girl!

The Pumpkin Patch

Today was the perfect day to head to the pumpkin . . . so we did . . . AND so did everyone else in Seattle. Regardless of the crowds we had a good time at Remlinger Farm. We spent most of our time at the park petting the animals, riding the roller coaster, jumping in the bouncy houses, a hay ride and just walking around taking it all in.

We decided to explore the pumpkin patch at the end but Kallie did not want to get pumpkins because daddy was not with us. We agreed it was a family thing and that we would go to the grocery store to get pumpkins with daddy (so sweet) but of course I couldn’t miss the pumpkin photo opp!

Lake Placid 2017

We just got back from a quick trip to Lake Placid for Emily and Ben’s wedding. Since we have not been back to upstate NY as a family since Kallie was 10 months old we flew in a few days early so we would have a chance to do some sightseeing before the wedding festivities. It is a perfect time of year to visit with the Fall leaves changing and to top it off we had beautiful weather. A few highlights were exploring the rivers, building a fort in the woods pretending we were on Naked and Afraid (well we weren’t Naked but you get the point, riding the Gondola up White Face Mountain (it was raining up top but the ride up had spectacular views, going to the Fall Leaves Festival to watch the ski jumpers – we even got to ride the chairlift to the top and an elevator to check out the top of the ski jumps (Crazy high . . . I would never jump) and of course exploring all the shops on the boardwalk in Lake Placid.

Outside of exploring, we spent time with family. We spent time with Mimi and Papa’s side of the family as well as getting quality time with the Doyle family. It was so fun to watch Kallie and her cousins meet for the first time (well technically the 2nd time for some of them but they were too young to remember). The wedding was beautiful and of course the Doyle side of the family danced until our feet hurt (Kallie too – she was a trooper the entire trip)

Although Lake Placid is (REALLY) far away (2 plane rides and a 2.5 hr. car ride) and it was a somewhat short trip we made the most of it and had so much fun. We packed our days with fun adventures and family time and can’t wait to go back.

Soccer Girl

It's official . . . Kallie loves playing soccer as much as I did when I was her age. We love watching her excitement and dedication to the game. She loves playing defense but at the same time loves to score goals. Right now she plays with a bunch of IVE friends and their team name is "The Stingers". They chose that name b/c three of the girls (Kallie included) got stung by bees at the first practice.

So far the season is off to a good start. The girls are having fun and getting better each week which I love to see. Kallie continues to tell us how much she loves soccer and that she wants to keep playing even when the season is over. We can see her dedication and love for the sport so we are excited to see where it goes. Go Stingers!

First day of 1st Grade

Well that was fast, summer came and went in the blink of an eye. Although I would like summer to stay Miss Kallie Bates has been excited about the first day of 1st grade for weeks! We met her teacher Mrs. Clark and I think she is going to be a great fit. She is young, enthusiastic and open to help the kiddos learn best in a way that works for each individual student. We are excited for the year ahead and by the look on her face Kallie is too. Happy first day baby girl, we love you.

7th Birthday - Cuddly & Scaly Fun for All

Kallie LOVES celebrating her birthday just like her daddy. She started counting down the days to her party about a month ago. Since she loves all things animals we decided to have a company come to our house with cuddle (rabbits, chinchillas, hamsters) and scaly (lizards, snakes and a tortis) the kids could hold and learn fun facts about. We had 15 kids over and they had so much fun. The loved holding the cuddly animals and “most” loved she scaly ones too! I was a bit shocked when Kallie decided I should take a picture of her with a HUGE boa constrictor around her neck . . . I would call that a successful party. After the animals, we had birthday cake followed by a piñata and last minute I had the kids bring swimsuits (it was 90 degrees) so they could run in the sprinkler and have a water fight. It was a lot to pack in but all worth it to watch the smile on Kallie’s face. She had so much fun celebrating her big day with her friends.