Getting in the Holiday Spirit

Downtown Bellevue makes it easy to get outside and enjoy the holidays. Yesterday the girls and I hit the library after school finding books and printing coloring pages. As it started to get dark we headed to our first destination: The Bellevue Botanical Gardens Light Display. They do amazing things with Christmas lights and on the map is a list of animals made of lights for the kids to find. About halfway through another child informed them we had missed the slug make of lights and the girls were determined to go back and find him. It was worth it.

After that we headed to dinner where I pulled the "I'm not a novice mommy anymore" and got out the coloring sheets from the library and a box of colored pencils I had stashed in my purse before leaving home. Dinner involved bacon, beer, and cheese. And lasted a quiet content hour with the girls coloring away.

Last we headed to Snowflake Lane to watch drummers, dancers, and fake snow fall. Snowflake Lane is a 20-ish minute performance put on every night of December in front of Bellevue Square Mall. There are highly anticipated candy cane lollipops and lots of performers dressed as elves, princesses, and winter animals. Catching the fake snow was their favorite part.

The show is the perfect length. At the end the girls are amped up and giddy but haven't had the post lollipop sugar crash. And it is just reaching my threshold of people with zero body awareness and respect for those around them. Thank goodness for that beer.

I Spy

The girls like to play I Spy in the car on the way to....anywhere. They have gotten pretty creative and stumped us a few times. Today's game I found particularly funny, the things to guess were:

Leia:
Porcupine
Horse
Tadpole

Kate:
King Tut
King Tut's Tomb

King Tut's Tomb led to an excellent (if not a bit dark and morbid for 8am) conversation about how big tombs are and how many people can fit inside.

Kate Gets a Haircut

I took the girls in for haircuts. Leia stuck with a quick trim and shortening her bangs so we could see her beautiful eyes again. I attempted to trim them the last time and it was a disaster she has not forgiven me for. She made sure to mention that multiple times during her trim. 

Kate surprised us all by getting more than 5 inches cut off!! This is a huge blessing because her hair is wonderfully thick but alas, she is 7, and 7 year olds are not the most competent brushers of thick hair. There is now a lot less crying an negotiating. And no more "it's mommy's morning to brush it, we are both going to hate this" days. Ahhhh.

And what do you do to occupy yourself if you are the little sister tooling around in the salon? Why you braid the scraps of your sisters discarded hair and then pretend it is facial hair. And demand the photos be sent to daddy to make him giggle. Mission accomplished.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

 I gathered up my favorite little reindeer and set to work assembling the Christmas tree and adding decorations. We had almost finished all the decorating with they became overly giddy and started cracking me up. We took a quick break for some silly selfies in front of the 6ft tall Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, that I love.

Then it was back to work putting up the finishing touches. When we were done they played with the Little People Nativity set for an hour. If that thing sees no more use this holiday season it will still have been worth storing it for another year just to have that blissful hour listening to them happily busy at play while I curl up in another room with a book.

Thanksgiving Fun

It has been a busy Thanksgiving week. We hosted friends and family to watch leg 1 of the Sounders MLS Semifinals, had double date night with my sister and Brother in Law, ladies night with some women I do not spend enough time with, Thanksgiving lunch with my family and Thanksgiving dessert and drinks with Scott's brother and lovely lady Jessica.
Throw in a half day of school and you have a perfect opportunity for some midday bowling (with a pre- bowling stop for Zeek's pizza and a post bowling stop for Menchie's froyo, mmmmm). It was a fun afternoon spoiling my kids and getting time with lots of family.
Leia granny bowled the whole time, it was adorable. Kate is working on her swing but mostly likes to try to zig zag the ball down the lane using the bumpers. I tend to just let loose and hope it stays on the lane. My dad and Christjan are much more serious bowlers, as proved by the score. Dad frowned at me when I encouraged my nephew to bowl simultaneously with me, but being goofy is part of the fun of bowling for me so we shushed him and continued on breaking bowling lane etiquette. When the girls started to get bored I showed them the speed clock and got their competitive spirit involved to see how fast they could make their ball go.

I've been getting as much snuggle time with this guy as I can before he heads back to Germany on Sunday morning. Then we will round out the week with Leg 2 of MLS Semifinals cheering on our Sounders. Woot!

Double Date Night

 Three years ago my sister Michelle got married to a great guy named Christjan. And now we have finally gotten to go on a double date with them. We went to my favorite place....downtown Kirkland. It's not the most exciting place but it's always fun. We tried a new restaurant called Bottle and Bull. They had pork belly so it was sure to be delicious. We tried lots of cocktails, I even had a gin one that was quite tasty. We tried a lot of items on the menu but there is still more I want to try. We will be back.

After a long leisurely dinner we hit Flatstick Pub for some mini golf. This speaks to my soul. There is always a lot of laughter and friendly competition. And in the end no one cares about the score. I was however pretty gleeful when I got a hole-in-one. Scott said he was pretty sure the whole bar knew. As they should!

I look forward to making double date night a Thanksgiving tradition.

The Things I Do For Those I Love.....And who badger me....

This morning as I was enjoying a delicious cup of coffee at Cafe Ladro I noticed my friend Becky outside the window. As her husband came in to grab some coffee I waved and scooted out to chat with her. We covered the basics before her husband came back out (did I mention her husband is Brad Evans and plays for the Sounders?!). Before they headed off we spotted another Sounders player, Andy Rose, down the sidewalk. We said goodbye and I instantly went in to brag text my husband and best friend. In turn they berated me for not getting a selfie with Brad. As I was texting a snarky response Andy Rose walked past the window and I managed to snap a wicked stealth photo. I sent that to the hecklers only to disappoint them again that it wasn't a selfie. *Sigh*
I finished my last few sips of coffee and headed out. As I driving up the hill I saw Rose again on the sidewalk. I made a split second decision to pounce on him like paparazzi to appease the disgruntled two. I pulled over so fast I nearly squealed the brakes, then in my rush I couldn't find my phone and floundered hurriedly in the car hunting it down afraid I would miss this one opportunity for glory.
Finally, heart pounding, phone firmly in hand, I bolted from my car and across the street. In a rush of half sentences and slurred words I explained running into Becky and Brad, not getting a selfie, and disappointing my crew. I then asked if I could get a photo with him for self preservation. He of course readily agreed (those Sounders boys are super nice) and his wife/girlfriend took the shot for us. I gleefully thanked him and bounced back to my car. Only to discover that it was locked.....with the keys inside. Playing it cool I walked around to the passenger side like that was my plan all along while waiting for Rose and his lady to turn the corner and not notice my amazing lack of coordination. I have NO idea when my car got locked, probably while floundering for my phone. At this point I was dying with laughter at the last 15min of my day. 
My penance for not just bucking up initially and getting a selfie with Brad was walking the 1 mile to the gym, my next planned destination.

The Fast Stealth Pic.....                                              

The Paparazzi Attack....

Hours later this is still cracking me up!