What a wild ride ...

I love those blue eyes!

To say the last few days have been a whirlwind is an understatement.  I returned early from my trip to Dallas this past week due to Ben and Lizzy being in a car accident and my/Ben's need to be together as a family.  When Ben called me Thursday evening from the side of I-5 to tell me "everyone is okay, but Lizzy and I were in a car accident" the parental instinct definitely kicked in.  Ben assured me all was okay but he was definitely shaken and although Lizzy and him were fine we both agreed it would be best if I came home. 

I booked the earliest flight out Friday and spent the day traveling back to Seattle and then with Ben and Lizzy at the doctor to ensure all was okay.  Other than very sore Ben is doing well and the doctor assured us that Lizzy would be just fine, after all that was what the car seat was for!  Our 4-Runner is another story but we will have to see this week what is determined for the car. 

I cannot tell a lie though.  Last week and this week being on the road it was a bit bittersweet to have two days home versus just one.  We spent Saturday laying pretty low as we were all exhausted and then BBQ'd out on the deck for the first time this year.  Super yummy marinated chicken with roasted vegetables and watermelon, and a little wine! 

Today we headed to church, then to Home Depot (we are painting our house!) and Costco.  We picked up flowers and then heading to the cemetery to visit Ben's grandma and grandpa in honor of Virgina's birthday this past week.  The afternoon was spent hanging out in great grandma's back yard while Ben and grandpa cleaned out and waxed the boat!  Lizzy did great!  We had a picnic lunch along with reading books, working on our walking and eating grass.  All in all it was a great summer weekend.  Have a great week everyone.

Cheese for the camera!

Just kickin' back, catchin' up on some light reading!

The Birthday Party!

Whose crazy idea was it to invite every person to our house on a Saturday when it is supposed to rain and that means having everyone inside!  Yikes!  Well that is exactly what happened yesterday.  We had a total of 56 people (including kids) inside and celebrating Lizzy's first birthday with a lot of food, cake and not so many tears! 

See below for a quick snapshot but she did great.  She loved seeing everyone, even let a few people snuggle and hug her!  Thank you all for making Elizabeth's first birthday such a magical, fun event for Ben and I ... and Lizzy too!  You are all so generous and we couldn't have been more excited to catch up with everyone for this special occasion. 

To those that had to park a mile away, I'm sorry.  Parking is definitely anything but ideal when we do larger parties but we completely appreciate you all coming, celebrating and not blocking our neighbors in!  We are so blessed to have so many family and friends that are close to celebrate with.  To the Minnesota family, we missed you and plan on coming back sometime this fall to celebrate with everyone there.  We'll do a big bash with all the great-grand kids for Grandma Volkert! 

She is such a ham for the camera!

We definitely preferred the cake pop over the actual cake.

The spread ... cake pop anyone!

Playing with cousin Elsa!

Happy Birthday to the Lizbug!

Well we made it.  One year.  Part of me wants to say boy oh boy did time fly and the other part of me wants to say it didn't go fast enough.  I'd say it is a 90/10 split.  I'm in awe of how fast this first year has gone.  Lizzy has grown so much and has changed our lives in so many ways.  I'm more patient, more kind and definitely more understanding and supportive of other mama's! 

We had a day as I took the day off and Elizabeth and I simply spent some quality time together.  We played all morning long, took a good nap (well at least she did) and then headed to the mall to get our pictures taken.  Daddy met us and overall she did amazing.  We went to Picture People, definitely not my favorite place to have photos done, but the pictures turned out pretty darn cute.  From there we headed to Build-A-Bear and helped Lizzy make her very first teddy bear ... we named him Love-A-Lot because he looks a little like a Care Bear!  From there we headed to Red Robin for lunch and home to relax and enjoy the evening as a family. 

Here are a few snapshots from her big day!  Next up ... the birthday bash!

Garage Sale Weekend

Boy oh boy does it feel like summer! 

Every weekend from now until what feels like Christmas is jam-packed with activities, BBQ's, weddings, events and boating.  Bring on the hot weather.  And boy-oh-boy did it finally get warm this weekend.  Pretty sure we topped out around 80 degrees on Saturday. 

But first, Friday night, we took Lizzy to her first Mariners game!  She did ... well she did okay.  Actually she did really well but by 9:30pm she had hit her wall.  We left work around 4pm, headed down to the stadium to get in and get our commemorative train and, because we were there for a CCFA fundraiser (http://www.ccfa.org/), we received our Mike McCready bobble head!  From the stadium we headed to Elysian Fields for dinner where Lizzy ate her first chicken strips.  She loved it.  We saw a lot of friends from college and got to catch up on kids, wedding prep, summer plans ... it was wonderful.  They played Tampa Bay and just womped them 7-0.  We walked around, sat in our seats for probably an hour, walked around a little more and then headed home. 

Saturday was the Tapps Island Garage Sale ... for those not familiar this is simply an excuse to drink bloody mary's and see what crap people try to charge way to much for.  Oh and it is a great way to say hi to a whole bunch of people I hardly see any more.  With the gorgeous weather and drinks in hand we ended up walking the entire island.  Elizabeth was a trooper both with shopping and taking a nap in her stroller (first time in months). 

Lizzy napping in her stroller ... haha!

We headed out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate my best gal's birthday ... yet another delicious dinner at C.I. Shenanigans.  It was prom which was entertaining but the food was amazing, the view even better and the parking spot - right up front (okay come one, Tacoma waterfront on a sunny Saturday, you know you are jealous!). 

Sunday we had brunch with the girls and their girls, always fun and probably been a year since we had done that exact breakfast get together.  Lizzy went in the swing for the first time and needless to say she did not enjoy it.  This should prove interesting as we just bought her a swing for her first birthday!  Haha!  After brunch and the park we headed to my sister's to visit for a bit.  It was nice to just hang out and chat for a bit. 

Overall another busy weekend ... I love summer and hate summer for this reason, but more love it!  Bring on the sunshine and the summer fun!