Mariposa

Little Gym was cancelled today so Dylan and I headed out of West Seattle for a super fun day at the Pacific Science Center.  Our favorite was the Mariposa room!

"Mom take my picture by this beautiful blue butterfly"

Dylan did a fabulous job locating all the different kinds of butterflies we saw on her chart.

We even had a special guest come to visit.

We have a butterfly whisper!

Picture by D.

We had tons of fun running around but boy, this momma was very tired by the end of it all! 

Infant CPR

No this is not our baby but you will be glad to know that we are now CPR certified - just give us a call if you need saving!

Sunday Bike Race, G-ma Melvene and Rick, and Despicable Me "Oh, Yeh"

It was a beautiful Fall Cyclocross race at Woodland Park on Sunday. The colorful leaves were all on the ground, tons of bikers of all ages, and a huge turn out for the kids race. Cousin Jackson came and did his first Cyclocross race and had a blast! After his race was D's.  She was super excited to beat some boys. AND even more stoked to have a big cheer section that included Auntie Beans, Mom, Dad, Bridget and baby Poppy, and G-ma Melvene and her new husband, Rick!

It was all smiles until the line up then it was pure concentration!  Pappa Matt was leading the kids race which Dylan loved.  She was out to win!

Afterwards we had a nice visit with G-ma Melvene and Rick who came back to the house.  There was tea, books, pumpkin cake, Hello Kitty's and paper dolls, AND even Donald Duck (Rick totally won D over with his impersonation - which he will now be doing every time she sees him!).

Later that afternoon Dylan and I headed up to our friends Akemi and Yumi's house for a little viewing of Despicable Me and a full on super yummy bagel bar - 'Oh Yeh!' (to quote Vector for those of you who have seen the movie - it's D's new favorite line).

Thanks to all who came to support and cheer our little racer on!  It was an action packed day for sure.  D's eye were shut before her head hit the pillow!

Halloween Extravaganza!

Oh how we stretched Halloween out this year!  There was the Little Gym Party Friday the 19th.  Lots of games and friends.

The next Friday evening I raced home from work and we hit the Admiral Scavenger Hunt - it was a little rainy but it didn't stop us!

Saturday was Sam's (across the street) 5th birthday dress up party.

The Rockin' Circle C's annual pumpkin carving and chili party - yes, as you can tell by the pictures it was a very wet evening but still tons of pumpkin carving fun.  Dylan was so proud of the pumpkin she and her dad carved!

Sunday was the Harvest Festival up at the junction.  This year they closed the street and there were tons of fun booths, lots of candy, and quite the melody of costumes.  Sorry no pictures from that day - but it was a hoot.

Then there was Halloween night!  Dylan's friend Sam showed up just as Dylan and her dad were about to leave - bonus!  So the gang all headed out together for some trick or treat fun.  Of course Pappa Matt taught Dylan to say "trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat" which was fun but since I figure some might not think so much I made her add please to the end.

Counting the loot at the end of the night.  It was save to say Tinkerbell had a lot of fun!

D.Y.L.A.N.

Learning to write her own name.

Toast And Cake

Dylan giving a toast to mom for her birthday while wearing her birthday suit.

Jammies and cake!!!!  Yum!!

The Swim Incident

Oh swimming - how Dylan just loves it.  The way she's been into eating seaweed lately (like it's going out of style) and watching her in the water I don't doubt that she wasn't a mermaid in a past life.  So to see her crying (I mean really crying) the other night at swim lessons I couldn't believe my eyes.  When I went to see what was up - Dylan says "Mom, I NEVER want to go back to swim lessons again!"  Oh no!  So after a week of talking and talking and talking about what happened I convinced her to give it another go.  So the morning of swimming D says to me "Hey mom, I don't think I can make it to swim lessons tonight as I have a runny nose."  Okay I can buy that but I say just to push the issue "Well I guess then you can't go to school or Trick or Treating either."  "Oh no mom I'll be okay for those things, I just think that I should stay home from swimming."  Wow, these little people are already thinking. 

Later that afternoon Auntie Beans came over and we all went to swim lessons together with me promising to talk with the teacher.  Apparently the teacher said to Dylan during her back float (which she practices every night at bath time) that she was going to let go of her - in Dylan's mind she thought this meant she was going to sink to the bottom of the pool as she is learning to swim without floaties.  So we asked the teacher before class to explain to D what she was trying to accomplish and to perhaps use a better choice of words.  Since Dylan was early to class she and the teacher tried a back float before class started AND..... drum roll..... a perfect back float without the teacher holding on to her.  Auntie Beans, our friend Freddie, and I all stood and applauded and the smile was back on D's face!  Oh thank goodness!  It was a proud moment in parenthood!!

At the end of class the kiddo's got to go through the slide - of course Dylan was the first one.  Picture is a little blurry as she was sooo fast to go through.