The Builder

Our daughter the builder...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ8140T7n6U

Taste of Island Life

Today we took a family trip to the lovely Vashon Island. We loaded up Finley and the 3 dogs and headed for the ferry at around 10:30. We started out at The Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie and had Toddy Lattes and shared a cinnamon bun. This was where Seattle's Best Coffee was made before it was bought by Starbucks.



Then we went for a lovely drive to the Point Robinson park. The dogs had plenty of space to run through the woods and on the beach.




After that we went to the farmers market and had lunch at Rock Island Pub & Pizza, which was quite possibly the worst pizza I've ever had.





It was exactly what we needed - a sunny, relaxing day with a little taste of island life. I can understand why people would want to live here. It's quiet, lovely and quaint. I'd love to go back and check out more of the farms and wild areas.

Fun Times With Gran

Finley, Gran & I have been having a fun all girls week! Aside from Finley's crazy teething experience....which was pretty bad. On Monday night she slept horribly and then was crying all day. It was awful. She didn't want to nurse or eat much (other than frozen blueberries and a smoothie) and kept trying to suck her thumb, but I think it hurt too much. And then the follow day she was back to her happy, goofy self.

On Tuesday we stayed home and cuddled and watched cartoons. On Wednesday we attempted to go to Bainbridge Island, but missed our ferry and ended up having lunch at Elliots Oyster House and then going to the Aquarium. Finley LOVED looking in the tanks and touching the starfish. It was a fun outing.

Today I had a job interview for a clinical dietitian position. I thought the interview went well, but I also thought the last one went well. This would be an ideal position for me because the hospital is 15 minutes away from our house. I'm not getting my hopes up this time, but HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET A JOB THAT REQUIRES EXPERIENCE, WHEN I CAN"T FIND A JOB! so frustrating! At least I'm getting interviews. The rest of the day was much better and nose work class with Indigo and a long walk to the park to run the dogs and a trip to the Lake City farmers market. We got cherries, strawberries, asparagus and had grilled cheese for dinner. For dessert Finley and I shared some locally made chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

The rest of the pics are HERE

Back on track?

Wow two blog posts in a row! Maybe I'm back on track or maybe I just have some extra time. Finley's gran, Frances is staying with us right now while Ben is in Boston and we have been having a great time! With a full time babysitter I've been getting a lot done.

We went to a "carnival" in Georgetown, which was a nice effort, but pretty lame compared to other carnivals I've been to. There weren't even any rides or caramel apples. We had fun anyway strolling around and checking out the neighborhood.

Last night we went to one of our favorite restaurants "The Sandpoint Grill". I love it because it's not pretentious and the atmosphere is really relaxed. The service is great and very accommodating to kids. They give out a plate with cucumebers, apples and carrots as soon as you sit down. They know that kids need something to occupy themselves. The only downside is the food. It's just okay. However we did get dessert to go this time and it was pretty amazing. We had rustic cherry pie and a homemade "ho-ho". Pretty cute and really good.

I'm hoping that on Wednesday we will go to either Vashon Island or Bainbridge Island. It will be fun to teach Finley about boats!

Inspiration & Out of Space

13 months

I'm going to start posting most of my photos on my new Flickr account since I'm out of space on Google. I'm still working on adding and organizing all the photos.

I've been fairly uninspired in the garden and in the kitchen lately. I'm not sure why. The garden is way over grown and there are no vegetables planted. I guess it seemed more stressful to deal with than relaxing and enjoyable this year. I have been cooking and using local, seasonal foods from the farmers market, but nothing especially exciting. I need some inspiration!

I've been spending a lot of time with the dogs and focusing on training. My posts have been regular and are HERE.

Finley is amazing and so much fun. She is just over 13 months and is a wonderful little girl. She loves goofing around and playing games. She smiles a lot. She loves putting things around her neck (dog leashes is a favorite) or trying to put clothes on. At daycare and at home, she does a great job of playing by herself (filling and emptying containers or pushing things around). We go to playgrounds and have lots of fun on the slide and swings. When you give her a phone, she puts it up to her face and yells into it. It's hysterical. She isn't sure about swimming and still hates being changed. As of this past week, she has started to get upset when someone leaves the room or leaves her alone.

She is an eating machine. She probably eats more than I do and more variety than most kids her age. She pretty much eats anything you give her, including pickles, sauerkraut, yogurt, salad, beans, pasta, pizza, any kind of meat or cheese, asparagus, berries, canteloupe, fish etc. I hope that continues for a long time. She takes a multivitamin, vitamin D and fish oil and I still nurse her in the morning.

We have several trips planned this summer, which I am really looking forward to. I'm hoping that getting out of town will give me the inspiration that I am looking for. We are taking our RV to Vancouver Island and to Northern California for combined vacations and flyball tournaments.

Right now Ben is in Boston visiting Tufts and deciding if he wants to be a vet

waiting for the sun

It's been a hard Spring in terms of weather for us, so we have taken advantage all 3 nice days we've had so far. We have been exploring play grounds and enjoying playing in the grass. Both of Finley's grandparents visited for her birthday and and had lots of fun. I don't think she had any complaints about having two birthday celebrations.

I decided to leave my job and look for another one with better hours that is a better fit for my interests. We are keeping Finley in daycare for two days each week while I am job hunting. I am looking forward to spending more time with her, as she changes so quickly. She is just about walking now. She enjoys using her walker toy to help her with this. She is also beginning to play with toys more intentionally. She especially loves emptying and filling containers.

We started a new day care this week. I was a bit nervous because the kids have to sit at a table to eat and nap on little mats. Her report for day 1 was great! I was shocked that she stayed at the table to eat and slept on a mat on the floor. It was a proud moment for us.

She is 1! I'm going to keep taking photos, but probably not every week. I'll aim for monthly owl photos from now on.

We have never been to the tulip festival and so this was the year to finally go. It was well worth the traffic and long drive for the views of the flowers.

this is my favorite photo

The drive home

We have been checking out some of the playgrounds in Seattle. This is our current favorite

trying to let the dogs escape

as promised

We have been doing a lot of blog posts lately! Finley is getting closer to walking everyday, but she still isn't there yet. Maybe by her first birthday? We aren't in any rush, since she is already into everything! She loves to empty shelves and drawers. She also just discovered her neck muscles and has been bobbing her head to music or pretending to be a lizard...hard to say, but very funny.

With my crazy work schedule we haven't been doing a lot of trips and the weather has been horrible. It's always in the 40s and raining. We are very ready for some nice weather.

49 weeks