Simpsons in Seattle

I rung in my 41st birthday with a nice, low-key day! While our original plan of having breakfast in Hawaii (where we should have been this week for spring break) didn't pan out, it still was a great day. I was able to keep work at a minimum, spent a lot of quality time hanging with the girls and Scott and ate some delicious food. Really, all that matters is that we are all healthy and happy and together. I wish for this to continue for many many more years to come!   Birthday breakfast surprise We taught the girls to play Carcassone Going on a hike on a trail near our house. Since Cougar Mountain is basically in our backyard, we have lots of trails to choose from. We probably did about 2.5 miles in and back (5 miles total) Practicing using masks.  The trail follows Coal Creek so there were lots of bridges crossing the water. More bridges Took a while to get her to smile naturally No cake for dessert but we had strawberries and chocolate! (a

I should have done this sooner, all it took to break the girls away from their screens and books to join me in the outdoors were a few candies and money (well not really money, they want “points” to use towards LEGO rewards). For two days straight the girls have willingly gone out with me on local hiking trails near our house without a single complaint... and they claim to be having a ton of fun. We have been exploring streams, waterfalls, and interesting looking rocks. We’re trying to keep our social distance when we pass hikers and I have even trained the girls to hold their breath as long as they can when walking past strangers. So far so good. Perhaps we will try masks on our hikes next. With all this outdoor time (and the prospect of more points) the girls have also joined me in doing some spring weeding and gardening. They even helped me clean up a small tree in our yard to use for climbing. I love listening to their little pretend stories while hanging out in

Little Nunu made this for me the other day to decorate my home desk. Isn't it sweet?

We haven't gone out to eat in weeks so you can imagine how excited we were when we went to this new-to-us restaurant the other day called "Ridiculously Good Eats". It was close by so we were able to stick to social-distancing rules, the workers were super cute, and the food was pretty darn tasty, just as advertised! We had such a fun time that Scott and I are already planning on when we should go back. Fancy powerpoint menu Very reasonable prices Great presentation. Tastes suspiciously like Trader Joe's....

Evie got a skateboard recently so our usual scoot and bike nights now also include her skateboarding. Here's a short video of her, Scott and Nora rolling down the street.