Simpsons in Seattle

Our little Nora girl has been b-u-s-y this spring! Along with lacrosse, she signed up for Girls on the Run, a running club for elementary school girls. They've been running after school twice a week for the past few months, and we just finished the season with the big 5K event this morning. We didn't run with her (she ran with one of her coaches) so instead cheered from the sidelines and got some fun snaps of her racing to the finish line.  Goooo Nora! We're so proud of you for running this 5K! A little jittery before the event So many people! This is the 5K runners warming up before the start. Here she comes! Look at that stride! With her medal.  

I can't believe we were able to see the Northern Lights last weekend! It was pretty cool. We had a late night catching the ferry so was just getting to bed around 11:30pm when I looked outside and saw the lights. We quickly put on some jackets on top of our PJs and went out to take photos. The photos are just using our iphones, and they turned out really spectacular! To the naked eye though, the colors weren't as vibrant. I could definitely see the shades of colors, shapes and even the solar waves but they aren't as crisp or distinct as the photos. The waves also moved very slowly but sort of pulsated, like the sky was alive. It was super neat to see, and now I can cross this off my bucket list!  

We had a lovely, sunny Mother's Day last weekend! We spent it on Orcas Island and it was just a gorgeous spring day up in the islands - the sun was shining, flowers were in bloom and it wasn't too busy yet. We spent Saturday walking to town and the Farmer's market and then enjoying the sunshine by playing some lacrosse on the lawn. On Sunday, we had a fantastic brunch at New Leaf Cafe in town - I had a scrumptious duck confit with polenta hash. The rest of the day was spent playing outside and then driving home. All in all, a nice, relaxing weekend! I love irises! Super low tide on the beach Playing lacrosse outside Smores at sunset No chocolate bars, but we have chocolate sauce! This is a cute family picture, no? My super yums brunch - duck confit, poached eggs and polenta hash. Picture credit goes to Nora!  

Despite quite a lot of sadness, Nora got a hair cut! I think it looks cute. What do you think? before after  

We signed Nora up to play lacrosse this season and so far, it's been going great! She was pretty reluctant to go to the first practice but she very quickly made some friends and realized that the majority of the other girls were also beginners. We have 2 practices a week, and then 1 or 2 games each weekend. There's about 25 girls altogether, all 3rd and 4th graders in the Issaquah School district so it's a pretty darn big team. There's a few girls who have played before and are really good; they basically carry the team to win every time! Nora's slowly gotten better and in fact, even scored in a game and has had a few great assists. Cross your fingers she will want to keep playing next year! Nora is the one with the pink jacket and pink eye guard.

Spring break was a fun and busy week for us. This year, we opted to do a road trip down to California and take the girls to see Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We rented a car and drove down in order to make a few pit stops to see friends and ended it with a weekend stay with the Hanleys in SF before flying back home. It was a lot of driving but it was still really fun and of course, we saw so many beautiful sites.  We couldn't wait for vacay to start and set off for the first leg of our trip after work on Friday. We drove about 6 hours to Roseburg, a little town south of Eugene, before turning in to rest for the night. The next morning, we drove another 6 hours and made it to Sacramento by early afternoon. We whiled away an hour or so walking around the historic waterfront area before heading to the Ritter's house for an evening of fun with friends. We last  visited with the Ritters years ago  when we went to Sac for a wedding, so it was fun to see how much