Simpsons in Seattle

This little one likes the sprinkles on her donuts!

Nora discovered our candy/snack shelf in the pantry and now this is a regular occurence:

Eagle-eye Evie spotted this in our garage when we were leaving for school today! YUCK! banana slug!

We had an epic Labor Day end-of-summer weekend when our pals Becca, Patrick and their daughter Ellie came for a visit. Ellie just turned 4 a few weeks ago so is about a year younger than Evie, but the two get along great! This was the second year in a row that Ellie came to visit and the girls wasted no time in getting reacquainted.  Special performance by Ellie and Evie! Evie was so excited to share a bed with Ellie. Alas, it didn't work out. Ellie ended up sleeping with her parents because she was scared. On Friday, we jammed 3 car seats into one car and all the girls drove together to catch the Orcas ferry. The girls mostly did fine in the car and the ferry ride over. It helped that we had lots of snacks (including a stop for doughnuts and a stop for fries).  Munchkins in the back. "reading" on the ferry. So many opportunities for scenic pictures! Homework already?! nah, just scribbling. Since we really only had one and a half...

On Tuesday of this week, Evie jumped right up in the morning and even went to hurry Nora along out of her bed because it was big big day, and she didn't want to be late: It was the first day of Kindergarten! We had agonized over where she should go to school and in the end we decided to keep Evie at her current school even though it means she has to switch to a new place for 1st grade. We like the school, she's comfortable there, tuition includes before and after school care, and I like their center-based learning philosophy. It also doesn't hurt that I don't have to do 2 drop offs! I wasn't too nervous about her starting school because I knew Evie would be fine she she already knows the kids in her class. Anyway, Evie was super excited about starting school. Now that she's a big kid, she made sure to bring a back-pack and she stuffed it with lambie (in case she got scared), extra clothes, a pencil case with pencils, and a "workbook" (notepad) in c...

I've taken the girls on my own to dinner at fast food places like McDonalds, but tonight was the first time we went to a real restaurant by ourselves. Any of you who know Nora knows that she's at best, a clingy monkey on me at the dinner table and at worst, a shrieking over-active kid who can't stay in her seat. So it was with a very deep breath that I took the plunge and went to grab dinner before Evie's swim class tonight. Verdict: I can wait to do it again, but it was not as bad as I had thought it would be. We went to Tapatio because Evie requested it (side note: this is the type of Mexican restaurant that makes people say they hate Mexican food) and they heeded my request for a booth because I thought it could contain the kids. Dinner started off okay but went south after we got our meals because Nora didn't want to eat and instead kept wanting to slide down the booth and play on the floor, and then would turn into a limp noodle when I tried to pick her up. I...

We've pretty much been spending every weekend up in Orcas! We were up against last weekend with Scott's parents and spent another delightful few days just bumming around the island. On Saturday, we went to the farmer's market and on Sunday, we explored the island to check out some artists studios because there was an island-wide artist open house. Here's a few scenes from the weekend: She was SOOOOO excited about this cat face paint! Cool little girl. On the property of the last artist we went to visit. The land where her little studio was is amazing! There was a covered bridge! And a private pond! The studio is in the back corner. The girls did great checking out all the various artists.