The Laura Ingalls Wilder dress

For those of you that remember waaay back when Cotton Togs North was around, you'll remember this dress:


For those of you that are wondering what I'm talking about: Cotton Togs North was a natural clothing business that my mom and friends ran out of our house when I was about 10ish. My dad was the photographer and my sisters and I and all of our little friends were the models. The catalogs are fantastic and I think one last set exists in my parent's house in Maine. I'll have to digitally upload them someday. Anyway, this dress was one of my favorites and was passed around to all the little girls as our "Laura Ingalls Wilder" dress. Yes, it came with a bonnet. My mom has been saving this dress for years and she brought it for Mathilde this Thanksgiving. Now, Mathilde is in an anti-dress phase these days, (much to my chagrin), but she loves this dress!! It's slightly too long on her but I think she wore it about five days in a row around the holiday and every few days it appears again. Not that she knows who Laura Ingalls is, but it makes me smile every time she puts it on!




(It's almost like she's posing for a catalog here!)

Tickle Treat!

That's what Mathilde thought we were saying as we coached her in Halloween verbiage this weekend. We had three outings this weekend where she was all decked out in her costume, and by the end of the day today she finally whispered out a bashful trick-or-treat. Luckily, her costume was cute enough that she didn't need words to get candy!




We went trick-or-treating in pouring down rain - "Seattle style" - yesterday with dozens of sopping wet kids and parents. Mathilde appreciated the candy (M&Ms are her new fave), but she didn't look thrilled by the end.


Not even when we met up with her super cute friends, Annie & Felix:


Happy Halloween everyone!!

(Note: all effort went into creating Mathilde's elephant costume which is why JJ and I are dressed as our soaked selves!)

Ooops, where did the time go?

I didn't mean to have so many weeks in between posts but we've been busy. And with busyness comes lots of photos. Which is why I should have posted sooner, but you see the conundrum. So here I am with a few catch up photos and stories.

Earlier this month, we were lucky enough to have Beto, Leslie, Kaylee, Lindsey, Helena and Charlotte stay with us for a long weekend. We were in heaven, especially Mathilde who is still reeling from the fun time with her cousins. Here are a few photos that sum up an awesome weekend:










Thank you for sharing such a special fall weekend with us, Guajardos! Our doors are open to family and friends at any time!

Then last weekend we headed up north to Camano Island to spend a relaxing weekend with our good friends & neighbors (Marc, Stefanie & Bosun):


We relaxed, played games, ate well and even got a few cloud breaks so we could play by the water's edge.

We will definitely be heading up there again whenever we need a cozy getaway.

First School Picture

Mathilde is 2 3/4 years old and just had her first official school picture taken at preschool:


My sweet gorgeous girl!! Somehow she let someone brush her hair, (which she never lets me do!), and they almost got her to smile. I am a proud mama!

Grumpy Fish

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny, warm, perfect September day in Seattle and we had a perfect family day to go along with the weather:

First a trip to the Ballard Locks.


Mathilde was more interested in the salmon ladder than in the boats and luckily a few salmon were still spawning. Not many but a few. One of the fish, I think he was a sockeye, looked quite grumpy.


At our yummy picnic, Mathilde made up a new sandwich - bagel with cream cheese and peanut butter! - and then re-enacted Grumpy Fish face for us.


Then she made me do Grumpy Fish.


But we turned those grumps around and took a happy family photo with smiles and open-eyes for all. Shocking!


Next we headed over to Golden Gardens beach for a few glorious minutes basking in the beauty and warmth that is Seattle. I love sitting on the beach looking across the Sound at the Olympic Mountains.


I love days like this. Just don't tell Mathilde we ate Grumpy Fish for dinner!

Taking Mathilde home to Maine (with a stop in Boston)

How to sum up our east coast trip in a few words with a few more pictures... Family reunion, playgrounds, museums, great friends, matching shirts, lounging on the beach, time at Tunk Lake, yummy summer dinners, LOBSTER, bocce ball, Mathilde making new friends, Mormor & Pop-pop in heaven with their girls and grandgirl home, loooong flights, and good memories. (I'm too tired to write more but hopefully these pictures speak for themselves. Thanks everyone for the amazing trip home!)

Bowdoin classmates: then & future

Last weekend, my college roommate Marisa came into town with her hubby Sean, (who also was a housemate for a time), and their adorable son Owen. The last time we were all together was when we visited them in Bordeaux, France for Halloween weekend 2008. The kids have grown so much since then and it was so nice to see the Raymond family again. We had a yummy bbq on our deck and caught up on stories from life in Europe. Ahhhhh, we remember traveling around Europe well...that was quite a special time. Owen and Mathilde told each other stories of growing up in foreign countries and then finished the night with stores from Dr. Seuss.






Until we meet again Raymonds...perhaps on your side of the pond next time!

The next day Mathilde dressed herself for an outing at the playground:


You can't see them yet, but the outfit was made complete with rain boots for the sunny day. I love how many smiles Mathilde brings to our lives :) Today she was singing, "We all live in a yellow submarine," over and over at the top of her lungs in the grocery store. Priceless!

To the Beach!

A few weeks ago we drove out to Long Beach, Washington to stay in Andy & Heidi's beach house. We'd heard so much about this special place and our weekend lived up to the hype. I want to go back right now!! We ate well, played well, relaxed well, and all-in-all had a wonderful weekend with our great friends.




Who knew that Cape Disappointment would be so exciting??










Despite Mathilde's two splinters and my lack of a first-aid kit, we all LOVED the beach and can't wait to go back. Yet another reason we love being back home in Seattle. Thanks Andy & Heidi!!

Happy 4th of July!!

Ummmm, where did June go?? I swear I just posted on here but look at that, I missed an entire month! Sorry about that! I will post one picture here that captures the June/father's day spirit:


Yes, Mathilde has her own golf set and that's her and JJ practicing on our deck. Yes, she's very good, and yes, she's a righty (despite both of her parents being lefties. Where did we go wrong?!)

As for this chilly 4th of July weekend, we enjoyed much downtime in our cozy home and tried very hard not to be depressed that the sun seems to have forgotten us over here in the Northwest.

Here are JJ & Mathilde (aka dada's little shadow) cooking up a storm:


And then proudly waving her flag - Yep, it's a Danish one but it's the best we could do!




A patriotic sandwich:


And finally having fun with cousin Will while JJ and Daddy Will grilled in the rain and Susi and I sipped mojitos. Happy 4th everyone!!