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!!

Mormor and Pop-pop are here!

Sadly, they're gone back home to Maine already, but we just spent two wonderful weeks with my mom and dad (aka Mormor and Pop-pop) here in drizzly, gray Seattle! I love seeing my parents, JJ has fun with his in-laws, and Mathilde ADORES her grandparents. She had so much fun these past two weeks, I am nervous about sending her back to day care tomorrow. What is she going to do without Mormor's oatmeal or a trip on the #11 bus to the aquarium? What are my parents going to do without their #1 fan?? Seriously, it's going to be a tough transition back to "normal" life. But pictures help and here are some from our fabulous two weeks together...

Mathilde being her cute, stylish self:







Riding on boats (on a ferry to San Juan Island & napping on the whale watch - we saw humpbacks!!):




We saw lots of wildlife on San Juan Island including these adorable alpacas:




And we saw some beautiful, fun outside art by some local artists (Mathilde was less than thrilled but is always happy to come along for the ride in someone's arms):




Mathilde and I are very happy to announce that we finally have matching shirts (note: it's ok to wear tourist t-shirts from a local destination for mommy-daughter matching purposes!!)


A few days before Mormor & Pop-pop arrived, we celebrated mother's day in a local japanese gardens and with a bbq on our new deck. I meant to post these few pics earlier but we've been busy!





I am one lucky mama!!

Happy Memorial Weekend everyone!!