Flaming What???!

Hmmm... what might these flames be on?????



Any guesses?



That's right! As an anniversary present, Andy gave the mini-van some pizzazz. I've missed the flames that our old little blue Neon had so much, that he decided to get some for the van.



Me in the "Flaming Goobermobile."

Fun Times Inside and Out.

We thought briefly of sending her to Zimbabwe, but figured the postage would be too high with all the sippy cups we'd have to throw in.

Also, we'd miss her too much.



So, as much as I hate it when uniforms like this make an appearance (it means Andy will soon be making a disapperance), Carolyn looks awful cute when she plays dress up in them.



Carolyn helped Daddy wash the car today.



Scrub, scrub.



My lavender.

A Mouse!

Carolyn has her first imaginary friend. He happens to be a mouse. She holds out her hand, gets very excited and breathy and says, "Look! A mouse!" Then the narration starts: "Mouse eats supper! Berries with sugar!" "Where'd he go? Where'd he go?" "On shoulder!" "Here! Hold him!"

It's really extremely incredibly adorable.

Abbie, Abbie, Abbie

Finally Abbie is starting to break out some smiles for us! I haven't caught a good one yet, but I have some 'almosts' and a washed out one.... and then there are just a few pictures of her pure cuteness.

Oh and you can see that my lap is the gathering place for one and all these days.

Whale Watching!

For our Anniversary, Andy and I splurged and we all went out on a whale-watching adventure. We all had a good time, though it was a long day for the girls.



Our boat.



Carolyn.



Carolyn and Daddy.



A ferryboat.



What Abbie did.



We got to see a group of Orcas that frequents the water of the sound called the J-pod. Here you can see just what a large group they are. According to our guide, most of the other pods aren't so close-knit so they travel in smaller splinter groups and may spread out over a mile or so. J-pod sticks together so you get to see many of the Orcas all at once.





Orcas are Matriarchal, and J-pod is led by a 96 year old whale named Granny. Granny is pretty old by Orca standards, I guess. They key to her longevity, they say? Swimming daily and a large intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids.



Carolyn was awake and excited and ready to see whales for quite a while. Then... then she got tired. Then, we got close to the whales and we went outside to see them and she fell asleep on my shoulder. So, this is what Carolyn did during our time with the whales. Sweet little punkin.

Yeah... even though it was our anniversary trip we didn't get a photo of the two of us. Oh well.

First Berry Picking of the Season

Ok, so by the time the season is over you'll probably all be tired of me posting pictures of us picking berries, but here's the first round. This time around, it's strawberries.



Carolyn and Daddy head out to the field.



Carolyn getting ready to wade in.



Picking...



and of course eating!



All the girls doing our share.

Crazy Outfit

Carolyn has started picking out her own outfits. She certainly does have flare!

A Day With the Fish

Andy took just a few more days of leave this week, and today we decided to head to the Seattle Aquarium. Carolyn was VERY excited to go see the 'fishies, fishies, fishies!'








Fish all around!!! At this point, Carolyn became fascinated by the starfish. I was amazed to hear her point them out everywhere we went, without us telling her what they were first.



Watching a seal swim by.



Inside a ring of Jellyfish.





Mr. Octopus shows off.



Pretty blue fish.



Turns out, the inside of a clam is just plain beautiful.



Carolyn was absolutely blissed out when she actually got to TOUCH the starfish. We spent probably half an hour with her at these tanks visiting with the starfish up close and personal.



The Sea Otters--It's not a great picture, but they are my favorite so I had to share them. Andy says we can't get one for the bathtub. I am very sad about this.



A seal showing off for us.

One Month

Abbie is one month old today! I can't decide if it feels like it's flown or like more has happened than could possibly fit into a month. She's growing like a champ, weighing in at 10 lbs. 7 oz. most recently (take that Nurse Rachet Weigh-in lady!!!).

As you can see we're all enjoying her--me apparently mostly behind the camera.



Some wiggle time.



The sister's eyeballing one another.



A conversation.



Abbie in a Pooh Bear hat.



Sister snuggles.



Daddy's favorite way to pass time.

Bob Vila--Eat Your Heart Out

Carolyn is a future architect. At the very least she's going to be a little fixer girl/home improvement type. Lately she's been perfecting her baby bed design.



Here she is building.



The finished product.



Complete with a seat for her to sit in to monitor the baby.



The bed in use... cute little otter.



Sitting in the special chair.




The baby bed builder cheesing it up.