SEATTLE

To celebrate a day off from work, we made a last minute Memorial Day trip to Seattle. Our first stop was the beautiful Woodland Park Zoo. Our favorite exhibits included the penguins, grizzly bears, and gorillas. It probably just depends on the day, but these were the most active and exciting animals. The penguins were diving and swimming around and were just so cute (although, smaller than I imagined a penguin to be).



The grizzly bears were just huge and we were able to see one way up close as he splashed around with some fish on the other side of some plexi-glass. Grady refused to get close enough to pose for a picture with me (he didn't understand that there actually was something separating us from the bear).




And the gorillas were cute because there was a baby climbing all over his/her mom (the not-so-cute part of this exhibit was that apparently gorillas throw up and re-eat their food over and over again and unfortunately we got to see this way up close too--I think lunch was sweet potatoes or something like that--yuck).

To top off our fun Seattle trip, we made a stop in at IKEA where I was able to pick up some much needed storage items like under-the-bed storage boxes and this cubby shelf (which I must say was a steal of a deal at just $49 for the Memorial Day weekend--originally priced 99.99)

PLAY BALL

Softball season is in full swing! Todd's heart is once again focused on things like rosters, line-ups, and flashy new uniforms. For Grady and I, this softball season has meant never getting to sit down to watch the game due to endless splashing in mud puddles and making multiple trips to the playground area and/or concession stand. Luckily for him, he's pretty cute when he says "C'mon mom!" so he usually gets his way at the ballpark--oh, and I guess I really don't have a choice but to follow him around because as soon as he yells for me to come, he's off and running full speed ahead!

Birthday Boy

Grady turned two this last week and I'm just thinking that if two is really more "terrible" than 1 or 1 1/2, then we're in TROUBLE!!! He is seriously non-stop and sometimes I think it would just be nice if he'd take a little breather occasionally! He is so much fun, though, and such a sweetheart that these past two years really have been the best years of my life. His birthday was on Thursday the 7th, but we didn't have his party until Sunday since that is when all of our family would be getting together for Mother's Day anyway. We had a lot of fun with our families and hope they had fun too!

Todd and Tanner's gift to Grady--a fenced in backyard so that he can spend even more time outside!

The Pinata from you-know-where...we could not get that thing to bust open!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRADY DEAN!!!

TIMBER

For all of my Walker relatives out there or for anyone who has ever driven through Othello, you are most likely aware of the pole that has towered over the middle of town for the last 50 years or so. My grandpa put the antenna pole up as a way of communicating by two-way radio with the guys driving truck for his concrete company and I think my grandma said that he could talk to guys as far away as California. Growing up, we grandkids knew the pole as the basketball hoop holder and the jail for playing Jailbreak, but for the last several years it hasn't really served any purpose at all. Well, the pole came down last week...I think it was bittersweet for some and a huge relief for others (like the neighbors and my grandmother and now me). The day the pole came down, my grandma commented to my mom that she would finally be able to sleep in peace after worrying about that pole for MANY years.

Target is a Girl's Best Friend

I may be admitting to some sort of disorder by posting this but I just thought I'd share... My latest Target find are these cute flats that come in a million colors or so online, and at 12.99 a pair you can afford more than one color of the rainbow. I have these colors (so far)!

Easter 2009

For Easter this year, we got to attend the 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and dinner at my sister Wendy's house. The food was slammin--Cafe Rio Chicken Salads--and the egg hunt was pretty fun too, even though it was raining and pretty chillly outside.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Easter Outfit

(thank you, Carrie, for introducing me to H&M Baby)

The Egg Hunters waiting to be sent out

Amy, Cole, Brandt, Joel, Katie, Grady, Kaden

Grady wasn't very good at hunting for eggs. He had to stop and unwrap and eat the contents of each egg he picked up before moving on. Meanwhile, most of the loot was being snatched up by the others.
Thanks Uncle Heath for keeping Grady still long enough for this picture!

CALIFORNIA

We spent four fabulous days in California this week! We got to go to the beach, to Disneyland, to California Adventure, and to some super shopping malls. The weather was GORGEOUS so we came back a little more tan than when we left (which we badly needed). We had a ton of fun and can't wait to go again. Here is our trip summed up in pictures:

Grady loved seeing the hundreds of "pwanes" we saw this trip and would scream and point every time he saw one. Probably got annoying for everyone we were sitting by but we thought it was pretty funny.

At first, Grady wasn't sure he wanted his feet in the sand while he played--but he was soon off on his own climbing up the lifeguard tower!

Lillie and Grady

We loved the beach.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I still can't believe this burlap bean bag that is displayed in one of the shops along mainstreet in Disneyland (you can't see it but it does say Othello, WA 99344 across the bottom)! Todd told Grady that they were the beans that gave Disneyland its magic!

He seems too little, but he already thinks that animals are to be shot at! Before we left to Disneyland, he actually took a couple of shots with his hand pistol at a dog walking by our house.
Grady, remember when we went on the Peter Pan ride?...Nope!

Grady excited to be on Donald Duck's boat.

Probably the lamest ride in CA but the kids liked it.

We had the perfect picture lined up, but I had the camera set on video. So there's about ten seconds of some pretty sweet footage before I finally figured out what was going on. By that time Grady had had enough.

Celebrating Todd's 28th Unbirthday! (The second cake he has begged out of family members and his birthday isn't until Monday.)

Staying up past bedtime to watch movies.

Thanks to the Eric, Carrie, and Lillie for housing, feeding, and chauffeuring us. We couldn't have had a better time!