When Mom Becomes Your New Name

I will be the first to admit that I can be brutally honest about how hard parenting is. Elliott sure wasn't the best baby to ease Mark and I into parenthood. I remember crying to my sister on the phone when Elliott was just a few weeks old saying "He's not normal. They can't all be this way can they?" Fast forward a few months and we had a walking and talking toddler that won't sit down and shut up. Fast forward a few years and we have a baby and a toddler. There are days when Mark and I hardly speak to each other between all the diaper changes, tubs, meal preparing, and bottle feedings. But it's all worth it when I hear my kids say Mom, or in Claire's words mamamama. I love coming home after work and seeing both kids run/crawl to me while screaming Mommy. 

I love these two and I can't wait for the new stages of motherhood as these two grow up. 

Happy Father's Day

The kids and I are pretty lucky and blessed to have 

some amazing fathers and grandfathers in ours lives!

June Pool Fun

Aunt Abby and Cousin Katherine

Ooo, this is cold 

Warming up to it

Oh wow, this is fun

Wait a second...who is this new person?

...and Katherine is done!

First of many pool dates

Fun Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend

We traveled back home for Memorial Day weekend and spent a few days at the farm and a few days in Storm Lake. 

Watching Dad and Pops put in the dock 

Mimi and Claire 

Elliott fishing with Pops 

Elliott had enough patience for about 15 minutes of fishing

Catching mice at the farm

Spending time with Great Grandma Phyllis and Great Grandpa Marvin 

Claire was not getting the whole selfie thing 

Playing with Great Grandma Olympia 

Claire making the most of Dad's break time

Getting ready to head out to the field 

Elliott and Dad helped Grandpa plant the plot 

Claire - 10 Months Old

10 Months

Claire is seriously the happiest baby ever! She smiles at anyone and everyone, unless you're her Uncle Drew...sorry Drew. She still has just three bottom teeth, but a fourth bottom one and two top ones are almost through. She's a crawling machine and is just starting to pull herself to a standing position. The fun is just beginning!

Favorites:
Blankets and stuffed animals - she loves to bury her head in them
Food - this girl will eat anything you put in front of her...except cottage cheese
Outside - she absolutely loves the sandbox and crawling in the grass

Vacation 2015

Seattle/Portland - May 7-12

Mark and I took our first week-long vacation since our trip to New York and Washington DC the year before we had Elliott. We were both very ready for it after a few days of strep in the Currie household...and let's be honest, a few years of kids! We flew into Portland Thursday morning and drove to Mount Rainier. We stopped at the Mount St. Helens Visitors Center on our way. This was not in our original plans but after seeing a sign for it on the interstate we decided it was something we couldn't pass up. Although we didn't make the 3 hour round trip to the top, we stopped at the base to take a few pictures. 

Hard to imagine this beauty rupturing a few years ago.

Mt. Rainier was absolutely gorgeous and we had one of the best days of weather that you could ask for. One of Mark's coworkers recommended Mt. Rainier over Mount St. Helens because you can actually do some hiking. There are several lookouts and trail heads on your drive up the mountain.  

One of the glaciers in the background.

We found a little hidden trail to this lake. We were the only ones out there and it was breathtaking!

After several hours of hiking we decided to make our way towards Seattle. We rented a VRBO in lower Queen Anne and we were in love with the place. The location was just a few miles NE of downtown Seattle and in a very quiet neighborhood. They had a really cute, much smaller downtown with a lot less touristy feel. We spent most of our mornings wandering around Pike Place Market and downtown Seattle and most of our evenings in downtown Queen Anne.  

The Original Starbucks

Eating a morning pastry and drinking coffee by the fish market.

They had the most amazing flower bouquets for sale. Every morning we questioned if they could sell all the flowers but most places were sold out by evening. 

On top of the space needle

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Ferry ride and tour of Elliott Bay

On Sunday we drove up to San Juan Island and did a kayaking tour. It was early for kayaking season so our group was very small, just 3 other people and the tour guide. The weather was amazing and the water was like glass. 

On Monday we made our way to Portland and drove on the scenic highway through the Columbia River Gorge. Although it misted/sprinkled most of the day, the gorge was absolutely breathtaking! There are so many waterfalls that you can see right from the highway. We finished our evening in Portland at Deschutes Brewery.

Latourell Falls

Multnomah Falls

Ellowah Falls - This one was a bit of a hike but it was worth it. It was our favorite waterfall!

Doesn't everyone have to take a detour to see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge? 

Beer tasting at Deschutes 

We had some time to kill before our flight home on Tuesday so we drove to the coast. We saw the haystacks which is where some of the scenes from "The Goonies" is filmed.

We had such a great time but we were ready to come back home and see the kids! A huge thank you to my mom and Megan for watching the kids! Elliott was recovering from strep and it turns out Claire had an ear infection. Needless to say, it was probably not the easiest babysitting job!