Annual Mountain Drive...resurrected

For many years we enjoyed doing an Annual Mountain Drive in the fall with my parents.  That tradition was put on hold when little kids came along because we couldn't imagine that long of a drive and day with 2 little ones. But the event has finally been resurrected!  We finally felt like the boys are at a good age that we could probably manage the trek this year.  And it was a great success!

Starting from our home we drove through Carnation, Duvall and on to Highway 2 to the town of Sultan.  First stop: Sultan Bakery for a yummy breakfast complete with enormous doughnuts.

Second stop: along the Wenatchee River after going over Stevens Pass to enjoy the beautiful colors of the leaves.

Third stop: the bavarian-themed town of Leavenworth complete with lunch at a very German establishment

Final stop: Smallwood Farm to get apples and enjoy the kids activities including a crazy train ride through the farm and orchards

It was such a fun day and the boys did great!  They actually slept the entire way home through Blewitt Pass since we tired them out so much.  We're so happy to have brought back this annual tradition and now we can share it with the boys!

Cameron's 2nd Birthday

Now that I have finally moved through the dense fog of busy-ness at work and to distract myself from the craziness of the election, I'm finally doing a post about Cameron's 2nd birthday.  It was only 2 months ago....sheesh!  But man this time of year is hard to stay up on documenting our family.

Cameron is a lover of animals.  So of course the natural choice for his birthday this year was the zoo. We did the same thing for Nate when he turned 2.  There's just something about animals when you're a 2-year-old I guess.  Our wonderful family joined us for a beautiful day exploring the zoo and visiting all the animal exhibits that we could fit in.  Cameron was in heaven!  Then we drove a few blocks north to celebrate with dinner and cake at Zeek's Pizza.  Photos to follow.

But first I wanted to record what Cameron is like at this age:

*Cam is super funny.  He brings so much laughter and humor to our family and loves to be a "ham."
*He is our rough and tumble kid--loves all things sports related and loves throwing, catching, kicking any ball he can get his hands on
*He also has no fear whether it's climbing to the top of the play structure, jumping off our furniture, or trying brand new things Cameron has incredible bravery and courage.  We also have to watch him like a hawk though too
*He is still cuddly and sweet...thank goodness!
*He loves animals, trucks, trains, legos, "guys," wrestling with his brother, playing baseball or soccer, watching Lion Guard, and reading books
*Nathan is his absolutely hero.  He's at an age where he copies Nate and always wants to do what he's doing.  They are pretty good buddies.  Obviously they have their moments, but for the most part they really love each other's company
*After a slow start he's talking up a storm and learning new words and phrases all the time
*he's a big helper.  We're always amazed at how good he is at picking up toys or being helpful around the house.  At the same time though he's also definitely 2 and has an opinion about what he wants to do or not do.  But once we get him going with helping out, he is awesome.
*We can't imagine what we would do without Cameron's fun, funny, sweet, happy personality in our family.

We love you Cam and Happy Birthday!