Lake Chelan

In mid-July we took our major vacation for the summer.  Thanks to the generosity of the Warner parents, we all spent a few days in Lake Chelan!  My parents had never really vacationed there and all of us kids have been numerous times so we emphatically told them they had to experience a summer in Chelan.  And boy are we all glad we chose this place for our vacation. 

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather all 4 days that we were there.  And the place we stayed was incredible!  Thanks to the recommendations of friends who have stayed there many times, we were able to book a condo at Lake Chelan Shores.  Our condo was up the hill from the lake itself, but we had incredible views and we were just a few steps away from one of the 5 pools at the complex.  Plus our patio door opened right onto a grassy area which was perfect for Nathan.   The second we walked into the place, we couldn't stop raving about how large it was and how beautiful (it had just been remodeled).  We had only seen photos online and you know how that goes sometimes so we were a little nervous.  Definitely weren't disappointed.

It didn't take us long to relax and be in full summer mode.  In fact multiple times a couple people in the family commented how the place reminded us of Hawaii in some weird way.  So I guess you could say Lake Chelan is Washington's own Hawaii.  

Here are some of our favorite highlights from the trip:

*Playing Mexican Train dominos at night as a family with many glasses of wine
*Making dinner together
*Wine tasting
*Our photo shoot with our resident photographer (thank you Ryan!)
*Celebrating mom's birthday at Tsillan Cellars
*Hanging out by the pool
*The Seatons visiting
*Nathan floating around in his baby inner tube
*James and me renting a kayak and going along the shore of the lake
*Sleeping in.....oh no wait..nevermind.  A 14-month old was with us
*Breakfast at the Blueberry Farm
*Attempting to play the game Humble which was an epic fail
*Getting ice cream in town
*James' boat ride with the Seatons
*Watching Nathan walk around and explore

All in all it was a wonderful family trip and we now have some great memories.  It was a perfect location to go for Nate's age.  We're already talking about maybe going back next year!

Me and the guys with our awesome view

More view from our deck

Our pool!

Beautiful morning lake walk

Pops and Nate

Actually smiling after a morning workout!

Wine tasting at Benson Winery

Nathan loved being in the water

Showing us his new yoga moves

What a stud!

Yay for the floaty!

Epitome of vacation joy

Photoshoot by Ryan

Summer Fun

Hey everybody!  This is Nathan.  Mom thinks I'm taking a nap, but actually I commandeered the computer and thought I would finally make a contribution to this blog. 

I wanted to tell about all the fun things I've been doing so far this summer.  I'm still new to this typing thing so I'll let the following pictures do most of the story telling for me...

First we got to go visit our friends the Lapours in Salem, OR.  I met Lucy and her mom last summer when they came to visit us.  But I was so little, I don't remember it very well.  I definitely remember this year's trip.  Lucy and I bonded and had a great time.  I'm excited that we'll get to see the Lapour family at least once a year.  And now they have an addition to their family--Molly!  So hopefully we'll go see them again soon.


Visiting the wineries in Willamette Valley.  Don't worry...they didn't let me taste any wine



Lucy cracks me up



My first official dinner date!




Can't believe I'm putting this one in--I'm sure mom will use it to embarrass me someday


 

One evening mom and dad left me with Nana and Pops so they could go out on a date.  They went on some crazy thing called the Great Wheel in downtown Seattle.  Not sure what it is, but it sounds fun.  Can't wait 'til I'm old enough to try it!

The weather has been really great this summer so far and I finally got to try out the new pool I got for my birthday! 



Chillin' in my gorilla pool

We celebrated 4th of July by going to our neighborhood celebration.  Apparently I went to this last year too, but I was 2 months old and slept through most of it.  This year I had a great time eating hot dogs, exploring the firetruck, meeting Elmo and falling running down the grass hill. 

4th of July holiday continued with a potluck at Gramma and Grampa's house with Aunt Jacky and Uncle Johnathin and Nana and Pops.  I ate tons of strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, etc.  Yum!

Then one weekend mom and dad thought up this crazy idea to pack up tons of stuff, drive out to the woods, set up this weird dome shelter and cook fire on a tiny stove and a fire.  There was lots of dirt and it was cold at night.  I don't understand why they would want to do that when we have a comfy home with carpets, warm beds, and lots of kitchen appliances to cook and store food.  Why did we make it so difficult on ourselves?  Who knows.  It wasn't that bad actually.  We went to the Salmon le Sac campground and there was a river running through it with lots of rocks on the shore that I liked to throw in the water.  Maybe I'll consider doing this camping thing again...maybe.....



Really mom?  I look so dorky!



Why are we doing this again?



Papa did make a pretty cool fire!

And that's about it so far!  We're only to July and already we've done so much stuff.  I love summer!  Ooh I gotta go.  I hear my mom coming.  More later!

Walking

Nathan is officially walking!  He has been now for a few weeks, but I still wanted to document it.  It still feels surreal to see our little guy walking around.  For the first week he was our little Frankenstein baby walking with his arms out.  But now his balance has improved and he's able to walk more stable with his arms down.  We're actually enjoying his new skills so far because he can come outside with us and do other activities more easily.  I'm sure I'll eat those words in a few months when I have to constantly be running after him. 

 

This video below is about a week into his walking abilities.  It takes him awhile to perform for the camera.  I have to bribe him with food to get him to walk.  Pardon my annoying background cajoling....



The Aquarium

Nathan experienced his first visit to the Aquarium over Memorial Day weekend!  We had a great time watching the fish in the tanks, touching starfish and anenomes in the tide pool and watching the otters play in the water.  Nathan was especially enamored with the fish tanks.  James and Megs had a great time being like kids again.  We bough a family membership so we'll probably be back many times this year.  We're excited to start doing more activities like this over the summer like the zoo, museums, etc.

I noticed there were a lot of parents with really little babies at the aquarium.  It's funny because you know the parents really just wanted to go and now that they have a kid, they have justification....even if the small baby has no idea what's going on.  :)

Nate's first encounter with real sea life

Cool octopus!

Awesome photo of jelly fish that James captured

So cute

Finding Nemo

The sea otters were our favorite part!

Total Fail

A couple months ago we purchased a bike trailer off Craigslist.  We've been so excited about it because we felt like it would be such a good family activity for this summer.  So far the best way I can describe Nate's reaction to the bike trailer is he absolutely detests it.  This is probably our biggest fail as parents so far where we had high hopes of how something would be and it's been the exact opposite.

We've taken Nate out in the bike trailer 2 times.  The first time James took him on his own and it was tricky trying to figure out how to attach the trailer to his bike, get Nate situated, etc.  Plus Nate had never worn a helmet or been in a contraption like a bike trailer.  He basically cried the entire ride.  So we chalked it up to the fact that Nate was uncomfortable, he was trying to get used to it, it may have been hard with James being by himself, etc....

So we went into round 2 with high hopes.  This time Megs was along and we brought a pillow for Nate to sit on hoping that would make him more comfortable in his bike trailer seat.  Again he basically cried the entire ride.  Poor guy!  And poor parents.  Just all around not a great experience.  We're not giving up hope yet though!  The bike trailer will remain in the garage for now and we'll try again when Nate is a little bigger and older.  For now we'll just stick with hiking and walks in the stroller.

Despite the meltdown he just looks so cute!

0-12 Months Recap

Here is a sampling of how Nate has changed and grown over the past year:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months!!

12 Months Old!

Here we are and Nathan just turned 13 months actually and I'm just now getting to blog about him turning 12 months.  Oh well--better late than never right?  Can't believe our boy is over 1 year old!  It's been amazing to witnes the transformation and development over this past year.  We love watching his cute little personality emerge. 

Here are things we want to remember from 12 months:

*Nate is getting close to walking--holding on to furniture and has taken a couple steps, but he's not quite confident to walk out on his own yet.  We're in no rush.  :)
*He loves playing with toys where he has to figure something out like how to open something, put something through a slot, stack something, etc.  He gets very focused and intent on figuring out the challenge.  He's also very inquisitve whether it be how to turn on a light, observing how the ceiling fan works, turning a knob, etc.  We're starting to see Papa's engineering skills in him already!
*Nathan loves to go up and down stairs
*He is still very vocal and although isn't saying any official words yet, we think he's making the connection to Mama and Papa being words to call us.  He also says "oh oh" and tries to say the words for "hot" and "clock" when he points to a clock or points to the oven or toaster.  He also uses sign language to communicate which is very helpful.  From school he's learned the signs for "eat" and "all done."  He also uses pointing to explain what he wants or needs.
*He's a great sleeper.  Goes down pretty easily and sleeps through the night most of the time.  He takes 2 naps still.  We're grateful for his sleeping skills and also jealous that he gets like 11 hours of sleep every night and 2 naps during the day.  Not fair!
*Nathan is definitely starting to assert his independence and will let us know when he's not happy about not getting his way.  :)
*Nate loves to be outside.  He loves crawling in the grass, going for walks in the stroller or going for hikes and sitting in the backpack.
*He's still a very happy and friendly boy and loves to be around people--especially his grandparents and family!!
*He laughs when we chase after him and tickle him.  He also laughs when I sing the Wheels on the Bus song to him.  There is no greater sound in the world than his laugh.

We love you our sweet boy!