Swim Lessons

Lola just completed her first session of swim lessons and is so much more excited and confident around the water! She and Dan took a two week class at our neighborhood pool for eight days. She learned to kick her legs in the water, jump in from the edge, and use her "ice cream scoops" to paddle her way through the water. Mac and I loved watching, although he mostly slept!

 She was the first in her class to stand on the edge and jump in!

 "Ice Cream Scoops"

 Last day of classes

When we got home after her last lesson, she looked at Mac and said, "You did a really good job watching me!" She got a certificate from Teacher Kelly and told Dan not to get it wet. We're so happy she had such a great time, loves the water, and is on her way to becoming a confident swimmer!

Mac's Baptism

My immediate family became Catholic when I was 9 years old after we had moved to Spokane. Growing up in a Catholic school with friends whose extended families were all Catholic, and came to celebrate baptisms, First Eucharist, and any religious school function, I always hoped that one day, I would have an extended family to partake in these important moments with me.

I am so blessed to say that I do.

When Lola was baptised, her Godparents, Katy & Adam (Abo) celebrated with us, along with other friends and family. Last weekend, Mac was baptised in our church and we had such a wonderful weekend with his Godparents, Nolan & Meghan, along with friends Morgan, David, Katy & Abo, and family, Nana & Bub, Rachael & James, Grandma Linda, & Auntie Beca. He and Lola are both incredibly lucky to have such amazing people in their lives.

The Godfather.

Uncle Nolan, Dan's best friend since preschool, meeting Mac for the first time. We're pretty sure these two are going to be great buddies.

 Grandma Linda and Lola hung out around the font with the other kids while watching Mac get baptised.

 Fr. Bob, the priest at St. Augustine's, baptised Mac and put water on his head three times. Mac slept through the first two times, and then made a little noise after the third, but no crying!

 The kids, the parents, and the Godparents.

 The whole crew. Our "Family"

 Us with the grandmas.

 The Godmamas! Meghan, Mac's Godmother, and Katy, Lola's Godmother, are two of my best friends from college. They are two of the most incredible women I know and am so fortunate to have them in my life, and now my kids lives. (They also had to celebrate with us and hit the road to make it back to Seattle for their softball game, hence the matching uniforms!)

 The sport. Such a trooper that weekend. He even smiles through his sister poking and squishing him as she lovingly is displaying in this picture while also saying, "Oh, Mac, look at that cute smile!"

*The most surprising thing happened the day of Mac's baptism. Renata, the midwife who delivered Mac walked into church with her family and got to see Mac being baptised! I have never seen her before at out church, and the second she walked in, I got so teary, and was so excited to have her there!

Cuddlebug

Mac was 8 weeks old yesterday. He is the sweetest little guy. I continue to fall more in love with him. He has been been trying to hold his head up since he was just a few weeks old, but he also snuggles right into my chest. At 6 1/2 weeks, he rolled over. I thought it might have been a fluke, but he's been doing it ever since when he's on his tummy. He looked into my eyes and smiled around 3 weeks, and now he looks at you, smiles, and make the cutest cooing sounds- some even sound like a laugh. He is a mellow, content, happy baby boy and I just can't help but think he'll always be this way!

I love this picture. Right now, Mac sleeps in between Dan and I, and he even if he's not touching one of us when he falls asleep, we often wake up to him either snuggled up or reaching out and touching us. This morning, I took picture of him snuggling with Dan. Like I said, such a sweetie!

4th of July Friends

We had such a great week during the 4th of July. I wish Dan would take off every Wednesday and hang out with us! We started the day off with a great 3 mile walk on the Centennial Trail out at Mirabeau (our favorite spots to run when we did Team in Training) and then we checked out Discovery Park, which we had heard great things about from friends and realized why- it's awesome!

 Lola is all about the trampoline built into the ground at the park. She could swing, slide, and jump all day!

In the afternoon, we went to our friends, Paul & Dawn's, to fish on the river (they're right on the Spokane river), swim in their pool, and BBQ. It was Lola's first swim this summer. She loved it and was even brave enough to sit on the edge and "jump" in the pool to Dan! Our friends from Seattle, the Flaherty's came to town and joined us at the pool, then we took the kids to Dan's office to watch the downtown fireworks. It was awesome!

The rest of the week, the Flaherty's were in town and we hung out with them as much as we could! Their daughter, Kinslee, is two weeks older than Lola and since they were just a few weeks old, we've been telling them that they will be best friends. This visit was the first time that they really interacted with each other, playing, hugging, kissing, and laughing with each other. It was so much fun to see. It's pretty incredible to be friends with people that you just love and adore, and then get to watch your kids becoming friends with each other too. Now, Mac and their daughter Tayslee are just a few months apart and I can't wait to see them grow up together too!

Mac, at 7 weeks, and Tayslee, 4 months. She reached over, grabbed his arm, and held on :)

The Flaherty & Wadkins Kiddos

Can't get enough of these two in their swimsuits!

We spent the last morning with the Flaherty's at their hotel pool, having breakfast and a morning swim together. We are so excited for these guys to come back in October for our annual trip to Greenbluff together!

Backyard Bliss

We LOVE hanging out in Nana & Bub's backyard! There's always so much to do, good wine to drink, and lots of cheap entertainment between Lola & Mac!

 In the pool...suit on...

 in the pool...suit off...

 out of the pool...suit still off...

 SO great!

 BIG smile from Mac for Nana!

 He's such a sweet cuddle bug.

 A Nana Sandwich

A Lola Sandwich

Strawberries

Last weekend, my mom and I decided to take the kids to Greenbluff and pick strawberries. When we first moved to Spokane, I remember driving up north with Gram & Papa in the minivan with my mom and us kids and finding our favorite strawberry patch in Greenbluff. My mom and I were reminiscing about those days. My Gram, who weighed about 85 pounds, always said she was happy they didn't weight her before we headed out to pick, since she ate so many berries before we returned.

We had such an amazing day, bringing Lola to Siemer's Berry Farm (my favorite) and then headed over to Trezzi Farm to pick up homemade lasagna from the sweet Italian mad who cooks and make wine. What really topped it off was discovering that the Harvest House sells their homemade pumpkin doughnuts throughout the summer on the weekends! Yum!!!

Riding on the tractor with Nana

 Lola picked a few berries, ate a lot, and spent the rest of the time walking up and down the rows.

Nana taught her how to pick the berries.

I'm proud to say Lola and I made strawberry jam together - something that's been on a to-do list for years! Now we're hoping to make it out to Greenbluff again for raspberry picking!