Happy Birthday Summer

I can't believe Summer is already 4 years old!!!  For some reason 4 seems so much older than 3!  I did a little photo shoot a couple weeks before her birthday, and then the family came down to celebrate her big day.  

Summer at 4 

-loves and wants EVERYTHING

-loves playing baby, shop keeper, and doctor

-talks NON STOP

-doesn't like to wear clothes

-obsessed with Kya's hamster

-loves to read bedtime stories (Bearenstein Bears are her favorite)

-doesn't ever want to eat dinner

-loves animals (even snakes and lizards...that Mom doesn't like)

-loves PJ Masks & youtube videos (hamsters or paw patrol)

-always tells people what she wants them to say

-favorite foods are chicken nuggets, sausage, pizza, fruit snacks and candy/chocolate

Last year on her birthday it was almost impossible to get her to pose for pictures, this year she was very cooperative...and adorable (I promised she could play at the playground right after we finished taking pictures and then about 5 minutes into playing it started POURING rain--poor girl.  But we had an exciting run back to the house in the rain)

Her party was a rainbow theme.  We just had a BBQ and of course chocolate cake:)

 

I was very proud of my rainbow banner, but we hung it in front of the windows so it wasn't the best place for pictures because of the back light-darn.  

Summer was a bit strange opening her presents.  She ripped each one open, then tossed it aside saying "just what I wanted" and then she didn't want to say "thank you"--geesh.  But after everyone left she said to me "I wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the presents"....maybe she was a bit overwhelmed with everyone watching.  But she certainly has enjoyed playing with each and every gift she was given.

I bought Summer a Bitty Baby from American Girl and my mom made all these absolutely adorable outfits for her.  They truly are a treasure...and she made her a perfect little carrier too.  Summer loves her new baby..she named her "Cutie"--I cannot get her to give anything a real name!!  

The cake was a bit of an ordeal just because I had to make so many different color frostings...well and that a few of the layers feel apart while I was trying to stack them!  But it turned out cute and YUMMY.  I especially liked the mutli-colored frosting that I did at the end!  If I had known how cute it would turn out, I would have done the entire cake that way.

So glad so much of my family could come to the party...I am sad I didn't get pictures of Tina and Lisa and their families.  But we managed to get one with Grandma and Grandpa before they left.
Happy Birthday Summer!!  You are so loved:)

Weekend in Lynden

To help soften the blow of getting older...I wanted to do something special for my birthday.  Really I just wanted to get away from the stress of every day life...and that's what I did!

Lynden, WA was a perfect place to escape to!  A tiny little historic dutch town, with hanging baskets all up and down the main street, cute little book shops and cafes, and adorable antique shops. 

Our hotel was right in the middle of main street--the perfect location!  There were also complimentary bikes to take out and ride around town.  Tina and I rode down to the park.  It was so peaceful and beautiful and just the perfect weather.

Ginny came to meet us the first night.  We ate at a beautiful golf course, visited the dutch bakery, walked around the quaint little town, and laughed until we cried.  We also had to squeeze in a little royal wedding:)

Lisa came the next day!  We drove out to where our family cabin used to be.  We got out of the car and walked around...the silence was amazing.  I really think I may be destined to live out in the country one day.  I just LOVE it!  We wanted to take Lisa on a bike ride, but after waiting forever for people to return the bikes, we decided just to walk out to Edaleen Dairy.  The ice cream was delicious and enormous!  Then back to the hotel for dinner and more laughing and great conversation.

Perfect weekend away!  I think I need to make this a tradition!!

Beautiful Muddy Morning

One of my favorite traditions since moving up to Washington is visiting the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, but my kids never get to go because I prefer to go during the day when they are in school (because it gets super busy).  Kya really wanted to see them, so we stopped for a quick visit on the way up to Canada during spring break.

It was cold and muddy, as we expected, but we didn't expect the WIND.  Holy Cow was it windy!!   We were a little early in the season so all the tulips weren't quite blooming yet but it was still so so beautiful!  And Summer had SO MUCH FUN in the muddy puddles (just like Peppa Pig).

Our Finnish Trip to Canada

I'm not sure if it was my parents DNA results, or the fact that we hadn't been up to Canada for a while, or that Tina had to teach about Finland for a multicultural night at the church, but for some reason we had a more-than-usual culturally filled trip to Canada.

Our last visit to Canada was for Eric's birthday.  We got to celebrate Eric AND a little bit of Canadian culture by watching Tyler and Trevor play hockey and even getting a little Poutine.

This trip was all about our Finnish culture.  First Grandpa taught my kids to make karjalanpiirakka (slippers) and they were just as yummy as I remember (although I'm not sure the kids loved them, and they aren't the best reheated).  Then Lisa dropped off some pulla (she is working to perfect the braided circle pulla).  

The next day we had a sauna.  None of us brought swimsuits, but a quick trip to Walmart solved that.  And we had our steaming HOT sauna...even Summer.   

 The next day was Lisa's birthday.  Mom made two Finnish cakes!!  They were even better than I remembered. 

We still had to squeeze in some Canadian chips:)

And we even got to hear some stories from my Dad about growing up in Finland...although, I think most visits we get to hear some of those stories--which I love hearing even more than eating all that delicious food.

Next visit we'll have to explore our British heritage!

The Blanky from Michael

Summer had many beautiful blankets as a baby...some made by Grandma, some given to us from friends, maybe even a couple passed down from her siblings.  But somehow, her blanket given to us from one of Mike's coworkers (Michael) became her very favorite--can't go anywhere without it--blanky.

This special blanket is a purple and grey giraffe pattern print and has a giraffe in the center with little tags around it (Taggies brand).  She uses blanky to go to sleep at night, she snuggles with blanky when she is sad or scared, she even uses blanky to heal an owie or make her tummy feel better when she is sick.  She takes it in the car, to the store, on trips to Canada, to church, to the doctor, she even took it on our big trip across the country to NY/DC.  It was a life saver when we were weening her off nursing...and off her binky.  It also comforted her when we moved houses this past summer.  Blanky is VERY SPECIAL...which is why she took it with us on our trip to Mexico...where it got LOST.

We had blanky with us the entire time in Mexico...through the airport, play ride, rental car, hotel, Xel-Ha, swimming pool, beach, countless restaurants, grocery shopping...until one trip to McDonalds where we left it behind.  I remember seeing the blanket flung over a chair and I said to Mike "you better grab that so we don't forget it".  He grabbed it, and that is the last I thought of it until I was putting Summer to bed that night.  Mike remembered giving it to Tyson in the play area and Tyson remembered leaving the room (without the blanket) while Summer and Jordan were still in there.  Once we realized it was gone, Mike and Tyson drove back to McDonald's in the dark and searched the entire restaurant inside and out for Summer's blanket.  I sat at the hotel waiting for a call saying "we found it"...even when Kya talked to Tyson and he said they couldn't find it anywhere I was sure he was kidding.  Well they came back with no blanket.  Summer had already fallen asleep without it, but I just felt sick about the whole thing.  Mike and I both searched online and found the blanket was discontinued by the manufacture.  But we found one on eBay!!!!

I told Mike to order a new one on eBay.  Summer survived without her blanky.  She asked for it sadly, multiple times a day, but she was fine.  When the new blanket arrived 3 days after our trip, I wasn't sure whether to give it to her or not.  Mike really wanted to, so I agreed.  She was SO HAPPY.  She accepted it as her old blanky, even though it was much cleaner and definitely smelled different.  She just said "Dad found my blanky" and that was that. 

Mexico--Last One (Randomness)

I will never forget the feeling when we first arrived.  The air was so warm (and coming from WA in February it was SO NICE), Country music was playing on the speakers, the palm trees were rustling in the breeze, and even though we had to wait forever for our shuttle, we were so happy and excited! 

Finding a good restaurant in Mexico was a bit of a challenge for us.  We had mostly mediocre food with a few gross and a couple that were super yummy.

Paying for water everywhere we went was a bit annoying...and caused me to drink more soda than I ever have in my life!  

 

We ended up getting McDonald's twice...which tells you a lot about our selection...here we are driving home with our Sundaes.

I loved 5th Ave...and Tyson hated it.  It was a tourist trap, but souvenir shopping is always my favorite.  Unfortunately I left without the starfish bracelet I wanted...regrets!!!  The people who worked at the shops were super pushy and tried everything to get us to get braids in our hair or to get fish to chew on our feet!! 

The gelato was amazing.

Every souvenir shop was filled with tequila (even with tequila bottles shaped like shotguns--yikes), braided bracelets, shirts, blankets, key chains...and one had these creepy statues.

Driving through Mexico was quite the experience.  Luckily Mike was willing to drive because traffic was kind of crazy. There were no lanes drawn in a lot of places and the roads flooded every time it rained.  As soon as we drove outside the resort, we would drive through such poverty.  Drunk people on the streets, stray dogs everywhere, kids sitting in yards of dirt with bare feet and dirty clothes.   

At stop lights people would jump on your car and start washing your windows, hoping to get a few dollars. 

There were tons on these bikes riding around full of either things to sell or just random garbage or belongings.  There were also ton of puck up trucks just full of people in the back, even some sitting on kitchen chairs drinking from giant bottles of pop!

The kids did amazing traveling.  On the way down we flew through the night and Summer slept the entire time.  Coming home seemed a lot longer, probably because we had a 3.5 hr lay over in Houston.  But the kids did well.  Summer had a bit of a hard time on the final leg but she eventually fell asleep.  We got home late Tuesday night and all the kids were up bright and early for school the next morning. 

It was a fantastic family vacation that we will remember always!!

 (Well, Summer may not remember it--haha)