Warmer days means heading to the water to cool off. We’ve already been back to Rattlesnake Lake a few times. Here are the boys on their first time back. They all swam out to this stump, Silas just needed a little boost up onto it.

30 week bump shot

A couple weeks later we returned with paddle boards. Here are Avery and Kieron maxing out the weight limit on their kids board.

Meanwhile Jonathan took Silas for a spin on his. Silas was armed with a water gun.

Rescue op. Kieron and Avery made it a ways out and then overturned. Avery decided to abandon ship with the paddle and swim back to shore, so Jonathan towed Kieron back in.

Back out and at it again.

Avery with his board

Over spring break we made a couple of trips to Seattle to do some fun and unusual things with the boys. We’ve been wanting to take Avery on an underground tour of Seattle for some time, and knew we had to do it before Layla was born, or it would be another year before we could make it happen. So one afternoon we hired a babysitter for Kieron and Silas, and took Avery on the tour. Here we all are waiting for it to begin.

Avery heading underground

I think he really enjoyed it. I’m sure he will get more out of it in a few years, but it was a pretty fun thing to do together.

Skylights like these were used to bring in natural light to the shops below

Avery checking out the skylights

Here he is making fart noises on the same stage where Ellen Degeneres, Louis CK, and other greats have performed.

A mural of famous Seattleites

Above ground (and on top of a skylight)

At the end of the week, we all headed back to Seattle to go on the Seattle Great Wheel, another outing we’ve been wanting to do that will soon be more difficult with a baby.

The boys were somewhat nervous at first, but loved the view!
  

Then we headed to Volunteer Park. Jonathan photographed a family session for couple whose wedding we photographed a few years back. Meanwhile, the boys and I played around, mostly in these trees. Apparently the boys were in a modeling mood, because they kept asking me to take their pictures. Here are a few cute ones I snapped on my phone.

The squirrels here were very friendly, I’d say too friendly. I’m pretty sure this little guy would have climbed in our hands if we’d let him.

Bump Shot, I think this was 30 weeks

Shortly after returning from Hawaii, we took the boys to visit Santa and his reindeer at the nearby Reindeer Festival. We went on a weekend this year, so Jonathan and I spent much of the time divided while one of us kept our place in line and the other toured around with the boys. After working our way up to see Santa (not too long of a line, maybe 15 minutes, but it was outside in the cold), we were 2nd in line when it was time for his lunch break! Boy were we disappointed! Apparently he has to eat too! Fortunately, it was a pretty brief break, and since we were so close to his cabin, I was able to hold our spot inside and warm up a little while Jonathan and the boys visited some of the other zoo animals. It would have been nice if the elves had cut the line short earlier and let us know his break was coming up. Oh well, we will remember that next year! Fortunately, the boys were very well behaved and when Santa came back they brought their manners and A game. Silas was even happy to sit on his lap. We snapped this adorable photo of them together.

If I had the time I would create a composite of the following two photos, but since I don’t, here they both are. I love Kieron’s hair and tan. He looks like a little 70’s beach boy!

The tigers were the most playful we’ve ever seen them on this particular morning.

Feeding the reindeer.

In early December we headed to Maui for a relaxing family vacation. Of course we had a fabulous time and enjoyed every second of it! What’s not to love, it’s Maui?! The timing ended up being great too, as we missed out on the flooding back home and two days of school that the boys would have missed ended up cancelled. December can be an iffy month weather-wise in Maui, but we had sun every day, and we tried to soak up as much of it as we could.

Bump shot 13 weeks

Kieron loved getting buried in the sand!

Silas was content to stay on the beach with Mommy while his brothers snorkeled

Back at the pool

Here are some photos I took on my phone. This is the boys waiting to board our flight to Hawaii.

And here we are enjoying some Hula Pie on one of our first nights in Maui.

These two looked so sweet sharing the hide-a-bed

Our morning ritual: donut holes on the balcony

We stopped by Coconuts for dinner a couple of times. Last year Kieron met a waitress there, Ariel, who made quite an impression on him with her wit and quirky sense of humor. We checked, and she has since moved on, but she will not be forgotten. 😉

We had some sleepy boys on the drive back from Coconuts

Avery practicing handstands

Kieron had fun on the big slide this year

The brothers enjoy showing off their strength by lifting one another off the ground

A stop on a nighttime stroll

At the Hyatt Luau

We loved snow cone days!

My belly wasn’t that big and impressive yet, but here’s an attempt at a bump selfie with the boys playing in the background

The boys loved playing chess with this set

Tired boys waiting as we load up the car to go back to the airport