Our little princess turned four this month! Honestly, she has grown up so much this past year it almost felt like her birthday was overdue! The Covid situation had mellowed a bit at this point, so we felt comfortable inviting three of her closest friends over for a backyard party. Per Layla’s request the theme was a Frozen/Unicorns hybrid.

Layla is such a sensitive, spunky, strong and fearless little thing. I love it! She is a girly-girl, who can hang with the big boys. Anything they can do, she can do too. She has a positive attitude and a generous spirit. Layla loves dancing, swimming, hiking, biking, baking, playing dolls and building Legos. She doesn’t like spiders or witches. She says when she grows up she wants to be a mom. She is such a sweetie and is a natural at keeping her big brothers (and the pets) in line and melting our hearts. We love you, Layla Blythe!

A baby Phoebe!

Party ready!

Getting ready for the party!

Freeze dance with Maggie, Savannah & Clare

Time for the unicorn sprinkler!

With Maggie, Clare & Savannah

The unicorn malfunctioned pretty quickly

Time for cupcakes! (Whole cakes are a thing of the past now.)



 

The sun went behind the clouds but that didn’t dampen the mood

The girls danced in the rain until the sun came out again

And then we got the sprinkler out!

This is why Phoebe begs!

Last night as a three-year-old

Sporting a “Jojo bow”

Building her Legos with Silas

At her well child check – the last one with vaccines until she’s eleven. Whoo hoo!

Eye exam

It’s been heart-wrenching hearing about case after case of police brutality, disproportionately against people of color. When some of the high schoolers in our community organized a peaceful protest in downtown North Bend, I knew I wanted to be there. It was energizing and uplifting to see so many in our community come together to raise our voices, even out in the suburbs of the Cascade foothills. Caroline and I went together and her daughter, Ashlyn, volunteered to register new voters.

Ran into the Lotts

Twede’s Cafe was all about supporting the cause and providing a gathering place for protesters. Yay Twede’s!

Notice the guy on the building ready to snipe us at a moments notice! The property owners insisted the tenants board up their buildings. They would not let the business owners paint on the boards so they taped up posters of support instead. There was zero violence or looting at this event.

The guy in this old beater was awesome! He lifted protesters spirits by driving through, revving his engine continuously. Kind of took what the jerks in the pickups did and turned it on its head. Everyone loved him!
 

Ran into my friend, Jessica

I have so many pictures from May! Here’s what we were up to during another month in quarantine.

Playing in the back yard with Phoebe

Box forts

The boys love Dungeons and Dragons

Brushin’ her hair

Nana made a mask for her dolly, Sally

Swim team is about to begin for these three (once we move to phase 2)

Layla helped Avery with a science experiment for school.

Kieron’s caramel and apples

We ran 2.23 miles for Ahmaud Arbery

Found a snake along the way

Timber Ridge Elementary had a parade where all the staff and teachers drove by their students homes. It was SO sweet!

Silas’ teacher, Mrs. Kilian

Little Suki

Dog walkers

Layla is so much help setting the table

These two are becoming friends!

Playing Mother, May I? In the back yard.

Helping Avery with another science experiment

We did an experiment of our own with water, vegetable oil, food coloring, and alka selzter

Checking out something interesting together

23&Me kits for the boys

Getting puppy snuggles

A drop arrived from Hayden – an invite to his Fortnite birthday party

Full of party snacks!

They played Fortnite for a while, then did a scavenger hunt over Zoom. Meanwhile look who was getting into the party drop!

Cake time!

Layla loves her Elsa braids.

Monopoly!

Trying out filters with Caroline

We went to Issaquah for pizza one day

Never eaten in the parking garage before

Eye doctor visits

This girl cheats at Memory!

Pantry home improvement project completed

Outside Home Depot

Thanks to me taking a grass plant from a friend, when Jonathan went to dig a hole for it we discovered a buried drain in our back yard! This should solve our standing water problem.

Homemade sour dough

Practicing parkour rolls

Horse riding with Flash

At the car wash, baby

We took the kids for a big outing in Seattle. Picked up Dick’s to-go and picnicked in the Woodland Park Zoo parking lot along with a few other families who had the same idea. Saw zero exotic animals. Did see a few squirrels though.

Frenchies love French fries!

In May we went to Sun Lakes, in Eastern Washington, with a couple of friends and their families. It was our first time venturing out with others since this whole Covid debacle began and it felt a bit surreal. It was the resort’s first weekend open, and most people there were not wearing masks. There was social distancing and lots of sanitizing going though. We did our best to stay away from others and just stick with our little group. The weekend ended up feeling even stranger because it’s when the protests and looting really got underway. We had no TV’s and very spotty Wifi, but we understood Seattle was on fire and a curfew was in place. Things really spiraled that weekend, but it was a fun getaway and we all came home healthy!

Screentime!

“Oh Chad!”

We had three cabins on the end with the Melbys and the Christians

Heading out for a hike up those hills

It was a scramble getting back down!

Frozen

Mini golf!

 

Water balloon wars were a hit

Top & tail

At the Grand Coulee Dam

All tired out. I love that she’s wearing her Wonder Woman shirt and holding Wonder Bunny!

 

Guess who learned to ride a bike during quarantine! When she heard her best friend, Clare, had just learned to ride, Layla became committed to figuring it out. We capitalized on the peer pressure and worked with her. It just took a few days without training wheels and she was off!

Riding with the neighborhood kids

Our four kids on eight wheels