We're back on the Grid!

Shortly after the last blog post the ice storm hit Olympia. (On top of the 20+ inches of snow we had) Trees started snapping like twigs and it wasn't long before we lost power. I think about half the city of Olympia lost power. Just our road alone had about 4 trees down blocking the street. In the end, we were out for 5 days. It was horrible. When we lose power, we not only lose the lights but we also lose heat and all running water. It was a true test of how much misery we could stand. During the ordeal, the big excitement was the digger, dump truck and pick up truck coming down the road. They were clearing debris off the roads so the power crews could get through. (Mind you, the clean up crew came by on Sunday... we'd lost power early Thursday) It was a huge source of excitement for the boys. Later on Sunday, we had a beautiful rainbow right out back...clearly ending over the water. Not only was there no pot of gold but there was also no electricity! The boys enjoyed many meals like the one above - make your own sandwiches on crackers, with a side of pretzels and cherry tomatoes.

We're back up now... and life is so much better with power. :)

Snowmageddon!

This week we've been hit with repeated storms... and all snow! It started on Sunday with a few inches (which you can see some of the early shoveling the boys were helping with), followed up with about 6 inches on Tuesday. Then the real wallop hit. Starting Wednesday early morning it started snowing blizzard conditions and we got an additional 14 inches! Unbelievable. And it's actually still snowing now (Wednesday evening). Some parts of Olympia near the forest got 3 feet of snow in this latest dump. We have about 20 inches at our house... and that is more than enough! Considering they don't plow our road it's hard to say when we're actually going to be able to join civilization again. Maybe tomorrow the snow will let up and we can try a little sledding.

Owen the stuntman

A Sunny Day at the Park!

Today was a real treat - sunny and warm(er) weather here in Washington! I seized the moment and took the kids to the park, which was very crowded as you might guess! Owen is quite the daredevil and does anything Colin does (and even some things Colin won't try!). By our house we were treated to amazing views of both Rainier and the Olympics today. I love seeing the mountains and also love seeing the sunshine!

Happy New Year!

The boys had a fun weekend bringing in the NEW YEAR! We did a little "make your own burrito" night for dinner - which they had a lot of fun making their own dinner. Mind you, they didn't actually eat much of it, but it was fun! They drank bubbly apple juice and watched the ball drop in NYC before heading to bed. That's one benefit of living on the west coast - the kids actually get to see the ball dropping!

We took the boys on a little hike through the woods today and here's a few shots for you to enjoy.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We had a fun Christmas with the boys... Colin tore through the presents faster than you could imagine and even Owen seemed to get what was happening after a few presents were opened. Owen was, however, far more focused on the candy and chocolate than the toys! After his nap on Christmas he woke up asking to open presents. Hard to explain to a 2 year old that you don't get to open presents every time you wake up! (although, wouldn't that be nice?)

The boys had fun with our Christmas traditions as well, which included leaving beer for Santa, opening the Christmas crackers (they loved the hats!), and lighting the Christmas pudding on fire. Colin says his favorite presents are his remote control helicopter, his light up "Open" sign and his remote control outlet setup. I think we have an electronic wizard on our hands! Owen enjoys his scooter from Santa and is already getting pretty fast on it. By Spring he'll be whizzing up and down the street!

Christmas Weekend

Here are a few shots of the boys from Christmas weekend. Colin and I went down to the beach on Christmas Eve and although the tide was in (and no beach) the views were spectacular. Colin's preschool participated in a Christmas play where the preschoolers sang a song and recited a poem. Here you can see Colin on stage with his friends.

Getting Ready for Christmas!

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas around our house. We put up lights outside (which Colin loves to watch for the timer to flip them on) and we put up our Christmas tree just this past weekend. We also had a great visit from Grandma and Grandpa... and these 3 pictures are the best of many that we took trying to get everyone looking at the camera and not making silly faces.

The boys have a lot of fun playing in boxes that come via UPS. I thought this one was just too cute. The boys were using it as a "bed" - and sometimes it's a boat, sometimes it's a pit to land in from the slide, etc.

We're all excited for Santa!