Going Out!

Todd and I got to head out tonight to his pal Steve's wedding, and we got dressed up! 

 

 

We had so much fun celebrating Steve and Shannon and a blast catching up with pals from ages ago, and it was fabulous to just be out having an incredible time together, thanks Dashel and Cassie!

Hazel turns 4!

 

 In celebration of Miss. H turning 4, we had a "Butterfly, Fairy Princess Birthday" party!

H got lovely gifts this year, even a new fairy bike from Gigi!

Then at her party we had fun with butterfly wand making, bouncy house playing, a fairy treasure hunt, and an impromptu pj party!

  

It was sweet, silly, and girly fun, just like my girl!

Vashon Camp '12

We tried Vashon Camp again this year right after festival weekend, note to self, don't do Vashon Camp '13 right after festival, we were all tuckered out! Next year we'll do it for another week when lots of off islanders are up for coming back over. We still had a blast of course, and the kids loved all the time together too! 

 Monday was Pirate Day! The Olive's outdid us all with their pirate attire:

 There was sword battles, sand play, and treasure hunting of course!

Tuesday was a pretty chill day at the Pekoz home:

Wednesday was Cowboy day at Nami and Danpa's:

The kids all had a great time with the obstacle course, loved riding on Tommy, and being all sorts of silly all over the place together!

 

We had such a fun time together!

Oh and perhaps there will be more of a grandparent component next year as well, so Island Gma's get ready! ;)

Strawberry Festival '12

 Coming back from our back east adventure just in time for Strawberry Festival was pretty exciting! We enjoyed some really great times with our pals, the parade with it's special Vashon flavor, music, food, rides, baby holding, car show watching, dancing, and all the festival funness!

 

Triple Pig!

Oh my goodness playing with and spending time with our good friends the Rhodes' on this trip had been wonderful. I had to re-create this scene as I lost a big handful of pics (mostly of a hike to go geocaching with the Rhodes') with a memory card snafu while H and I were at Dutch Wonderland. SO here you have the amazing triple pig:

 

On our last night in town we went over for some homemade peach ice cream, some sword fighting, book reading, basement playing, and good company!

We miss you guys!

Money, Money, Money!

We wanted to take another quick trip to downtown Philly, and so on this roasty, toasty day we stopped by Independance Hall, skipped the long lines to see the liberty bell, visited the Mint, and popped into the reserve to get bags of shredded bills ($100 worth, the kids were so excited!). 

 

It was really pretty interesting to see how coins were made at the newly revamped visitors center at the Philly Mint. No pics were allowed at all inside, but it was cool in there, free, not crowded a bit, and had fun interactive displays, and big windows to the live coin making action. We picnicked outside after, which saved us some moola of our own!

New Do

I've been growing my hair out for the past few years with the intent to donate to locks of love. I finally found the time to do it this summer, while on vacation! So, I went o Patti's gal and she did a wonderful job. Here's the before:

She had to cut it in two ponytails cause my hair is so thick!

And the after! 

I'm really loving the short hair, it's easier to wash, take care of everyday, and it's nice and cool! And some kiddo will have a red haired wig soon!

Church Grounds

 

We had to visit the beautiful church grounds while in Bryn Athyn of course. Here we were one day soaking in the beauty!

There may have been a little battling on the grounds as well...

A Dutch Wonderful Day with Hazel!

As a very special early birthday treat for Hazel (and because Q didn't think he would like it) she and I went to Dutch Wonderland together! It was probably the most fun and special day we could have possibly had together, and such a fabulous way to celebrate her being almost 4! She adored it all, posing with the princess, and other performance characters,

 

 watching all the hokey shows, and dancing, giggling, and singing along,

 And of course the water park (it was HOT and even the fully clothed Amish were enjoying the water slide with us), and rides that were just her size!

Dutch Wonderland is sort of like Enchanted Village/Wild Waves but perfect for little kiddos, very clean and friendly, a pretty good deal if you have a coupon (I did!) and a wonderful treat! I would totally recommend it, you know if you happen to be heading to Lancaster, PA anytime soon...

It was SUCH a fun filled day, smiling so much all day our cheeks hurt, and having memories to last a lifetime!

The bonus for me beyond H falling asleep before we were 5 minutes away, was seeing these sweet signs on the way home, and then the horse and buggy going right by at that moment! It was a FUN and cultural day!

Cape May

We got to spend 5 days in Cape May this year, a vacation from our vacation! We really had a nice time, the weather was perfect, we did some really fun exploring, and of course we LOVED the beach!

Exploring at the lighthouse and nature trails,

H and I had time at the nature center for bunny day and at a victorian children's day,

 

while Q, Todd and Pop Zack were at the Naval Museum!

There was time to chill at the house, hold a baby bunny,

the kids and I had a great day at the Historic Cold Stone Village where Gma Trish works,

 

we loved out time at the arcade, eating tasty freezes, dinner outs, tree climbing in the back yard,

 

we even got to have a little date night out,

and the kids loved their Grandparent time!

It was all fabulouso!

Crafty Papa

 While on vacation Papa Todd can't help himself but craft away, so for the kids he made a sword and a wand, which are pretty much awesome and loved!

Q is modelling his with a toy revolver of Todd's from childhood. He also made swords for Pehri and Nandin!

Sciencey Day

 

 We spent the day at the Franklin Institute and the Academy of Natural Sciences. It was really fun to explore both of these spots using our science center pass from Seattle (reciprocal program rocks!). 

A highlight for me at the Franklin Institute was this working animatron that the book and movie Hugo were based off of,

It makes 4 different drawings and 3 poems in French, and is fascinating to watch!

We also really enjoyed the less busy, and very interesting Academy of Natural Sciences across the way,

Of course they loved the dino section, but also the butterfly room, all the animal dioramas, and a mummy display (though I think it's hilarious I caught Q yawning at that one):

I'm really glad we made it down to these spots on this visit, and we'll look forward to coming back some day!

A Bryn Athyn Fourth: at Night!

On the evening of the 4th we enjoyed the community picnic, music and fireworks! It's such a wonderful event, the whole community was out, playing in the fields, eating together, enjoying the shows, and the kids all have so much fun!

Once it was dark enough the kids were decked out in glow ware:

Everyone was having fun doing glowing tricks!

Eventually the show was on, and H had to have her ears covered but loved it!

It was a fantastic evening!