Summertime means Lake Time!

Before we move into the lake, let us all take a moment to appreciate the butterscotch butterscotch cake that I made my Dad for Father's Day. He was particularly appreciative. My willpower and I have been in a battle since then since I have about a pound of the frosting left over at home tempting me to finish it. I also have all the homemade butterscotch sitting in a tub in the fridge. Taunting me. But right now, the urge to fit into my pants is beating the butterscotch and its sugary goodness to the curb. 

When Chris and I got married, it was very clear in our wedding vows how much his lake house meant to him and how many great memories he had there as a kid. He is systematically working on re-creating each and every one of those memories for the kids. Sunny days mean lake days and, staying in Bellingham all summer ... and never going anyplace. We'll be making up for that in the Fall hopefully.

The kids are pros at the boat and love to stand in the front with the prime view of the lake. Just wait until Chris gets them fishing off the boat; we'll never get them home! =)

Grandma and Grandpa visited for the weekend and it was so nice to have them stop by and experience the lake with us. Poor Grandpa got caught behind the grill basically the entire day (note to self: next Father's Day, buy Chris a brand new giant grill for the lake) but was able to take a boat ride at some point.

Jamisen is becoming quite the boat captain. He has a very thoughtful mind and understands the mechanics and physics of the boating situation well. 

This summer had quite a few birthday parties to go to. This one was for Chance, Jamisen's "best friend" at school. I don't think Chance is coming back to school this year though so we will have to do a lot of play dates to keep that relationship going.

Lily and her friend Sam have a very sweet bond (they're the ones we went to Salt Spring Island with). Sam and Lily won't be in the same school this year so again, we've got to double down on those play dates. Thankfully, both Chris and I adore the parents of Sam (and Liam) so that won't be hard to do.

Summer has also meant visits to the Farmer's Market almost every week. There's a new popsicle vendor that makes exotic and unique flavors as well as some straight fruit puree popsicles which of course, the kiddos got. Lily thought she wanted an exotic one (she was quite insistent) and when she got it, she took one lick and was all "Nuh uh." The popsicle cart guy was charmed by her disposition and adorable attitude and gifted her another one. Lucky little girl since I'm pretty sure both of her parents would have taken the temper tantrum rather than buy another $3.50 popsicle. 

Grandma and Grandpa Renoud visited for dinner one night too. We served a veggie rich, healthy protein (salmon) dinner and the kids were so happy to have someone to read to them for at least an hour or not more. Grandma and Grandpa Renoud also brought new books for the kids and they were thrilled. They obviously celebrated the visit by dressing up for Grandma and Grandpa. Lily wore a  ballet outfit that they gave her and Jamisen couldn't be left out of the dress-up fun.

Poofball; girl down! =)

Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Chris and I recently got a rare overnight without the kiddos for a very special reason - and, it would have to be very special to get Chris to leave the kids overnight for anything other than business. 

I was delighted to be one of the finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards for Washington state. It was so much fun and it was great to have an excuse to get all dressed up. Doesn't Chris look amazing in that tux?! Funny story: he was driving a rental car because he had gotten rear-ended and when we checked out of the hotel the next day, we found that the valet service had crashed his rental car and damaged it. The irony was not lost on us. 

Some of my best friends drove down from Bellingham for the event - Patrice (pictured above) is a mogul who owns a webdesign and marketing company. She's been a dear friend for years and has four kiddos of her own so she was equally happy to have a reason to dress up and escape to Seattle for the night with her hubby.

The actual awards ceremony was only a couple hours long and it was super inspirational. They did videos of each nominee and gave a 3 minute background about everyone. The videos were great (!) and so well done. Everyone left feeling inspired.

Our group also brought extra nice bottles of wine for our table so between all the bottles of wine, it was quite an epic wine tasting. As if getting dressed up, having a date night (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Faiola for watching the kiddos), and being inspired by entrepreneurs wasn't enough, the special bottles of wine everyone brought really made the evening extraordinary. 

My dress was the subject of major debates - with a last minute decision in the hotel room to go with the salmon/pink color thanks to Chris's decisiveness. It helped stand out in a sea of black tuxes for sure! The evening was fun and I was so thankful to have been given a chance to hang out with friends, laugh and relax. 

Safety Fairs, Cuddling and Subsequent Bursitis

Lily is the consummate little smart girl. She reads people quickly and she knows where and how to work her way into any situation with a smile. She's also the master of delaying bedtimes! First, she comes into our group bedroom and is adorable and gets her Daddy to cuddle with her a bit. Then, she'll wait a bit and ask me if I can come cuddle her. Like I would ever say no to that.

But, to cuddle Lily means cuddling in her 'training bed.' To call it a 'bed' is an insult to beds everywhere. It's actually a crib without the legs or the prison-like bars. No, really. It is a crib. It has a crib mattress and that mattress uses size crib sheets.

Now, imagine a 3 year old in a crib. That doesn't sound very comfortable right? Now, put a grown adult woman in the crib with the 3 year old. Can you hear the sound of my spine protesting and considering going on strike? My knees are around my ears and to 'cuddle' Lily means to be contorted in a way that basically the youngest of the Cirque du Soleil gymnasts could only dream of doing.

The pretzel'ing is all worth it though because Lily is the sweetest cuddle bug. She throws her arms around my neck, snuggles in, and then says hilarious things like "I have eyes. You have eyes. All people have eyes. We all have eyes, and penises and vaginas." Yes, yes we do Lily. Then, as she starts to get drowsy, she starts with the tiny baby kisses. A kiss on the forehead. A kiss on the chin. And then, a drowsy, "I love you Mommy." I tell her I love her back and she says, "This is the best! This is the BEST! I love you and you love me and we love each others." *yes, she said each others.

Finally, after she falls alseep, I use my cat like reflexes to slowly sneak out of bed without waking our dear little princess - who, if the last two months are any indication, will be up at about midnight to say she can't find her blanket (it's in her bed), that she's cold (ditto the blanket), that she's hungry (she should have eaten more at dinner) or some remnant of a dream she's been having (Dolphins).

We're soaking up all this cuddle bug time with our baby Girl because we know that the time goes by fast and we want to bottle up those happy emotions and connections while she's still wanting to. I did manage to give myself a lovely case of bursitis in my elbow thanks to those contortionist like movements but it was totally worth it. 

We went to a safety fair right near our house (so much fun!) and the kids got to see the inside of helicopter, meet firemen and, climb in and out of a model house (fun times for all).

The kids also got to see the inside of an ambulance. Hopefully that was their first and last time =)

It was so fun getting all the cousins together. Alise and Lily play particularly well together and it's fun to see Lily's clothes on Alise (red shiny shoes; polka dot pants) and remember her good memories in those clothes.