Summer 2015 Bucket List

** On our Summer 2015 adventures list

1. Explore the tide flats at Birch Bay. **
2. Finish the summer reading program at the library. **
3. Visit the Whatcom Museum.
4. Explore the arboretum at WWU. **
5. Explore the WWU campus and outdoor art.
6. Visit the Bellingham Railway Museum.
7. A beach day at Larrabee. **
8. Camp at Silver Lake. ** (Note to self: Reservations, ASAP!)
9. Go sledding/play in the snow at Mt. Baker.
10. Hike at Mt. Baker in the summer. **
11. Have beers while the kids play at Perch & Play.
12. Ride that little train in the mall.
13. Walk from downtown to Fairhaven on the trails. **
14. Throw rocks in the water at Boulevard Park. **
15. Take the trail at the end of Lake Whatcom as far as it will go. **
16. Ice cream at the dairy. **
17. Walk in the Junior Ski-to-Sea parade.
18. Check out Semiahmoo. **
19. Explore the Interurban Trail. **
20. Watch the sunset from Clark’s Point. **
21. Play on every elementary school playground in Bellingham. **
22. Spend an afternoon on the patio at Kulshan Brewery.
23. Summer concerts and dinner picnics at Elizabeth Park. **
24. The Fair. Enough said. Worthy of a list of its own. 
25. Watch football games for all three Bellingham high schools.
26. Hike to Fragrance Lake. **
27. Participate in the All Comer Track Meets at Civic Field. ** (Every Monday night!)
28. Check out the Old Settlers celebrations in Ferndale. **
29. Hit the ice at the Sportsplex.
30. Spend 4th of July in Blaine.
31. Find Nooksack Falls. **
32. Hit up all of the u-pick berry farms: strawberry picking at Boxx Berry Farm. **
33. Find a sweet spot to watch the Ski-to-Sea Parade. (we did this! post coming soon!)
34. Visit the Jansen Art Center in Lynden.
35. Spend more than 5 minutes at the touch tanks (Marine Life Center).
36. Follow that trail that goes along the stream at Million Smiles Park. **
37. Discover all of the little public beaches along Lake Whatcom. **
38. Visit Pioneer Park. **
39. Check out Back to Bellingham weekend. (we did this! post coming soon!)
40. A day visiting all of the best spots in Fairhaven. By foot. **
41. A day visiting all of the best spots downtown. By foot. **
42. Take bikes around Lake Padden. **
43. Paint the big rock on I-5 Northbound.
44. Spend a rainy afternoon at CreativiTea.
45. Catch the outdoor movies in Fairhaven. **
46. Get our buzz on at SPARK.
47. Watch the sunset from the top of the Parkade. **
48. Visit the Big Rock Garden. **
49. Visit the Fairhaven Spray Park and the Cornwall Spray Park, all in one day. **
50. Explore Tenant Lake in Ferndale, including the boardwalk and viewing tower. **
51. Get some fresh and local goodies at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market. **
52. Go rollerskating in Lynden.
53. Watch the ferry depart for Alaska. **
54. Jump and slide our hearts out at Jump Around Fun Zone.
55. Cross the border at the Peace Arch.
56. Find Locust Beach. **
57. Take the ferry to Lummi Island for a day of exploring. **
58. Explore Hovander and visit the animals. **
59. Fly kites at Zuanich Park.
60. Take the kids geocaching. **
61. Hula hoop at Boundary Bay.
62. Visit Bellewood Acres for cider and pie.
63. Freeze our toes off at a polar bear plunge. Kidding. This isn't happening.
64. Get dinner ingredients at Joe’s Garden. **
65. Find a favorite trail off of Chuckanut. **
66. Cheer on the Bellingham Bells. **
67. Head to the Birch Bay Waterslides. **
68. Find somewhere to go mini golfing. **
69. Hit up the bowling alley.
70. Watch an IMAX movie at the theater. **

Easter is Never Tardy

Note: I know this post is a month late. I have a good excuse. Our house blew up. I am trying to catch up. I will. Behold, the first of the catching up.

Our kiddos are the cutest, most amazing, most precious kids on the planet. Lily has no idea what Easter is, why it's important but she is fully on board with the secular way that we celebrate it: by searching for candy.

Despite being a little, she really cleaned up on the candy. In fact, a month later, I still have 60% of those same eggs in the back of my car (which leads to fun little stowaway incidents as the kids try to climb in my car to find the candy).

Jamisen totally knows what Easter is about. It is not about Jesus Christ miraculously rising from the grave; no, it is about candy. And it is about candy that is scarce. And must be elbowed and clawed for. We were worried that he might pull a 'wallflower' and not fully participate in the giving spirit (wait, did I say, 'giving?' I meant, candy-fueled, bonkers, craven, exploration that is children's group Easter egg hunts). Ha! That kid was full on WWF and certainly swooped onto his fair share of the sugar happiness.

The kids also enjoyed more sedate activities, once it was clear that candy was not currently on the agenda. 

It was super nice that both of the children's Easter Egg hunts that we went to had an area for little teensy kids to hunt for eggs without being fully run over and marauded by those older kids; you know, those 4 and 5 year olds.

That look of rapture is because she knows exactly what is in all the eggs she is gathering. Special thanks to Auntie Sharon for that outfit. I'll have you know that when the house exploded and we could only grab one suitcase of clothes for the kids in a 7 minute period, that dress was the one I took. It is THAT cute and special.

Notice the fireman boots? Those are the last time we saw those beloved boots. We lost them on Easter day and had to buy another pair. Jamisen was heartbroken (like, seriously, bereft) that we couldn't find them. 

Big thanks to Uncle Erik and Auntie Cheriss for going way way way above and beyond to host the entire family for Easter brunch. They even made pancakes in the shape of Easter Bunny faces. It was awesome; not just because the pancakes were pseudo-healthy protein pancakes that tasted delicious (!). It felt so good to be together on Easter as a family after all we've gone through in the last two months.

Seabrook Memories + Jamisen Scares Us

We had such a lovely 2 weeks at Seabrook. It was alternately frustrating (limited childcare, not limited workload) and amazingly fun. The kids LOVED the beach. Like, love, love, loved it.

There was this amazing tree house that the kids enjoyed playing in, complete with a peekaboo window for the kiddos to show their happy little faces out of.

Lily loves to drink tea, asking for it if she sees anyone drinking out of a mug.

We brought the wagon to Seabrook and the kiddos loved being rolled around the adorable little town, looking at the sights and trying to find the "hidden caboose" (the main feature of one of Jamisen's storybooks).

We spent a LOT of time trying to find that hidden caboose; literally, days traipsing through the entire community, looking under logs and covering a lot of ground trying to find the hidden caboose. We never did find it but it was sure fun to try.

Jamisen and Lily soaked themselves daily at the beach, building moats and learning the basics of building the perfect sandcastle. After the first couple of days, they did a fairly decent job of being teammates, rather than little fiefdoms fighting for supremacy of the sand fort.

We had mostly good weather - a few terrible rainy days but for the most part, cold but clear.

We were just a few blocks from a play ground and the kids also enjoyed many hours there.

We were so glad that Grandma and Grandpa Faiola visited several times, with Grandma driving hours each day to come spend time with her grandbabies.

Jamisen did give us quite a scare. We went on a walk and he was looking at tadpoles (or rather, trying to find them). I saw the owner of Seabrook up ahead so hurried to speak to her. When I looked back, Jamisen was no where to be found. I took off at a run to do a few blocks to find him. Only, he wasn't there. He was no where to be found. I ran back to the owner, who called out the cavalry, including all the golf carts in the resort town, bikes and Chris and my Dad in cars. I continued to run all over the town, screaming his name at the top of my lungs and telling people what he had been wearing. Jamisen was found by construction workers, about half a mile away, in the middle of the road. He refused to go with anyone, latching his arm around a stop sign, and waiting. He heart-breakingly told Chris, "Mommy left me", when Chris asked what happened. It was, bar none, the worst experience in my life, way way way worse than any simple house explosion could be.

I did such a good job telling people what Jamisen was wearing that Grandma Faiola was stopped hours later by responsible citizens asking her if the little boy she was with was really her grandson. True story!

We've been back in Bellingham a few weeks now - but are thankful that we had a lovely, fully-furnished respite to go to in our time of need. The kids loved every minute of it. 

Four Questions

This is our third round of questions with Jamisen. Lily is speaking extremely well but not quite well enough to answer these questions.

What do you want to be when you grow up? "Firefighter"

What is your favorite color? "Red"

What do you dream about? "(varies from day to day) bunnies, animal crackers"

What is the meaning of life? "People can be anything they want to be."

Jamisen is going through the Terrific Threes with a vengeance.  His behavior is beyond deplorable 10% of the time. He is way out of his routine since the explosion and that's not helping things either. He is a screaming, yelling, hitting banshee infrequently and then an amazing, perfectly mannered toddler other times (though equally infrequently). We love him and his sister always but he is trying our patience a lot.

Other fun things about this developmental stage with Jamisen. He is exploring on his own. He walks further and further on his own, so much that he got separated from me in Seabrook, necessitating a full emergency search team, complete with bikes, golf carts and cars.

Jamisen loves to sing, generally singing to himself or screeching in a high pitched dolphin sound. We make jokes about him having a 'dolphin stuck in his throat' so are probably reinforcing that behavior. If he's making that sound, it usually means that he is super super happy.

His favorite foods vary from day to day but yogurt, string cheese and fried eggs are a staple.

Previous Answers

What is your favorite color? "Yellow"

What do dream about? "Bunnies"

What do you want to be when you grow up? "Tractor Driver"

What is the meaning of life? "I will get old."

What do you want to be when you grow up? "Dentist"

What are you afraid of? "Bugs"

What do you dream about? "Trains"

What is the meaning of life? "I teach you."