Seattle Aquarium

I posted last Sunday our plans to visit the Seattle Aquarium the next day with my sister and nephew, Collin....well, that didn't happen.

Twelve thirty Monday morning my sister sends me a text saying she was going to have to cancel because my nephew had been up most of the night not feeling well. 

Well, I picked up my phone at 1:00 am to cancel on her because Kayden woke up screaming of an earache, then continued not feeling well by throwing up, which didn't stop until about 6:30 am.  He wasn't feeling well AT ALL.

So, we rescheduled for Friday.  And we went and we had fun.  I had invited a friend of ours, daughter, Emily, and we were happy when she took us up on our invitation.

The aquarium was super busy and we struggled through the crowds, but had a good time anyway.

My nephew hadn't been to the aquarium before so he was so excited to see all the fish and animals they have there!

 

We had a great day at the aquarium with very few meltdowns, I call that a success.

Mrs. Erickson

The Director at Kayden's preschool is Mrs. Erickson, and we absolutely love her!  She has won us over by loving Kayden, the preschool, and the students.  She takes pride in what she does and the care she has for the students is overwhelming.

Last week was her birthday, and I wanted to celebrate her by giving her a special gift.  I thought, and thought and was having a difficult time coming up with "just the right gift".  Then it hit me, why don't I have Kayden paint her a canvas with her name on it.

So, I got to work.  Got the supplies, turned to my not-so-trusty silhouette, almost had a meltdown when it wouldn't turn on.  Called tech support, ordered a new ac adapter, borrowed a friends silhouette power cord, and finally got to work on picking the perfect font and finally, cutting out MRS ERICKSON, in vinyl letters.

Took great measures in making sure it was straight and let Kayden have at it.  Mind you, this didn't all happen in one day, this was the course of maybe a week!

Let the paint dry overnight and then pulled the letters off the canvas for it to reveal MRS ERICKSON.

Kayden painted the whole thing himself and loved being able to participate in the gift. 

 

We gave Mrs. Erickson her gift on her birthday, and later got a text from her saying, "Oh, my goodness!! The Mrs. Erickson sign is too much!! I absolutely LOVE it!! Thank you so much.  What a special gift! xxo"  We really loved making it.  Talk about a personal, special gift that even a four year old can get involved in!



Seattle Aquarium

We are members of the Seattle Aquarium and go randomly throughout the year.  Last Monday we had had plans to go with my sister and nephew, but my niece was sick so they had to cancel.  Kayden and I still went and had a good time.  We had never been there when it had been so empty.  There are very few people and kids there, which made it feel like we were the only ones there.  We had a really fun time being able to see all the animals without having to scoot around people. 

We really enjoy our membership and look forward to going again tomorrow.

When we first go to the Aquarium, there was a diver in the large tank that was cleaning the windows of the tank.  It was fun to watch.

 This is my favorite fish at the Aquarium.  Kayden and I following him around his circular tank watching him go around and around.  He has large, white teeth that are always out for show!!

Kayden was sporting a Mohawk!

 

We had fun at the aquarium and look forward to going again tomorrow with my sister and nephew!

Uncle Robby and Uncle Jim's Visit

Uncle Robby and Uncle Jim came to visit this past week and Kayden loved having them here as did the rest of us.  As a matter of fact, the day they left Kayden announced, "I wish Uncle Robby and Uncle Jim were still here."  Poor kid missed them already and they weren't even in the air yet!

We enjoyed their company, endless stories of their life experiences and their surprise party for the kids!  It was very sweet of them to throw the kids a party since they can't celebrate their birthdays each year with us.  There was a party for Uncle Robby and Cindy's birthday too.  The boys surprised each of us with beautiful orchids!  We surprised Cindy, Aunt Cathy and Uncle Robby with family pictures, that included the Siegman family and our family. We even FaceTimed Aunt Cathy so we could see her open her birthday envelope and so she could be included in the party festivities!

It was great having dinner with Uncle Robby and Uncle Jim each night and having a family gathering with all of us.  And it maybe have been even more enjoyable since I didn't have to cook!  Thanks for dinner, Cindy!

I neglected to take pictures each day, but was able to capture pictures of the surprise party we had on Cindy's birthday for the kids, Uncle Robby and her.

It was a great visit and it went too fast!  We hope they can visit again soon and share more of their hilarious stories with us.

 Dean was making the party a little more lively.

I didn't hear the story behind the angle food cake covered in green frosting story, but it has to do with Uncle Robby and his love for this cake?

 Charlie's awesome hat Mohawk!

 There's Aunt Cathy joining us via FaceTime.

 The kids were spoiled with tons of toys!

 

 Kayden wasn't too interested in picture taking.....shocking, I know!

We had a great visit, filled with lots of entertaining stories, great food, and enjoyable company.  We can't wait for the next visit from them!