RMEF Banquet

Last Saturday, mommy and daddy took Lauren to the Olympia Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet. It was a little long for our girl but she was a trooper. All of the kids that played the free bean bag toss won a prize. Cabela's sponsored it and they got to pick a toy off of the prize table. Leave it to Lauren to pick the cheapest toy from the table; a My Little Pony. But hey, at least she chose her own prize! Daddy won a gift card to the old Sportsman's Warehouse, Wholesale Sports. He didn't think too much of it since it was second place to the best gun at the auction! Mommy was bummed because there wasn't a women's raffle, guess they do it differently in Washington vs. Oregon. Maybe our luck will be better elsewhere!

Straight out of Lauren's mouth

The things this kid has been saying lately are very funny....but true! Today when we woke up Daddy asked Lauren to wish Mommy a Happy Birthday. Of course, she didn't. She wished everyone else in the house a Happy Birthday. Now she's been running around saying "My Birthday" and pointing at herself. When I tell her no, it's not her birthday, it's mommy's birthday....we have a 10 minute standoff about why it's not Lauren's Birthday.

She was playing with mommy's camera this morning and I told her that the camera cost a lot of money and then I asked her if she had any money to buy mommy a new one. She said "Uh Huh." And I said, "You have some money? How much?" She said "5 dollars." I then informed her that it costs a lot more than 5 dollars and she should put it down. She said "Oh" and traded it in for her trains.

A couple weeks ago, Daddy hollered "Why is she naked?" Sure enough, the kid was streaking through the living room. I turned to her and said "Lauren Elizabeth you put your clothes back on right now!" She ran screaming "Noooooo, I hate clothes!" Great, just what we need.

Surprise Weekend!

Last Friday evening, mommy was surprised by Lauren's Mima (that's what she calls Grandma) and Papa. As they entered the house, they informed her that they would be watching Lauren for the weekend. Then Daddy told her that she needed to pack an overnight bag and be ready to leave at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

The next morning came and she was whisked away, unknowing of her destination. Once they hit I-5 and headed North, she had an idea of where they were headed. Daddy had booked an overnight stay at the Tulalip Resort and Casino about 30 minutes North of Seattle. Mommy was also treated to an afternoon in the T-Spa with a massage, manicure and pedicure.....3 things that I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've ever had!

Here we are in the room after the relaxing afternoon. The resort was beautiful. Our friends Mike and Mindy joined us, which was another surprise!


Mindy has listened that I was having a hard time finding workout clothes, so they hooked me up. Oh ya, this was all an early birthday event....even though I don't like to admit the birthday part! You can see my new ring on my right hand. The Premium Outlet stores are right next door (with Premium prices!). And Lauren and Daddy bought mommy a new Opal ring. It's Lauren's birthstone and I've been wanting one since she was born! It's gorgeous and I haven't taken it off since.


We had an amazing dinner at the Tulalip Bay restaurant. Jake picked it out and it's one of the top steak restaurants in the Seattle area. The guys had wonderful Wagyu ribeyes and us girls had Surf n' Turf; an 8 oz Wagyu blue cheese crusted beef sirloin and prawns (my mouth waters as I write this). Everything was fabulous from the flamming pineapple to the spicy calamari to the fudge filled dessert!

Ready to hit the gambling scene! Mike hit the slots, Jake and Mindy played Blackjack and I watched while making new friends!

We all had a lot of fun. Mike was the big winner leaving with about $800 in his pocket off the penny slots!!! I think everyone left with a little money. I'm already thinking of what to do in the Spa the next time we go (facial anyone?)....and yes there will definitely be a next time! Mindy's birthday is in September....hmmmmmmm......

Mom's Club

Last Friday Lauren and I ventured to Olympia to attend a Mom's Club meeting. It was nice for Lauren to play with some kids and nice for mommy to meet some new people. Lauren played in a playroom with lots of little kids. She enjoyed it a lot and didn't even blink when I left!

She was introduced to Playdough! Rats! Thankfully she couldn't get the lid off without help from other kids.


Here she is when I came back from the Meeting/Zumba class. She had to show me the fort. Then I told her it was time to go and she hid in the area below it! Great!

We had a big day, it was then topped off with a trip to Costco and lunch with Daddy. Phew!

Children's Museum visit

On Monday, Lauren and I finally cashed in her gift certificate from Grandma and Grandpa for the Hands On Children's Museum in Olympia. We have a year long membership that I'm sure will come in handy! She loved this place as you will see by the pictures.

The first 20 minutes we didn't leave the first exhibit 15 feet from the front door. I guess she didn't realize how much other stuff there was to see! It was a delivery truck that even had a fake hose, bucket and sponge to wash it!

Then it was off to gather eggs from the hen house. She had an entire basket and all mommy kept thinking was "the more we take out the more we have to put back!" But fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), the basket was "stolen" by some other little kid but Lauren was too busy to notice!

Lauren played in the ambulance and kitchen....but then she spotted the train table!

They even had buttons with noises piped in like "all aboard" and train noises. Once Lauren found those....it was all about the noise!

I finally got her to venture over to the other side of the museum where there dress up clothes, puppets and a veterinarian station. She was all about taking center stage and singing....which I have NO idea what she was singing but she was an enthusiastic singer!

Being very cheesy when someone would hit the applause button! She likes attention! Imagine that.

We went to the "build it" section where they had this giant wall of those pin-like things you can make designs. Lauren was all about her hand print as seen in the next picture.

From the other side....she'd laugh when I'd put then back to "normal".

Gotta make sure you have a helmet when in a construction zone.

Driving the dump truck.

She had a great time. We had been there 1.5 hours and I wanted to get home to watch the football game. It was late and Jake was already off work so I told Lauren, "Let's go home and see daddy!" It typically works....but not this time! She screamed as I carried her out of the building. She doesn't understand the saying "we'll be back" yet! We didn't even make it to one of the exhibits.

Found out they have a preschool there...wouldn't that be a kick! Plus it's only 2 blocks from Jake's office. They are building a brand new fantastic facility closer to the waterfront. It's suppose to be ready in 2012, we can't wait!

Intellectual Breakthrough!

Ok, I'm really excited about this and I'm acting like my kid is the next Einstein. But really, I thought this was a little over the top. We've been doing a lot of coloring, writing names, telling her colors, etc. But nothing has really been sinking in. Today, Lauren picked up one of her drawing boards and drew a large circle, a really good one too! Then she came and got me and showed me the "apple"....every circle is an apple. But then she put 2 dots where eyes would be and drew an upside down mouth.....and then said "sad". I was pretty excited and told her "good job!" enthusiastically. Then she drew a right side up mouth and said "happy"! I was beaming! There were lots of cheers. She ran over and gave me hug and was VERY proud of herself as well. I realize as I'm writing this, that it's not as exciting as in person and may not be "blog" worthy....but it's a BIG accomplishment and I'm very proud of her! So I needed to share.

Sorry no picture....it was on her coloring board that uses the water filled markers that disappear and by the time I got the camera, the fireplace has it so toasty in here that it had dried up!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Love~ Lauren

Nana Julie made this super cute dress for Christmas. However, we didn't get a picture of all the kids in their Christmas outfits and Lauren also didn't get to wear it to a brunch with friends we had to cancel due to illness (we were all bummed about that). So this is now her "New Years" dress. Thanks Nana Julie, it's extra cute. Her baby blue eyes sure due shine with the blue accents! Good choice as always!