Nate's Birthday Celebration

The same day as Medina Days we celebrated Nate's birthday. The kids got some time in the sprinkler, and then we surprised Nate with his gift. He had asked for a banjo, so Shannon collected the funds and everyone chipped in for this fun gift. He has the money and will shop for one on his own. However, Shannon thought it would be fun to have him think the cake was his banjo. So, I went to work on the cake. I wanted to construct it to scale, so every fret, string, knob, and hardware is exactly how it should be. It was a fun cake to design and build.

Medina Days

My cousin, Tyler's son, Conner, and Abigail were attached to one another during the parade.

Medina Days is an old annual tradition for my family. It started off in the morning with the parade, which I missed because a cop wouldn't let me get anywhere near with my car. However, all the kids were dressed up and ready to walk to streets of Medina in their costumes. Abigail was, obviously, Snow White. The next stop was the Medina Park where there were big bouncy houses and slides, food, face painting, balloon animals and dancing. The party wouldn't be complete without Elena shaking her thing on the dance floor. The real deal will never be captured completely on camera film, but there's a full thread on our photo gallery at http://durr.smugmug.com/ under "Events" and "Medina Days." The day ended at the Medina Beach with more dancing to a steel drum band, food and just hanging out.

Cousins

We were able to get all the cousins together for a picnic and play date at our old stomping grounds, Kelsey Creek Farm. The kids enjoyed the playground, the picnic and of course, seeing all the animals. It was a little be of nostalgia for me too.

Quiet

It used to be that a quiet around the house meant that all the toilet paper was being unrolled, all mommy's pajamas were being pulled out of a drawer, things were being colored on that should not or my lipstick was covering a child's body. I can't tell you how glorious it felt to come out from blow drying my hair to that eerie quiet but find this...Abigail reading quietly in the living room to the dog and lamb that she has all tucked in and ready for bed. She's such a sweet little thing.

Socks on her hands

This is not a great picture - on so many levels. However, I wanted to document Abigail with socks on her hands. She's been doing this for a while, but I never knew why. She is very into accessorizing (goggles, snow hats, gloves, boots, jewelry - whatever), so I just assumed it was another weird addition to an outfit. However, in this costume, she was Belle. I figured out and confirmed with her that the socks were the princess gloves she sees all the "other princesses" wear.

Misha's Visit

My good college friend, Misha, was in town for a bit, and we were able to get together for dinner at Johnny's on Lake Union.

Kenzie is Trying Lots of Words

Kenzie Singing

Kenzie is also singing along to music. This doesn't capture it well, but she doesn't tend to perform much for the camera.

Performing

Random costume changes, made up songs and performing are a large part of our day. Note Abigail in a bathing suit that is on backward and only one shoulder. Her get-ups crack me up.

Mariner's Game

Every once in a while Jer gets tickets through clients or friends at work. This was one such lucky day. Mariners won too! We took along friends, Steph and Abby!