Our Weekend

This was our weekend... Yep... that about sums it up. A pathetic waste of time? Maybe. Incredibly fun? Absolutely!

Playing "Srums"

Tyler's birthday present arrived today (a month early... I know).

Guitar Hero World Tour

(Walmart.com $71 for the whole band kit + game... awesome deal!)

All day long Jackson keeps asking me if he can play the "srums". The really amazing thing is that Jackson can actually play the game, because on the beginner level it doesn't tell you specific notes. You can hit any note you want as long as its on beat. So if he's drumming fast enough, he actually hits a lot of the beats. This video is great because of all the dancing around at the beginning, but also because before he really starts playing he does a little countdown for himself, "Two... Go!"

Disappointment

Do you want to see what true disappointment looks like? This is Jackson after I told him that it was raining (again!) and we probably wouldn't be able to play outside today.

The devastation when he looked out the window and saw it for himself.

Spring Break

My family came to Seattle for their Spring Break vacation. We had so much fun. Here are the pictures... lots of 'em!

Under the Freemont Bridge Enjoying the harbor boat tour

At the zoo Jackson and Whitney were rocking out in the back of the car. Jackson really enjoyed having company back there all week.

Disc golfing... we had a remarkable amount of fantastic weather, even though the weather report kept predicting clouds and rain.

Whit and Jackson riding an orca at the aquarium

Isn't my family cute? I miss them already.

Pike's Place Market

The girls had fun, but my brother Kevin made the comment, "So what are we doing here? Grocery shopping?"

The view from the Space Needle

Out in front of the Space Needle

At the Experience Music Project museum. We made a music video too. It was awesome. I wish I knew how to upload it from the DVD.

Tyler and my sisters got a bit crazy

The picture we took from the harbor tour. I know everyone gets sick of hearing about it, but I think Seattle is such a pretty city.

I just liked this one because my sisters are laughing so hard, and because Jackson's sitting up top all by himself. Tyler is actually right behind him, but you just can't see that.

Friday Harbor

*I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the blogging world that doesn't like the photo slideshows. I like to be able to quickly scroll through, skip the boring pictures, and spend more time on the pictures I like :) So here is a very lengthy photo list of our trip.

Friday Harbor was awesome. We loved it and will definately be going back any chance we get. The place we stayed at was great too, the Earthbox Motel for anyone who lives in this area and wants a great weekend getaway. Apparently it is still the off-season up there, so we got an awesome deal on the motel and had the beaches, swimming pool, and restaurants mostly to ourselves all weekend. The weather was gorgeous though.

Waiting for the ferry

Jackson enjoyed playing driver while we waited. I'm pretty sure he pushed every button in our car. The windshield wipers were his favorite.

We really enjoyed the ferry ride. That San Juan Islands are absolutely gorgeous. It was thick forested similar to Island Park, but surrounded by water. Beautiful.

A lady recommended Jackson Beach to us when she heard us saying Jackson's name at lunch.

Like all kids, Jackson really loved throwing rocks/stick/sand/handfuls of clay mud in the water. As we were leaving, he tossed a couple more pebbles into the puddle in the parking lot... hehe.

He enjoyed the swimming pool & hot tub too. He was a little too brave, and would dive into the water at you, whether you were ready to catch him or not. We only had one accident. He was sitting right next to both of us and just dove in, so we had to fish him out. He was a little shaken but got over it quickly.

Funny faces

Even though it was supposed to be relaxing, we still came home exhausted. That always happens.

What's better than St. Patrick's Day?

Yesterday was "Happy Finals-Are-Over Day". (and we all wore green to celebrate) We have officially survived the first 2 quarters of dental school, and now we have a week and a half off. Yesteday, Tyler kicked off the celebration by playing Xbox for 6+ hours with one of his dental school buddies, Geoff. Finals were killer this semester, so I figured they earned it.

Don't they look cute all huddled up 2 feet from the TV?

Then we went to half-price burger night with Geoff and his wife Sarah, and they took us to see the famous Fremont Troll... way creepier than I expected it to be.

Jackson didn't really like the troll either. I don't blame him.

The VW Beetle being smashed by the troll Here's us with Geoff and Sarah.

We've had a great start to dental school, but we decided we were ready for a little break from the city. So tomorrow morning we are driving up north to Anacortes and hopping on a ferry to the San Juan Islands. We will be spending our weekend in Friday Harbor enjoying good food, breathing in the island air, and relaxing in the hot tub. It'll be our first official family vacation with just the 3 of us. I think I'll even turn off my cell phone :)

Great Minds Think Alike

Ever since we started dental school and living on loans and savings, we try not to buy anything... ever. But we have been debating getting an iPod Touch for the past few weeks, since we seem to be the only people in the world who don't own any iPods. So this week, I decided I would surprise Tyler and go buy one and we could share it. The day that I decided to do it, I pulled up our credit card online and noticed a charge for the exact amount I was planning to spend. I asked Tyler and he got upset and said it was supposed to be a surprise for me. I laughed and told him it was a good thing I caught it, because I was going to surprise him with the same thing. So I guess the iPod is technically mine since he beat me to it, right?

A Few of Our Favorite Things

These are a few of our favorite things. (Okay, so I admit this list is loosely based on which cute pictures I found on the camera and phone) 1. Seattle Public Library - Maybe it's because I grew up in Pocatello, but the library system here is amazing to me. They have 30+ branches and you just go online and pick the books, music cd's, and dvd's that you want, and then you select the library location closest to your house, and then they ship them to that library and have them all ready for you when you get there. Plus, Jackson really loves the mini beanbag chairs... and the stacks and stacks of story books. I'm just grateful that Jackson is finally interested in story books, because the one word baby picture books were getting a little boring for me. 2. Top Pot Donuts - conveniently located right next door to our branch of the library. I'm afraid we may be stopping there each time we go to the library. It's just too good and too convenient right there. And some how, in my mind, the "healthy" activity of reading books counter-balances the "unhealthy" donuts. I don't know why reading counts as healthy, but it just does.

3. Yummy Teriyaki - That's the actual name of the restaurant. It's officially the greatest teriyaki in Seattle (technically in Redmond, but worth the 15 minute drive). We went there with some friends last night and it was amazing, as usual. Plus, the owners are Korean so Tyler gets to chat with them in his mission language. Always fun. And Jackson actually likes their Korean cabbage salad.

4. Skullcandy Headphones - A Christmas gift from uncle Jason, originally intended for Tyler, but taken over by Jackson (although Tyler still uses them too). Jackson doesn't even care if they are plugged into anything. He just runs around the house wearing them. And when Tyler acutally puts music in the headphones, Jackson goes crazy. One of these days I will catch video of him dancing... I'm determined!

I really should quit telling him to "show" me his smile. Apparently "show" means to point to your smile and then push so hard that your face gets smashed beyond recognition.

Look... I'm famous

My friend, Lara, is an incredible writer. Her blog, Pocket Full of Prose, is one of my all-time favorite blogs and I would definately recommend it if you are ever blog browsing. Her blog is also quite popular, so she gets to do fun things like "guest bloggers". I've told her before that even though I stay home, I have a rule to never spend more than an hour a day on cleaning, and usually I keep it to about 30 minutes. She was asking how I keep my house clean in a short amount of time so I sent her a silly little email about some tricks that I use, and she asked if she could post it on her blog. So if any of you are interested, here it is. But really, you she read her other posts. She's great. Love ya, Lara!

The Zoo and The Friend

Due to a random train of thought this morning, I decided to take Jackson to the zoo today. We bought an annual pass a few months ago, but this was the first time we went just the two of us and it was quite pleasant. We would look at each animal for a few seconds and then Jackson would do the sign for "more" and point to the trail, encouraging me to get him to the next animal quickly (which is why I counted it as my workout for the day). His favorite animal today was the otters. He watched them swim for quite a while, and would giggle when the came close to the glass. I should have taken a picture, but I was enjoying the moment for myself too much.

And here is my favorite part of zoo day... the deep sleep that follows. (I was unloading him, that's why the seat belt is undone)

Sometimes I really under estimate Jackson's abilities and interests. For Christmas, Grandma Trish got him a subscription to The Friend. He absolutely loves it. It's his new favorite thing to "read". He looks at all the pictures and likes us to sit with him and explain things. And he can spot every picture of Jesus (He says "See-suss"). I hope that's not blasphemus of me to say, but it's just really cute how he says it.

Thanks, Rob & Trish. What a great gift.

Oh Baby!

Dear Jim & Pam,

I have watched you from the beginning. I don't know what makes you such a perfect couple, but you are.

Perhaps it was the years of waiting?

You have always been and will always be my favorite fake couple.

The first time you kissed, I became an Office fan for life.

I held my breath as you proposed

(and everytime you did a fake proposal, and then I always yelled at the TV when I realized it was fake)

I cried during your wedding... not just one little tear. I sobbed.

And tonight I get to witness the next step in the wonderfulness of Jim + Pam = JAM.

(but don't really name your baby Jam... that would be weird)

Can't wait!

You Might Be Playing Too Much Xbox If...

Today we saw a sign at Wendy's promoting their COD Sandwiches. Tyler said, "They have a Call of Duty Sandwich?"