Orcas Island

Two weeks ago, Aaron, Avery and I visited my aunt and uncle on Orcas Island. It was a weekend of first time experiences for Avery, including her first ferry ride. Here we are waiting to load the ferry at the Anacortes terminal.

As you can see, Avery was very excited to ride the ferry.
Family pic on the boat.
Meeting Auntie for the first time!
We took Avery on her first boat ride around the San Juan Islands.

She had a great time...until we put her little white hat on her head...

...so we took it off and went to see the captain (aka my uncle) and things were much better!

Avery's new friend - a stuffed reindeer.
It was also Avery's first experience with dungeness crab. The rule at my aunt and uncle's house is that you have to either catch or clean the crab in order to eat it. Aaron went out with my uncle to catch the crab then he helped cook it. My aunt and I did the cleaning. Avery did neither, so she had milk for dinner. Maybe next time.

Nice work Aaron!

(don't worry, the crab has already been cooked!)

Aaron took a lesson from my uncle in cleaning crab.

We had a great weekend and look forward to going back!

Justyna and Bryan's Wedding in Spokane

Avery spent Friday night hanging out with the Cohens while Aaron and I attended Justyna and Bryan's rehearsal dinner at Bryan's parents' home. It was a beautiful night filled with good food and great friends! We were so happy that our friend Ghazaleh (pictured on the left) flew in from Dubai to celebrate. Joanna, the sister of the bride, is pictured on the right.

The next morning we had breakfast with the Cohens and Matt. Avery really liked sleeping on his chest!
Shortly thereafter, Ghazaleh came by to meet Avery. The wedding ceremony took place late Saturday afternoon on the Gonzaga campus.

The reception was held at the Davenport Hotel. Congrats Justyna!

And congrats Bryan!We also spent some time with our friends Katie and Kyle. It was a great weekend!

Avery's First Roadtrip - Spokane

Last weekend we took a roadtrip to Spokane to attend the wedding of two good friends. It was Avery's first time traveling in the car for such a long distance. She did very good and slept most of the way. We're here! So happy to be free of the carseat!We learned that Avery's sense of fashion prohibits her from tolerating a leopard and leather couch.
Avery met Bridget, Jon, Luke and Nolan.

Alan and Carlene accompanied us to watch Avery during the rehearsal dinner and wedding. We all spent part of Saturday walking down the Riverfront.

4th of July

Our friends Kristie and Scott were in town from San Francisco for the 4th with their daughter Lyla - it was so fun to see them! Here is Kristie, Laura and I during our walk to downtown Edmonds.

We spent the morning of the 4th in downtown Edmonds with the Myers, the Cairnes, and the Alseths. Here we are along the parade route.
There was a childrens' parade before the main parade and we cheered on Lucy and William (in the wagon) as their parents pulled them along.

We then headed over to the Kusak home for an afternoon BBQ with our college friends and their families. Despite the pic below, Avery had a very fun time. In her red white and blue dress!Time for a nap. Happy 4th of July!

Family Picnic

Aaron took July 3rd off of work and we headed to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island for a family picnic. It was a beautifully sunny day and we picked a great spot by the water to relax and enjoy our food. Some of us were really relaxed...

Hanging Out

Here are some recent pics of Avery that make me smile.

Getting ready for bathtime.

Our friends James and Angie gave us this bouncy chair that Avery absolutely loves! So many of our pictures have this same background because she wants to be in her chair all day.
Nap time
Avery loves being held like this and walked around the house.
I love this picture because she looks like an angry little munchkin. It makes me laugh each time I look at it. Poor thing - she was so tired!