Low Tide Walk with Cousins

We took the cousins to West Seattle for a low tide beach walk. We saw some cool creatures, but no sea stars.

Searching for crabs.

Getting squirted by clams.

Kade's big clam shell.

I think Aunty's shell is bigger!

Sand dollars.

The tide came in fast! So glad we could take the cousins on a new adventure!

Great Wolf Lodge

 We went to Great Wolf Lodge from Sunday through Tuesday. The last time we were here, Ellena was 2 years old and we only stayed for one night. We played in the water park, but did not have time for the MagiQuest game. This time we got an extra night to have fun, fun, fun!

The cousins with their new wands! Ready to battle the red dragon! MagiQuest is this cool game in the hotel where you purchase a wand and load the game onto the wand. You receive challenges and must figure out riddles to complete the challenges. The game spans 5 floors of the hotel and there are pictures and objects throughout that you wave your wand at and it activates the objects or completes the challenges you are on.

Bunk beds in the room. Ellena ended up sleeping on the sofa sleeper, but it was still fun to climb up and hang out on the top bunk!

There is a deal for a free photobook with special Great Wolf Lodge layouts. Since I would probably make a photobook anyway, might as well get it free! But because it's a water park, I was leaving everything locked up in the room - wallet, keys, iphone and camera. Our room key is in the wristband, so I really didn't have to carry anything around with us. On the last day, I realized, if I wanted to make a photobook, I was going to have to start taking pictures! By that time, Evan was done with the waterpark and just wanted to finish up the MagiQuest game. I told him to let me get a few pictures of the waterpark first and then we would play the game. Ellena and Pops went for a final swim. She really enjoyed the wave area!

When it was time for us to all meet up at the arcade, Evan was exhausted from going up and down the flights of stairs to finish the game, so he opted to play at the arcade while Momma, the one person in our family who didn't purchase her own wand, completed the last two challenges. We were told we would earn a special prize to take home only after the last 2 challenges were completed, so I stepped up and finished it. What was the prize? Certificates printed out on their color laser printer! We were expecting something a little cooler, but oh well. Kids were happy, though!

Hike with Cousins

Aunty Kim, Uncle Mike, Cousin Aaron and Cousin Kade drove all the way from California to spend a week with us. What a treat! We went on a short hike around the neighborhood lake.

Stopped at the duck pond.

Found a duckling!

Went off course a bit and found a cool tree.

Birthday Party at Auntie Anne's

We held Ellena's birthday party at Auntie Anne's pretzel shop at the mall. The kids were treated to a short history lesson on the soft pretzel's origins, complete with silly puppet frog.

They then went in the back to the kitchen to learn how to roll a real pretzel and then make their own dough creations.

Ellena & Uncle Stu

Ellena chose a Spiderman and Lizard Man cake.

She didn't really want to eat her birthday cake. Grandma is feeding a bite to her with Pops.

Ellena's 5th Birthday!

Ellena is 5 years old! She had a fun day at camp - they had a Mad Hatter's Tea Party with yummy treats and also walked over to the zoo next door. What fun! That night, Ellena chose her favorite restaurant for her birthday dinner - Similan Thai. I think this is the third year in a row that she has chosen this place!

After dinner, we came home for birthday cake and presents. I usually make her birthday cake, but this year I did not. Ellena wanted chocolate mousse cake, so I told her how I was thinking of making it. She stopped me in the middle and said, "I think we should just buy it from Costco. I don't want you to make it weird." Ouch! So we bought it from Costco. And the little stinker didn't even like it! I should have tried my way.