Star Wars

Searching the galaxy for a princess who doesn't suck, I had somehow forgotten about the best princess ever: Princess Leia! It started with a 1980s Leia book and a few movie clips and stills, and progressed quickly to total obsession. At first, we thought, this is awesome, we can play Star Wars pretend forever. But even two huge Star Wars fan parents appreciate some variety :) Luckily Charlotte has thought up a ton of variations on the theme. There's Star Wars babies, which entails taking care of baby Luke and baby Han. There's Star Wars calling, where various characters call her up on the phone to chat. And of course Star Wars bath, where 3PO and R2 get up to various antics in the tub. We recently went to go see the costume exhibit at EMP (awesome), Poppi dug out his original Star Wars pillow case, and Cousin Hattie made Charlotte a Leia costume! We can't complain, it's actually pretty fun for Mama and Dada, way more fun than Frozen. Hoping we can stretch the enthusiasm to Halloween time :)

Mother's Day /Liz's Birthday

Liz's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year so we had a joint brunch celebration with all the littles. (the ladies took her out for grown up brunch and pedicure the day prior). Nannie made blitzes- yum- and Matt made a marzipan Yoda cake upon the birthday girl's request. We made Nannie a calendar full of baby pics which she loved, and Charlotte made me a special card which she managed to hide and keep secret for an entire day. Then Charlotte and Nannie put on a puppet show for the twins! Good family fun.

Vacation from our vacation

Our weekend in Pebble Beach left us in need of some R&R. Luckily, we had planned a trip for Charlotte's spring break to Alderbrook Lodge on Hood Canal.  But mama got sick from the Pebble Beach plague! After 2 days resting in bed, she rallied and we headed off just a day late. After a fun ferry ride, we arrived to our 2 bedroom waterfront cabin. We basically just ate delicious food and relaxed for 3 days- swimming, beach combing, reading- just what we needed. And Charlotte tried all sorts of new foods: fried oysters, raw oysters shucked fresh right on the dock, mussels, crab, and of course sticky toffee pudding.

Pebble Beach Passover/Easter

The whole Seattle crew flew down to Pebble Beach for a last hurrah before the house gets sold. Charlotte could barely tear herself away from the soft white sand. We had a short but sweet Seder. And an Easter egg hunt. And a birthday party for cousin Abigail. And a baby naming for the twins. Jam packed! Charlotte loved playing outside with Julia and Hattie and her cousins. Plus we had a ton of wildlife sightings: deer, prairie dogs, sea lions, otters, red winged blackbirds, and woodpeckers! It was sad to say goodbye to the house, but rodents in the ventilation system, a sleep strike by Nathaniel and croup for Eleanor made us all pretty happy to get home to Seattle.

Spring birds

Spring has sprung and our bird feeder is busier than ever. Charlotte has become an expert at bird identification: chickadees, bushtits, juncos, nuthatches, stellar jays, finches, and our favorite, the northern flickers.

Up up high

Living right next door to a playground has many perks. We are not yet terribly excited about bikes or scooters, but Charlotte loves to climb, all the way up to the top of the climber. Then she just stays there and chit chats. For a while.

Purim!

This year was Charlotte's (and Matt's) first Purim Carnival, and it was pretty exciting: costumes, face painting, balloon animals, singing, bouncy house, and of course hamentashen. The whole family including the twins joined as well.