Snoqualmie Falls

With such beautiful Seattle summer weather we have decided to take Sunday outings when possible. For our first outing we took Trinity to Snoqualmie Falls. I love it up there and figured it would be fun for her. It is a short drive, and we left hoping to grab lunch somewhere and hopefully still be home for a short nap. The hike down to the river and back up was about .5 mile each way. On the way down I carried Trinity when the hill was steep, we were a little concerned about her falling. On the way up I was too tired and told her to walk more ( I did carry her for some). She was a real trooper and had her first 'hike'!! She loved the waterfall! We had a great time! I love creating these memories!

Changes!

Our baby moved on to bigger and better things today!

She has attended daycare since she was 3 months old. We always called it 'school'. Now she is at a real school. Earlier this year we decided to look at preschools and more specifically somewhere that went through 8th grade in case we decided to keep her in private school. That is a choice at this point we have not yet made, but are considering. We found Soundview School in Lynnwood. We loved it. After an application process. Yes, I had to answer essay questions about my 2 year old! She was accepted.

Soundview has a great summer camp, however, you have to be 3. We decided to enroll her in Summer Camp for the last three weeks of the camp.

On Friday we said good bye to her daycare. Today, we went her off with a big girl backpack and her first lunch bag! She is definitely a big girl now doing big girl things. I can't wait to hear today how her day was!!

3 Years Later!!

Wow, I can't believe Trinity is 3!! She had a great birthday and a great party on Saturday. I have a lot of pictures and will try to get them downloaded tonight.

On Thursday, 7/17, we woke her up and told her it was her birthday, her response "No". Oh, did I argue that one. I told her I know very well it is her birthday! Finally it sunk in and she left the house singing "Happy Birthday to me" "Happy Birthday to Trinity". And announced to all at daycare it was her birthday! Later in the day I took cupcakes to daycare and she had a little party. It was a blast! That night we had her favorite, pizza, for dinner. But then the over stimulation and sugar some house convinced our little girl it was her birthday so she didn't have to sleep! Finally, she did sleep!

Yesterday, Saturday, was her party. We had a small party with just some family. I think next year we will graduate to more 'kid' parties. I decided I didn't want to worry too much about preparing food. Off to Costco I went! Got a veggie tray, fruit tray, and turkey and swiss wraps cut up. It was perfect! Oh, and Triscuits and Hummus. Some tea, wine, and pop to quench your thirst. And of course A LOT of decorations! Trinity had decided to have the Disney Princess theme (she had a choice between that or Strawberry Shortcake). We ordered a yummy cake from Safeway that had the four Disney Princess figurines on it and raspberry filling (again at Trinity's request!). Trinity had a great time and loved all her gifts!

Swimming Fun!

The best part of going to Grandpa and Deb's is the pool!! Trinity (and the rest of us) had a great time swimming over Fourth of July weekend. Trinity wanted a lot more independence then we were ready to give her with just an inner tube. She kept calling it a 'dinner tube'. She had a great time, as did the rest of us!

Fourth of July!

For Fourth of July we went over to Spokane. We got Trinity a fun dress, her "fourth of july dress" as she kept calling it. We also gave an etiquette lesson in keeping our dress down and we don't all want to see her panties! She had a great time at Grandpa and Deb's! Deb's parents gave them a play kitchen to keep at their house. Trinity loved it!

Cooper Family BBQ

In June we had a family BBQ at Mom and Dad's house to celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day. The 'kids' did all the planning and brought all the food so that Mom and Dad did not have to lift a finger! We had a great time. It was a nice day outside, not too warm but comfortable enough to eat outside!

Wine Notes

I decided in order to help me remember all the wine we bought while in Hood River I needed to keep notes! So, as we drink them I will add notes to my blog, then you can enjoy them with me, and I don't forget them!!

6/16 - Cor Cellars Alba Cor - This wine is a mix of Pinot Gris and Gerwuztimener (sp??). It is awesome!! It is not real sweet, and not real dry. We had it with pizza last week with my mom and dad after we returned from our trip. They both liked it too. I loved our visit at Cor Cellars. Cor means 'heart' in Latin! I asked where he came up with the name Cor. Cor wines can be found in most PCC's, and a variety of different wine shops. The owner is young, and the winery is fairly new, however, he seemed to be very involved in sales and was one of the few wineries that told us we could find their wine in the Seattle area.

6/16 - Hood River Vineyards Riesling - Yummy! We opened this over the weekend to have something to sip on. I remember this wine from our tasting. The reason I think I remember it so much is it has a distinct oak taste to it. I can smell the oak barrel when I drink it and taste it a bit. I like that! I liked this winery, it was small and intimate.

6/18 - Knipprath Cellars Matrix Port - This one didn't come from our trip to Hood River but from Spokane! Knipprath Cellars is an awesome winery with a tasting room in the Spokane Valley. It is an old school house and the lady that does the tasting is so much fun! We discovered it years ago while living in Spokane and always took out of town guests there. We now have others hooked on their ports! They are to die for! The Matrix is so good! One of my favorites. I have late meetings 2x a month and a small glass of Matrix Port to sip on is just what I need to relax and unwind!

Trip to Hood River

This past weekend Jason and I were able to escape to Hood River, OR for a little R&R. Trinity got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Cooper for 4 days. She had about as much fun, if not more, as we did! She is still talking about the things she did!

On the side bar of our blog here is a link to a travel blog I started. You can check out our adventure and see some great pictures. I put just a few here as a teaser! Enjoy! And we would love to have people over to share in our new wine inventory!!

"I have an eyeball"

You are probabaly thinking, "yes, we all have two"

This is Trinity's latest cuteness! No, she is not pointing out the obviously to us. If she has something in her eye (usually her hair or an eyelash), she says "I have an eyeball". It is the cutest thing. I have no clue why she says that. They pointed it out to me at daycare last week, then she said it at home this weekend.

Memorial Day weekend

Ahhh, what a fun weekend! We took our first trip of the summer over to Spokane this weekend. It was quite an adventure! I will throw out one thing before I dig into the entire weekend. This was our first road trip since potty training! It went fairly well. Took longer then Jason would have liked, and had one accident on the way home.

Friday~
We picked Trinity up after lunch with the hope she would take a nap on the way there. Ummm....NO! Nap did not happen. Thank goodness we have that portable DVD player!! We only had to stop a couple times for potty! We arrived in Spokane over 4 hours later, Jason and I tired and Trinity eager to see Grandpa and Deb! We assumed after no nap Trinity would crash. She was sleeping in a Disney Princess tent we borrowed from my parents. She kept asking to go night night so we assumed she was very tired. Well, it took her quite awhile to fall asleep. Then, she woke up off and on from 3-4 AM. Then was up at 6AM, ready to play!

Saturday~
We woke up tired and ready to head back to bed again! This was a lazy day! Trinity helped Deb make M&M cookies! She had a blast. It was so cute! Then I spent some time out with Deb shopping. Again, we got no nap. Then it was out to feed the horse! Trinity had been talking about this off and on since we visited in November. There is a horse on the property behind their property. Trinity got her baggy of carrots and we were off through the pasture toward the horse. It was fun! Of course, Trinity would not get close to the horse, but held the bag and handed them to grandpa to feed the horse. Then we headed back to the house. Trinity fell asleep a little bit better, but still struggled.

Sunday~
Again, we were up at 6:30AM with a child just ready to get up and play. We made her lay in bed with us until 7AM. Sunday was a somewhat lazy day again. We finally got little missy to take a nap! So, I took one too! After that we headed to Knipprath Cellars! This is our favorite winery in Spokane. Over the years we got to know the lady there. I was in there two days before Trinity was born (driving my mom and Jason!) and they have watched Trinity grow up! Then we stopped to look at the Spokane river and the Upper River dam. The river is very high with snow run off. Trinity learned all about where the water comes from. She may not remember though! Then Jason and I took a few minutes to run off alone and Trinity went to feed the horse again with Grandpa and Deb. She apparently played with a dog of a neighbors too. She amazes me what she will do if Jason and I are not around! Then we had BBQ and Trinity went to bed much easier!

Monday~
Finally, she sleep! Trinity slept in until almost 8am. it was awesome! We got up and got ready to leave. On our way out of town we stopped to visit with Jason's Grandma and Grandpa. These are two amazing people. They moved out of their home this winter after an unfourtunate fall his grandma took. I had not seen them since our visit in November. It was great to see them and they enjoyed seeing Trinity. Trinity was a bit whiny and ready to get home, so the visit was only about 30 minutes. It was great to see them though and I look forward to visiting them next time we are in town. Well, Memorial Day traffic over Snoqualmie Pass was slow movin. We left Spokane at 10AM and arrived home at 4PM. What a long day!

I did take my camera with us, but only got a couple pics of Trinity playing. I will post them when I have a chance.

Love you all!