little black journal

It is hot, hot, HOT in Seattle – temps in the high 80s and lower 90s, which can be uncomfortably warm when you don’t have AC.  We’re doing all we can to stay cool, sleeping with the windows wide open and the fans cranked up high.  Jules hasn’t worn proper pajamas in over a week.

And every chance we get, we head out in search of water to splash and wade and swim and paddle.  A few favorites:

The Jefferson spray park is a staple – we find ourselves here once or twice a week.  Juliette usually spends 10 minutes or so just watching the other kids run wild, then runs her fingers through the fountains a little tentatively and is thoroughly soaked by the time we leave.

We spent Saturday morning at Gene Coulon park in Renton, and this place is money!  Big beach with plenty of shade, a big roped-off swimming area, and the perfect mix of sand for scooping and rocks for throwing.

We’ve been trying for the past couple of weeks to get Juliette into the little floaty boat she loved so much last summer, but she’s fiercely protested every time we’ve pulled it out.  And since she wasn’t using it on Saturday, we let another little girl take it for a spin.  Of course, that was all it took for Juliette to start begging for a turn – her “mine!” reflex seems to be stronger than ever.  Nonetheless, questionable motives aside, she had a blast kicking around the shallow end.

Pants are for chumps.

We were feeling particularly adventurous on Sunday and drove over to Enatai Beach in Bellevue to scope out their boat rentals.  Juliette isn’t a particularly big fan of sitting still, so when we set out in our canoe, we knew we were taking a risk, but I was hopeful that with enough enthusiasm and enough snacks, we could make it work.  We paddled under the I-90 bridge and a heron pointed the way to the Mercer Slough, which was a perfect, peaceful oasis of green.

And Jules?  She loved all of it, “helping” with the paddling, searching for baby ducks, sitting so contentedly in my lap.  We’ve had our share of failed outings lately (we might never be allowed back to our new neighborhood breakfast joint), so it felt really, really good to try something new and have it go off without a hitch.

I just checked the forecast and it looks like we’re in for at least another week of this heat.  Googling “Seattle beaches” now…

We’ve had a busy few days, livin’ large in this perfect Seattle summer weather.  The Giants were in town last week for a match-up against the Mariners, so we got together with Jack and La Verne on Thursday night to cheer on our boys at Safeco field.

We slurped down beers and mowed through a monster bag of Kettle corn, reveling in the ease of being out sans kiddos.

By the 8th inning the Giants were leading by 7 and most Mariners fans had cut and run.  We stayed through till the end though, taking advantage of the abandoned seats and sitting just a few rows away from the action.  Orange and black for the win!

My office held our summer picnic at Safeco the following night, so we headed back to the ballpark for dinner and a Mariners-Astros matchup, this time with Jules in tow.  We ate burgers on the patio and then caught just the first inning of the game, not wanting to push our luck and keep this happy kid out too long past bedtime.

Shane’s old friend Steve flew in from California late Friday night for a weekend visit and was eager to do some exploring, so we set out for Rattlesnake Mountain on Saturday morning.  Rather than just hang by the lake as per usual, we tucked Juliette into the hiking backpack and made the 2-mile trek up to the ledge.

Shane’s shoulders were begging for mercy by the time we summited, but the vista turned out to be well worth the pain.

We made it down the mountain with minimal whining and then set up shop in our favorite shady lake-front stretch of grass.

Watermelon, water, and 80 degrees.  Perfection.

We went to church on Sunday morning and then headed to Local 360 for Father’s Day mimosas and French toast.  Cheers to this guy!  Hot damn, I’m lucky.

And a quick stop at the sculpture park for some pre-nap sun-soaking…

We made plans to get together with the gang on Sunday afternoon for a lakeside picnic.  But first, a chariot ride!  I love watching these two snuggle into the trailer, seeing them share snacks and clank their bike helmets together.

We spread out our blankets at Seward Park and watched the kids frolic in the lake and kick the soccer ball across the lawn.  Shane and Jack picked up a boatload of burgers and fries and we chowed down while drinking white wine from plastic cups – we ushered in the first day of summer with such gusto!

It took the better part of the weekend and a Pepsi bribe (kidding!  that cup is empty!), but Juliette eventually warmed up to her new buddy Steve.  It was so good to catch up with this guy, to fold him into our family mayhem and then stay up late playing Nintendo and reminiscing.

We said good-bye to Steve this morning, dropped Juliette off at daycare, and returned to business as usual, simultaneously ultra-relaxed and completely exhausted.  SUMMER IS HERE!

I’ve had the chorus of Grease’s “Summer Nights” looping through my head over and over these past few days – you know, “Summer lovin’, had me a blast, oh yeah!“.  It’s not so much that I have romance or leather pants on the brain (although Shane will forever be my Danny Zuko), it’s that I’m LOVIN’ this summer weather.  Sandals and slightly pink shoulders and a re-commitment to get out and explore our favorite parks.  Evening jogs with Juliette, interrupted by a quick joyous romp through the Jefferson splash pad.  Popsicles and bare baby bellies.  Turtle hunts and sandy feet.  I swear, I can feel the vitamin D coursing through my veins, and it’s like a hit of happy.

We spent Saturday morning at Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland, checking out the wildlife and playing at the beach.

And to top off a stretch of particularly glorious sun-shiny days, Juliette’s best little buddy turned two over the weekend!  We were thrilled to celebrate with him, with a chariot ride and barbecue and CAKE (that taste of frosting was possibly the high point of Juliette’s entire life thus far).

I know, Jules, I KNOW!  So good, right?

Spring is in full-swing here in Seattle – budding leaves, fluffy blossoms, and quite a few of those sun-shiny teaser days that make you want to pull out your sandals and retire your winter coat (although I’ve learned by now that such days are often followed by 50 degrees and rain).  I’ve gotten into the habit of grabbing my camera when we leave the house, as these blooms (and Juliette’s joy over them) are too good not to capture.  Get your scroll finger ready – I went a little nuts!

We made it out to UW the third weekend in March, just in time to catch the cherry blossoms before they all fell to the ground.  It had rained that morning and the sunlight struggling through the clouds was extra warm, making the quad extra magical.

Juliette ran wild in the blossom-littered grass – given our mild winter, this was as close as she got to playing in the snow this year!

We’ve lucked out with a string of sunny Thursdays and have been celebrating our mama-Jules days with trips to parks and playgrounds.  The sand box at Whale Tale Park near Alki is a new favorite.

Juliette and Nico spent a Thursday afternoon harvesting daisies at Seward Park.

We went for a leisurely stroll through Colman Park a couple of weeks ago – I was disappointed to see that the p-patch was no longer planted with dahlias, but we did find a rogue tulip to admire.

And so much lush, lush green!

Juliette and I made a game of picking and blowing dandelion puffs – her first couple of tries resulted in a mouth full of fuzz, but now she’s got it down.

We walked to the bakery last Thursday and stopped to fawn over these pink pom-poms near the library.

And then headed over to Lake Washington Boulevard for a walk down the tree-lined sidewalk.

PINK!

And what’s even more exciting than flowers?  Springtime brings BASEBALL!  Juliette donned her cap for the Giants season opener and we let her stay up past her bedtime to catch the first couple of innings.

We’re going to make a die-hard fan out of this kid.

Each time I step outside, a few more blossoms have wilted and fallen.  That’s the downside to Spring – it’s so quickly fleeting, and try as I might to memorialize each flower, each angelic daisy-crowned grin with a photo, there’s no stopping the passage of time.  Before I know it, I’ll be waxing poetic about autumn’s golden leaves falling from the trees!  Then again, each day brings us closer to freshly picked berries and swimsuits and splash sessions in the lake.  And watermelon!  And warmth.

Consider me consoled.

Valentines Day!  A day for lovers, for romance, for chocolates and wine and ooh-la-la.  Or…a day for chasing after your toddler, finding joy in pink-frosted donuts and a longer-than-normal nap and an afternoon at the park.  C’est la parenthood.

We spent the morning at the Rusts – the kiddos exchanged Valentines (turns out Jules has mad watercolor skills!) and the grown-ups sipped mimosas and munched on Nance’s heart-shaped coffee cake.

Jules enjoyed a little snuggle session with her buddy S in the playroom hammock.  I don’t know where that girl’s pants went.

We made it home for naptime and Juliette crashed hard, snoozing for a solid hour and a half (this is an improvement over recent sub-hour naps!).  Find me something sweeter than a baby sleeping with her butt up in the air like so.  I dare you.

Juliette woke up in great spirits and laid with us on the couch for a bit, then tore into the magna-doodle I bought her for V-Day.

Once the new toy magic wore off (which took all of…15 minutes?  damn it.), we all got a little antsy and decided to drive over to Luther Burbank Park to enjoy the sun.  We hit that playground hard.  Too hard, as evidenced by my sore butt.  That turbo-boosted roller slide has an unexpected kick to it!

Once we had explored every slide, swing, and teeter-totter, we made our way toward the water, stopping for a few minutes to check out the pups at the dog park.  Jules was completely mesmerized, woof-woofing at each dog that ran past her.  Forget the zoo – this is apparently where it’s at!

Once we pried Juliette away from the furballs, we walked down to the waterfront to throw rocks and see how close we could get to the water’s edge without actually getting our feet soaked (her game, not ours).

I asked for a kiss and…wow.  This girl doesn’t hold back.

A chill set in as the sun went down, so we trekked back to the car, deciding we should ride this good-spirited wave and go grab a bite somewhere.  I was in the mood for a burger but raised my eyebrows as Shane threw out the names of a couple of trendy, probably-crowded Capitol Hill burger joints.  Let’s not press our luck.  I wanted to go someplace easy and close-by, someplace we knew would have high chairs and crayons.  And that’s the story of how the Schnells ended up at the Factoria Mall Red Robin for Valentines Day dinner.

Shane and I reminisced over our bottomless fries about the Valentines meal we ate at Windows on the Water in Morro Bay when I was in college, where we ordered our first-ever bottle of wine (a lovely White Zinfandel) and sipped it while the sounds of quietly murmuring couples and piano music filled the dimly lit dining room.  That was fun.  But RED ROBIN.  Red Robin has balloons.

Happy Valentines Day, folks – may you all find happiness in the most unexpected of places.

We set out for Portland on Christmas Eve, our trunk loaded with presents and wine and assorted goodies.  Juliette napped about half the way and then patiently chilled in the backseat for the last eighty miles – dare I hope that we’re making a road-tripper out of this kid?

We rolled up to Mitch’s house around 4:00, kicked off our shoes, and poured ourselves a couple of home-brewed beers from his kegerator.  Let the festivities begin!  It took Juliette about five minutes to warm up to her cousins, and then she was off to the races, following them from room to room, screeching with joy when they turned to chase her.  She settled down in her pack n play without a peep after dinner – a couple of hours of keeping up with the big kids had plumb tuckered her out.

We were up and at ’em early the next morning – the girls were thrilled to see that Santa had indeed stopped by in the night to fill stockings and leave a few extra gifts under the tree.

The adults sipped coffee and politely exchanged a few presents while the kids delightfully tore into their loot – Juliette quickly got the hang of unwrapping and made quick work of lining up her new books and puzzles.

Morgan and Jules were thick as thieves during our visit, hardly leaving each other’s sides.  Whenever Juliette fussed a bit, resisting a diaper change or reaching for something she couldn’t have, Morgan would come extra-close to her, murmuring “hiiiiii Juliette, it’s okaaayyy…” while gently touching her cheek.  It only had about a 25% success rate of doing any actual soothing, but damn, it was sweet.

Once we’d opened all the presents and eaten our bacon and coffee cake, we set out for Mt. Tabor park to let the kids burn off any left over Christmas morning antsies.

We made it home just in time for naps and then spent a quiet afternoon at the house, reading and doing puzzles and drinking hot chocolate.

I took Juliette out for a short walk around the neighborhood after she woke up…

And we found Santa!  Hey, if the kid doesn’t know any different, no sense in standing in that line at Nordstrom for two hours!

We headed in when the sun started to set and Elise offered to keep Juliette entertained while the finishing touches were put on dinner.

We shared a big Christmas meal and then all three girls piled into the tub for bathtime.  They streaked through the house when they were done, laughing hysterically as they left their towels in a pile on the floor and clamored upstairs to find their pajamas.  The sight of Juliette running behind Morgan and Elise with such glee, her dimpled bottom jiggling as she shouted and giggled – what a gift.

Friday was another day, another park – we spent the morning at Columbia Park, teeter-tottering and swinging and sliding.

Shane and Juliette took marathon naps in the afternoon while I played Disney Frozen Bingo and Frozen Memory and Frozen Matching with the girls.  Elise got a microscope for Christmas and we spent a little while “doing experiments”.  That face!  She’s so grown up these days, but such a wonderful goofball at the same time.

We went out for dinner at a local brewpub and then everyone grabbed a few last snuggles with Juliette before it was time for us to hit the road back to Seattle.

I’m telling you, the 7:30 pm departure is money – Juliette fell asleep a few miles into the ride, we made record time in the absence of any traffic, and then she easily settled into her crib when we got home.  Shane and I played a couple of rounds of Mario Kart before heading to bed ourselves, thankful for a chance to veg after a busy couple of days.

I woke up a little blue on Saturday, already missing my family and feeling the funk of post-holiday letdown, so Shane suggested that we get out and do something special.  We decided to head downtown to take a whirl on the carousel in Westlake Plaza.  Juliette was a little skeptical when we first got on – she gave the pole a shake, found out the horse didn’t spring back and forth like the one at the playground, and promptly decided she wanted to get off.  But oh, the look on her face when the carousel started spinning and her horse started galloping up and down, she dug it.  She smiled like mad, exclaiming “whoooaaa, whoooaaa, whoooaaa!” over and over and over.  Add this to our list of Christmas traditions!

From Westlake, we walked over to the Sheraton to check out the annual gingerbread house display.  I can’t believe the time (and sugar!) that must go into some of these!

Juliette was mildly impressed by the gingerbread village – she was more excited about being allowed to run free in the lobby after just four short blocks in her stroller.  There’s no stopping this kid.

We walked by the Fairmont Olympic Hotel on our way back to the car and decided to pop into their cozy lobby to say hi to Santa and check out the tree.

Cheers to a holiday filled with very little naughty and SO MUCH NICE.

Ohhhh, October – I love October.  Birthdays and baseball and bright fall colors.  Last month was chock-full of so many good memories.

My mom and dad made the trek up from La Pine ten days ago for a much-anticipated visit.  I’m always a little anxious when family rolls into town, as Jules has a pesky habit of getting sick just when we’re hoping she’ll be at her best, but she stayed healthy and my parents got plenty of chances to enjoy their sweet, silly, super-busy granddaughter.  We spent one afternoon at Lincoln Park, swinging and sliding and strolling.

Those leaves!  Can’t get enough of them.

Turns out Grandpa is a pretty amazing swing-pusher.

We spent a drizzly Sunday afternoon walking through the woods Seward Park.

And just when we thought we’d have to skip the playground on account of rain, the sun came out!  Juliette (and Grandma) were overjoyed.

Juliette played hooky from daycare and stayed home with my parents on Monday, and the three of them got along splendidly – Juliette ate well, napped well, and seemed especially easy-going that day (interested in moving to Seattle, Mom and Dad?!).  We said our good-byes on Tuesday morning, and Juliette was in a mood Tuesday night – I think she missed all that extra grandparent lovin’!

Oh, and how bout them Giants?!  We watched so much baseball last month, ending with our boys WINNING GAME 7 OF THE WORLD SERIES!  Juliette and Shane sported their orange and black on Thursday with so much pride.

Halloween was also a pretty big deal – having a kid has really upped the ante on October 31st!  My fellow mamas and I put our waddlers in their costumes on Friday morning and took them to the zoo for the Pumpkin Bash.  Gosh, how it rained.  And rained.  Turns out the zoo is not so fun in the rain (that downcast face of the little boy in the blue striped parka says it all).  We spent some time running around in the indoor gym, took a quick spin past the orangutans, and then called it quits.  Gold stars for effort, though!

Juliette and I both dressed up on Friday afternoon for my office Halloween party.  The theme was “alter ego’s”.  Architect by day…_____ by night.  Images of rockstars and super-heros flashed through my head, but if I’m being honest, I’m really an old granny at heart, perfectly content to spend a Friday evening knitting and watching Jeopardy.  And Jules was the perfect pet bird.

I was determined to get maximum mileage out of the owl costume that my mom and I put together last weekend, so yesterday Juliette donned her feathered cape once again for our church’s annual Trunk or Treat.  She “flew” around the parking lot, checking out the scene and rummaging through buckets of candy – turns out a box of Nerds makes a perfect rattle and the crinkle of a Whoppers wrapper is completely fascinating.  The sugar inside the packaging will remain a secret for as long as possible.

My mom is pretty brilliant with a sewing machine, no?

These kids!  Trust me, deep down, they’re having a blast.

And with that, October 2014 is a wrap.  On to November, with its bare-limbed trees and 4:30 sunsets.  Eeeeeeeek.  At least there’s pumpkin pie?

Happy 35th birthday, Mr. Schnell!

We kicked off the festivities yesterday with brunch at Bings – the pancakes were fluffy, the mimosas were bottomless, and we all chatted and laughed amidst the mayhem that is dining with two babies and two kids.

We had big plans to hit the pumpkin patch after brunch, but called it off due to rain.  The rest of the day was spent holed up indoors, reading books and playing Legos.  Even Juliette fell prey to the rainy-day lazies and napped for almost three and a half hours!

But today, how the sun shone today!  We spent the morning at Volunteer Park, walking along the leaf-strewn paths, playing on the playground, soaking in autumn’s golden glory.

Shane soaked his jeans on a trip down a surprisingly wet slide with Jules in his lap – thank goodness for backup shorts in the trunk of the car.  (And you’re welcome, to all those kids that were waiting for someone to hurry up and dry off the slide!)

We cashed in our pumpkin patch raincheck this afternoon and made the trek out to Issaquah to check out Trinity Tree Farm.  Juliette pushed the wheelbarrow around for awhile, rode in the wheelbarrow for awhile, and finally just staked out a spot in the middle of the field to plop down and chew on rocks while she watched kids and dogs run by.

Nice form, guys!

I’m so happy to see this girl getting on board with our silly Schnell family traditions.

Just for old time’s sake, check out this one from our pumpkin patch visit last year…We’ve come a long way, huh Jules?!

We grabbed dinner at Tutta Bella on the way home – cocktails and pizza and gelato felt like a fitting end to a perfect day.  Happiest of birthdays to my favorite person!  Juliette and I love you so very much (for the record, I also get the urge to applaud every time you walk into the room).

Yesterday was my birthday, but we did the bulk of our celebrating today, with brunch and two park visits and a little me-time and then dinner with friends.  It was a great day.  Such a great day, in fact, that I couldn’t limit my snapshots to just 10 favorites…thus, here’s 16 on 10!

Volunteer Park Cafe might be a new go-to breakfast spot – such a cozy vibe in there.  Juliette was clearly a fan!

Who’s that guy out there?

Fall is in full-swing.  And I love it.

Park fix.

Buddies!

Her hair matches these autumn leaves so perfectly.

Walkin’.

I slipped away this afternoon for a little treat.

Such a luxury these days…

Liking this color combo.

Kubota love.

SERIOUS Kubota love.

Higher, dad, higher!

First-ever ride on papa’s shoulders.

No hands!

Dinner with the gang.

With that, I’ve got a salted caramel macaron and a cup of mint tea calling my name…  Over and out.

We donned our swimsuits and dipped our toes in Lake Washington for the last time a couple of weeks ago – it was a scant too chilly to really enjoy a swim, but we felt like we needed to properly memorialize the end of summer with bare shoulders and watermelon slices.  It’s been such a fun, active, gloriously warm three months, as we’ve played and picnicked through nearly every park in a 10-mile radius of us.

So of course, September 21st left me feeling a little nostalgic and wallow-y – Juliette might never wear her green-striped swimsuit again, or her trusty pink and white sunhat.  She won’t ever sit on the shore of Lake Washington and flap her arms in the same way as the water laps over those chubby baby thighs I love so much.  Dinners on the back patio are on an indefinite hiatus.  But we’re not ready to hole up and call it quits on the great outdoors just yet.  We pulled out our sweatshirts and hit the Madison Park playground last week to take their swings for a test drive.

We’ve gone a little crazy with the slo-mo setting on our iPhones’ cameras – case in point:

Seward Park still welcomes us with open arms, though we traded in our spot on the beach last weekend for this lovely expanse of lawn up on the inner loop.

Indulge me in one more slo-mo…

And hey, the sun still shines at Jefferson Park!

Plus, there’s the excitement of post-season baseball to keep our spirits high – on Wednesday we watched our Giants beat the Pirates in the wild card playoff!  Juliette was mildly alarmed as Shane and I whooped and jumped over Crawford’s grand slam, but when we asked her for high-fives, she happily obliged.

Then there was Saturday’s six-hour hum-dinger of a game against the Nationals – Juliette napped through the first couple of innings and was in bed by the time the fifteenth rolled around, but she chilled with Shane and I for quite a bit of it.  Can you say Sweep those Nats, baby?

After yesterday’s MLB marathon, we tried to spend as much time outdoors today as possible – we passed part of the afternoon at Mt. Baker park, tossing leaves in the air and going down the slide a dozen times over.  Summer in Seattle can’t be beat, but these golden October days sure are beautiful.  And ahhhh…it was warm today – we eventually pulled off Juliette’s jacket and shoes and let her play barefoot in the grass before taking her on a jog around Seward Park.

So happy Fall, Jules!  It’s gonna be a good one.