October

October

Isabella and I went on a little day trip to Remlinger Farms. It was fantastic. This was the tunnel made inside the hay maze.

She also rode her first roller coaster. She is a true thrill oriented spirit. It looks like I have several roller coasters in my future.

We celebrated the inaugural ride with a low calorie, low fat and perfectly healthy lunch.

We chose the rainiest day to go to the pumpkin patch. It was a downpour and we did not come home with any pumpkins, but we had a fabulous time.

A Gap commercial in the making!

The azure butterfly. That's a fancy way of saying a blue butterfly. Isabella represented the blue butterfly featured in the book Fancy Nancy and the Bonjour Butterfly.

Her bud, Brindley, the cutest Dalmatian ever.

Daddy putting on the wings for Isabella to take flight at the Fall Fun Party.

Oh yeah, she got all the games figured out to score candy. Just get as close as possible and drop it in.

The glow in the dark room.

Why can't I eat the balloon dog?

Now, how about I eat this hot dog?

September

Cupcake September

Cupcake September. Yep. The cupcakes have landed and we have an addiction or fascination with those frosted little cakes. Yum! Yum! Yum! Isabella and I have had a few cupcake dates this month.



Isabella's first pony ride. She kept saying "this is MY pony". The word "MY" has entered into her vocabulary. Now, where did that come from?

Yep, that's my cowgirl wearing socks on her pink pony. The best part is the hat lowered over her eyes.

One of her dear friends, Roman, took her for a spin in her first car ride without mommy or daddy. She actually was pushing the gas while Roman steered the Jeep.

Twin Falls is gorgeous. It was recommended by Red Tricycle as a great hike for kids and toddlers. Now, be forewarned it is a good family hike however you will be carrying your tot half of the way.

Nana and Papa had a blast with their little rain coated chicka! Papa spent 1/4 of the hike carrying little miss on his shoulders.

I got a big smooch from my girl! Man, I love my daughter. She is the best.

We did it. I still am shocked that we took on a 10 K = 6.2 mile race. But we did it. Thanks to all my Stroller Strides girls for training with me. Those training runs by Eastlake Sammamish as well as around Greenlake were so much fun.

This was my favorite race so far. It was amazing. One of the race organizers got up and talked about just putting aside any troubles and stress and just enjoying the race. Then a girl got up and belted out the Star Spangled Banner. I had tears in my eyes as we all took off and heard the light padding of many footsteps. It was quite a beautiful moment.

This is my race partner, my pacer and one my workout buds. We actually learned to talk and run throughout our training which was quite a miracle. It used to be that I could only breathe and spit out a few words, but now we have built up enough endurance to carry on a conversation.

One of my biggest supporters. Amazingly handsome looking man! Love him. Maybe someday he will do a 5 K with me. A secret prayer of mine.

My second biggest fan! She has been watching me workout since she was eight months old.

AUGUST

AUGUST
HOT * HOT * hot

Isabella visited her first fire station. She was enamored with the big red truck. She did not want to get out of the cab. Maybe she was dreaming of her first assignment to retrieve a kitty out of a tree. She is quite fond of the feline family.

Isabella and Lauren (her cousin) were dressed and ready to take on any threat of fire as long as they could be home in time for dinner.

Sea fair in all its glory. Well, actually my first experience to be in the grand stands and watch these boats with jet engines fly around in circles. It was pretty amazing to see all the rooster tails shoot high up into the air until you couldn't even see the boats.

Don't I look like I should be helping out in the pits with my stylin' Chevy hat. Yep, just hand me a wrench and I will fix it. Okay, probably not. I am not really a mechanical genius, but hey I can dress the part.

I loved this team. It personified the day in my eyes.

Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without the Blue Angels tearing up the sky with their fancy, daredevil tricks. 'Twas sweet.

We took a short family vacation to Whistler B.C. It was extraordinary. We were gone for five days and I would've added on about five more. But it was so great to get out of the routine and get lost in another country. We rode bikes. We played cards. We ate chocolate chip cookies. We had a blast.

This was my first time up a gondola. I kept imagining what it would be like to go up the mountain with skis on my feet. I hope to learn someday on the bunny slopes with Isabella.

They have this peak to peak ride that is suspended between the two mountains. It is breathtaking and gives you a birds eye view of the area.

My husband carried the kids behind him as he rode bikes. We took some incredible bike trails that had nifty hills to test your muscles. He was a trooper pulling the kiddos around.

Two Thumbs Up! Fine Family Fun! Love to do it again next year.

JULY

JULY

We started off the Fourth of July super sunny weekend by spending a little time on the beach. We visited the Stroller Strides over in Alki with Asher and Christy. She snapped a few pics of the kiddos playing on the beach. She has such a creative eye and captures the moment. Her work can be found at http://www.christycowanphotography.com/ .

Parker joined us for lunch and Isabella enjoyed throwing rocks into the Puget Sound.

Rumor has it that Stumptown Coffee is the best in the world. We thought we would go down and test the theory. It turned out to be a most excellent latte. Looking for a yummy latte in Seattle. Check out http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/. My husband who is a HUGE caffeine addict proudly endorses this cup of joe.

Fourth of July aka Independence Day started off quite festive with a visit down to the Issaquah main street for a little parade. Isabella enjoyed running out to the street and collecting her bounty of candy.

Red, White and Stripes. A tried and true culinary tradition inspired by Martha Stewart is featured at every Independence Day celebration. It is a simple and fun way to celebrate. It requires Strawberry Jello, Heavy Whipping Cream, Vanilla Pudding, Powdered Sugar and Blueberries. It has been a hit every year.

Independence Day has always had a mish mash of plans. We have not found our tradition. This year we went to Joe and Vika's House to enjoy a tasty BBQ and then off to the Sammamish Plateau to enjoy a half hour of firework frenzy. It turned out to be a great deal of fun!

Isabella really enjoyed her first fireworks. She kept yelling "purple one", "yellow one" and "red one".

She spent most of the show wearing tweaked out glasses that causes a light echo across your eyes. But she loved every minute of it.

Let's go to the movies. Yep, Isabella caught her first feature Ice Age 3 at the age of two and a half. What do you expect from film loving parents? Well, we ended up going three times as a family. What a fun experience!

Yes, she is my daughter. She was glued to the screen and snarfed down half a bag of popcorn.

Of course, we had to celebrate with cupcakes. Trophy Cupcakes no less. Yum to the 25th power. They were truly worth the traffic filled, 1-90 closed down hour and half round trip to Seattle for this simple celebration. http://www.trophycupcakes.com/

So, I decided I should climb a mountain this summer. Literally! I went with two of my girlfriends from Stroller Strides. One happened to be the instructor and she set the pace Tracy style up the mountain. A leisurely 2 1/2 hour walk turned into a 1 hour and 40 minute ascent. Yeah, that some fast walkin'. But my shirt tells the whole story. I had a blast and burned 1130 calories which meant a trip to Burgermaster which included a chocolate caramel shake. It was so worth it.

For the record, I am not a workout junkie. I am into challenging myself and pushing the limits in every way.

Papa and Nana paid a visit and we did the town right. The Ferry from Alki to Seattle is fun to take to the downtown piers. Isabella kept calling it the "big boat".

Okay, these clouds were crazy. They look like an dad and son have a conversation. The dad with the big nose and son with big hair. Crazy fun fluffy clouds. What do you see?

Where do we live? The Pacific Northwest. Is this a normal picture. No, it's not. It has been beyond hot in a place where air conditioners only exist in 13% of Washington residents. We became a great fan of the library, mall, grocery store, Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington. Parker said, it was like a vacation every night.

The zoo. We love the zoo. Thanks to Nana and Papa. We go every week. Isabella really loves animals.