Seattle Trip - Winter Break

Before Evangeline turns one, we took a quick trip to Seattle over the kid's Winter Break. Back in the day, I would map out the best restaurants to try and go on my foodie trek. Since kids came into the picture (almost seven years ago!!!), vacations are more tiring than staying at home. I went into this vacation without much of an agenda at all. The two main landmarks I wanted everyone to check out was Public Market and the Space Needle. We went to 1/2 of those places. The Space Needle was closed due to construction during our time there, lame! Instead, we spent half the day at a children's museum. At least the kids had a blast...


Judging by the way we're dressed, it's much colder in Seattle


Grubbing at the hotel lounge


First stop!

Had to find the gum wall 


Had to take a tourist-y picture here


I wonder how fresh their seafood tastes

.... and their fruit 


I wish our supermarket was this colorful


Stopping to check out the flowers

Stopped by the first Starbucks 


Signs are important


Yup, we're total tourists


Beautiful Seattle backdrop

 Say hi to the tallest man

My little artist 

Where are we?

Monorail robot (or something)

 Mom made them take a picture in front of this sign

 
Can't go to Seattle without eating some chow-dah

Goodbye Seattle

One thing I learned while in Seattle is that people are not friendly at all. Hello "Seattle Freeze" (not talking about the weather here). We survived with three kids and no car. If that's not a victory, I don't know what is!

Happy Charlotte Day

Our little (middle) baby turned FIVE on Valentine's Day! She was so excited about her birthday. I guess these kids equate birthdays to presents and parties. Lucky bums...

Birthday morning

She wanted a watch just like her brother

Happy five year old

Little family cake celebration

We had two parties for this little lady. The first was at Chuck E cheese with her school friends. 

 Waiting for the guests to arrive

With her besties

Happy birthday, Charlotte!

Her second party was with all of her cousins. We had a special art project at home and then all the kids asked for the jump house to be set up. Luckily the backyard was clean and the weather was nice.

Art with Ms Tamm

Little artists hard at work

Their work of (he)ART

Unplanned backyard lunch

A pizookie instead of a cake

 She chose Chili's for her family birthday dinner

Charlotte has definitely grown this year. It's easy to tell that she's grown physically since I (still) have to store away all her size 4 clothes. Ever since her baby sister was born two weeks after she turned four, she's really stepped it up as a big sis. My biggest concern was that Charlotte, being the former baby and all, would grow extremely jealous of her sister. The opposite happened! Charlotte is probably the best older sister you can ask for. She's extremely patient with her baby sis and does a great job taking care of her. 

Char loves to draw pictures and her stick figured people have evolved to nicer stick figure people. Remember those cute bunny people she used to draw? She outgrew that! She loves cats (hello, cat lady) and is in love with Pusheen (aka KiKi). This year she's fascinated with Num Noms and Pusheen, as well as making aquabeads/Beados. 

And that's Charlotte in a nutshell. Happy birthday, my little Valentine!

Happy New Year 2018

Since having kids, we stay home during NYE and have a "fancy" meal at home. By fancy, I mean me cooking up some steak and potatoes. 

Maybe Evangie will join our food fest next year

Speaking of Evangie, this little girl is going to be ONE very, very soon! 

 No longer a baby

But still a smiley lady

With a growing tummy

Getting into all sorts of trouble

And messing up her brother and sister's room

And speaking of girls turning a year older, the middle child is turning FIVE in just a couple days!

 Look how grown up she looks!

 My little sous chef

My little (boxed) baker

Ready for Chinese New Year (and her birthday)

In January, the kids learned about death. It didn't seem to affect them that much... maybe they're still too young. Their Grandpa passed away. 

Putting together favors for their Grandpa's memorial

 All seven grandkids at the memorial

We also did some random things to kill time. I was alone with three kids during the last week of Winter Break and survived!

 The trio at B&N

Checking out a new park in Morgan Hill

 I guess Lucas isn't afraid of heights

Fun at home

 Mommy and son (and baby) time at the Tech

Since this might be my only year of not working, I thought it would be cool to take Lucas out of school after his dentist appointment and take him to the museum. He had fun... unfortunately, we had to leave early because Baby was being fussy. Sorry, kid. 

And next up... Charlotte's birthday... then Evangeline's birthday... then rest time! Note: do not have kids birthdays two weeks apart!