Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Thanksgiving week we were bombarded with 3-4 inches of snow. Snow is rare in Seattle and even more so, the city is not equipped for snowstorms (lacking snow removal equipment in addition to drivers who are not used to the snow). It also doesn't help that we're surrounded by steep hills. My parents were here for Thanksgiving, so we made it out once per day for three days, but it was a challenge. We parked at the bottom of our hill and hiked up and down our steep little Crockett Street to get where we needed. Nate walked up the hill to work from Tully's on Tuesday and Wednesday after it took him 2 hours to get home Monday night (4 times longer than the usual 30 min commute). This was Elle Belle's first time sitting in the snow. She didn't know what to make of it other than it was really cold and she tried to catch the snowflakes, which was really cute.


Maybe I can catch a snowflake?


Safe with Grandma under the cover


Even old spidy's web survived the crazy storm





Checking it out; kind of cold





Grandpa, save me from my Mom who puts me down in this cold stuff!

Contagious

Last night Eliana was playing with some new bath toys from Grandma and Grandpa Dahlgren and she erupted in laughter when we squirted some water out of this fish. It was so precious and contagious. What an amazing sound; to hear your daughter's raw uncontrollable laughter.

Getting Out

Seattle's weather has been totally schizophrenic; sunny and warm one day and rainy/windy/cold the next. So, whatever the weather, we've been trying to get Elle Belle out and about because it would be so easy to hibernate here for the winter. We miss our long summer days for sure!


We spent one rainy afternoon at the main branch of the Seattle Public Library. They have a great kid's area.





Reading with Daddy.



We're so fortunate to have Discovery Park only 5 minutes away. We do the 3-mile loop there at least once/week and Eliana loves riding in the Ergo backpack, looking up at the trees. This day was particularly nice and we had fun doing a quick photo shoot on the bluff.


Exploring the dirt


Hanging with my friend, Keane








Ready for the run


Is it summer yet?





We took Eliana to the Children's Museum a couple weeks ago and she loved the 0-3 years area. She also loved playing the Clifford exhibit and chewing on all the fun toys.

Koyo and Nabe

Nate and I were feeling in the mood to celebrate our time spent in Japan, so we took a nice family trip to Iwajimaya on Saturday, bought the necessary ingredients for nabe (Japanese hot pot), visited the Japanese gardens on Sunday and celebrated with our nabe after Eliana was in bed Sunday night. (We can't wait for next year when she will be able to eat all of it and stay up past 6:00 pm.)

This time of year is always one of the most beautiful in Japan with the koyo (leaves changing color). Autumn (koyo) and spring (sakura - cherry blossom time) are truly magical times in Japan and we reminisce about the time we lived there. What is so amazing about Japanese culture is that they celebrate these seasonal changes and use them as a way to spend their time; for example, if I were to ask someone what they did over the weekend, they would say, "I went to see the autumn leaves." Not only that, but they would have visited a temple, saw the autumn leaves and had a nice hot matcha (green tea) while sitting there taking in the beauty. We miss you, Japan, but we were able to celebrate the beauty here in Seattle as well.





Eliana loves to ride on the backpack of the Ergo. She can see all around and loves to be close to Mom/Dad.




















Looks the same color as acorn squash...


Doesn't really taste like that, though!

Big Day

Yesterday, Elle Belle started doing 3 totally new things:

1. crawling on all fours (goodbye to the worm!)
2. moving from crawling to sitting
3. using her consonants - "ba ba ba" (until now she was exclusively a vowel girl, but she's made the transition now)

If only this third tooth could come in, then she would be able to celebrate without horrible diarrhea and pain with this nasty teething. Poor Elle Belle; we wish we could take the teething nightmare away, but we are so proud of you and love watching you grow.


The Big Day - waiting for our PEPS friends and babes to arrive....Eliana also fell asleep while playing with all her little 8 pals. I turned and looked at her and she was sitting there, eyelids closed for a couple seconds. She has a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out) and couldn't stop to rest while all her little friends were over.


The rubber on the measuring spoon is a fun teething toy

Halloween (Part 2)

On Halloween, we spent a wonderful morning at the Schlameus house with some of our UPS friends. In the evening, we observed some of the trick-or-treating on Magnolia by going over to a friend's house and showing off Eliana. It was a fun day; especially since the weather was so cooperative.


Our pumpkin was so excited for her first Halloween she almost flew herself over to the Schlameus' house for the party


Lion, tiger...and a pumpkin, oh my!! (Will Redman - tiger, Lillian Schlameus - lion)


Lucy (Brett and Ali's little Havanese) wanted in on the photo shoot, too


Eliana is still laughing at Lucy. I think I figured out that she loves dogs, especially when they bark (funny that the coffee grinder, hair dryer, blender, etc. scare her and make her cry, but a dog's bark does not)


Janna and Will


I love Lucy!


Playing with Lillian






Having a fun PEPS (mom's group) Halloween the Monday after. From R-to-L: Julien the chick, Aidan the cow, Elle Bell the punkin', Jonas the turtle, Hannah the pig and Conrad the Pillsbury dough boy


We stopped by Judy Maleng's house to observe the trick-or-treating. I've played basketball with Judy for the last 4 years; she is a dear friend of ours. Eliana loved Judy's wig and could not stop giggling and touching it. Judy made the kids solve a math riddle before they could indulge in her real-size candy bars. The question was, "Why was 6 afraid of 7?" And, what do you think was the answer?






Our family at the Magnolia village trick-or-treat


Still a little sleepy


With the Newmans at the village