Shopping & OMSI

Towards the end of August we met my mom and the girls in Portland for a little back to school shopping. After spending a couple of hours at the mall we headed over to OMSI, which is a hands-on interactive science museum. Nolan had a great time with his Aunts! It is so nice being able to drive a couple of hours and meet up with them, definitely one of the advantages of our big move North!

Hanging out in the car with Jenny

Nolan asleep during the first part of OMSI

What a cute family!

Sarah kissing Einstein

My husband with his forest friends

The big move & a trip to Bend

On June 9th we left California for Washington. Nolan and I were in one car, Nate drove the HUGE truck and my dad drove our other car. We made it to Redding, CA the first night and the following night we arrived in Gig Harbor, WA. It was quite the journey! Once we moved in and settled into our new apartment (I took zero pictures during this time...we were a little busy!) Nolan and I headed to Bend, OR to meet up with my mom and sisters.

This is Sarah. She dresses like this often. Awesome!

Nate was able to come down for the weekend (well 36 hours) but we made the most of it!

The girls attacked him!

Nolan loved the dishwasher

We went to an indoor bounce house place and Nolan had a great time! We will have to go back next time!

Friends

The Mommy & Me class that I was a part of in Manhattan Beach was one of the biggest blessings during Nolan's first year. It gave him ample opportunity to be around other kids and gave me a chance to talk to other mommas going through the same things I was. One of the hardest parts about moving was knowing that Nolan and I wouldn't be around that group any longer. Here are some pictures of Nolan hanging out with his buds during his last few weeks in California.

Daddy & Nolan

You have no idea how happy this makes Nate!

Center of attention??

At a friend's birthday party they had a singer come and perform for the kids. She brought all sorts of instruments and toys. One of them was a big drum that the kids loved hitting and banging. Except Nolan, he loved sitting on top of it!

Buried at the beach

During our last couple of month in California, Nolan and I soaked up as much beach time as we could. We would often head to the beach after his morning nap and go for walk and play in the sand. He loves playing with the sand and especially likes when he can dig his feet into the sand. So I decided to bury the bottom half of him and he loved it!

San Diego Zoo

In my continued attempt to catch up...

Realizing we were leaving California in just a couple of weeks we decided to squeeze in a trip to San Diego and go to the zoo! My dad came down for the day to join us and we headed down to SD. The zoo was great! We saw all the animals we read about to Nolan all the time and he seemed to enjoy it. He especially liked all the birds and was constantly pointing them out!

Daddy and Nolan; He's probably pointing at birds

Being silly

Grandpa Rick came and joined us for the day

Our future scientist

Where's Nolan?

Splash Park

One hot day Nolan and I headed out in search of a splash park. There are quite a few in the greater Seattle area, so we didn't have to drive too far before we got to one. It was a bit crowded and he didn't know what to think of it at first, but soon he was having a great time! We look forward to finding more of them this coming summer.

Doing the chicken dance??

Nolan's 1st Birthday!

Here are just a few pics from the little man's big day! We held the party at Valley Park in Hermosa Beach, CA on May 1st. Nate's parents were able to come out from Texas and a lot of family and friends from Southern California were there with us to celebrate the big day!

The party favors

Cupcake toppers

Not quite sure about the singing

Cleaning up after the cake