Baby in a basket

Ginny loves to explore- especially things that AREN'T toys ;)

She found the basket of Samson's toys, and since they aren't hers they are obviously infinitely more interesting than anything else in the house. So she decided to crawl into the basket and just roll around with all of Samson's awesome toys (like her gross old soccer ball!!!!). Fun times!

Painting Party!

We seriously have the best friends. No, seriously. We do.

We invited them all over for a "party" where they got to work away for hours painting our house. And they actually showed up! And they helped up put up NINE GALLONS of primer! In three bedrooms, two hallways, the stairs AND the dining/living room. Whew, it was a crazy day.

Todd and I spent the week prior prepping: covering floors, taping windows, patching walls. That part actually takes a long time, and Ginny was a good sport hanging out in her walker (thanks Albistons!). We kept a steady supply of snacks coming her way, which she was a big fan of.

Personally, my favorite part is covering up the old, dirty walls with clean, white primer.

Ginny's favorite part is waiting until mom and dad's backs are turned and making a mad dash for the nearest bucket of paint. So squishy! And fun to splash in! Hooray!

Our crew hard at work. Those grimy walls don't stand a chance!

And the nursery department in the kitchen ;)

We did feed our laborers; a breakfast casserole, chili and buffalo chicken dip. Our first meal in the new kitchen, and I loved sharing it with our friends.

I love this picture of our hallway and spare bedroom because you can see five people painting- No wonder we tore through all that primer!

Even Samson got in on the action. She brushed up against a wet wall and added to her white spots :)

Well, it was a great day. We loved having company while we worked, and loved having our friends in our house. We are so lucky.

Moving into our house has never seemed so close. We got two coats of primer up on the entire main floor and upstairs, and we're busy putting paint on top of that. It's starting to look like a house you'd actually want to spend some time in, and we're looking forward to the day we can host parties that don't involve any slave labor. Soon, very soon...

Thanks again guys!

Snowed In!

We are having a storm of epic proportions here in the Puget Sound- as much as 5 inches of snow!!!

It's kind of amazing how such a small amount of snow just brings everything to an absolute halt. But really, our town just aren't equipped to handle snow, nobody has snow tires, people are very scared to drive on snowy roads, and once the freezing rain starts, the road do get very scary. The best thing to do is stoke up a fire in the woodstove, put a pot of soup on to cook all day, and hunker down at home. Really, who could ask for more?

Well, maybe one more thing; a walk in all the winter glory. Ginny's never had so many layers of clothes on (thanks Stewarts for the cosy mittens!)

Even the tree in our front yard is far more lovely covered in snow.

We headed up on the logging roads through the tree farm behind our house and followed a power line out to this view:

Happy campers all bundled up!

A few last shots from our house: the row of snowy mail boxes

And our icicles

Just another day in paradise!

We spend the last few days of December and the first week of January in Ko Olina on Oahu, and we had such a fabulous time we never wanted to come home! We stayed in a resort that had amazing grounds, with pools and hot tubs connected by meandering gardens and paths that led down to the ocean. A walking path connected 4 man-made lagoons with breakers so the water was calm and PERFECT for the kiddos.

A quick family picture in front of the lagoon:

(And Maya & Bea- thank you for the Hawaiian dress for Ginny! Perfect!)

The whole Lee clan:

Jamie & Mitch with Paddy and Sarah, John, Mom & Dad, Barb & Todd with Ginny

Waiting for our table at Longboards. Dinner with that view make everything taste fabulous!

Everybody liked to get out for a walk in the morning on the path that connected all four lagoons.

Paddleboarding and playing at the ocean

Daddy Patrol: The moms were out paddleboarding!

A quick family photo ocean-side. Ginny started out tentaive about the ocean, but by a few days into the trip she was LOVING the water. She liked to splash and kick and play with her little floaty toys that she got from Grandma & Grandpa Stunzi for Christmas.

We rented paddleboards one afternoon, which were SO MUCH FUN!!!! Yup, so much fun that I had to use all caps! It was a great way to play on the water, and soak in the sun. Mom & Dad took Paddy our for a little canoodle around the lagoon.

Todd was a pro!

The Millers saw a sea turtle on their turn. We loved it so much we're shopping around for one for home. Of course the water on the Puget Sound is not nearly so warm and lovely....

We took the opportunity to see a real pineapple plant at the Dole Plantation. We also tackled the huge maze and ate some yummy Dole Whip (Pineapple soft serve ice cream)

The tiniest pineapple!

Ginny & Minnie

We were staying right next door to the new Disney resort, Aulani, so we took the girls for a walk through the grounds to check out their pools and waterslides (pretty awesome, by the way). We stumbled upon a meet-the-characters opportunity, so we took Ginny up to get a picture with Minnie.

Minnie was happy to meet Ginny.

Ginny viewed Minnie with dark suspicion.

I suspect it will be a few years before we attempt Disneyland, base on how the first meeting went ;)

Water Babies

Yup. We put Ginny in a bikini. And it was SO ADORABLE! Also, we slathered her with sunblock several times a day, making us the least popular parents on the island.

Ginny and Todd relaxing in the rock hot tub. Several of the pools and tubs had sandy bottoms.  Ginny loved the floaty, and like kicking her little legs as hard as she could... she took good naps in Hawaii :)

Ginny and Sarah both loved to float and spin in the big pool. And I'll darned if they didn't look adorable doing it.

Surfing!

The boys (including Paddy!) took a little trip to rent some surf boards and give it a try.

Mitch is an old pro, and gave the other guys some pointers. Must have been good tips, because everybody got up on the surfboards.

Paddy held down the fort on the beach, and did some mean digging.

Paddy & Mitch

Dad and John waiting for a wave

John riding a wave in

Cousins!

Ginny & Sarah had matching Life Is Good dresses, and we couldn't resist a picture.

They played really well together, although we noticed that the most popular toy seemed to be whichever one the other baby was holding ....

Dinner on our last night was right beside a beautiful pond and gardens. Paddy showed Ginny how big kids eat :)

Aunt Jamie made this cute blue flower for Ginny! She liked chewing on some pineapple from mom's Mai Tai.

Jamie & Sarah relaxing after our meal.

Hanging out in the kitchen

Carrots are Ginny's FAVORITE baby food, but her all time favorite snack has to be mum-mums (rice crackers). They are irresistable to her!

Ginny has discovered that all the drawers and cupboards are full of interesting little items that are just waiting to be pulled out one-by-one and thrown all over the floor! Hooray!

Adventures in Eating

We've been feeding Ginny baby food for a few months, and watching her reaction to all the new flavors is always entertaining.

Here comes applesauce!

I guess it was a little to tart ;)

First night in the new house!

We're still hard at work on the new house, painting and repairing. We decided to spend our first night there camped out on the floor.

Ginny was the first one up...

But Todd was awake soon ;)

We can't wait until we wake up everyday in our new house!

Christmas Tree Hunting

We have a long-standing tradition to head out into the woods near Quilcene to cut down our Christmas Tree. The crowd seems to grow every year, and this year we ended up splitting into smaller groups once we got into the woods. We stopped pretty early into the drive once we found snow to let the kids play.

The Stunzis, Meiers and Pauluses:

A family picture... Ginny LOVED the snow!

Getting ready to chop down our tree:

Here's our 2012 tree- pretty much perfect!

We made snow minions for Ginny. Mostly she wanted to knock them down ;)