Our 5th Anniversary

July 10th was our fifth wedding anniversary. Mike had been planning something special for months...it was a surprise - I only knew we were going somewhere warm for 2 nights. On the morning of our trip, I walked out of the house to see a convertible BMW! Mike had rented this car to drive to Walla Walla for a few days of wine tasting, eating at fancy restaurants and relaxing. After 7 months of parenthood, we needed a vacation!

While Oliver did seem to like the car too (not as much as daddy though!), we were leaving him in the capable hands of my mom. It was our first trip away from him and we were both a little nervous...

It was raining when we left Seattle - had to put the top up going over the pass, but on the other side it was blue skies and HOT!

We finally made it to Walla Walla and stopped off at a few wineries on the way into town...

Woodward Canyon

L'ecole No.41

Mike had done an even better job with the accomodations: We stayed at Abeja. It is a turn of the century farm that has been converted into an Inn and a winery. Our room (above) was amazing and the farm grounds were incredible. It was perfect.

The view from our balcony, overlooking the vineyard.

Us in the hammock by a little creek...we both had a nap before going to dinner.

Actually, we had a few naps : )

It was perfect convertible weather the whole time. I could get used to this!

The Inn also provided fantastic breakfasts. It was served at 9AM, so we had time to run before and headed out to the wineries by 10:30. Unfortunately we both couldn't sleep in past 7:30. This baby has made us morning people whether we like it or not!

After breakfast, we had a tour of the winery. It is in an old converted barn. This is the view from the very top of the winery...the rolling hills in the distance are very similar to Pullman (where we met), but not too similar!

Mike finally let me drive into town on the last day.

Needless to say we have a little wine cellar now! It is going to take a while to drink all this...

We had a really great time. It was nice to reconnect after so many months focused entirely on the baby. But, man, on the LONG drive back to Seattle, I was missing that boy something fierce! He was as happy to see us as we were to see him. Grandma did a great job, but he missed his mamma and daddy.

4th of July with friends and family in Quincy

We celebrated Independence day with Mike's family in Quincy, WA. It was Oliver's first trip to Eastern Washington. His grandma bought a highchair for Oliver and his cousin Savannah to use when they visit - Oliver liked it a lot - thanks Grandma!Grandma and Oliver were very happy to see each other!

Early in the morning on the 4th, we all headed over to George, Washington (yes, you read that right) for some small town USA fun. They had the worlds largest cherry pie, a parade and a road race. Oliver was all decked out in red, white and blue for the occasion. This is auntie Laura and Oliver waiting for the parade to start. He loves his auntie!Mike and his friend Derek ran the 10 km race. Mike is training for a marathon in October, so he had to run 18 miles that day. Since Quincy is 10 miles from George, he thought it would be a good idea to run there before the race...needless to say, he was not one of the top finishers. Derek on the other hand, won the race! And his whole family ran the 2 mile race too. Very impressive. This is Derek running with Mike as he crossed the finish line quite a while later...

After the race, we all stuck around for the parade. Lots of classic cars, horses and tractors in this parade.

By this time, it was getting pretty hot (at least 97 degrees that day!) so we headed back to Laura and Andrew's house for an awesome lunch before heading out to the Quincy Aquatic Center in the afternoon. Oliver LOVES the water! One thing that is nice about small towns is the ample parking and lack of crowds anywhere. If this place was in Seattle on a hot day, we would have probably not even gotten in the door.After lots of playing in the water, we headed to our blanket in the shade to dry off. Oliver was having a great day with so many people to play with. I even got an ellusive picture of his two little bottom teeth he was smiling so much. He is always happy to be held by anyone who wants to. We spent the day at the water park with our great friends Derek and Dawn and their two kids Trent and Grace. Trent is 5 and is quite enamored with Oliver. He was asking to hold him all day and when he finally did, Oliver almost knocked him over!

Grace is 10 and very much a young lady. She was so sweet and gentle with Oliver - she's going to be a great little babysitter in a few years!

This baby is so social, he loves meeting new people. But luckily he always has time to snuggle with his mama : )

After a long day in the heat, Oliver passed out at 4:30 in the afternoon for his first nap of the day! There was so much to see and do, he didn't want to miss a second of it. Now only if he would have slept that night...

6 months old

Oliver had his half birthday on June 23 and Mike got a cake for him - funny how he always seems to get cakes that he likes...

I finally got a picture of Oliver's two little bottom teeth...

We went to the wading pool near our house for Oliver's first "swim".

He loved it! He was splashing all around and checking out all the big kids.

We also gave Oliver his first solid food - sweet potato - he has been playing with the spoon for a few weeks and seems to have it down pretty good.

Well, maybe not that good. Most of it ended up on the outside...
And a little water in the sippy cup to wash it down.