How is it already April? I kinda don't know how we are already here tbh. So before more time escapes me, here are some of the things that we have been up to that I want to remember.. 

-Addy had a Wax Museum project where they had to pick an icon/influential person to research and pose as. Then they put on an event where people pressed the 'button' on their poster and they came to life and shared highlights about them. She picked Nelly Bly, an investigative journalist who exposed the horrible treatment of women being put in insane asylums. Her undercover work and articles changed the landscape of mental health laws and institutions forever. She also won a race around the world, reported from the war front, and fought for women's rights. I am so inspired by her and Addy! Public speaking is not her strong suit, but she was brave and did it anyway. [Plus it was fun seeing Stephen Hawking, Tupac Shakur, Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, Taylor Swift and Tolkien all next to each other.] Later that month I went on a field trip with her class to tour the middle school she will attend next year and I just can't believe we are already here-how is it all going so fast and why is she so old?!?!





-Isla and Addy had a concert at the local performing art center. Addy has been doing the lead drumming for a while at her school, and she got to perform alongside her teacher and mentor while there. Isla's choir also had an awesome performance at the same concert, and as usual, she killed it. I love seeing them thrive in their different interests and trying new things!




-We spent some time in the sunshine enjoying the water and cherry blossoms lately on weekends. This coupled with school for  kids, and preschool and museum days for Tal [amidst chores etc] has been our regular days. Bear and her are both growing like weeds and thriving in their various personalities and skills. They are both such happy kids and make everyone feel so loved and noticed, and I am proud of them. 


















-We had lots of fun little minor holidays. On St. Patty's Day we did some basic fun green activities [honestly I forget until the night before, apparently it's a thing that Larry has to come...oops. did the best I could under the circumstances!]  On Pi day Isla and I decided to use our rhubarb stash and bake a strawberry rhubarb masterpiece of a pie. It was delicious. It was also my birthday so I officially get to be a year older than Lester for a few months! I got spoiled w Korean BBW, a mani pedi, some awesome gifts [personalized hospital water bottles by the girls for the win haha!] and yummy dessert. It was all great. I'm so grateful for another year of this life with these people. 









- We had fun on Easter weekend at our neighbor friends for dinner, and the food, company and Easter egg hunt had everyone occupied for hours. It was just what we needed, and felt like the perfect beginning to Spring! 









 It's been a super fun, and busy start of the year. I'm gonna post about the high lights of our last month and a half while I am still thinking of it! 

When we first came back in early Jan, the weather [for WA at least] was in full winter mode! So we spent our days being cozy at home in the rain, having a few friends over to play, build tiny snow families in the backyard, and bake [Isla is on a pizza kick!]. 

The days we DID venture out we just went local, to the park and such. I even let the kids bring their tools to sit at the edge of the frozen river some days and crack ice haha. It was such a random thing, but it felt good to be outside in the brightness all bundled up with our thermos's of hot drinks. It's one of those things which who knows why it was fun, but it was for all of us, and so we went with it. I love weird family memories like that. 













When the snow and ice melted, we did some weekend fun, like getting poke, book store visits, and thrift store browsing [Addy has a project coming up we need something for!] Me and Isla walked and roller bladed every weekend to Safeway just to get some vitamin D and it was nice to just talk and be outside.












The real high lights though start in Feb, when Talia's 3rd bday came around. She had been telling people since the end of December that her birthday was coming, and so when it finally arrived she was ECSTATIC. We weren't planning on a party or anything big, just a fun day all about her. We did manage to surprise her though with a visit from Lolo, who is one of her favorite people ever. She was so happy and surprised when we picked him up-all the kids were!

During the week, while the kids were at school and Lester was at work, Tal, my FIL and I spent a lot of time running errands, building houses with blocks, reading, and hitting up a few museums and libraries.  Then when everyone got home each night, we had fun balancing playing games, visiting, occasionally going out to eat [best KBBQ ever!].







While he was here, we went to the family Valentine's dance and had a blast. 




On the actual day of her bday, she woke up to donuts, balloons, and pup cups from Starbucks [another favorite of hers] and we let her open a few presents. It also happened to be Lunar New Year, so we had a big dim sum lunch on our way to Seattle, which was a dream come true for her. Afterwards, we stopped at one of her favorite parks to feed the duckies, and go the playground and browse the mall. Eventually, we made our way back home where we had dinner and cake [chocolate, with sour cream frosting and strawberries as requested! with 3 candles as specified! diva.] Later, we let her open the rest of her presents, and made the house a theater to watch the new Disney movie Wish. We all LOVED it, more than we expected to! And it worked out great bc my parents got her some characters from it that she has been obsessed with them ever since. We finished the night by setting up the tent and going 'camping' in the living room. I think she loved it, and we love her!








On Valentine's Day, Tal got to give out her own Valentines at play date with friends, and frost sugar cookies and do some crafts. We used the leftover to go with the surprise chocolate covered strawberries Lolo had for the kids when they got home. Then, Lester and I even got to go on a date night to try and Indian restaurant that had been on our list for a while. We even got to hold hands and stroll the aisles at Costco and Target afterwards. It was amazing for all of us!!!



The last day he was here, we made the most of it. We took our time waking up, then headed back to Seattle for farmers markets and bakeries in the morning, a long art stores break, filipino lunch [the bulalo was SO good], a park visit, and Salt and Straw [had to try their Dandelion collab-it did NOT disappoint!]. Then we drove over to Snoqualamie for snow tubing at sunset. Keeping all our Idaho snow gear came in handy, bc it was freezing. But we stayed dry and got some serious speed, Lolo and Tal included! We got to watch the sunset over the snowy mountains, and then tube down super slick runs while they put on the disco lights. We still got home at a decent time, to eat pizza, and hang out for another hour before saying goodnight to Lolo, and goodbye for the kids.













The next morning [today] we dropped him off early to the airport, then had a nice slow morning. In the late afternoon, we headed over to Everett for Isla's big day. Her school choir was singing the national anthem at the Silvertips Hockey Game! We were surprised how packed it was, and we LOVED seeing all her and her classmates hard work pay off. Also, I had never been to a hockey game in person before, and it was electric-so loud and so fun! 





And now, it is a day to recover from all the fun, with the kids out of school. Which is great, bc we have another busy week ahead of us! Onwards and forwards I suppose!
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The Pineda Family

The Pineda Family

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