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!].

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!!!