Vacaaaaaatiiiiiiioooooooonnnnnnn!!!!!!

Our England trip may have been aborted. The Mexican cruise may have been taken away from us. But Seattle... Seattle seems to be the one bastion of relaxation that fate can't seem to touch.

For the third year in a row since we've been married (and the fifth time for me!) we're headed off to Seattle Washington this week for the fan-run BrickCon Lego convention.

Last year's event was the best by far, and although we're not putting on anything close to scope of the massive Battlestar display, we're still planning to have a ton of fun with our ridiculously amazing friends (who let us crash at their pads for free!) and enjoy a respite from the hot California weather that's been toasting us lately (I hear water falls from the sky in Washington, and it's not from fire-fighting planes...)

Congrats, Dad!

My dad was inducted into the Los Angeles Harbor College Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday September 11, 2009. We're all super proud of him, and were excited to be there for the (long!) ceremony.

I Know A Happy Girl

...who just got her all-access pass to Legoland California today :)

Not only did we go to the park to get Katie all signed up for her pass (photo and all) but we also found out she has free parking and personal use of all the same food and retail discounts I do.

Do I even need to say at this point how much I love my job and all its perks? I'm turning into a broken record.

Mark Your Calendars!

We'll be welcoming a new member into our family around March 22nd! We're so excited and can't wait to meet our baby boy or girl! Carter is going to be such a great big brother! Here's our little baby's first picture:

Isn't he or she adorable? ;)

We apologize for not updating our blog more often lately, but with Ryan working full time and my morning sickness (that lasts all day) we just haven't found the time. The second trimester is right around the corner, so hopefully I'll start feeling better soon!

I Just Wanted to Say

I'm *really* looking forward to having insurance again. I just got enrolled in the benefits program for work, and am very excited about it. Health, dental, vision: ohhhhhh I missed you.

Family budget wise, this is going to be amazing for us. Right now Katie and Carter pay $400 a month for insurance, while I've had nothing since I left my last job.
With my insurance program through Legoland, all 3 of us will be covered for $120 a month.

SWEET!

Dear Auntie LoLo

I hear you like tomatoes. I do too!

New Home!

We move on Saturday, but here are some pics we took today of the new pad, or click here to see the full set of photos.

Front of the house!


Living room from entryway


Dining room


Kitchen and dining room from the patio


The 3 bedrooms and a bathroom are connected to this hallway leading to the living room

We can't wait to move in and get settled. Come help us on Saturday!

4th of July

My sister and her family flew in from North Carolina on the 4th and things have pretty much been nonstop between spending time with them and getting ready for our move. We went to the playground before dinner to let the kids run off some of their energy and later that night we watched the fireworks from my parents' driveway.

Daddy making Carter laugh on the swing


Carter swinging


Callan swinging


Chase swinging


Carter and Callan on the slide


Carter and Daddy on the slide


Carter and Mommy on the slide


So much fun!

We Got It!

We got word Tuesday afternoon that we'd been approved for the place we'd sent in rental applications for. SWEET! We met with the property manager that evening to pay our deposit and sign the paperwork, and set an appointment to meet back with him next week at the place to do a walkthrough inspection and get the keys.

Are we excited? YES.

Our new home is part of a 4-plex, but its kind of an unusual place. It's more like someone built a house, then decided to drop a three-unit 2-bedroom/2bath apartment building behind it.

We went there to see the house last Friday, also checked out the apartments behind it just for kicks, and later put the house at the top of the list after we went through all the pros and cons of every place we visited that day.

It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 story house with a yard in front and a side porch area. The front door opens into the large living room which is open to the dining room and large kitchen. A hallway goes to the 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, while the 2nd bathroom is in the master bedroom. Behind the building is our 2-car garage.

We really liked the layout of the home, which is very open and amenable to hosting friends. The front yard is all fenced, so Carter can play out on the grass and not wander into the street. The street (with plenty of parking) is a cul-de-sac in a nicer part of town (which was important: we rejected a couple places outright based on the areas we drove into.) This is all a stark contrast to our current 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment in a not-so-great part of town with limited street parking.

Katie and I are beyond excited for this, and can't wait to get pictures up for people to see. We'll snap some photos next Wednesday when we walk through and start taking stuff down there.

The big moving day is Saturday the 18th, if anyone wants to help ;)

Having Fun with the Kid