Summer so far

I am happy to say that we have been making the most of our summer together! Ayla is almost 2 and we decided it was time she experienced all the fun summer festivities we loved when we were kids. We purchased all the appropriate season passes (Wild Waves and zoo) and have already used them much to our advantage. We also had my sister in town from Boston and family in town from Montana so we had a small Brown family reunion (mom's dad's - my maternal grandpa's side of the family).

Ayla's 1st rides!!! We hit up Wild Waves today - just the rides though. We were a little nervous that Ayla would get scared or really squirmy. However she again amazed us with her fearlessness and loved the rides. We had no lines and at times she was the only one on the rides.

Here she is driving her boat:

Her fire truck:

The ferris wheel with mommy:

That spaceship ride (?????) with daddy

And here she is driving her car:

We also rode the choo choo and the carousel. So fun!



Brown family reunion

My cousin Nick and I holding up the giant king crab legs we ate for dinner

Christina, Mom, and Me

Me and Scooby

The whole fam damily

Nick (her nephew) and Mom

Mom and Scooby

Ayla and her 2nd (possibly 3rd???) cousin Amelia. She is my mom's cousin's daughter's daughter :)

My sister and our 2nd cousin Kaylee (possibly 3rd????). Her mom is my mom's cousin :)

And simply, the cake


Northwest Trek
I must admit that in past visits I have seen little, if any of the famed wildlife at Northwest Trek. So much to my surprise we saw TONS yesterday. Including the moose - Ayla's favorite:

Ayla was LOVING the tram ride. She was pointing and screaming at every animal (and rock and duck and bug).

Kyla, Ayla and Grant checking out the insects

The Turtle Pool

Uh, should I get in?

Hey, I kinda like this

Just relaxin'

Two (she pronounces it "do") blocks mommy

Which pales in comparison to this: the awesome water jungle at my mom's. It even has a slide (not in pic because Ayla kept moving it and sliding onto the grass instead)

Mariner's Game

This game vs the Yankess was possibly the most boring live sporting event I have every attended. EVER. So we took pictures...

Our other fave summer activity is walking to the elementary school right by our house and let Ayla do her thing. In this case, hoopin' and screamin' and spinnin'

Wenatchee

Brett, Ayla and I made a trip over to Wenatchee for a visit - friends and sunshine! Us girls were college roommates and so were the boys. We all now have kids of our own (including Janet and Joe who couldn't be there, they are in Ethiopia picking up their little girl Elyana!) and it so fun to get together and share this chapter of our lives.

From left: Justin, Jeni and Abby Harris (Wenatchee), Sarah, Johhny, John, and Emma Pell (Greensboro, NC), Brett, Alicia, and Ayla Thompson (Auburn)

A trip to the park...
Me, Sarah, and Johnny

John and Emma - typical

Brett and John

Emma and Ayla playing nicely :)

Ayla and Emma SHARING!!! Tough for an almost 2 year old and a almost 3 year old. But, by the end of the trip they were dancing and hugging each other!

We loved the sunshine and time with friends. Can't wait to meet up with Joe, Janet, and Elyana on the 14th to welcome home Elyana!