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To celebrate Groundhog Day and their study of winter animals and hiberation, the girls got to wear their PJs to school on Wednesday for a Hibernation Party.  Here are Hadley and Lydia dressed for school — as they girls like to say “that’s silly!”

Hadley, Lydia, and their prize stick

Lydia and Hadley wanted to give their new Camelbak waterbottles they got for Christmas a test-drive, so we headed to the Arboretum on Saturday for a “hike.”  We are very lucky to have the University of Washinton Arboretum just 1/4 mile from our house.  There are miles of trails through beautiful areas that look different every season including Lilac groves, Rhodendrum glens, and winter gardens —  plus ponds, bridges, gazebos, and tons of fun areas to explore.  It’s one of my favorite runs.  Although I’m pretty spoiled with running routes since Lake Washington is only 1/2 mile away.  In my many complaints about Seattle, our location in the city is not one of them.

Lydia taking a break

Back to the hike.  Much to my exasperation (and probably because of it), it took the girls about an hour to get ready to go and then Hadley immediately had to go potty once we got there (even though she told me she potty before we left — fibbing is a new, not so fun stage we are hitting).  Luckily home is just a two minute drive away, so Lydia and I continued our hike while Hadley and Allan went home, and they caught back up to us pretty quickly.  Even though it is winter, there were lots of fun things to see in the Arboretum including two ponds — both with Herons!  And one had a duck-like bird that dove under water looking for food.  Hadley wanted to know where the frogs were so I told her they were sleeping in the mud (I think that’s right, although I could be completely making it up), which she found fascinating.  The highlight though was the stick that the girls found on the hike.  Ah, the simple things.

Lydia (and new waterbottle) checking out the Heron

Close-up of the Heron

Happy Birthday to an amazing father and husband.  We love you!

Lydia and Hadley's first snow man!

Today we got the rare, but fabulous Seattle snow storm!  Growing up in New England, winter meant snow and that’s one of the things I miss most being in temperate Seattle.  My complaints about this climate are it’s never hot enough or cold enough.  So it was very exciting when the air got cold and our constant precipitation actually turned into something fun.  Lydia, Hadley, and I took full advantage (Allan was on his way back from the grocery store, battling the roads and clueless Seattle drivers who immediately panic as soon as a flake hits the ground).  First we went cross-country skiing, then build a snowman (their first!), made snow angels, and finally did some sledding up and down our sidewalk.  Hooray for snow!

Hadley and Lydia making fresh tracks on our street

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Michigan!  Below are some of the highlights.

Hadley and Lydia trying on Santa hats

Gigi and Lydia opening an early Christmas present -- ice skates!

Grandpa and Hadley go for a whirl

Me, Lydia, and Aunt Laura

Deocrating gingerbread girls with Gigi

Lydia and Hadley putting out treats for Santa and his reindeer

Lydia and Hadley trying on the fabulous scarfs, hats, and mittens that Grandma J. made

The whole gang

Lydia, me, and Hadley in the teddy bear suite

For the second year, we spent a weekend downtown taking in all of the Seattle Christmas sites.  Unlike last year, the Teddy Bear suite at the Fairmont Hotel was a definite hit.  The entire room is filled with teddy bears of all sizes and spectacular decorations, plus there is a cozy couch with lots of teddy-bear and Christmas themed books.  The girls love reading so we spent a lot of time there reading books and snuggling with teddy bears.

Teddys lounging in bed

Another big highlight for the girls was the Christmas carosel — which is no suprise since they are huge fans of all carosels and logged some serious hours over the last year going up and down on horses (or other animals).  We even ran into our friends, the Haberkorns, at the carosel this morning.

Hadley and Lydia on the Christmas carousel

We briefly hit the amazing gingerbread village at the Sheraton (it was packed and the girls were exhausted) and walked through Pike’s Place Market.  The market was my favorite stop.   I love it anytime of year — such a cool, uniquely Seattle place — but it especially shined covered in Christmas decorations.  And of course, just staying in a hotel room was excitment in itself.

Gingerbread masterpiece

Market at sunset

Market reinpigs

Hadley jumping on the bed in the hotel room

Lydia playing hide-n-seek behind the curtains

Lydia and Hadley posing in front of the huge tree in the Fairmont lobby

The girls had a special visitor as school today — Prancer!  Unlike Dancer last year, Prancer is a bit lacking in the antler department, but a real reindeer nonetheless.  What an awesome pre-school!  Above is Lydia, Hadley, Prancer, and Santa’s elf.

Lydia and Hadley

The tree is up, the house is decorated, my laundry hasn’t been folded in 2 weeks, catalogs are perched in precarious piles all over the house, our schedules are crazy and our days walk the fine line between out of control and magical.

Happy Holidays!

We had a great Thanksgiving in Chattanooga, TN with Allan’s family.  Below are some highlights:

L&H hanging out with 2nd cousin Uma (all three dresses were made by their respective Grandmas)

Allan drawing a chalk outline around Hadley (by the end of the day, the driveway looked like a crime scene)

The Carscaddon clan -- Judy, Allan, me, Wesley, Bruce, Shawna, and Laura

Hadley riding the Chattanooga carosel

H&L checking out the ferry boat on the Tennessee River

Birthday girls

I have the great honor of sharing my birthday with my amazing mother.  This year, we celebrated early and in style with a trip to Canyon Ranch in Tucson, AZ.  It was a milestone birthday for the two of us (and my sister in August), so we commemorated the event with a fabulous trip that we’ll always remember.  A truly special place to celebrate a special day.

Mom and one of the fabulous animal sculptures around the ranch

The spa -- ahhhh!

Me, Laura, and the resident zebra

Local flora and fauna

Sunset bike ride with a group of my moms friends from MI