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Last week we all boarded a plane and headed back to St. Louis to spend some time with some of our favorite people in the world. As much as we have loved living in Seattle so far it just doesn’t quite feel like home yet because a few people are missing from our day to day lives, our dearest and closest friends. Heading back to The Lou to see everyone was so refreshing.
We spent the week staying with my very dear friend, Heather, and her family. Thank you Heather! Maya got to play with her bestie Claire every day which made her happier than happy.
The week flew by way to fast. It was filled with fun moments with our dear friends and I could have spent at least another week and still not felt like I had enough time with everyone. I miss our friends in St. Louis so much. I’m glad we got to spend a little time reconnecting with them and just hanging out like old times. Watching Maya and Claire pick up right where they left off, like no time had passed at all made my heart smile.
Thank you to all our dear friends who made our trip back so much fun. We love all of you and miss you dearly. Can’t wait to see you all again, hopefully soon.
Yesterday found us driving an hour and a half north of Seattle into Skagit County for the Skagit Tulip Festival. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate completely, it was cloudy and on and off rainy all day, we just had to head up north to check out what all the fuss was about. We were not disappointed.
Every year, during the month of April, the small town of Mount Vernon puts on this festival. The town is surrounded by fields filled with daffodils and tulips. Little activities and art shows are set up throughout the town. The big draw, of course, is the acres upon acres of tulips. It really was quite a sight. Anna kept saying “Wow, wowwers!” (her adorable word for flowers).
It was so breathtakingly beautiful. I can’t wait for next year’s festival! Maya and I are inspired to plant a ton more tulip bulbs this fall so that my front and back yards look like our own little tulip festival 
In just 3 days this girl….
(photo courtesy of Chinnici Photography)
…turns 5!! I can’t quite wrap my head around that fact. She has been in our lives for half a decade, HALF A DECADE! Seriously, how is that possible? Can’t wrap my head around it.
A while back, before we knew we were moving to Seattle, Maya said that for her birthday this year she wanted to have a fancy dress party. She wanted to have her best friends come over, all dressed up in their finest, and have a birthday ball. It sounded like such a fun idea, and I was looking forward to planning it. Then we moved, and the idea of throwing a birthday party without her best little friends made me sad. I had to come up with a way to mark this occasion the way it deserves to be celebrated, and yet not bring attention to the fact that her best friends no longer live close enough to come to her party. What to do?
Well, Lorne and I talked it over and decided that the trip to Disney World we had been hoping to make sometime soon, would now be a trip to Disneyland, and it would happen now. We decided to keep it a secret. So, to celebrate her 5th birthday we will wake Maya up on Thursday and tell her that we are taking her to the “happiest place on earth”! I can’t even begin to imagine her reaction! 5 days at Disney to celebrate her 5th birthday. I can’t wait
This birthday may not be what she had originally wanted and she may not be surrounded by her best friends, but it will definitely be the kind of birthday little girl dreams are made of. And, since we are going to the world of princesses she will get that fancy dress party after all 
Last week my Mom was in town for a visit. She flew in last Saturday and spent 10 days with us. It was the first time she has been down here to see us in a really, really long time. It was nice to have her in town and get to show her around our beloved St. Louis. Maya enjoyed having another person around to play with
With my Mom in town, Maya’s last day of school and her dance recital all happening last week it was an very busy week. We packed so much into last week. We took my Mom to a bunch of our favorite spots in St. Louis.
Our first stop was Montelle Winery. We met up with my good friend, Heather, and her kiddos. We spent a hot day hanging out on the patio drinking wine, eating lunch, listening to live music and watching the kiddos run around. It was the perfect way to start our week with Nana.
A trip to St. Louis wouldn’t be complete without a trip to our fabulous zoo. The girls and I took my Mom to the zoo early last week while Lorne was at work. It was a gorgeous day. Maya had fun showing Nana all her favorite animals and taking her for a spin on the carousel.
The middle of the week we were busy with school and dance class and didn’t do much in the way of touristy things with my Mom. We spent a lot of time outside and Maya took my Mom to her ever favorite book store after school. But once school was finished we got back into the great St. Louis tour by taking to my Mom to Grant’s Farm on Friday. Lorne took the day off work and joined us. It was very hot but still a lot of fun. The girls and Lorne had fun cooling themselves in the mister.
Saturday was all about my favorite spot in St. Louis, the Missouri Botanical Gardens. This weekend was opening weekend for the Lantern Festival so not only did we get to see all the beautiful blooms but were treated to some magnificent displays put up for the festival. It was super, super hot this weekend so we hit the gardens early and managed to have a wonderful before it got to crazy hot.
The rest of her visit was spent playing in the backyard and keeping cool in Maya’s little pool. We had a wonderful time while she was here and hopefully she’ll be able to visit again soon.
On December 17th we woke bright and early to start our Christmas vacation. We loaded the car with all the stuff necessary to travel with two small children (which is A LOT), and headed up to Canada to spend Christmas with our families. The girls kept themselves busy as we were getting things ready so we could head out the door.
The drive went so much better than I ever could have imagined. Given that Anna is not a fan of being in the car I had visions of us driving for hours and hours with a screaming baby in the back seat. Instead, Anna surprised us all and did really well. She fussed and cried occasionally, but for the most part entertained herself very well in her seat.
We spent the first week of our Christmas vacation with Lorne’s family. Maya had a ton of fun playing with her Uncle Cliff and Aunt Emma. The girls were totally spoiled and except for the fact that Maya, Lorne and Anna were all sick with the Christmas Plague of 2011 we had a wonderful time.
Christmas Eve we said goodbye to the Mitchell clan and headed to my brother’s house to spend the final week of our trip with my family. We hadn’t seen my family in a year and a half so it was so wonderful to spend time with my mom and my brothers. Maya had a blast playing with her Nana, her uncles and her cousins. Anna wowed everyone with her constant smiles and laid back ways.
After a fun filled two weeks with our families we packed up the car with all the stuff our girls got for Christmas, boy were they spoiled, and headed back home. Christmas vacation 2011 will go down in the history books as the year we all battled the neverending Christmas Plague of 2011 and the year Maya decided to talk about poop, toots and stink endlessly Good times!