Happy Birthday Merica'

What a jam packed July 4th weekend! I kicked the weekend off by running a 10k, the Yankee Doodle Dash, in downtown Everett and crossed the finish line in a little over 53 minutes. In typical "I get really amped at races" mode, I sprinted the first mile and then was dying by mile 4.......still need to work on pacing myself.

My paparazzi was waiting at the finish line.......

and this guy slowed down long enough for a {very sweaty} picture

After the race, we had an early lunch and set up to watch the parade. We waited and waited and waited some more. Grace didn't seem to mind since it gave her plenty of time to work on her roaming skills.....

and running away skills. 

Harrison was happy making friends with our curb neighbors and eating his "orange chips"

I love local parades because you just never know what you're going to see....

acrobatic motorcycle riders...

a group of 44 elderly folks on their scooters....

hipster bike polo....

and lots of fun old cars. I tell ya, something for everyone!!

That evening, we had dinner with our community group and got home just in time for the real festivities {if you could hear me say those last words there would be a hint of sarcasm}. Around dusk it started to sound like a war zone!! Folks around here find great joy in buying HUGE fireworks, from the indian reservations, and having there very own home shows. It was insanity!! Thankfully it didn't bother the kids and, once I popped in my earplugs, I slept like a baby.

On Saturday our sweet friends from law school, Lauren & Andrew, drove up from Seattle to visit. I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo with them but, hopefully, we will see them again soon :) We took them over to Snohomish for dinner and then we grabbed some pie for dessert. Harrison was in such good spirits......I love a happy 2 year old!

We road tripped it to Tacoma, on Sunday, to do some 3 year old birthday celebrating. The weather was beautiful and the kids snoozed.....perfect combo!

So happy to see my sweet friend, Martha {Hey girlfriend!}, and her cute babies. It pains me that they don't live closer because we would hang on the regular.......like live next door so we can have adult beverages and chat about life regular.  Thanks for inviting us to celebrate Bud!

All over the place

Miss Grace decided to just up and start walking 2 weeks ago. I posted this cute little video on Instagram and wanted to share it here as well......check out the link below

SnapWidget | A whole lot of this going on around here #milestones

Ol' Mexico

Catching a 6am flight to ol' Mexico requires letting your littles stay in their pajamas for the first leg to San Fran. It was Jody's idea to bring the Bob and I think I told him, on several occasions, that he was a genius. That thing was a pack mule!! We toted all our crap, and kept the kids in comfortable confinement, in quite the organized fashion {We love you BOB}.

By days end we were exhausted but oh so happy to be taking in this amazing view.....with drink in hand....and loving on our Duvall side of the family. Vacation with littles can sometimes hinder your photo taking abilities, but believe you me.....there was no shortage of pool time, fruity beverages, afternoon siestas and yummy Mexican food.

Several evenings the grandparents did us a huge solid and let us sneak away for some quiet dinners.
The first night out we had sushi....in Mexico....it was surprisingly good and the company was even better.

Our second evening will live in infamy FOREVER! Let's just say that it involved this drink.....known as the "Bulldog"...

and the owner of the place inappropriately grinding on you while singing a naughty song. We all found it incredibly entertaining and awkward at the same time....... 

especially when he sang the song to both my brother-in-laws.

I was skeptical about the mixed drink + beer combo, but it was surprisingly good. Cheers!!

Cute couple sequence......we love these people....

and these people! {Andrew.....natural smile for the win}

{Love that guy!}

The restaurant is covered in school flags and writing on the walls is encouraged. I can only imagine what the place is like during spring break and I'm sure the owner gets maximum hip action {Yikes!}.

Repen' our Alma maters....

The last time the whole Duvall/Shier group was in Mexico was 5 long years ago. Since that time, our crew has added 4 more grand kids and a whole new level of loudness. We met at the beach, the last night, to get some family photos.

Great shot.....

great shot....

fat chance!!

Our faces say it all.....Harrison was like the Tasmanian Devil out there, just buzzing around & kicking up sand. 

I do love that I got some sweet pictures of Jody and Grace.....

seriously.....we tried

We spent our evenings hanging together and either laughing at the kids antics or playing referee. The little cousins loved their big cousins.....Harrison always wanted to know where "his boys" were.  

And before I forget.....we fed brother chocolate donuts every morning. He was in Mexican heaven!

We loved you Cabo......until we meet again!!

Big thanks to my mother & father-in-law for making this happen.......nailed it!!!