The Fowler family ~ Jeff, Angela, Madeleine, and Braden! We love to update the blog so check back often to watch our family grow!
Jeff & I had a weekend to ourselves and we took full advantage of our time together. Friday night we headed into Bellevue to try a new (or new to us?) restaurant called Black Bottle. Wine on tap? Why not! The food was yummy too but best of all, Jeff & I actually caught up on a month's worth of conversation! It seems we are so busy with the kids when he gets home from work that questions and thoughts are put off until after they go to bed...but after that, we are so wiped out that we usually zone out watching some tv shows. It was great to re-connect!
The next morning we were off for Eastern Washington for some wine tasting! We had a lot of fun in the sunshine! We visited wineries in Zilla and Red Mountain.
We are so thankful to my brother & sister-in-law for watching the kids for us. Madeleine had a blast playing with Kathryn and little Braden stayed busy playing with all the new toys. We missed them and were so happy to see them on Sunday! We've come back well rested and ready for early morning wake-up calls and lots of energy from both :)
Here is the view as we head back to Seattle...blue sky turns to clouds.
Jeff & I were invited by our neighbor to the Encompass Gala event at the Newcastle Golf Course. It was a really fun event that helped raise money for Encompass - a local non-profit, children's and family-services organization. Our neighbor was the featured family speaker at the event and she did a fantastic job! It was a lot of fun to be out supporting such a great organization!
We enjoyed the beautiful tulips at the tulip festival in Mt Vernon over the weekend. It is quite a long drive...Madeleine made it clear that is was "taking forever" to get there. We almost didn't go since we had a late night on Saturday but we got it together on Sunday and headed out. We are so glad we did! The weather was warm and sunny, a great day to visit the tulips. We saw my friend Melissa and her family there too!
Madeleine uses the camera to take a picture of Jeff & I.
The colors were so vibrant!
We stopped at the Snow Goose Produce stand on the way home and got some DELICIOUS ice-cream. Yum! This stuff was so decadent that you could barely eat it fast enough before it melted. We'll definitely be back!
Braden zonked out on the way home
Water table fun when we got home!
Madeleine & Braden received a t-ball set from the Easter Bunny and Madeleine is having a lot of fun with it! Check out that stance...proud to say mama taught her!
Madeleine had her longest bike ride yet over the weekend. She rode 4 miles round trip! We walked and she rode all the way over to a park. We were very proud of her and she had a blast! We came home and had s'mores around the firepit for a treat when we got home. What a great day!
These pictures capture exactly who Braden is: boy on the move! It is absolutely nerve racking taking them both to the park. Madeleine is basically on her own because I am CONSTANTLY running after Braden. He is running all over the park! He LOVES it! He thinks it's pretty funny to run away from me too.
We had JD over for a playdate! Madeleine & JD played so well together! It was beautiful outside so the kids had a picnic and rode their bikes. JD has a balance bike that he let Madeleine try out. She loved it! JD can balance very well and go pretty fast on it and he showed Madeleine just what to do. I really wish we had one for her and for Braden to use when he's old enough. Every child I know that starts with a balance bike completely skips training wheels and is able to ride a bike....would be so fun!
We ventured out to the zoo this past week and met a group of friends there. We hadn't been to the zoo in ages! The morning started out chilly but the sun finally came out and we had a fantastic morning! It was a quick visit though since we had to get Braden home for his nap. He was done anyhow after sitting in the stroller for two hours...this boy wants to walk!
Here is part of our group in front of the flamingos
Happy Easter! The Easter bunny stayed up late preparing for Easter morning! Too much Easter candy was consumed in the process.
The kids woke up and found some Easter eggs on the stairs and leading all the way to their Easter baskets! Madeleine was so excited that the Easter bunny had left her a hula hoop! So fun! She quickly tossed it aside though when she saw the candy. She could care less about the cool sticker book too....oh no, we were all about the gummy bears and chocolate. Go figure. Braden received some new bath toys and had a ball in the tub that morning!
Madeleine did get excited about the t-ball set she received! Braden will like it one day too! Madeleine has two little friends who are currently playing t-ball so now she is showing some interest. We played outside all day with her new t-ball set and she's pretty good!
We headed over to my parents house to celebrate Easter. They had a fun egg hunt set-up for the kids! Thanks Mom & Dad!
Braden was mostly interested in climbing up and down the stairs. He showed no interest in any of the eggs!
Ethan, Zach & Kim also celebrated Easter with us. He was pretty good at finding the eggs!
This past week was Spring Break for Madeleine's school so we were busy all week doing lots of Easter themed projects which of course included dying lots and lots of eggs! We had our neighbor over for our first round of coloring eggs. Madeleine LOVES Avery!
We had beautiful weather this Easter! We lucked out two years in a row! I remember a few years ago when Madeleine was literally wearing her snowsuit to hunt eggs. We were invited to a friends house who has an enormous back yard for an egg hunt. Madeleine hunted while Braden was more interested in the grass...this was his first time sitting in grass! He could care less about any eggs. After the hunt, the kids did a series of Easter themed games. So much fun! Thank you Derstadt family!!!
Braden barely sits still for us to take any pictures. Here he is trying to eat one of the eggs...a classic shot of Braden :)
