Sunday, July 31, 2011

Northwest Trek

After a crazy busy beginning of the month the little Olsen family has been laying low and relaxing... especially after a long week with Joel in Detroit for work. We woke up this morning and decided to get out of the house and take a little adventure. Joel rarely gets to go on Bennett and my adventures to the park or zoo or whatever so we took advantage of a boring Sunday to make it a Olsen family day of fun!
I have wanted to go to Northwest Trek for a while and since Joel is such an outdoorsy guy... it was perfect.
We didn't even bring the stroller we just walked behind a little boy running like crazy from each exhibit... The tram was everyone's favorite... an hour long trip around to see all the animals. I swear Bennett has eagle eye vision and was pointing out some of the animals before the guide did... so fun!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Cousin Cary

The world lost a bit a sunshine this week when our cousin Cary lost her battle to breast cancer.
Ever since I met Joel I have heard about cousin Carey. She was Joel's closest cousin and seemed to hold some magical power of great judgement in girls. I was a bit nervous to get her approval into the family. Since then she has been such a fun part of the Olsen family for me. She always made me feel welcome and when you talked with her she had an amazing way of making you know she was truly listening.
And she sure loved our little boy... She always talked about him as if he was flawlessly perfect, even on his hardest days.
You fought a tough battle Cary... We miss you.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Big boy B

It seems like every night Bennett climbs up into his bed carrying his bear and blanket in his footy pajamas and seems like this fragile young little toddler, then 10 to 12 hours later I hear "Mama!" screaming out of the monitor by my bed and out of his room barrels this grown up boy asking for breakfast.
Maybe its just the new haircut but this week I feel like he is this grown up little man. He tells me what he wants, needs and what was fun that day. He listens (well as best we could expect at this point) to nearly anything. He even told me this morning that our dog needed to go potty and let her out.... I just stared at him like "when did this little man move into my house?!"
This week was like so many others, filled with play dates and fun stuff for Bennett. This weekend we had Lily and Chloe over and since then he has asked for them to come over at least 10 times a day. It was a fun day of playing outside, and decorating cookies.
Then this Monday Bennett and I went to meet up with our friend Torin and his family at Millersylvania State Park. I had never been there and it was such a pretty park and a fun day with friends. Bennett especially loved roasting his very first hot dog... he ate two! Bennett loves playing with Torin and I can tell they will be friends for a long time.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

First Hair Cut!

So after nearly three years of waiting for his perfect little curls to grow in... I finally broke down and gave our little boy his very first hair cut.
I knew I could only trust his Aunt Katie and I am so happy she did it. She was so good about chasing him, even when he was riding his trike and she was quickly and safely snipping away!
It is super cute... still a bit curly and super super handsome... He looks soooo grown up!


Monday, July 18, 2011

Lake Chelan 2011

So here is goes... I am going to attempt to sum up the last two weeks of fun into one post.
Lake Chelan has become such a magical place for our whole family. As Katie and I arrived on July 4th... we both agreed that there is no place that even smells like Chelan... Pulling into the park and rolling down the windows lets the breeze bring back memories from decades of summers at this park.
What a great year, with all the kids and craziness I admit I spent way less time behind that camera than I should have. The kids seemed to be running in all different directions until 10 pm everyday, just to wake up early the next morning full of excitement for another fun day with the cousins.
Jeanie and Kip and Grandma and Grandpa along with Bill and Jenn and Karla and Brad all arrived on July 5th. It was a great group to cook with, take turns in the boat and just let the kids play.
So here are some of the fun moments I caught on camera...
The slide and pool where a big hit with the three toddlers... they pretty much thought this was the funniest thing on the planet... lots of giggles and turn taking with this one!
Lots of wet little kiddos!
 One of the most hard working guys finally getting into vacation... pretty sure even without that comfy chair he was feeling pretty relaxed after Bill's famous rum concoction.
Every night after dinner we would take a family walk. One of my favorite times of the day because Bennett got on his bike and went crazy... he would speed off and yell "down hill fast!" which was the point that grandma and I would start running after our little guy that had no fear or brakes for that matter. He definitely drew attention being on such a little bike and with such confidence it was cracking everyone up!
Time for Ranger Dwight's movie night (Ranger Dwight remembers us from when we were little)... Bennett saw him walking around the park the next day and pointed to him and yelled "ranger movie!"
After lots of fights over who gets to be co-captain, Reece was in the drivers seat with Grandpa!
 Bennett was pretty certain that grandpa's boat goes "Really Fast!" an nearly any speed.
 Bennett enjoying the horn on the boat!... Man I wish they wouldn't have figured that one out!
Cutest little Evie and her fabulous goggles :)
 Thinking about going swimming... Dad was not so pleased about waiting in the freezing cold water!
 And he's in!
Time for a little put put at the Alphenhorn! These boys had such a great time everyday together... I am pretty sure Bennett is going to desperately miss Reece when we go home!
 I think they have a ways to go before any PGA appearances... but oh well it was fun and I was pleased that neither of them came back to camp with a club shaped bruise on their heads.
 The boys trying to figure out where their ball went on hole 9!
Some more boat time!
They loved feeding the ducks gold fish crackers...
One of my favorite parts of this trip is the crazy food we end up making! and this year was a total bonus because grandma bought the Deep Fryer!! here are some apple pie won tons and coconut shrimp I made... I swear every night was gourmet... fabulous!
Uncle Bill chasing the boys down to the park... Man these boys love uncle bill... I think they each said "where Bill" about a million times!
Being way too brave on the toys... Made this mama really nervous! (and yes he is wearing his pajama pants and aqua socks...)
Pretty sure these two dads need a medal for the amount of times they had to chase these two little boys down to the park! It was quite the game towards the end of the trip...
The swimming area... We wish there were more bright sunny days during the trip but the boys weren't too fond of the freezing water anyway.
On our last day Katie did Chelan Man 2011 10K run... it was an awesome day! There is a couple triathlons going on and the whole event is just exciting. I am for sure planning on doing this next summer with her! She did and amazing job and came in strong! Well done Katie!
(p.s. The clock was for the triathalon... Katie kicked butt in a little over an hour for the 10K... well done Katie!!!)

8 weeks and counting...

It was our first appointment with our OB on the Monday after we got back. We feel like we know our Dr. very well after 4 failed IVF's in one year, he nearly feels like part of the family. He is still in shock with us at our surprise pregnancy but he is pleased with how well everything is going.
The baby is measuring great and has a fast little heartrate at 168 (that means girl right ?!)
We couldn't feel more blessed! So happy!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

33 weeks counting down to Olsen Baby numero Dos!

So I am right in the middle of my "relaxing" vacation... where I would peel myself out of the cramped bed I was sharing with my two year old after 10 hours of not so restful sleep, I was waking up nearly everyday so nauseous I prayed I would avoid puking in our RV bathroom or the public bathroom up the street... both fairly unappealing.
After that I spent most of the days just lounging around and sleeping during every chance I could get and eating my days away... hoping I would keep it down.
This all sounds like complaining (which I wish I could say I didn't do on my 3 week long vacation) but I truly was still in amazement that all these symptoms where from a pregnancy! I am still in crazy shock of our little miracle on the way.
But in true Julie fashion, I woke up in the last week of vacation and started worrying. I called my Dr. and he said that I could go to a hospital near camp and get an ultrasound to make me feel better.... and boy did it!
I first laid eyes on that beautiful beating heart and all the days of nausea and utter exhaustion of vacation and  seemed like such a small price for our little miracle growing! His (we are going to use "his" because we already have a boy and it just seems right until proven otherwise) heart beat was perfect at 143 and our official due date is February 27, 2012.
This happy joy was a perfect feeling to take back to camp and enjoy the rest of our trip!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Hello Lake Chelan and Happy 4th of July!

Our family Camping-palooza continues as Katie and I and our families headed to Lake Chelan State park just in time for the festivities of the 4th of July. Thankfully both Bennett and Reece got great afternoon naps and just around bed time we headed down to the swimming area to cuddle up and wait for the fireworks...
Earlier that day we decided to talk to the boys about fireworks so that they knew what to expect and they wouldnt be scared. Aunt Katie even youtubed it and was showing Bennett... By the time we got down to the swimming area Bennett was all a buz about how they go "boom" and they are "awesome".
I think he was a bit confused because he insisted on wearing his firemans helment, maybe he wanted to be ready just incase anything got out of hand.
It was a fun night, the kids loved the fireworks and they loved snuggling up with the big girls on the blankets even more. It has been so fun having our niece Maddie and her friends here. They are sweet girls, so much fun and the boys LOVE them!
A great start to the next 13 nights here at the park!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Our summer camping trip has begun!

Ever since I was one year old our family has gone on a great 10 day camping trip to Eastern Washington and Chelan... It was some of the greatest childhood memories... We are sooo lucky to be able to still be going!
All three of us girls now brings our own RV and our families with all the grandkids and we get to relive those great memories through our children's eyes...
This year we started our journey off at BeBee Bridge Campground right near Chelan on Tuesday June 28th. We were lucky enough to snag these 5 sites all together giving us a nearly football field sized plot of pretty grass camping! This made for a TON of room to roam and play with all the millions of outside play toys we brought with us. We celebrated Uncle Marty's big 40th birthday and spent lots of time just lounging around getting some sun, cooking up some great meals and relaxing. We even had the first of many outside movie nights... Charlottes web, which made the boys yell about all the animals they saw "pig, chickens!" and made Evie cry (because Wilbur was so sad)... too cute!
Joel has been coming for the weekends (turns out not everyone has 3 weeks in a row off from work :) and Bennett has been delighted to slumber party in the trailer!
 Even Cash man loved his Thomas hat!
 Happy Birthday Uncle Martin!
Bennett's first sliver... Uncle Kippy and Dad went in for the kill... Bennett was sooo brave!!!
Bennett and Reece's slumber party in Aunt Julie's trailer!
It was a success!
Even Hurlie Loved it!