Whidbey Island - A Lee-Young family reunion

We are still on vacation as I type this, but I figured that with another trip to Revelstoke shortly after we get home, I'd better get started or else fall so far behind that this trip will not be documented.

We are on Whidbey Island for a family reunion with the Lee-Young side. With Shauna and Calvin's family living in Prince George and Toronto, it's a real treat to get all the family together (especially to watch the kids play). My parents rented a house here in Freeland and the location is perfect. Great water views, a short hike down to the beach and the main town is a short drive away.

This is one of my favourite photos

Calvin, Krystina and Alexis

We didn't really know what to expect as far as activities for the kids so I packed a few of Maddy's things like colouring books, play clay and sand toys. Turns out when you have this many cousins around, you really don't need silly things like toys. Along with some trips to the park and beach, here are some of the other highlights:

Not the greatest picture, but you can get a feel for how great it was to have everyone together.

Frances and Maddy

Mackenzie at the park

Joanne and Pippa

On Tuesday we took the kids to one of those paint your own pottery places in town. It was a lot of fun and Maddy had a great time. She and I painted a bowl and she kept talking about how her "pottery teacher" will bake her bowl and then it will be ready.

Mick and Reese waiting to paint

Purple is her favourite colour right now

On Wednesday we went to the Tulalip outlet mall. So that was a bit more of a 'mama' fun day, but I couldn't resist. The last time we were here, was three weeks after Maddy was born. I remember having to speed shop because she'd start to cry and need to be fed etc. This time was much more enjoyable and Maddy really like the ferry we had to catch in order to get there. All in all, it was a good day.

Thursday was a special lunch out. We were celebrating Father's day, Krystina's, Mick's and my own birthday all at once. Who knew you could cram 9 adults and 7 kids into one small restaurant in Freeland. It was a good meal and needless to say we left a big tip. :)

Mom and dad at lunch

The Harpers

Today is Friday and we took the ferry again to the mainland to Everett where they have one of those Imagine Children's Museums. I've always seen these kind of museums on TV and have wanted to take the kids there. It was really cool and there were so many activities to do. We HAVE to go back again when Ethan is older. At one point he practically jumped out of the Ergo to try and get at the toys.

The girls would have stayed all day in the water room if we let them

Ethan in the white light room

I loved watching Maddy play make believe in all the different rooms. Here she is at the theatre.

Evenings are times for the adults to relax. With kids ranging in age from 9 months to 6 years, the bedtimes are all different. Slowly as the evening wears on, they trickle off to bed. Then out comes the wine, chocolate and yummy desserts. The kids have their own treats too. Maddy has been loving the Jello and each evening Gong-Gong becomes the 'marshmellow-man' roasting marshmellows for all the grandkids. There was also a lot of time to just hang out and spend time with the kids and each other.

My parents with Alexis and Ethan

The time spent just hanging out was the best


Bedtime stories with Uncle Josh

Tomorrow is our last full day and on the agenda is to head to a nearby town called Langley and to try for a family photo. If all goes well, you'll see a picture below. If not, well then you can probably guess why. :)

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Ethan with Po Po waiting to take the family picture

You should see all the out-takes, but we managed to get a really nice one.

Well did manage to get a photo with all of us and everyone looking too. We didn't quite make it to Langley that day, but we did find this great beach that was sandy and had an amazing view of Mt. Baker. Josh tried to fly the kite he got for Father's Day, but it wasn't windy enough. He gave it a good try and Frances and Pippa had a great time helping him release the kite. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures from this beach. It was a really quick trip and we didn't know the view was going to be that nice. During the week, Mick also helped take a few photos of just the Blommestein gang and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Here we are in the backyard.

On the drive home on Sunday, Maddy was very quiet. Then she said "I want to go to Gong-Gong's house." When we told her we were going home she said "But I want to play with my cousins." Ughhh...so sad. We had to assure her that even if we went back to that house, nobody would be there. It was a great week.

OALAHWI and 9 months

Today Ethan has officially been out as long as he was in my belly. Yup, it's been exactly 37 weeks and 6 days. Wow, it's crazy how much things can change in that amount of time. Changing from a few cells to a full grown infant. Then in that same about of time, changing from this tiny little baby to the 'I-can't-sit-still, must-explore-and-touch-everything' little monkey he is now.


Play
Ethan is fully into playing with toys now. He favourite right now are ones that flash and make noise. Ethan is also becoming interested in some of Maddy's toys instead of just the rattles and teethers. More often than not, I have to wait until Maddy has gone to daycare to let Ethan play with one of her favourites, but you should see the smile that spreads across his face when he finally gets to play with it. Priceless!


Teeth
Well he still has just the two bottom teeth, but we can tell that his teeth are bothering him. He has days where he shows all the signs of teething (Fussiness, eating less, fever, runny poops and tons of drool) but we're still waiting for a tooth to appear. I think teething will be much harder for him than it was for his sister. Poor little guy!

Food
Perhaps it's because he is the second child, or maybe it's his personality, but Ethan will definitely be eating regular table food much sooner than Maddy did. I don't know if it's because we've relaxed more the 2nd time around or if it's because he really screams for the food off our plates (even though he's just eaten his entire bowl). He just loves to eat. We're also steering away from purees and moving onto chunkier things. It's amazing the things he can get down with just two teeth.


Pottying
I'm a happy mama now that Maddy only uses a diaper for night time and Ethan is pooping in the potty. Way less diapers to wash, probably just once a week. I'm not sure, but I think at times he's telling us that he needs to poop by whining. There have been quite a few times where during a meal, he'll be whining and very upset. It's not like him to be unhappy when eating, so I'll take him to the potty. Sure enough he'll do his business and go back to eating in much better spirits. I guess you gotta make more room for the food to go in :)

Sleep
I think we're are in that funny stage where he's trying to transition to 2 naps but he still needs 3. It's hard to know if it'll be a 2 nap day or a 3 nap day. His morning nap seems to be lengthening and I'm hoping that the same will happen with the afternoon one so that the 3rd one can be dropped. More often though he'll have a long morning nap and the afternoon nap is not long enough. We'll just have to go with the flow for now.


Other Milestones
Today I went in to pick him up from a nap and he was sitting up. Wow, that was a bit of a shock for mama! He's also getting better at picking up Cheerios and putting them in his mouth. The look of accomplishment on his face is awesome. I think he's about to master crawling on his hands and knees any day now. Then we'll be in real trouble and there will be no stopping him! He gets up on his hands and knees and just rocks back and forth. Finally, I think he's experiencing a bit of separation anxiety because he gets upset when I pop out of the room to grab something. Ahhhh, it's so nice to feel needed. I really try to stop whatever I'm doing and enjoy these cuddling moments because I don't think he'll be a "sit and cuddle up with a book" kind of boy. Enjoy it while you can!!