18 Month Pictures

We got Braedyn's 18 month pictures taken at a nice little park in Kirkland on Lake Washington. It was a really nice day out, but a little too sunny for good pictures I guess. But there were quite a few that turned out. Here are a few of the family shots we got.

Here's a slideshow of all the ones that we really liked.

This past weekend Braedyn and Daddy headed up to Rattlesnake lake near North Bend for a short hike while mommy stayed in town and shopped with Kellie. Of course there were lots of rocks in need of throwing, but this time Braedyn had a difficult time not leaving the rocks behind for the pleasure of consuming plump, ultra sweet, juicy, really messy blackberries that were growing everywhere. Amazingly enough Braedyn didn't get sick even though he must have eaten a few thousand berries....

 
 
 
 

Each evening after Braedyn goes to bed we spend a little time tidying up the apartment just so we can have a little bit of sanity. We occasionally find little secret presents that our favorite little boy leaves for us in the most curious places, like this nice little rock stuck on the inside of the fan.

 

On our way back home from our mini vacation we swung through Vancouver, BC just to check it out. We drove around a bit and then made a stop off at Stanley Park in the heart of the city to stretch our legs out a bit. This is an amazing park that we jsut got to see a small part of in the short time that we had there. Of course Braedyn got to throw some more Canadian rocks into the water and we had a nice walk.

 
 
 
 

hanging out on the ferry

 
 

On the ferry from Vancouver island to Vancouver the city. This was a really beautiful ferry through some really scenic areas. Braedyn had a lot of fun on this ride.
 

Working on some new words with Braedyn. He gets really excited about certain words!

Some cameo shots while hanging out at the house.
 
 
 

Braedyn hanging out under a totem pole at Laurel Point park in Victoria, BC.
 

We spent the morning on Monday in Victoria, BC. There are some neat historic buildings there including the Provincial Parliament Building shown here. We walked around, watched some float planes take off, and threw some rocks into the water.

 
 

Braedyn playing in the rain at China beach

Of course Dori wasn't real excited about the rain, well she wasn't excited about the trip at all, but didn't want to get left behind, so she hopped into the backpack to hitch a ride and stay somwhat dry. We think this is where she might have picked up a mild case of fleas. Luckily we caught it quickly and were able to get some flea wash to get rid of them right away.

 
 

Some more vacation pictures. We took a hike to China beach on Vancouver Island. It was a really pretty hike through a temperate rain forest down to a nice sandy beach. We had about half an hour there before it started to rain pretty hard so we had to pack it up and head back out.

A night time shot from the porch of our rental house. This gives a pretty decent view of the first half or so of Wiffen Spit that goes out into Sooke Harbor.

 

Talisha and Dori sitting and watching

 

On Vancouver Island we rented a little vacation house on the beach near Sooke Harbor. It was right on the trail out to Wiffen Spit which was a great place for mom and dad to walk, Dori to run (and pick up some Canadian fleas), and for Braedyn to get in some long overdue practice at rock throwing. We woke up the first morning and Braedyn looked out the window, he didn't see the gorgeous, panoramic ocean views, all the beautiful flowers or the rare birds, no his little eyes saw only the miles of rocks sitting right next to the water that were just asking to be thrown into the deep ocean.

 
 
 
 

Braedyn has this thing about reaching out to the camera. These were taken on the looooong ferry ride to Vancouver Island British Columbia. First the ferry was delayed by over an hour! By the time we were off and going everyone was getting a little worn out. Braedyn was an amazing little trooper and didn't seem to tire of walking from the front of the massive ferry to the back and up and down all the steps. Dad was really worn out by the time we arrived at Canada customs.
 
 

As we rode the ferry from Anacortes to Sidney British Columbia we came across this nice view of Mt. Baker rising above the San Juan islands.
 

Braedyn really seems to love music. He's always trying to figure out how to open the cabinet to turn the stereo or pointing to it to get us to do it. We try to take him to as many of the little outdoor concerts that we can around here. When we go he spends a while just standing there watching the band doing his little beebop dance. But soon other things catch his interest and he is content to just let the band play in the background while he rounds up some rocks.