Preschool Christmas Program

Luke is in the front row furthest to the left with the red sweater that has a white stripe.

Luke had his preschool Christmas Program the other night and it was wonderful. It was one of those performances you just can't believe your child is a part of. The kids sang very well, they all goofed around just enough to be cute, and the Christmas outfits were adorable. Luke was lucky enough to have a huge audience to cheer him on. Grandpa David from Idaho was there, Amma Suzie drove up from Vancouver and Aunt Lindsey came over after work. All in all, it was a performance that we will remember for a long time.

Elise's favorite part of the performance, besides the beautiful purple dress Taylor wore, was a red baby cupcake she had for a treat afterward. The girl loves her sweets!

Thanksgiving with the cousins

We spent an early Thanksgiving down in Vancouver
with all of the cousins.

Left to right - Kacey, Tyler, Luke Mason & Audrey - Liam was smart enough not to hang out with this bunch of ice cream eating kiddos.

The kids all had a great time playing together and spending some quality time with family!

Halloween Fun!

Mommy, Elise, Luke and our pumpkins. The pumpkin on the far left is Elise's Elmo and the pumpkin third to the right, Luke designed all on his own. He drew a picture of what he wanted and Keith was able to recreate it!

Our little astronaut (costume courtesy of True Value Hardware) and our adorable giraffe. Elise decided on this little dress 5 minutes before we left to trick-or-treat. She wanted to be everything from a princess, to Angelina Ballerina, a butterfly, a lady bug like last year and finally nothing at all. We convinced her that only kids dressed in costumes got candy.....she quickly agreed to the giraffe print dress. Smart girl!

Giraffey Elise

Luke showing off his jet packs (aka gallon milk jugs).

Sorting through their loot!
Little do they know, we sorted through their loot after they were in bed!

MIA - but with a few good excuses...

Okay, so we've been missing in action for the entire summer. I think this long update will give you a reasonable explanation as to what we've been up to. It's been a busy time in the Baier household.

Keith spent a lot of time eating pie.....
just kidding. You'll see what he's been up to in a minute.

We spent a fantastic weekend camping at Mt. Rainier in July with our good friends Todd, Janel, Brooke and Trent.

Elise, Luke, Brooke and Trent all waiting patiently for ice cream up at Paradise on Mt. Rainier.

After ice cream we had a little snowball fight.

Luke learned to ride his bike without training wheels!!

The kids went scuba diving at the Seattle Aquarium.

Actually, Grandpa David took the kids to the Aquarium - no scuba diving was involved. We saw lots of amazing animals and they each got brave enough to touch a sea star and sea anemone.

We spent a great August weekend down at Mason Lake with our good friends the Olsons. Luke loved the boat and even got brave enough to go tubing. He's growing up so fast!

Elise enjoyed the boat too, but that only happened after she made peace with keeping her life vest on.

Grandma Sylvia came and visited in August. She watched the kids while I was in training for my new job. I'm working from home, which is fantastic. I now work as a teacher liaison with families who are home schooling their children. It's been quite an adjustment, but having the opportunity to stay home with the kids is worth it!

We spent a great Labor Day weekend in Chelan with Uncle John, Aunt Lissa, Mason, Audrey, Liam, Papa, Amma and Aunt Lindsey. We even had a lovely dinner at a local winery. The kids all enjoyed rolling down the huge grassy hill and playing on the tractor. The adults all enjoyed a peaceful dinner and some delicious wine.

There was a nice little carnival in Chelan as well. We went on a train ride and then.....

the kids jumped their little hearts out in the jumpy houses. It's a wonder no one was knocked out! Watch the video to see for yourself.

Luke started soccer again this fall...and so did Elise. They both love it and are having a great time. I think Elise especially loves wearing the uniform and her sparkly silver tennis shoes.

Luke started a new preschool this year and loves it. At the end of the first week we were pulling out of the parking lot and he yelled, "I love school!" How great is that?!? He has made a lot of new friends and has the most amazing teacher. It's truly a great experience and we're so happy for him. This is a photo of our field trip to a farm in Redmond.

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Now we'll discuss what Keith has been doing......
As most of you know, Keith loves mountain biking. In the summer there are weekly "mountain" bike races south of SeaTac airport. There aren't any mountains, but there is a huge wooded area that they use for races. He trained all summer long for a big race up by Sun Mountain Lodge last weekend.
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On Saturday Luke had a bike rodeo. There were big bumps, jumps, a balance beam, some sand, and a little ride through the forest. Luke rode around the course at least 8 times. When he was finished he had the rosiest cheeks and the biggest smile.

Racing through the forest.

Then on Sunday....the big races.
Luke's race was 3 miles long and he did fantastic. He met a friend along the way, Johnny. Thankfully Johnny and Luke buddied up because Johnny got a flat tire and Keith was able to help him out. The boys ended up finishing dead last due to the flat tire, oh yes, and Luke lost his shoe inside a cattle guard......who knows how that happened. When the boys crossed the finish line everyone else had left, so they thought they had gotten first place! Why not?!? We celebrated their "big win" and had a little photo shoot for them.

The big winners!

Now for the really exciting news....

Keith trained all summer long and did fantastic during his race. In fact....

he won 1st place for his age division! We are all so proud of him! WAY TO GO KEITH!!

Elise even had a great time. I don't think she will be standing on the sidelines next fall...I'm sure she'll be racing too. I guess that means I need to get back into biking.

So there you have it. If you've read all of this long post, you will now understand why we've been MIA. We promise to do a better job of updating the blog, sharing our exciting adventures more frequently. We love you all!!

Blueberries

We had a great time picking blueberries with Aunt Lindsey yesterday. After gathering some yummy berries we went swimming for a bit and then headed home.

On our way home from Chelan we saw two fires outside of Orondo and Wenatchee. We stopped and watched a helicopter get water from the Columbia River and drop it on the fires. We were close enough to really get a good view, which was interesting. Luke & Elise both really enjoyed watching this, although the fires are a bummer.

Luke & Elise brushing teeth and getting ready to head to bed!

Happy Summer!

Here are some photos of our latest adventures.

Luke is in his 3rd week of swim lessons and he's doing great, we've gone strawberry picking out in Carnation, spent time in Chelan and at the cabin in Twisp over the 4th, enjoyed some of Keith's mountain bike races on Wednesday evenings, and tomorrow we're heading back to Chelan to pick blueberries with Aunt Lindsey and go swimming in Amma and Papa's pool.

The rest of the summer plans have us going camping up on Mt. Rainier with Janel, Todd, Brooke & Trent, visiting Grandma Sylvia in Eagle, ID, more time down at the beach in Lincoln Park, and as much time as possible spent with friends and family.
Enjoy the photos and this video!!!

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Luke took Elise sledding while we were at the cabin on the 4th of July!

4th of July parade in Twisp
The parade was wonderful. Luke & Elise collected a LOT of candy, saw a cowboy on stilts twirling his lasso, gave a high five to a real fireman, and watched some Twisp hippies dancing down the street - fun was had by all!

Luke, Audrey & Mason are trying to make Liam smile - it worked!

Luke practicing dunking his head and holding his breath at Colman Pool in Lincoln Park.

Luke, Keith & Elise at one of Keith's mountain bike races. Luke is living for the day that he can race right along Keith's side....or should I say IN FRONT of Keith!
WE LOVE YOU ALL!!

The Octopus and the Tutu

Luke the Jellyfish

Luke has been obsessed with octopus lately. He draws them, talks about them, and frequently asks to go to the Seattle Aquarium. Well, last Friday Keith took him and they had a great time. It was nice for the two of them to spend time together and enjoy the aquarium. While they were there the octopus put on quite a show. Normally it sits curled up in one of the corners of the tank, but during their visit they watched it chase after the wolf eel, which is Luke's 2nd favorite marine animal. Keith snapped some great shots!

Luke and the octopus!

Elise has discovered her pink tutu that she got for Christmas from Grandma Sylvia. Just last night as we were reading Angelina Ballerina she made the connection that she too has a pink tutu just like Angelina and wanted to put it on immediately. She did some dancing for us, which was so precious. She even thought she wanted to sleep in it, but that was short lived because it was, "Too big," in her words.

Kitty Sweater & Flower Hat

Elise is quite the silly girl. She absolutely loves pink. Anything and everything is better if it's pink! We were in the grocery store the other day and in a very excited, almost hysterical voice she yelled out, "Pink juice Mommy! Pink juice!" Sure enough, there was pink juice.

This photo was taken this morning by Keith as they were getting ready to leave for school. She is wearing her summer hat, which is sized for 7-14 year olds and almost fits her! She also has on her kitty sweater with kitty buttons and a beautiful kitty on the back. Our next door neighbor's mother knit it for Elise and she LOVES it. We asked her to knit another kitty sweater because Elise has almost outgrown this one.

Luke's favorite colors are green and blue, which he refers to as "boy" colors. From time to time, in true brotherly love, he will choose to drink from Elise's pink cup just to spice up our lives and totally annoy Elise!

No Training Wheels

Luke has been trying out his bike without training wheels
from time to time and here's the proof!

It looks like he's crying after this crash,

but he's just laughing - silly kid!

Memorial Weekend

We've had a great Memorial Weekend so far. The weather has been great, which was not predicted, so a nice little treat for us. We've spent time at the new park by our house, played a little backyard baseball, and taken dolly on the swings. We're hoping to make it to the beach tomorrow to catch a low tide and explore some tide pool animals.

Elise enjoying some time on the swings

Luke with his new baseball mitt

Hot fun in the sun

Today was our first really nice day of warm weather here. The day was spent at soccer in the morning, lawn mowing, t-ball in the backyard, some fun in the swimming pool, popsicles, a great BBQd dinner and two tired kiddos.

What's better than your ATV in the pool and a popcicle on the swing set?


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Luke has gotten very into his Legos the last 5 months. We have progressed from Keith and I building them exactly like the directions say, to morphing the designs to create a quick build for him, to Luke building his own, to him losing the Legos for a few days since he wouldn't clean them and left them scattered all over the living room floor, to finally Luke creating some pretty neat cars, space ships and his name....


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Finally...
When we were in Chelan in April
we went down to the lake to throw some rocks
into the water after we spent some time at the park.
We found this great rock arrangement while we were there.

In case you can't make it out, it says,
"WE LOVE U!"
Which of course we do.
Have a great day!!