4 years old

Charlotte was well feted this year for her 4th birthday. First a kid party with under the sea themed crafts, dress ups and imaginative play at a local arts org, mermaid cake decorated by daddy the cake master; Then a school celebration and visit from mama and daddy; then sushi dinner and cupcakes just the three of us; and finally a family party (with recycled mermaid cake). This will be her last birthday sans siblings, so hoping she won't be too disappointed if things are a little simpler next year :)

October 2015

It's a big month for the Wasses, getting ready for Halloween! Festivities started with our preschool trip to the pumpkin farm.

A little one night baby moon getaway to Whidbey Island for mama and dada to celebrate 10 years since we met.

And of course pumpkin carving. Matt is our resident pumpkin artist- this trio is the Octonauts, Charlotte's favorite cartoon undersea explorers. 

Bubba Linda and Tata were in town for Tatas book tour, so Bubba joined the Swan Lake crew: Charlotte was the white swan queen Odette, mama was a swan attendant, daddy was the prince, Poppi the sorcerer, Bubba the black swan, and Nanni was a cat of some kind. The rain stopped just long enough for us to tromp around the hood. We went trick or treating with the Maloneys and brought in a big haul of candy.

The Fair

It's that time of year again, the end of summer and the last day of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. It was a long day of rides, sweet treats, and farm animal viewing/riding/petting. Charlotte, emboldened by her best friend Carrie Ella, had her first pony ride! And Mama got to see a whole litter of adorable pink piglets. Much fun was had by all, and the whole family is ready to hit the hay early tonight.

Why?

We seem to have arrived at that phase of development when just about any statement is met by Charlotte with the question why. In many cases this can be answered by asking her why she thinks x is the case, but a bunch of the time she is simply asking legitimate questions about the workings of the universe, which we feel compelled to answer. Daddy covers questions of atmospheric science, physics, and astronomy, while mama is in charge of biology, sociology, and chemistry. I am seriously curious  what on earth happens to parents with less than 3 graduate degrees between them at this stage! She stumps us all the time. God bless the Internet.

Mama, why can't I hear you when my ears are under water?

Beach House

We had our 2nd annual Knaster Schinfeld Wasse beach house getaway trip this year in Port Gamble, right in time to celebrate Mama's 40th and Uncle's 38th birthdays. There was lots of wading pool action, beach combing, shell gathering, rock tossing, and plenty of relaxing. Ahh.

Summer Fun 2015

It has been a really long and hot summer is Seattle this year, so we've been taking full advantage. Swimming, boating, gardening, berry picking, picnics. Charlotte has been taking swimming lessons, which were going great until a substitute teacher accidentally let her go under. Now the going is a little bit slow :) Charlotte has made so many leaps and bounds this summer- drawing skills, counting, getting dressed, singing entire songs, jumping and balancing, playing board games, memorizing all of her books. And she has been busy sharing the exciting news that she is going to be a big sister! Another girl, due Christmas Day.

3rd of July 2015

We flew down to LA for a 5 day beach trip and family visit. We had lots of beach time, making sand castles and wading in the ocean. And play time with cousins Abigail and Sarah. Plus many delicious meals courtesy of the Feldmans, including an epic July 3rd BBQ at Bubba Linda's.  Julia even flew down from Santa Cruz to join the fun. 

Star Wars

Searching the galaxy for a princess who doesn't suck, I had somehow forgotten about the best princess ever: Princess Leia! It started with a 1980s Leia book and a few movie clips and stills, and progressed quickly to total obsession. At first, we thought, this is awesome, we can play Star Wars pretend forever. But even two huge Star Wars fan parents appreciate some variety :) Luckily Charlotte has thought up a ton of variations on the theme. There's Star Wars babies, which entails taking care of baby Luke and baby Han. There's Star Wars calling, where various characters call her up on the phone to chat. And of course Star Wars bath, where 3PO and R2 get up to various antics in the tub. We recently went to go see the costume exhibit at EMP (awesome), Poppi dug out his original Star Wars pillow case, and Cousin Hattie made Charlotte a Leia costume! We can't complain, it's actually pretty fun for Mama and Dada, way more fun than Frozen. Hoping we can stretch the enthusiasm to Halloween time :)

Mother's Day /Liz's Birthday

Liz's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year so we had a joint brunch celebration with all the littles. (the ladies took her out for grown up brunch and pedicure the day prior). Nannie made blitzes- yum- and Matt made a marzipan Yoda cake upon the birthday girl's request. We made Nannie a calendar full of baby pics which she loved, and Charlotte made me a special card which she managed to hide and keep secret for an entire day. Then Charlotte and Nannie put on a puppet show for the twins! Good family fun.

Vacation from our vacation

Our weekend in Pebble Beach left us in need of some R&R. Luckily, we had planned a trip for Charlotte's spring break to Alderbrook Lodge on Hood Canal.  But mama got sick from the Pebble Beach plague! After 2 days resting in bed, she rallied and we headed off just a day late. After a fun ferry ride, we arrived to our 2 bedroom waterfront cabin. We basically just ate delicious food and relaxed for 3 days- swimming, beach combing, reading- just what we needed. And Charlotte tried all sorts of new foods: fried oysters, raw oysters shucked fresh right on the dock, mussels, crab, and of course sticky toffee pudding.

Pebble Beach Passover/Easter

The whole Seattle crew flew down to Pebble Beach for a last hurrah before the house gets sold. Charlotte could barely tear herself away from the soft white sand. We had a short but sweet Seder. And an Easter egg hunt. And a birthday party for cousin Abigail. And a baby naming for the twins. Jam packed! Charlotte loved playing outside with Julia and Hattie and her cousins. Plus we had a ton of wildlife sightings: deer, prairie dogs, sea lions, otters, red winged blackbirds, and woodpeckers! It was sad to say goodbye to the house, but rodents in the ventilation system, a sleep strike by Nathaniel and croup for Eleanor made us all pretty happy to get home to Seattle.

Spring birds

Spring has sprung and our bird feeder is busier than ever. Charlotte has become an expert at bird identification: chickadees, bushtits, juncos, nuthatches, stellar jays, finches, and our favorite, the northern flickers.

Up up high

Living right next door to a playground has many perks. We are not yet terribly excited about bikes or scooters, but Charlotte loves to climb, all the way up to the top of the climber. Then she just stays there and chit chats. For a while.

Purim!

This year was Charlotte's (and Matt's) first Purim Carnival, and it was pretty exciting: costumes, face painting, balloon animals, singing, bouncy house, and of course hamentashen. The whole family including the twins joined as well.

Finally, Ballet

Charlotte has been waiting for this day for a long, long time! We received our leotard and shoes for Chanukah from Titi way back in December, and had to wait all the way until February to start classes at the studio down the street. Since classes are on Friday, Poppi is in charge of taking Charlotte to class. He's just a little bit excited :)

A New Year

Fully recovered from our flupocalypse, we had a fun New Year's weekend at a sweet little cabin in Gig Harbor with our friends and their kiddos. Charlotte was the oldest, so she preferred the company of the adults to the little ones for the most part. She also made great strides in her canine friendships with Rita (chihuahua) and Charlie (chocolate lab).

We also filled up vacation time with some play dates with our besties and aquarium time.

Now we're back to our regular routines of school and work, but even a regular old day with my girl is special to me. Daddy went out with the boys Saturday night, so we had girls' night at the Broiler, our neighborhood spot. Selfie!