seattle.

so three weekends ago, phil's friend/co-fellow got married.  up in seattle.  and we were invited.  we initially concluded that we wouldn't be able to make it since buying airline tickets and accomodations for all five of us would be crazy expensive.  until phil threw out the idea of possibly asking the grandparents to watch the kiddos for us while we made a little weekend getaway out of it.  i like the way that guy thinks.  :)

my parents jumped at the chance to spend the weekend with the kids, and i jumped at the chance of a mini-vacation.  to make it easier on the grandparents, i drove the kids and met them halfway so that they could keep the kids at their house (because they still have a business to run, too).  we ironed out the details, i packed for what felt like days (okay, only two days, but they were LONG days), phil made the reservations and the plans, and we were all set to go!

except, i was feeling a bit nervous about leaving our kids behind and hopping on a plane to be two whole states away from them.  hopping on planes has become a much more nerve-wracking experience ever since children entered my world.  before, i used to be only excited at the prospect of visiting someplace new without a thought about all the potential what-ifs and dangers that lurk in any given moment.  but after kids, all those what-ifs and dangers suddenly loom large and make me think twice about doing anything without them constantly in my sight.

so there was a lot of praying on my part, both to ease my fears, and to remind myself that they were (and always have been) in the Lord's hands who has always protected them in every situation, in every moment of their lives- when i was with them and when i was not.  that they were in the safest place possible and were never out of God's sight, even though they were out of mine.

so going away for a whole weekend was not as emotionally easy as i initially thought it would be.  and though i felt a bit anxious the whole time we were away, it ended up being oh so well worth it.

phil reserved a suite for us at the fairmont hotel in downtown seattle.  we decided to skip renting a car to avoid paying for parking in downtown and did all our sightseeing on foot.  it added a new element of adventure and certainly was something we couldn't have done with the kiddos in tow.

the lobby.

our first purchase soon after getting settled in.  though i do understand no real seattle-ite would be caught dead with an umbrella.  but then again, i never claimed to be a native!  it never really rained rain, mostly drizzled the whole weekend, but it was surprising how soggy one gets from being constantly drizzled on.  not til the following day did we discover that there was an umbrella provided in our room for our use.  aw well...

i had no idea that i'd be in the coffee capital of the world, but boy was i a happy girl once i found out!

speaking of coffee, phil navigated us to the very first starbucks store that morning.  of course, there was a starbucks on nearly every corner, and we passed at least three of 'em on the way, but there's only one FIRST one!

and who should we happen to run in to at the very first starbucks?  why, it's phil's friend anu, the groom-to-be!

we did a little strolling around at pike place farmer's market, too.  it was completely mobbed though, so not exactly a leisurely experience.

i spotted this funky little guy as we passed by and totally regretted not getting a picture of him.  it kinda started haunting me, actually.  so phil humored me and we walked back through the crowds just so i could stop being haunted.  thanks, honey!

direct quote from the philsters: "there seems to be a lot of crap sold here."  so no, we didn't end up bringing one of these babies home with us.

you can't be in seattle without gawking at the 30 pound king salmon, right?  we ended up buying a whole fish and had it shipped to my parents as a big thank you.  they loved it.

for us, being out on our own of course means we EAT.  and phil did a fantastic job finding us some really great places to try.  i so wanted to try some oysters but we went for baked ones this time around.  the rockefeller one?  totally rocked.

and this little number with the sour cream ice cream wasn't too shabby, either.

i was hoping we'd get our fall color fix in too, but the whole carless in the rain thing kinda dampened that idea.  but there was beautiful color all around us.  and under us, as it were.

oh!  and i finally got to wear the coat phil gave me three christmases ago!

went to a place called the 'library bistro' for sunday breakfast.  it was like eating in the middle of a library with dark wood and books stacked all around.

of course, i had to have this.  but the orange juice was darn good, too.

turns out, the kids were never far from phil's mind either.  wherever there is paper and something to draw with, allie's usually somewhere near.  so this was phil's shout-out to his girl who would've loved the library bistro's paper table covering and cup o' crayons.

mmm.  the bread.  oh the toasty, buttery, lightly crisp wonderful bread!

we took a monorail to walk around the space needle and surrounding park.  where i DID get my color fix, after all!

and look!  we finally got a peek of blue skies while there, too.  we weren't going to go up the needle since we figured it would be rainy and cloudy and hard to see anything anyway.  but the plan changed once the clouds started breaking up.

and so, up up up we went!  and the whole way up i was inwardly freaked out about the elevator cables snapping and us plummeting all the long way down.  so now add elevator rides to my list of nerve-wracking experiences.

but the view was awesome and the sky cleared up just enough for us to enjoy the experience.  and then it started raining again on the way back.

we spent a lot of time going from store to store trying to find a dress that would fit me and not look like i just threw on a potato sack.  in the midst of all the shopping, phil got a little present for me.  picked it out himself, too.

i love that there are six hearts in it.

quick shot of us just before we headed out for the wedding.

a wonderful weekend getaway topped off by a totally fun wedding.  congrats to anu and jane!  ah, such good times.

but then, i couldn't wait to get back to the kiddos and hug em and squeeze em and kiss their faces again.  guess that's why it's good to get away every now and again, huh?

and last week, we got a very nice letter from my step-mom thanking US for entrusting our kids to them and telling us they loved spending that time with our kids.  we are so incredibly blessed.

cravings.

i'm now 15 weeks along.  my head is spinning with how fast it's all going, but i'm not quite yet ready to think about how fast the next few months are going to go and before we know it, baby #4 will be here.

i am very happy to report that all traces of nausea have finally left (a little over a week ago) and i'm *mostly* sure that i am done with morning sickness FOREVER.  hooray!

 i've had the same long bout with morning sickness with each of the pregnancies and one of the few things that helped was eating a particular food as soon as i was craving it.  on the flip side, the other thing that helped was having whatever food i couldn't tolerate at the time immediately removed from my presence and all related smells quelled as soon as possible.

with mikey, i loved all burgers and meat, all the time.  i couldn't stand bell peppers, carrots, or rotisserie chicken.

with allie, i dearly loved all fruits and vegetables but didn't have any strong aversions to anything in particular.  strong smells however, were a different story.

with lauren, fruits and meat took center stage as my favorites.  oh and chocolate.  and lots of it!  again, i didn't have any strong aversions, but there was this skunk who liked to roam around outside the door of the apartment we were living in at the time and would regularly spray his skunky odor every night.  that pretty much did me in.  we couldn't move out of there fast enough.

and now with this one, i have to say i've had very distinct cravings randomly come on, though it hasn't been isolated to any particular food.  except for coffee.  i've fallen hard for coffee.  and chocolate again.  my favorites.  i have been loving extra crisp apples and grapes, as well as a good handful of cheese-its now and then.  oh and golden grahams are awesome.  this time again, i can't stand bell peppers and leftovers of anything aren't well received.

and dear phil, with all his experience of handling an unpredictable pregnant wife, has been rather awesome this time around.  if i so much as mention a whiff of a food craving, he'll invariably show up with it when he gets home from work.  lately, this to me is much better than his coming home with flowers.

and if the food item i crave can't be had at the time (due to the lateness of the hour, or the impracticality of loading up the entire family and heading off in search of the kogi truck- though we have been known to do this a time or two), phil's been great at whipping up his own version with surprisingly winning results.

one morning, i woke up needing a breakfast sandwich in my life.  so phil went ahead and made one for each member of the family.  i think i went ahead and ate his, too.  sorry about that, honey!

one evening, it was a kimchee burrito.  not pictured as it was inhaled (by me) almost instantly.  and then dear phil made me another one when i was craving it again a few hours later...  at eleven pm.

then thoughts of popcorn from popcornoplis (no substitute would do) flooded my brain.  so phil drove twenty miles out of his way after work and presented me with these.  this was before we discovered our local blockbuster carries popcornopolis too.  and because he wasn't sure if i wanted sweet or savory, he went ahead and got me selections of both.  good thing they last for six months!

though i've never tasted triple berry cake before, one afternoon triple berry cake became my next craving.  and you guessed it, phil came home that night with not only one slice, but two!  :)  the first bite in, i declared to phil that it was exactly the taste i was wanting.  even though i hadn't ever tasted it before.  sometimes you just know. 

most recently, the craving has been for spicy kyochon chicken which was also too rapidly inhaled to be pictured here.  mmm, those were good.

and lest you think i'm the only one around here who gets cravings while pregnant, please allow me to show you two final pictures.

the only time a jar of chili bamboo shoots shows up at the house is when i'm pregnant.  and NO, it's not for me.  the only time phil eats this is when i'm pregnant.  but he must eat them straight out of the jar and close the lid in between bites.  because of the smell.  OH THE SMELL.  it would knock you over with a feather.  a hummingbird's feather.  and not in a good way.

this one is a newcomer with this pregnancy as i've never seen it, or phil eating it, before.  it has to be kept hidden from view in the fridge behind other jars because really, would you want to look at this every time you went to get the milk out?

a perk.

it's been really nice having phil around at home more often since he's started this fellowship year.  more face time, more family time, more of a 'normal' schedule.  it's been especially nice to have weekends (or a good number of them, at least) back.

but my most favorite perk of having my dear husband around more often?  witness below:

having him home more often means i get to see this sight pretty frequently.  and it's quite possibly my most favorite sight in all the world.  lauren's just there to supervise.

except...

except when said dear husband absentmindedly puts in liquid dish soap instead of dishwashing detergent into the dishwasher.

which causes this to happen.  (yes, it was overflowing out onto the floor before he opened it).

then it's not so much my favorite sight to see.  but it still makes me laugh.  :)

summer memories, part four.

we have long been a family without a team to cheer for.  moving every few years has meant that we've felt no particular affinity or loyalty for any one team- be it basketball, baseball, football, or hockey.  and to be honest, i was pretty okay with that.  i was content to feel no real elation over "our" win or the agony of defeat of "our" team.  but this just would not do for phil.  he up and decided that we've gone teamless for long enough and it was time to change our ways.  it was time, in essence, to become team players.

and the team he chose to bestow our family loyalty upon?  none other than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  though i think the recent name change is rather ridiculous.  but who am i to criticize OUR team??

phil's method of picking our team was by the simple process of elimination.  being a northern california boy, he physically/psychologically/physiologically could not bring himself to root for any la teams.  so the dodgers and lakers were out.  and it's not hockey season, so the ducks will have to wait for the tsais to jump on their bandwagon.  and there's no southern california football team, as even arena football has left the area.  which leaves the lucky, lucky angels as the last team standing.

and so, we tsais headed off to angels stadium to see our team play.

and to be a tsai means you cannot attend a game without donning your brand new Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (see?  it's a mouthful!) team gear that your daddy went and purchased for every member of the family the night before.

daddy had us go on the night when all the kiddos got free Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim backpacks.

the father explaining the ins and outs of baseball to the son.

though i don't know much about baseball myself, i do know you're supposed to stand up and cheer when your team makes a homerun.  i'm also pretty sure you're not supposed to cover your ears when the homerun fireworks go off.

i...  just don't have any words for this one.

or this one.

trying to get a quick family picture.  but i suppose the giant tv screens, the cotton candy, the baseball game itself, were all too distracting to get 'em all to look in one direction.

lauren is all about being daddy's girl.  especially when it means extra fistfuls of cotton candy for her.

but as soon as daddy left to take her sibs to the bathroom, she discovered the cute boys in the row behind her.

uh oh.

summer memories, part three.

i have a major headache.  that neither iced coffee nor tylenol has taken care of.  blast.

oh wait, that's not what i'm here to write about.  i'm actually here to continue dwelling on summer memories and with the recent record heat wave this past week (113 last monday!), it's actually not that hard to feel like it's still summer.

oh and a few days ago, i came across an old rebate i was supposed to mail in but forgot to (don't tell phil).  it was supposed to have been postmarked by the end of july and i honestly thought to myself, "oh good, then i have a couple more weeks left to mail it in".  so i put it back on my dresser and there it still sits.

i'm awesome, i know.  really, there's no need to tell me cuz i already know.  : p

aaaaanyway, what?  oh yeah, summer.  and for us, summer means vbs!  we love v-b-s!  the day after we got back from grandpa's, our church's vbs week started and the kids were raring to go.

v-b-s!  we love v-b-s!  the kids marched right in to the big auditorium to sit with their respective classes.  and i can't tell you how disappointed and upset lauren was over not being able to stay and do vbs too.  man, it's no fun being the littlest...

this year, i had the awesome privilege of helping take pictures for part of the week.  it was so much fun to be able to run around and see everything that goes in to making our church's vbs such a great time for the kids.  not the least of which is this super energetic and lively praise team.

seriously, how could you not be pumped up after singing praises, and dancing around, and laughing along with a room full of cool and crazy kids and adults?  especially when they bust the sprinkler on ya?

after the worship time, the kids went to different rooms for bible lesson time...

story time...

craft time...

and outdoor compete-in-run-around-and-play-games time.  where it always helps to hatch a plan first.

teamwork also helps a lot, too.

not to mention pure intensity and putting your game face on, baby.

yeah, baby.

and could somebody please tell me why it is that girls will automatically lean in together and smile so nicely for a picture when you ask them to?

and boys will either give you their best squinched-up face or...

run away as fast as they can and dash up the twisty bars to get away from you?

ok, ok, i'm being a little unfair.  boys will stay still and smile nicely for you too.  but only sometimes.  this is incidentally one of mikey's best buds.  he's a great kid and we all really like him.  i think you can see why.  :)

and this is my great kid and we really like him, too.

and this is our pastor.  he's pretty cool too.

thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this an awesome vbs week.  the kids had a wonderful time learning about our great God and can't wait to go again next year!