Catch-up: Busy Summer Days!

This summer has been a crazy one, to say the least. We have either been going somewhere or had someone coming here every week! But it was great being able to spend time with those we love, even if it gets a bit frazzling after a while! After taking stock of how many pictures I want to post, I'm gonna break this up into smaller posts. (Otherwise you would all be REALLY overwhelmed). So here is the first catch-up post:

My parents came up to do some kayaking and hang out with their favorite (only) granddaughter. We hit up the little Spokane River which is perfect for just relaxing and floating. My mom is going to hate this picture, but I love it and it is my blog so I can do what I want. :P



This was Charlie's maiden voyage and as you can see, she did just fine.



She loves the water, just like her Momma. :)



And of course, no visit from Grandma and Grandpa would be complete without a new outfit for Charlie! Yay!



Unfortunately, we have had a lot more of this around here... Seems like my perfect baby has now been replaced by a fiesty baby who throws mini fits and likes to head-butt unsuspecting people in the face when she is feeling cantankerous. It doesn't really help that she is finally starting to get more teeth (the two top ones are trying to come through now...). Luckily her sweet smiles make up for her orneriness. Hey, it always worked for me as a kid. ;)



See what I mean? You'd let her head-butt you too!



Thanks for coming up mom and dad! We loved having you here, and Charlie loves being with her grandparents! Hopefully we will see you up here again soon for some more kayaking adventures... and hopefully those trees stay out of your way grandma. ;)

Love, Erin Lynn

Ps. I know, two consecutive posts! What is this world coming to?! Let's hope I can keep this pace going.

A New Post *GASP*

Oh hello blogging world (and by world I mean immediate family and friends...) The Shannon family is alive and well. I have a lot of catching up to do but I thought I would start with this past week. One of our bestest friends Rex came into town with his wonderful fiancee, Trish. We had a blast just hanging out and being ridiculous. Of course, a visit from Rex wouldn't be complete without Kyle talking us into doing something a little outlandish. So. We packed up the kayak, borrowed a canoe and loaded up a TON of stuff, and headed up north to Priest Lake, Idaho. We took the boats (after a 4 hour drive that was supposed to take 2) and paddled for about 2 hours in the near dark. It made for some pretty pictures (Exhibit A) but was also a little disconcerting since we had to find a campground in the dark. Kyle claimed he knew where we were going... but he always claims to know that. Love you Kyle... :) Alas, we made it!

Exhibit A

Charlie chillaxin' while we set up camp... She was such a trooper throughout the whole experience! She loves the water, even when it is FREEZING cold! She kept leaning all the way over just to drag her hands in the water. Luckily, Trish kept a hold of her and also entertained her during the seemingly never ending rowing.



Fortunately for me, and much to my chagrin, Kyle's adventures usually turn out to be amazing. This is the view from our campsite in the morning. It was beautiful and so peaceful. You can only access this part of the lake by boat or foot so we were pretty alone up there. Which also freaked me out a little... Pretty sure I heard a large mammal outside my tent at night which could have been a bear, moose, deer or psychopathic murderer. Luckily it/he decided to leave us alone.



Charlie after waking up. She slept excellent in the tent and was her normal cheerful self in the morning. She is up and walking around now constantly but there were a lot of falls on the uneven ground. She was filthy by the end of the trip, which was only one night! I can't imagine how much dirtier she would have gotten. And you all know me, I like my baby clean and smelling good!



Group Photo. There always has to be at least one of these. As much as I hate them, which I do, I appreciate the documentation of a wonderful trip.



And this is just a wonderful shot of right before we found our campsite. I think I should blow this one up and hang it on my wall.



It was an amazing experience and I am glad to have such an adventurous husband who pushes me to do crazy things I wouldn't normally do.
Thanks to Rex and Trish for gracing us with their presence! You two make an adorable couple and we can't wait for the wedding!

Stay tuned for some catch-up posts... hopefully. :)

Love, Erin

Seattle with the Parkers!

Recently, I had the joyous pleasure to spend the weekend with the delightful Parker family in Seattle! It was so much fun seeing Charlie and Blake (my nephew who is 5 days younger than Charlie) crawl ALLLL over each other. It was also entertaining to watch Cole, my 3 year old nephew, mess around with the babies. It's hard to tell him to stop doing something when I am laughing hysterically. Needless to say, I'm sure Charlie was thinking to herself "WTH mom, get this giant off of me!". Sorry Charlie. I had a blast with them and miss my sissy terribly. No amount of bribery has persuaded her husband to move to Spokane so maybe I will just secretly apply to the UW law school for Kyle... Muhahahhaha. Oh, and update for those of you who don't know, Kyle has switched to Law. FYI. In case you cared. :P ANYWAYS, here's some pics from the trip that my sister took with her amazing new camera! Also, Charlie was a champ on the flight! Did I expect anything else? Of course not. :)


A great picture of the nose-wrinkling grin! You have to love it... even if it looks a little bit scary this close-up. haha.



Example of the crawling issues. There was a lot of accidental eye-poking, face-kicking, all around body-slamming. They also shared bottles cause one would throw it down and the other would crawl over and start drinking. It was good insight on how life would be with twins. I think I could manage it....as long as I had my sister with me at all times! Two crawling babies would be hard, it was tough with two of us! So needless to say, my fantasy of having twins is forever banished.




Cute picture of the babies in the tub. I love Blake's BIG smile!




Prime example of Cole's ornery-cuteness. Yes, he is letting go of her hands so that she falls, but look at that smile! I mean, come on! Its adorable! Plus, I figure it's toughening her up for the "real world". :)



Blake and Charlie in their matching kitty hats from Grandma Morgan!



I like the look Charlie is giving Blake... My mom said it looks like she is thinking "What the heck are you smiling about!?"



This is Charlie's new tongue "thing". She sucks on her upper lip all the time. Its adorable and I am so glad we finally have documentation of it. Reminds me of a certain Grandma (wink wink...) :) You will also notice how red her knees are... All that crawling!



This is my favorite picture. She is just such a grinner! I love her joy and her overall happiness. Once again, its borderline frightening this close up, but if you know Charlie and her personality, you love it.



Ps. Disclaimer: Although my baby seems like the happiest in the whole world, I am told she can be quite cranky when I am not around. Someone is turning out to be a mama's girl... uh oh. Thanks to Nick for watching the babies so that we could have some "sister" time!

catching up on charlie pics!

a lot of these are iPhone pics, so sorry for the low quality...











-k

missing charlie and erin...

Erin's in Seattle visiting Jamie, and she took my baby with her! Homesickness never hits me, but i'm definitely baby-sick. and wife-sick :)

can you blame me?