After a long warm Seattle day Hazel takes a rest in the ladybug chair.

We’ve got Grammy in town for the week so we’ve come down to Alki Beach. It’s a beautiful sunny morning although it’s starting off a bit breezy and cool with a wind coming straight from the north. We’re in the midst of some extremely good weather for early May in Seattle. It should make for a great mother’s day tomorrow too.

Testing out the strider balance bike!

The 20 horses get into their gates at the starting line of Churchill Downs for the 138th Kentucky Derby. And just a second or two after horse # 20 get’s in, they’re off. It’s definitely one of the most exciting moments in sports. But it’s over quickly too.

We managed to catch the tail end of the tulip festival – while many of the tulips were already clipped we still got to see a lot of pretty colors.

Teaching a three year old to ski turned out to be better than I expected this year. Silas definitely learned how to stay in control on the easy runs. The first lessons where we didn’t take the magic carpet or the chair lift were probably not an ideal start, but we quickly moved up to the big green runs! This video was taken near the Holiday chair at Snoqualmie’s Summit Central. I don’t think you’ll find weather much better than this in Washington.

Grandma, mommy, and Hazel were soaking in the setting sun near the Naples(Florida) pier. It was a bit breezy, so the hair wasn’t perfect, but they all managed to give their best smiles. The west coast of Florida is definitely a bit more warm than the northwest coast here in Washington.

The spring leaves are looking robust this year. And even more so through our brand new living room window. This coral bark Japanese maple really looks great in the early morning light. We’ve also decided that blinds might not be the best way to enjoy our ‘new’ view, so we might be switching to drapes to really help us take in the sights around the front of our house.

With The ski area at summit west being closed for weeks, the tracks were mostly buried. However, the “control center” made for a nice little place to explore and get pictures. We managed to get mommy and the kids to sit still and try to look at the camera for what might be the last winter family picture of the season. The magic carpet was interesting when Silas first started out, but by the end of the season he became less and less interested. He was a fan of the chair and the longer runs. Like his daddy, I think he was a looking for a little more excitement than the magic carpet and the nearby run can provide.