Birthday present brainstorming is such a fun part of being an Aunt/Uncle. But since Aubrey is only a year old, there aren't many gifts that will stand the test of time. So Caleb and I had come up with the idea to make Aubrey a toy chest that would hopefully last her through her teenage years. So I went out and took pictures of different toy chests and then gave Caleb all of the info and Uncle Caleb made Aubrey a toy chest for her 1st birthday - only she is not quite big enough to use it yet, but she enjoyed looking in it!!
Our last day in town was Aubrey's 1st birthday party and she looked so cute in her pretty pink dress. When it came time for cake, she was not interested in getting her hands dirty so Mom had to help feed her, but presents were a different story!! She did a great job opening up all of her gifts. Below are some highlights from her birthday party.
We were originally going to Wenatchee so I could take part of the 10k race with my friend Sandie, but since I hurt my SI Joint we went up to show our support and photograph the race for her and her husband Scott (he ran the full marathon). Caleb and I went up early on Friday since the forecast was calling for sunshine and 75 degree weather! One thing you learn living in WA, you never pass up an opportunity for some Vitamin D!!
Per Yelp's suggestion, we ate lunch at this cute little restaurant called Mission Street Bistro. They're known for their amazing crape and wine pairings and can I just say YUM!
We then stopped at a few different wineries - Saint Laurent Estate and Chateau Faire Le Pont - and both were amazing. Little did we know that it was 'Humane Society Happy Hour' at the 2nd winery so we had lots of furry friends trying to get into the tasting room. Oh, and did I mention all of the furry friends were wet? Yes, WET. There was a small water feature outside the tasting room which lead to 'doggie playtime' in the water! Needless to say the staff was not too thrilled to have wet dogs running their their beautiful tasting room.
The following day was race day and Scott and Sandie both did a great job. Sandie came in #1 in her age group and Scott finished 7th overall!
It is a very hard thing, I find, to photograph strangers. I walked around the Market for about 30 minutes trying to imagine in my head what I am looking for: What would make a good shot? What composition am I looking for? What action or lack of action would make the picture work? Finally I decided to stop thinking and just go for it. So I switched to my 75-300mm Telephoto zoom lens which allowed me to stay far enough back from subjects to not get noticed right away and that allowed me to capture expressions and moments as they happened. Here are a few of the highlights from Pikes!
Oh, and did I mention it was a gorgeous spring day? Look at the view of the Olympics!
Caleb came down to join me for a delicious lunch up on a terrace overlooking the market. The Copacabana is a wonderful little Bolivian restaurant that had some of the best Mojitos and Spicy Shrimp Soup I have ever had! The entire meal was divine!
A majority of my day was spent helping out my friend Dana who is 22 weeks pregnant and on bedrest. She is such a trooper and trying to stick to doctors orders, but it is hard when you factor in that she has a 2.5 year old, very active, daughter and a 7 month old puppy! She is a fellow firefighter wife, so her husband is gone for 48hrs at a time, just like Caleb. Thank goodness we are apart of such an awesome firefighter family, because all of the wives have stepped up to help them out!
As I mentioned in my previous post, it has been raining pretty none stop for most of April. So when the weather forecast was calling for a semi sunny day I jumped on the chance and packed up my car with my camera, tripod and of course my doggies! Since Caleb was working I figured it would be a good day to spend hours on hours wondering around taking lots of pictures (and no, this is not hard for me to do!) Now, I mentioned it was sunny ... but it was CHILLY! It was only a high of about 45 with a pretty brisk wind, so I was very happy I had bundled up.
Shortly after I made it to my destination - the Roozengabrde Farm. I had read a photo book that mentioned specifically this farm so I knew it was a must, and I was not disappointed!! You pay a minimal fee of $4 to get into the garden where they have every tulip imaginable displayed. They even had one called Freeman!!
Then just out past the garden were acres of tulip fields - I was in HEAVEN! 
I literally took hundreds of pictures and if you are interested in seeing them just email me and I will send you the album. One thing I found when trying to pick pictures to post on here is that I have too many favorites and I cannot seem to pick enough pictures to complete the story. 