Erika explores her art

Erika's study in feet

Like every photography student, Erika gets up close and personal with feet. Here are the best from her study.


Daddy's socked foot


A comparison of Miranda's and Daddy's feet.


Mommy's feet. Note the juxtaposition of the relaxed hand and upper foot with the tense lower foot.


Catie and Mommy show off thier feet and hands.

Happy Birthday QT!

Last Sunday, Erika's pal Stevie had a birthday party for his cat, QT. Stevie and family adopted QT one year ago today and it was time to celebrate. First, everyone human was invited to dress up as a cat for the day. Stevie's aunt painted the faces and his Mom bought the cat ears and tails. Erika was really happy about this. (Catie and Miranda were busy taking naps.)



Some of the other guests. Stevie is the the back with the camo-type t-shirt.


Unfortunately, QT did not put in much of an appearance at his own party, so no pictures to share. However, he did come out to sample his tuna birthday cake and have everyone sing happy birthday.

Toddler Group

Last week was spring break for Erika's preschool. However, her siblings had their spring break the week before. So Erika was able to come with us and revisit her old toddler group. Below, Catie in pink and Miranda in magenta get comfy in the house play area.


Catie shows off her budding fashionista.


Erika loved snuggling with Clifford when she went to Toddler group. Here she renews her friendship with the big red dog.



No, I'm not tired.

Decorating eggs with Hayatsus

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

Erika and her pal, Carter, hunt eggs.


Uncle Mark observes


Although winter was very mild, it's cold today!


The babies love wearing sunglasses at all times.

Vashon Island Family

After all this we finally met up with Jayne and John. We had a nice lunch, played in the yard and looked at John's new mustang. Here we are enjoying the warm weather and sunshine out front.



Note the signs that this is in the Pacific Northwest. Everyone is wearing fleece, and clogs and hiking boots are evident. Erika also show off her PNW fashion sense by pairing fleece with shorts and sandals.

Vashon Island Coffee Shop

Auntie Jayne has an aerobic class on Saturday mornings. Therefore we stopped at a coffee shop to relax and soak up some island culture. This coffee shop roasts the Vashon Vixen blend, a coffee that can wake you up after a rough night of toddler teething and oldest sister's scary dreams. It's housed in a 100-year-old building and also sells various spices and organic food. Here Erika poses by some of the cooking spices. (Yes, that is the clothing tag by her neck, and she is wearing her shirt backwards. I'm just happy that she is wearing clothes and dressing herself.)



And here is the section on medicinal herbs such as comfy and St. John's Wort.



In this area of Vashon almost all the men have long hair with beards and the women have short, cropped hair. I was able to surreptitiously photograph one checking out his investments in the business section of the Seattle Times. You do have to have some major assets to be a hippy on Vashon, you know.



Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of Catie or Miranda in the coffee shop. The cafe area allows people to bring their dogs with them as they enjoy a latte. Miranda was so excited that she kept going over to the dogs to chat with them. Fortunately, both dogs and humans were very friendly and let Miranda play as much as she wanted. Her favorite one was the big mastif-type. Catie was also interested in the dogs, but she just wanted to talk and point to them. Erika just kept wondering where Daddy was with her hot chocolate. (Time goes much slower on the Island)

Vashon Island Ferry

This past weekend we took a ferry to Vashon Island to visit Aunt Jayne and Uncle John. Part of the fun of riding on the ferry is sitting in the minivan without seatbelts. Catie (solid pink) and Miranda (stripes) take advantage of this time to practice climbing on Jason.



Erika gets some time behind the wheel. Only ten more years before she can get her learner's permit.



Jackie and Miranda in the passanger section of the ferry.


Jason and Catie share a quiet moment.

Cuties' Closeup

This past week I've been able to take some great close-up pictures of the girls. So here they are for your enjoyment.

Erika in her self-painted butterfly mask.


Miranda and Erika working at the desk in Mommy and Daddy's room. Erika has decided that she loves Miranda too, and is willing to play and draw with her. However, Catie and Daddy are still the only other members of the family that fall under the party girl rules. Party girls, as you know, get to have anything they want whenever they want. Maybe someday Miranda and I will be lucky enough to be party girls. :-)


Finally, Catie has her closeup.

March madness

Bath time is fun time here at the Wetzels. Catie is so excited to take a bath that she neglects to to take off her clothes before climbing in the tub. Hilarity ensues.


Both Catie and Miranda like washing their hands. Miranda is in the dark pink hoodie and Catie is in the light pink jacket


Erika is so busy that she is hard to catch on film. Here she enjoys one of our sunny days by swinging in the backyard.

Reading at the Wetzels

As one would expect, reading is an important activity at our house. Catie makes an impassioned point about her favorite book.


Fortunately, she is ready to listen to another point of view.

Miranda shows her current book.

And Erika also enjoys reading at the table, albeit with a bit of attitude to mix it up.

Museum of Flight - Boeing Field

Today we went to Boeing Field to get in touch with our pacific northwestern roots in aviation.


The Lyttle boys (Carter and Henry) were with us today, so that made for 5 kids.
And yes, that's an SR-71 in the background. How cool is that?


It was foggy this morning, but you can still see a little of Mt. Rainier in the distance.


Jason, Erika, and Carter with the planes out front.

Face painting is never out of style? Unfortunate.

Sometimes Erika likes to have black paint on. It's a weird look for sure.

She also paints the babies. They will have their revenge as soon as they figure this out.

Jason and Catie read the classic: What Floats?

Uncle Mark brought us a lovely dinner this Sunday; quite the party.