Foto Finish Friday

"Mommy's cooking is so scary I have to wear my helmet to dinner!!"

BIG weekend FUN!

Last weekend was our annual celebratory weekend (well, celebratory 2 days and this year it happened on the weekend...even better!). Friday was Joe's big 3-2! He took the day off work at the last minute and treated himself to a few luxuries (all well deserved, might I add), including a massage, a car wash and a yummy cheesecake! Friday afternoon we spiffed up our bikes, and splurged a long talked- about buggy for Kai (and helmet, of course). Saturday was our 11 year Wedding Anniversary! We spent the day having family time, including a nice long bike ride, breakfast at a restaurant, and swimming in our pool. In the evening, we had a date! Just Joe and I!! We had a great time; had a nice, relaxing dinner then a movie. Amazing that that was something we used to do all the time, nearly every weekend; but over the past year and a half have only done twice. Wouldn't change it for anything, though. :-) As if that wasn't enough, on Sunday Kai moved up to the next class at church...the 2 1/2 year old class. (sniff, sniff...where has my baby gone?) We had checked it out the previous Sunday after church and he loved it, he was so proud to be going to the "big boy class".

And of course, a few pics of our fun!

Bungees with Daddy at gymnastics on Friday.

He's getting pretty daring with this,

and was going so high that my tummy was doing flip-flops!

Helping Daddy blow out the candles.

Between the two of them, they managed to get all 8 out on one try.

Kai was shocked and amazed that he got a birthday treat. Not that we never give him sweets, but we definitely try to limit it, and we don't really eat them at home. You should have seen his face when we told him he got his own piece of cheesecake! And this Momma was thankful that he only ate about 2 bites, then just smooshed the rest around his plate.

Riding in the buggy.

OK, not the prettiest part of our city, but nice in it's own way...

Being silly with Mommy at the restaurant.

Foto Finish Friday

First "rock climbing" lesson with Grandpa Tom

back seat driver

Literally...

It all started a few months ago, when all of the sudden Kai seemed to realize the movements of the car. That we stop and go, stop and go, stop and go while on the road; that we turn here, turn there.

He soon started asking, "Why dop?" when we stopped, and after only a few dozen times of telling him why (because the light is red, the car in front of us stopped, we have to wait our turn, etc), he began telling us when we need to stop. As in, "Dop Mommy, red yight!!" Which, by the way, is usually correct...

He also now recognizes the road to places we drive often (mostly home and daycare), and when we get within a couple turns of our house he can tell us where to turn. (May I also mention that my brilliant son knows left from right?)

While sitting in traffic, he now honks his horn (by pressing an imaginary horn and yelling "BEEP, BEEP!!") at the other cars and tells them to move out of our way. He is quite observant of the other cars on the road and often comments on their colors or contents (doggie or other kids), and even occasionally asks me what they're doing ("What doning?" or "Why do dat?"). Once he even pointed out a car that was exactly like mine (same make, model, year, color)! Thanks to his Father's love of maps, he knows what one looks like, and upon seeing a map will ask, "Where we have to doe?", even if we are not in the car. (And yes, 5-7 word sentences are quite common around our house these days.)

Should make driver's ed a breeze, huh?

Blueberries!!

Blueberries are one of our very favorite things in our house. K loves them! He can eat them by the truckload. This past week we went blueberry picking with some friends and we hit the motherload! I took my friend (and her 3 kids) on a wild blueberry adventure (luckily, more wild for me than her since I got a little turned around while driving there) to a wonderful farm just outside of our city. The farm came highly recommended to me, and K and I had gone there last year to pick. Between our two families I think we came away with almost 5 buckets, and we picked off probably only 5-6 bushes! The limbs were drooping to the ground with loads of heavenly blue berries. Some about the size of a nickel, and oh, so tasty!

The berry picking crew! (Minus the two who actually picked the berries.) K and C, "the girl", are real buds... we even caught a few glimpses of them holding hands on our berry adventure!

K back at home... showing off "his" berries. He actually picked quite a few, probably the most of all the kids, and some even made it into his bucket. :-)

I think another trip to this particular berry farm will need to be on our calendar this summer!

Foto Finish Friday

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

One of my quickest reads yet! This book was a page turner from start to finish and always left me wanting more. Usually the only time I have to read is right before bed, and I usually fall asleep while reading. Not with this book! I probably could have read it all in one sitting had time allowed. Written in a different format than I've ever read (which I found fantastically creative), in the form of letters between various characters in the book. Loosely based around the German occupation of the British island of Guernsey during the Second World War, it piqued my interest on both historical and fictional levels. It told of a much different day and age than we live now, by no means simpler or easier, but very different. I loved how people actually wrote to each other, with a pen and paper and sent it in the mail. I could just picture these delightful characters, checking their mail each day and finding these treasures from their far-off friends. Makes me want to sit down and write letters to all my friends and family, 1946 style.

This book gets two thumbs way up!

Foto Finish Friday...live action version!

Taken just this morning:

Yes, my boy knows his trains! Must be something in the male genes, somehow he can tell the difference between Gordon, Edward and Thomas (all three blue engines that look the same to me). You might have to listen several times, but he really does say all the names, except the freight car, he calls them "big trucks", but in this clip I think he shortened it to "big". Not too shabby!

Fourth of July

About a week ago, we decided to take make a "spontaneous" trip out of our Fourth of July weekend. I say "spontaneous" because even with 3 days to plan, it just doesn't seem enough with a 2 year old and a dog. We got to take Willie with us since his doggie motel was already booked. We headed up into the mountains, an area of high desert and once active volcanic mountains. Joe and I haven't been to this part of our state for probably 3 or 4 years, even though it is only about a 3 hour drive from our house. Joe always loves to go back; his grandparents lived there during his childhood and he has many memories of spending summers with them there. It is an absolutely beautiful area, and just another reason I love where we live! We took about a million pictures and it was really hard to narrow it down to a few,

but here you go!

Sahalie Falls, on our drive to the mountain.

So pretty!

Dinner Friday night at the resort restaurant.

Kai and Willie on our hotel balcony. Don't worry, we didn't make Willie sleep out there, we just put his crate out when he wasn't in it. We were a little nervous how everything would go since we've never had Kai or Willie in a hotel...let alone both at the same time, but everyone was very good and slept very well in "one big room". Our boys are so good...

Saturday morning, Lava Butte,

beautiful Cascades in the background.

Saturday morning,

Old Fashioned July 4th festival.

Two hot doggies...

Pony ride! Kai loved this, he was not scared at all.

Walked right up to that pony and showed him who's boss...

Saturday afternoon, Fireman Picnic

Dinner Saturday night at Flatbread Community Oven.

The pizza was sooo good! And Kai even got to "make" his own.

OK, so I made it, but it was still fun!

Quick lunch stop in Sisters on our way home on Sunday

Foto Finish Friday

Meeting Thomas (and Libby)!

This past weekend we met Thomas the Train! We went to Day Out with Thomas with my parents, my brother and his family. We had a blast! Kai was in every little boy's heaven, surrounded by not just any train, but... Thomas! When we told him we were going (as soon as he woke up that morning), he bolted for the hat and vest Grandma Nancy had made him for his birthday. Despite quite warm temperatures, he insisted on wearing them both the entire time!

Ready for the action!

"We see Thomas!" The first glimpse.

In the flesh.

Ready for our ride with Thomas!

We even met Sir Topham Hatt!

Kai was very excited to meet him, but not so excited to be near him!

There were tons of other activities for the kids to do. Petting zoo, bounce house, temporary tattoos, music show, bubble station, coloring area, but none of that mattered to little Kai, he spent the rest of his time here...

After our train fun we headed to Joe's parents house to meet the newest addition to our family.

Kai, cousin Libby and her Daddy

Oh, and let's not forget the delish BBQ!

Yes, he ate the whole thing!