Love The Sun, Love The Heat

Yes, I'm one of those crazy people that loves this heat. Today was spectacular. We got up, got ready, and went out to Badger Lake (where my family has a place). We immediately went down to the boat, where Joshua jumped in (wearing his life jacket) and swam with Uncle Adam. He is a little fish! He attempted to swim on his own, but his life jacket kept tossing him on his back. Thomas, a little more cautious, sat on the back of the boat and put his feet in. I dunked both boys multiple times to keep them cooled off and they didn't seem to mind at all, so it must've felt good. Joshua and I then went tubing. Joshua and I were on one tube, Aunt Nikki and Cousin Taylor on the other. No photos of the actual tubing event, as Uncle Adam was in the boat with all kids! We then had a little indoor time before heading down the beach. Joshua swam out (again in his life jacket) to the swimming dock and jumped off to Adam multiple times. Thomas saw it and even decided to give it a whirl! Of course, Thomas had a death grip on Adam the entire swim out to the dock, but he did say he liked it in the end!

After a short and late nap, we had dinner, took some great pictures, and headed for home. All kids were exhausted and worn out. The boys magically made it home awake and went down just a little bit ago. And you might ask, where was Dan this whole day? He was golfing! Now that is one place I'd rather NOT be when it's this hot!



Cousins from Top to Bottom: Sawyer (7 months-Eric&Nikki), Jameson (20 months- Eric&Nikki), Macey (2 1/2- Adam&Mere), Josh & Thomas (2 1/2- OURS), Abby (4- Adam&Mere), Taylor (4-Eric&Nikki), Natalie (3 months- Adam&Mere)














Cousins Funny Face

Our Camping Experience

Ever get back from a vacation, and feel like you need a vacation? That's me right now. Our trip=awesome. Our return home= migraine-causing.

First-our trip. We left on Tuesday. We were out of the house by 9:30, which if you see how full the van is, that's why. We made our first stop just over 2 hours later for lunch at Columbia Park in Kennewick. The boys loved the play area and splash pad. We had a picnic lunch and headed on our way. The boys fought sleep and finally crashed an hour later. After getting lost in Portland, we made the long lllllooooonnnnngggg leg of the journey to our campsite. Luckily, we had a yurt, so it was a matter of unloading the car. Joshua kept asking, "When go camping? Me want go camping!" After a brief trip to the beach, he was pretty happy, although it was a really cold evening (and nearly 8:30 PM) so it was a brief trip.



The next morning, we got up bright and early and after breakfast were ready to go by 8:30 AM. A trip to the beach reminded us that the beach is FREEZING in the morning! We changed clothes and went up to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. This is an awesome center where you can follow Lewis and Clark's trip from beginning to end. Ask the boys what their favorite part was...was it the replica of a real canoe? No. Was it the building blocks section? No. It was seeing a ladybug in the window! They were fascinated by the ladybug! We then saw the sign noting that the Columbia Lighthouse would be open for 2 hours, and this two-hour window comes once a year. We decided it must be fate and took it upon ourselves to hike the 3/4 of a mile to the lighthouse. We agreed it's the only time you can say you walked uphill both ways. That 3/4 of a mile, is the most treacherous hike ever with tree stumps, uneven ground and more hills than you've ever wanted to see before. The lighthouse was gorgeous even if the climb up those windy stairs/ladders was more than a little scary at some points. When you have to say to your 2-year old, "Hang on to my neck so tight that if I have to let go of you to grab the rail, you'll still be hanging on..." that's a bad sign. The highlight of our hike for the boys? Seeing a banana slug. Once back at the Interpretive Center, we ended up purchasing a book labeling many of the bugs and slugs of the great Northwest. The remainder of the trip was spent finding bugs in real-life to match to the book. Joy.














Day 3 we got up early and drove up to Long Beach. It was a gorgeous day and the boys really enjoyed the water and waves for the first time. They flew their first kite, Thomas chased Pelicans, and we all had a blast. After naptime, we spent the remainder of the day at our beach. Thomas realized he could find clam shells and we spent hours looking on the beach for more and more.






















Finally time to come home. The 12-hour venture home? Not bad. We stopped at Hood River (a favorite stop of mine). The boys played in the sand and the sun and I even got to sunbath a little bit (gone are the days of sunbathing in a bikini, but instead a t-shirt and shorts). We made it to Tri-Cities with a quick stop and then plugged on home. It was rough, and Joshua is wondering where our "camping house" is, but we're home.

























We get home and start unloading and our day gets just a little (aka lot) less enjoyable. Our bathroom (which was suppose to be fixed and retiled by now) looked like this:
















However, we are happy to be home. This will be a busy weekend, and then we hope to return to normalcy and a little more potty training. Joshua has pooped on the potty multiple times! HOORAY! More updates soon to come.

Camping Camping Here We Come!

Tomorrow we leave for camping! So what did I do this morning, the morning before we leave? I had a 2 1/2 hour dentist appointment. It was to get a permanent crown.

I began my appointment by telling my new dentist (first time seeing him ever) that I do not do well at the dentist, that I am not a needle girl, and that I do not numb easily, so do it well the first time please. He starts wrapping the wonderful cord around my gums (this is painful even when numbed) and it's hurting like crazy. As my eyes water he says, "Does this hurt?" I nod yes. He says, "Well I didn't numb that part, so I guess I'll need to if it hurts." I was so ready to pack up and see my old dentist. If only he wouldn't have had all those tools in my mouth. Darn! Luckily, after only 2 more crying/eye watering episodes, I was good as new. Now I can camp and eat on both sides of my mouth! Assuming of course, that the swelling on my gums goes down and it doesn't hurt like crazy.

Dan and I decided to treat the boys to a movie after I got home. We took them to see Galapagos at the IMAX. The boys did great! They made it through the entire 45 minute movie. It helped that I brought "delay tactics" with me, consisting of suckers and fruit snacks (both which take the boys 10 minutes to eat). After a hair-pulling nap time, the boys were ready to go. They had a walk with daddy to the park while I finished up last minute camping details.

The boys are currently in bed, but torturing me. We are suppose to leave bright and early in the morning. They are still awake (it's almost 10:00 PM) and have the light on. I am about to take out the light bulb. Joshua is ready for sleep, Thomas is ready to read. I swear they do this to us every once in a while to remind us how good they usually are. We are both at wits-end a lot of the time right now.

However, the van is packed. Everything is ready. We need to wake up, eat breakfast and go. Hooray! I'll be back to blogging on Friday night when we return!





The boys one year ago, June 2007.










The boys 2 years ago, June 2006.

"Josh fall in the toilet!"

Yes, it finally happened. The worst nightmare for bathroom trauma. It starts with the fact that Josh now pees standing up. This alone is a nightmare for the person who cleans the bathroom. He stands on a little stool and does alright, but it's usually still a mess. Tonight before bed, he went just one last time (Dan was supervising). I heard the thud and the wail, but continued reading Thomas his 2 books before bed. I said to Dan, "Did he fall and hit his head?" Dan responded, "Oh he fell right into the toilet, worse than you think." Always a great statement. Apparently the stool slid and he fell in face first. Nothing like vaulting head-first into your own stool sample. Dan did a quick HOT rinse and brought him out to be checked. A nice split chin and a wet head, and he's no worse for the wear. Unfortunately, all he'll hear the rest of the night is Thomas saying, "Josh fall in the toilet!" Yup, those are the words you want to hear as you fall asleep.

A Day All By Myself

Wow! I can't believe I had this much time on my hands before I had kids. And I thought I was so busy! Dan left this morning and took the kids to the river to hang out with his family. I had nearly the whole day to myself! What did I do? I shampooed carpets (in less than 2 hours), dusted, vacuumed, and basically cleaned the main areas from top to bottom. It may not sound like fun, but I got SO much done! AND, I got to blast the music as loudly as I wanted to. It was the longest time I've been away from the boys since I was working. Apparently the boys had a great time and were zonked when they got home. Doubled with the late night last night, they slept for a while and then woke up cranky. It was a short evening and they are currently in bed passed out again. Poor kids. However, I'm feeling pretty good. I think it's time to get some cookies made as a "job well done."

By the way, Dan is also passed out at this point. I think he sometimes forgets how exhausting the boys can be. He is soooooo tired! :)

Indians Baseball

The boys started off with a rough morning. I won't go into details, but I will tell you that an orphanage at one point was mentioned to the boys. :) It seems that every moment I put something away, they were right behind me tearing it (or something else) apart. I just can't seem to catch up! To get out of our trashed house, we went to Millwood Park with grandma Nancy, Auntie Angie, and Kierra. The boys had a blast and really did well with the extra attention. We played for nearly 2 1/2 hours in the sun and water and had a great afternoon. Naptime was traumatizing for all of us. The boys finally crashed around 2:30 (great since I was hoping they'd get a long nap so we could stay late at the baseball game). Prior to falling asleep there was another poop incident (again, I'll spare you the details) and some major arguing (them with each other). Painful! I got nothing done, except I opened a bag of Oreos that was saved for camping next week and downed my frustration in Oreos and Diet Coke. The boys woke up after an hour and were ready to go (and crabby). As soon as daddy got home, we loaded up and headed down to Avista Stadium for some Indians Baseball!

The boys were super excited. Unfortunately, they were excited because they were under the impression that THEY were playing tonight. This was misfortunate as we tried repeatedly to convince them that it was the big kids turn to play. We managed to leave the bats in the car, but trekked in with mitts and baseballs. The boys had a blast. We had a Sky Box so we had an area to ourselves (thanks Williams and Webster---Dan's work). The boys had hot dogs, ice cream, soda, and were able to run around and watch the game at their leisure. We did the Kids Zone, which I have to tell you is named in the literal sense. There are kids there, but no adults. We stood in line for about an hour for the boys to get a chance to use a bat to hit a ball, and the kids were just nuts.

We just got home, the boys have had milk and are currently brushing their teeth. It's amazing that it's nearly 10:00 PM and they are still in good spirits. WOW! I'm off to help with bedtime routine. G'night!

Summer Has Arrived!

Have I mentioned I love summer? The weather is glorious, I don't have to drum up great learning activities for the boys. Everything is so EASY! Yesterday we went for a 3 mile walk with some friends and the boys had a blast! They did such a great job. We walked from Mission Park all the way downtown to the Big Red Wagon. The boys managed with snacks and the promise of some time at the park after the walk. We will be doing a lot more walking throughout the summer.

Today we went to the Fish Hatchery. The boys got to feed the fish and enjoyed watching them squirm and swim in the water. It was a great opportunity to talk about fish life cycles since they've been so excited about insect life cycles. Tonight Thomas brought us a Spider non-fiction book, so we added spiders to the life cycle discussion and it got really fun!

It's amazing how much they retain and how much they love to learn. Thomas is obsessed with his truck book right now and it really shows when we are out and about. We passed a construction site yesterday and Thomas says, "Herk (look) mom excavator!" He was so excited to see an excavator in real life and even called it by the right name. AWESOME!

After daddy got home, we separated and he took the boys back to Mission Park. They LOVE that park and are obsessed with watching people play tennis! I got to go out by myself and run some errands. Is it sad that I was excited to pick up some Tupperware from grandma? Is it sad that I was really excited to find out it was name brand Tupperware? That stuff is awesome! Dan puts in his two-cents and says, "Apparently we need to get out more."

Thomas and Joshua on the dinosaur at Mission Park.














Is it bad that when I want to make dinner without interruption I just pour colored rice into a bowl and have Thomas measure it for me repeatedly?











Thomas, Joshua, and Jameson at the fish hatchery.












This is how Thomas fell asleep. He ALWAYS hated being swaddled, and this is as close to swaddling as you can do to a toddler. He totally crashed. Poor little bugger.