Around the House

Like father, like daughter...  Little K is a noisy sleeper.

One of A's favorite things to do at home is put things to sleep.  She will cover up every single stuffed animal or doll that she can find.  It sort of looks a little morbid, like a little cemetery through her bedroom and strewn about in the living room.  There will literally be twenty five individual stuffed animals each covered up under their own small swaddling blankets.  The living room and A's bedroom are often covered in lumps...

If she can corral the boys, that is her absolute favorite.  So in the midst of tucking her animals in, if she catches sight of C or K she will command them to "Yay down!"  (Translation:  Lay Down)  On this day, A was in her glory.  She had both boys raptly doing exactly as she bid.  "C, Yay down!"  "K, Yay down!"  And they did...

In July we went to a going away for two of my very favorite families from the Ops squadron on base.  During the presentations, my friend Lana gave A some lipstick...  A loves chapstick and lipstick, I don't know why but she pronounces it, "sippy."  When it comes to sippy for A possession = ownership.  The instant it is in her hands, no matter where she found it or who it had previously belonged to, she instantly announces, "My sippy!"  Hoping to maintain possession or at least prolong the moment when it will be taken from her, she will often quickly attempt to tuck said sippy down her shirt.  Alas, it generally just falls out the bottom.  Not sure where she picked up that habit...I never tuck things into my bra.  Anyway, Lana was more than happy to oblige A, pretty sure Lana encouraged some of what followed...

You can't really tell in these pictures, but the sippy is all over her face.  She gets some on her lips, but then keeps going, getting pretty good coverage on her cheeks and chin...

Oh Gilcreast and Sullivan Families we will miss you!

Nature Reset

On our way home from the Dirty Dash in Eugene, A reached her travel time threshold. Outside of Oakridge after a very short nap (she does not nap well in the car) she was making incoherent demands, and whining, and sort of crying, but mostly just acting like a newly minted two year old.

I knew we had to reset or the next two hours would be miserable.

So we pulled over for a short hike to Salt Creek Falls.

From the top of the falls, which is very close to the parking lot, you can hike down to the base of the falls.  The boys had to make the hike, but I wasn't sure about doing it with little K and no carrier.  Johan and the boys hiked down, A, little K, and I hiked behind at our own pace with no intention of going all the way.  We were making decent progress on our own, until a scowly faced lady walked past me on her way up.  At the time that she passed us I was carrying both girls, and wearing shoes that were never intended for hiking.  Rather than lauding me with praise, complimenting me on my strength and patience (among other things :-)  )  she frowned at me, mumbled something about me not being able to make it, and pointed out that I should not have my baby on such a steep trail.

Well, humph!  I didn't even want to go to the base, and I really was sweating and pretty miserable carrying both girls, but I just smiled and picked up my pace.  Now I needed to make it, and I am certain I would have...had it not been for the creek that we had to cross.  A got completely distracted and was having so much fun in this little flow of water that my resolve weakened, and little K and I were content to explore the "wawa."

The boys found us at the creek on their way back up, and I had help hauling my girls out of there.

It is always amazing what a little time in the woods can do for your spirit.  After our "nature reset" the rest of our drive home was uneventful, we even had time for some geocaching at a rest stop outside of Chemult.

Dirty Dash

Hey, K, you have something on your face.

At the end of July my sister flew out from DC to run The Dirty Dash with us.  She is about 4 months pregnant BTW.  Great day!  The boys had a ton fun of crawling through mud pits, climbing over walls, and  conquering monkey bars.  Props to Johan who was on the support crew, he stayed with the girls.  He said he has been through basic training, so he doesn't need to play in the mud.  If the Dirty Dash is basic training, sign me up...

My friend Jill and her son J did the race too.  Here are some shots from our fun day:

A, busy collecting rocks with Nana and Hector (dogs: Bo and Mattie too).

These two boys are so much fun!  They love to laugh, to play, and especially COMPETE!  Good sports too.  I LOVE YOU C and K!  Thank you for playing with me!

Washington Visit

The boys and A spent last week in Washington with Johan's parents.  His sister and her two kids were up as well.  Johan, little K, and I joined them for a long weekend.  Johan's parents live on a beautiful lake and have a fun pool.  So the kids enjoyed a lot of time in and on the water.

The boys attended a Geoduck soccer camp at Evergreen State College during their visit.  They liked the soccer camp, but they loved eating at the college cafeteria, and swimming in the Olympic size pool.  The facility was gorgeous.  They had the big pool and right next to it was a 12ft deep diving pool.  I don't know if the boys have ever had access to such a deep pool.  After the first day only Kobe had been able to reach the bottom with the aid of some diving bricks.  Both boys marveled at the pain of the water pressure on their ears.  By the second day though, both were adept divers and could reach the bottom...although the pain remained.

I didn't get to see them at camp until Friday.  When I got there, K was already headed for the shower, but C wanted to show me some of his moves.

Here he is showing off on the diving board:

Some shots of the kids playing on scooters in Oma and Opa's driveway.

The trip highlight was of course being pulled around on the lake.

On Saturday we went to the horse races.  A loved the excitement of cheering, and the boys loved the excitement of gambling!

Here is a shot of big K and little K.  WOW look at those eyes!  I really think that A takes after C and these two have very similar features.  Big K takes little K's breath away.  She loves to laugh, but he can make her have go crazy cracking up...  She can glimpse him walking into a room and that is enough to make her giggle.

A and her cousin A waiting to see the horses.

My boys, patiently allowing me to take a picture between races.

On the way home we pass through Portland.  At 3:00 on Monday afternoon we pass through this...  One more reason to love Klamath Falls!

Johan's mom had a toddler bed for us in Washington, so we brought that home.  Here is A on her first night in a "big girl bed."  It honestly brings tears to my eyes to see her lying there, so big already.  I marvel at what she has accomplished in just two years.

Time flies...my baby girl in a big bed!

Tomatoes

We do not have green thumbs...although we heartily admire those who do; and in another life when we have more time, land, and gardening expertise I am certain that we will have a bountiful garden.  For now we will bask in the success of the five tomato plants that we started in the middle of June when the snow stopped falling and the ground thawed.

Yesterday the boys picked a big bowl full of fresh tomatoes.  They had to pick quickly, A was consuming tomatoes almost as fast as the boys could pick.

"Anya do it!!!"

A is now two, going on twenty-two.  She insists on doing everything herself, from getting dressed, to wiping her nose, to eating her messy pasta.  Usually it is pretty funny and she says it in a sassy/bossy exaggerated tone, that the boys have taken to mimicking.  Actually all of us have picked up A's accent and sayings for a lot of things.  K will nicely hold a door open for me, only to mockingly announce, "K do it!"  In the same fashion that A informs me of her intent to do something herself.  Today in the Costco parking lot I asked A to, "Hold Mama's hand, please."  She quickly responded, "NO!  I hold my hand!"  And she hurried off, holding her own hand.

Murphy's Law(s) of Camping...

We camped last weekend at Lake Shasta and this weekend at Lake Paulina.  Both times we camped with friends who are much more seasoned campers than we are.  Last weekend Johan and I laughed off most of our mistakes, oversights, etc., "It is our learning trip."  But this weekend we expected more of ourselves...

Last weekend at Shasta:

We left Klamath around A's nap time.  The boys were eager for her to fall asleep so that they could put on Men In Black.  A movie they were looking forward to watching but that wouldn't be appropriate for A.  The drive is a little over two hours.  About every 20 minutes the boys (who were sitting behind A) would query, "Is she sleeping."  "Not yet...soon though," I would respond.  About half way there I joked with Johan, "Watch, she will fall asleep when we are ten minutes away."  Haha joke on me.  She waited until we were fifteen minutes out, her eyes were droopy.  But GENIUS...I decided to keep her awake so that I could put her down for a good nap when we arrived.  So I worked hard those last fifteen minutes to keep her up, I ramped up my banter, and began to wonder aloud, "Did I just see a giraffe out there?"  "Hey, was that a hyena?"  So she scoured the bushes, and we made it to our campsite...awake.  She didn't sleep though, she was excited to be camping, I spent the next two hours attempting to get A to sleep in the trailer.

Murphy's Law:  If a sleeping toddler can be kept up, she will.

After I aborted my nap mission we went outside for a snack.  I was cutting up melon for A when Rocky stopped by our campsite to visit.  We were chatting as A munched on melon.  A finished her snack and I wiped off her hands and face, as well as the long drips of melon juice that had run down her arms.

A wandered off exploring the campsite.  Within eye and earshot of Rocky and I at the table.  The boys had taken off for some geocaching.  Soon Mrs. A proudly walked back to us announcing, "A found poo-poo, A found poo-poo!"  (Yes, she refers to herself in the first person.)  "A, that isn't poo-poo, just pine cones."  WRONG!  As she approached to show off her treasure Rocky and I both realized A did find poo-poo.  Now Rocky has a very fine gag reflex so I quickly scooped A up, kicked the poo-poo into the bushes and took off to wash hands with soap!!!

Murphy's Law:  If there is poo-poo to find, A will find it.

This weekend at Paulina:

So the plan was to head up to Paulina Lake on Friday afternoon early.  However, the weather started to look yucky, thunderstorms were in the forecast, and I didn't get finished with work until almost six o'clock.  As a result we decided to stay at home and go up to Paulina in the morning after participating in a 5K race.  Needless to say, we didn't leave until after noon on Saturday.  Which means we arrived at Paulina closer to 3:00.

We are absolutely horrible packers, and organizing all of us for a camping weekend seems a truly daunting task for me.  The pressure of remembering everything for everyone from underwear to swim clothes plus meals and snacks is almost too much...

Murphy's Law:  If I can delay packing, I will.

Not long after we arrived K was showing A the water spigot while we were visiting with our friends Heather and Squirt maybe 10 yards away.  Seconds later we see A fall face first into the water spigot.  Johan:  "That is going to hurt."  Heather:  "What do we need?  What can I do?'  Me:  "It's okay..."  But it wasn't...A's teeth had gone into her lip and split it open.  She recovered remarkably quickly, but she looks really beat up.

Ironic because only a few days earlier I had been thinking about how lucky we are that she isn't too accident prone.  She really doesn't get hurt that often.  That streak quickly ended.

Less than a half hour later, A fell face first down the trailer steps into the dirt.  Johan and I both had been warning her about the steps.  We both told her multiple times not to attempt the steps alone, that she needed to hold hands on the steps.  We looked away, and as a consequence I was scooping her up out of the dirt.  I hate hate hate the feeling between the moment when your child hurts herself and the moment when you scoop her up to clear away the dirt to find out how serious the injury is.  After the steps, A's face was covered with dirt and blood.  But she was overall okay, and again quickly recovered.

Murphy's Law:  If a toddler can ignore her parents, she will.

Our first goal of the trip was to reach the hot springs on the opposite side of the lake.  The boys and I hiked to the hot springs from the lodge about three years ago.  It is about a two mile hike.  The park ranger informed me that we could park at another campground and that from there the hike is "an easy mile."  At the lodge I learned that we could rent a boat for a twenty minute ride to the hot springs.  I was so excited!  I raced back to camp to tell Johan, Phil, and Heather about our options.

We decided to do the hike from the campground.  We met Phil and Heather there.  They had already hiked in a bit and decided to abort.  We were still feeling confident so we borrowed Phil and Heather's backpack for A.  I carried K in the ErgoBaby.  My mom and Hector were there too.  We were off.  But the temperature was already starting to drop and it was already nearly six in the evening.  We walked for about a quarter of a mile before encountering another hiker who insisted that the hot springs were still quite far.  I was getting nervous about the temperature (mostly for the sake of Miss. K) plus the rain clouds were ominous, and Miss. A is not petite...she was a lot for Johan to carry on his back.

Johan and I decided to abort as well.  C and K continued on with Nana and Hector.  The plan was for us to go back to the lodge, rent a boat, and meet them at the hot springs with the girls.  Hmmmm.... sound familiar.  This was my plan from the beginning.

By 6:30 Johan and I were on the water with both girls, headed for the hot springs.

It was chilly.  The girls and I hunkered down in the boat, and I did my best to keep Miss. K warm.  It took about 20 minutes to cross the lake.  Lake Paulina is gorgeous!  When we arrived at the hot springs the boys were already soaking.

Our plan was for Johan to leave the girls with me and the boys while he shuttled my mom back to the campground.  The boat was to small to hold us all.  But my mom and Hector wanted to hike back.  So they left.  Miss. A was quick to jump into the hot springs.  She LOVED it.  It was perfect for her.  My pictures don't capture the beauty of the area.  I just have close ups of the kids in the hot springs, but this is actually on the edge of the lake.  The hot water bubbles out of the ground and warms up the lake.

A quick video of A in the water.  Judge me...  I forgot her swim suit.  She is wearing a swim diaper and Tevas.

The rain clouds were approaching and looking more and more ominous so we dressed the kids and loaded up our little boat.  A had to be coaxed out of the hot springs with the promise of Pirate Booty (snack) on the boat.  C and K both volunteered to push us off, but K was first so he got to wade into the ice water...  I had the girls on the floor in the middle of the boat doing our best to stay warm.  The temperature was dropping, and then the rain began....with a vengeance.  We were getting soaked.  I had a blanket to keep A dry and I zipped Miss. K into my coat.  C and K were EXTREMELY chivalrous.  As they shivered their only concern was for the girls.  They wanted to block the wind and do all they could to keep the girls comfortable.  A didn't even know that it was miserable and rainy because she had the only blanket, C blocking the wind, and C hand feeding her Pirate Booty all the way across the lake.  At one point the blanket slipped down over her face and all I heard was, "Where Papa go?  Where Papa go?"  We uncovered her, and C kept feeding her.  She was content.

Murphy's Law:  If there are dark rain clouds moving in, and you are wearing summer clothes, it will rain.

By the time we made it back to our camp it was after 8:00 and we still had to prepare dinner.  I organized things in the trailer, bathed the girls, and prepared our side dishes while Johan got the coals for the grill going and cooked our kabobs.  The coals took a while.  C and K were happy busying themselves with fire prep.  Finally at 9:00 I asked the boys to take Max for one more walk.  At 9:15 Johan came into the trailer to update me on the kabob progress.  They were almost done!  My veggies and beans were ready, almost time for dinner.  Minutes later C opens the trailer door.  "Papa, Max knocked over the food."  "What food C?"  C's answer, "The food outside."

The boys had tied Max up to the table right next to the Webber and ALL OF OUR DINNER was spilled into the coals.

Murphy's Law:  If Max can create trouble, he will.