Camp-out

Camping is something that Tom and I have been wanting to do with the boys. Tom and Jack have been talking about camping and all of the things that go along with it.  On Friday night, Jack experienced his very first night in the wilderness—of our backyard, that is.

The evening began with a proper meal cooked over the campfire. We invited the neighbor kids to come over and roast hot dogs and marshmallows with us. Jack was so excited for the marshmallows, he could hardly stand it. I think he liked the process of roasting the marshmallow almost as much as he liked the s’more.

 

Emmett discovered that he REALLY likes watermelon. He must have devoured 2 or 3 pieces during the meal. The juicy goodness was the perfect treat for a little guy who is working hard on getting some more teeth is that nearly toothless mouth of his.

After the meal the kids had fun playing in the backyard and helping Tom get the tent set up.  Jack could hardly wait to get in the tent. He kept saying, “let’s go camping now.”

 

 

 

Soon enough, it was time for the neighbors to go home and for Jack to get ready for his night underneath the stars. He chose to wear his “camping” jammies (how fitting) and didn’t even complain too much when he had to take a bath. Once in the tent, Jack and Tom read stories, played with the flashlight, and played steamroller.  Jack looked like a giant green worm in the sleeping bag. At about 9:30, I peeked my head outside to say goodnight. The two of them were taking turns telling stories to one another. I quietly crept away listening to Jack’s story, which began like this Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jack Jack…

 

Not sure what the rest of his story was, but camping was a success. Jack and Tom lasted the entire night in the tent. At 6:00 the next morning, Jack was jumping on my bed giggling about the dew in his hair and excited to tell me about his camping adventure. Pretty special experience for Jack and Tom.

Another Week Gone By

It feels like summer has just arrived, and yet it is nearly the end of July! We made good use of the nice weather this past week and spent our days outside. 

On Monday we walked on the ferry with my mom and visited my aunt on Bainbridge Island. Jack enjoyed throwing rocks on the beach. Emmett enjoyed watching it all. I had fun looking in all of the cute little shops in town, especially when I had two extra pairs of hands to look after my little ones.

 

At home that night, we walked into the bathroom to find Jack in the sink filling up a cup (and the entire sink) with water. When we asked what he was doing, “brushing my teeth”, he explained. And why not do it in the sink, right?

On Tuesday we met friends at the wading pool, which is quickly becoming one of our favorite summer haunts. Surprisingly, Emmett is just as enthralled with the pool as Jack is.

On Wednesday our friends, Karin, Linnea, and Caden came over to our house and we played at our neighborhood park. It has been just over a year since they moved to New York and Jack has missed having his friends to play with. I neglected to take any pictures, so I am counting on Karin (who is never without her camera) to share some of her shots of the kiddos playing with me!

Throughout the week we have been making good use of our backyard in the evenings when Daddy gets home. We put up a hammock in between a couple of the trees. It is Jack’s favorite place to “hide” from Daddy, and to cuddle with him too!

 

 

Wednesday night we took the boat out for the first time with the two boys. It didn’t take much convincing for Jack to be ready to go. In fact, I just mentioned that we might go, and he ran to his room to get his “cool lifejacket”. He proceeded to put it on and keep it on until Tom got home from work and we could go to the boat. Jack loved helping Tom drive the boat (although he would have rather Tom just left his hands off the steering wheel and let Jack do it himself) and looking out his “secret window” at the water.

 

Emmett wasn’t so sure about having to wear the lifejacket. But he completely forgot about it when he was able to stand and feel the wind in his face.

 

Beautiful weather. Beautiful week.  We LOVE the sunshine!

9 Month Stats

 

Emmett Otter is 9 months old. Here are his stats from today’s doctor’s appointment.

height: 29 1/4 in. (76 percentile)

weight: 21 lbs. 7 oz (60 percentile)

Good Old Fashioned Fun

I admit, I’ve had my doubts about whether children living in the city can have the same experiences that those living outside of the city can. Saturday was a perfect example of how kids can be kids, where ever they are!

After a morning spent with friends playing at the beach, and a good nap, Jack was ready to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. All of the neighborhood kids were outside. The boy across the street had his slip-n-slide out, and was busily filling up water balloons with two other neighborhood friends. Jack and Martina (who is 4 and lives next door to us) wanted to join in the fun, so I hauled out the sprinkler. The two of them squealed with delight each time they ran through it.  I don’t know who had more fun—the kids playing in the water, or me watching them. I felt so happy watching Jack play with the neighborhood kids. This is exactly why we chose a house such as this one, in a neighborhood like this. We wanted Jack and Emmett to be able to have these simple pleasures, like running through sprinklers with neighborhood friends. I am so thankful that we found this place to call home.

Fourth of July

We spent the Fourth of July with Grandma and Grandpa Rodda, Jane and Tom. The weekend was filled with lots of food, fireworks, and fun at the parade. What more could you ask for on the Fourth?!

We began the weekend with a trip to the reservation to pick up some fireworks. The guy selling them was great because he had a son nearly the same age as Jack, so he was able to recommend things that wouldn’t freak him out. We left the stand ready to do some fireworks!

Next we headed into town to stake out our spots for the parade and to check out Tiny Town, designed especially for little ones. Jack had fun doing a craft—a heart bookmark that he painted and gave to me. He also went down a GIANT inflatable slide, which he climbed up all by himself and went down without a second thought. The look on his face was priceless—a combination of sheer joy and panic. He also got to ride a pony with Auntie Jane.

After Tiny Town, it was time for the parade. We had prime sidewalk seats perfect for scoring lots of candy. Jack learned very quickly how to wave at the parade participants so that they would throw him candy. Both he and Emmett loved watching all of the fire trucks, classic cars, and motorcycles go by. We left with lots of candy!

After the parade it was back home for a meal of hamburgers with all of the fixings and a peach cobbler to finish it off. Once we all had taken naps, we started the fireworks.  We started off with some sparklers. Jack enjoyed holding the sparkler and waving it around.

When it came time to light some of the real fireworks, Jack decided that he’d rather watch them from inside the house.

Emmett watched intently the entire time from his Grandma’s lap. He wasn’t scared, just mesmerized by the colors and sounds.

 

 

What a fun weekend. Happy Birthday, America!

Day Camp

Last week was preschool day camp at our church for Jack and Emmett. I was there too, as a leader for the middle school students who help out in the classrooms.

Emmett spent his time in the nursery with 5 other babies. His favorite parts of camp included the Cheerio bar in his room and playing with the campers before camp began (as seen above).

Jack was in the 2 year old classroom. He got to have music time, gym time, snacks, and crafts. It is probably no surprise, but one of Jack’s favorite parts of camp was the music time. He was the only 2 year old standing up dancing and singing! He got a CD to bring home with him and it has been playing nonstop in the car ever since.

13.1 Miles

We did it! Tom and I ran and completed our first ever half marathon. Last weekend we ran in the Seattle Rock-n-Roll marathon.  This was Tom’s Christmas gift to me. I’ve been wanting to do one for some time, so he took the initiative and signed us up. The gift was really bigger than just signing us up, since Tom has always claimed to HATE running.  However, over the past months as we trained for the race, Tom has begun to enjoy running.

The race was great. We ran it together, which made it even more special and we finished in 2 hours—better than we had thought we would! This picture is of us after the race, and yes we are enjoying our complimentary MGD 64 beer!

I Have A Tongue!

Emmett has discovered that he has a tongue! Now that he has found it, we often see the little guy with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Could he be any cuter?