Summer, Are You Here To Stay?

The sun came out today. And, it was warm!

The day started out with a POD being dropped off for our neighbors who are moving. The boys were so excited, expecially David. He took Vincent and Tyler outside to watch the truck unload the POD. After Tyler's morning nap, we all went to the gym, then to a pizza place nearby to watch USA vs England in the World Cup. Since it was so nice and warm out, we decided to let the boys play with water on the porch before taking a late nap.

We (kind of) sat on a bench and watched them play. Every so often one of us would get up and tend to their needs, like helping fill a water toy, or making sure one of them doesn't eat dirt...

Got a fancy set up here.

Painting With Tyler

I rarely do art projects with my boys. Why? Because I always have this fun image in my head of how it's going to go, and it never ends up that way. I picture myself calmly helping one of them create a work of art. Instead, I am rushing around picking this up, cleaning this, and in today's case...washing paint out of a certain toddler's mouth.

Yup. Yesterday, I purchased a set of mini paint cups with lids and brushes. I was super excited. And, since we're going through a nap transition for Tyler, I was trying to buy us time before putting him down for his morning nap. I thought, "Oh, a quick paint project will be a good idea." So, I got us all set up, and the first thing Tyler did was pick up the paint brush, draw one stroke on the paper, and then stuck the brush into his mouth. "AHHHH!" Was my response. I picked him up, and then didn't really know what to do. Ah, the sink! Wait, no, paper towels first! Ahh! I don't know! I stuffed paper towels into his mouth, trying to wipe out the thick amount of paint, all with him jerking his head side-to-side. I did have to pin him down on the floor at one point. Finally, when we were all done with that, I walked him back to the paint, picked up a brush, and asked him if he'd like to try that again. He shook his head. We continued on with the painting, making more of a mess, but no more paint in the mouth.

And, finally, we have Tyler's first frameable piece of artwork.

By the way, when I first did the paint-on-the-hands thing with Vincent, he couldn't wait for me to wash the paint off. With Tyler, he kept trying to paint more on.

Orcas Island Highlights

Awesome mini vacay we had. What a beautiful spot we stayed.

Tyler loved the sand & rocks, and kept making a mad dash for the water whenever he found a chance. Vincent got to row a boat. That's our cabin on the far left.

After lots of effort working on our campfire, we finally had success! S'mores. Mmmmmm.

Vincent and I had a nice walk along the beach to check out the tide pools. We picked up shells & crab parts along the way. Back at the cabin, we built a sand castle & decorated it with the pieces we collected. It was the highlight of the trip for me.

My second highlight was when David and I took a couple of hours to ourselves & went to a boutique shop in Eastsound. David found the hat he has been searching for since we began dating, and I got a couple of new tops. Doesn't he look like such a hip daddy with it on.

Memories

I need to scan them, but I just came across a bunch of pictures from when David and I were still dating. I quickly stuffed them into an empty photo album for fear that I would suddenly lose them all. I'll try to get those posted soon.

How Could I Have Forgotten?!

That's right, Vincent got his first bike! Monday night, after dinner, David suggested we go to Performance Bicycle to look at their bikes. He has been looking for one a few months now, and Monday night we took the plunge. No special reason, like a birthday, or Christmas, or good grades...What a lucky kid.
In other news, I took a sewing class last week and this week. It's just two classes, divided into 2.5 hours each. We learned how to make a bag. Here's my final product. Not bad, if you ask me. I mean, if you look closely, you'll see it's definitely not perfect, but it's pretty darn good. Not as hard as I thought it would be, but this is a basic project, I guess. I'm thinking of taking the pajama pants class next. I want to do a few more classes before making a sewing machine purchase...if I ever do.And, finally, I made hamburgers for dinner tonight. So good. Buns, from Essential Bakery. The meat, from Thundering Hooves. I topped David's and the boys' with good ol' Kraft American cheese. I opted out of the cheese. David and I also had sauteed onions, mushrooms and garlic on ours. We ate sauteed zucchini, and a cabbage salad on the side. Vincent surprised me. First, he was excited when he saw his plate of food, which was only a quarter piece of hamburger and some zucchini. Then, he announced that he wanted to have "a lot of sandwich." So, I gave him another quater. Then, he said, "Mmm. This is good," as he ate. And, he proceeded to eat almost the all of the hamburger he asked for. He may have finished all of it had he not have to stop for a potty break. I'm not sure. But, this is a big deal, considering he can't even eat half of a Dick's (tiny) hamburer! He didn't eat his zucchini. Tyler enjoyed his hamburger, too.

Week In Review 5/10-5/16

Busy week! What did we do? I can't even remember Monday & Tuesday! But, on Wednesday, I took a beginners' sewing class. We're making a bag & we'll complete it this week. It was so fun to do something crafty without fear to something happening to a small child. And, our sewing teacher just auditioned for Project Runway. I had to cook a fast meal for the kids before dashing out the door. I was surprised I pulled it off and still made it to the class in time. I'll post about it on Family Meal later. Chicken Marsala:

Vincent got a home haircut. David did most of the work. I tried to "even it out" but made things worse. What do you think?

Tyler is obsessed with all our Camelbak bottles. We finally go him his own. He's thrilled.

I wish I had a clever caption for this picture, but I don't. It's just super cute.

Here's the cut, one day and one bath later. Aside from the mini step above his right ear, this is probably my favorite haircut on Vincent, yet. We think he looks great, and it was free!

David gave himself a cut, too. I think he looks very sexy.

Mother's Day @ Mt. Rainier

David took the family to Mt. Rainier for Mother's Day weekend. We made one stop at Frontier Park in Graham for a lunch picnic & to see some horses. Then, we drove up to Paradise, romped around on the snow, explored the visitor's center, and stayed one night at the National Park Inn. The boys slept in the same room with no problem. Tyler had a cold, but was such a super trooper. On Mother's Day took the Elbe Mother's Day train out to an open field where we had a picnic brunch. Our camera's batteries pooped out on us (we just bought them that morning!) so we don't have any pictures of the lunch spot, other than Vincent on hay bails.