Summer Fun

I notice with my last post, I'm bragging about summer like weather in February. Well, it's now 17 months later and now everybody's complaining about the cold. We whine when it's cold when it should be warm and cheer when it's warm when it should be cold. That's a Seattleite for you.

How's this for some climate change? We had on shorts for the sun at the Nisqually entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park, and wishing for coats and gloves once we got to Paradise.



The boys had a great time with their cousins exploring the woods, the soda springs at Longmire, and watching deer feed at the trough outside the cabin.

How's Your Summer?

Apparently we've skipped right over winter here. When a man at the gas station asked me how my summer was going, I had to laugh. It seems true. We took advantage of the sunny weather with a family adventure to Deception Pass State Park.

February Lunch Al Fresco

Everywhere we go, it seems everyone is marveling over the weather. It's been the mildest winter I can remember. The neighbor's tree down the street is starting to blossom and I noticed daffodils pushing up through the ground.


Here's another sign of the weather-- lunch on the deck. It's a rare February day when you can sip your soup and munch a sandwich outside in sunny comfort. It was a great day to play outside.

Hard Hat Area

With RTR's discovery of Bob the Builder, the living room has turned into a hard hat area. Both R and CSR have been really into building with Lincoln Logs the past week or so. So much so, there aren't quite enough logs to go around. At least not enough of the longer two and three section logs. When making the LL kits, who decides the quantities of each size? While we have a gazillion of the tiniest logs, there aren't enough of the other sizes to finish whatever architectural designs these boys have. One time I was at a thrift shop and watched with a little envy as another shopper discovered a huge cache of LLs and quickly bought them. Of course the practical side of me was saying-- better them than me in having to pick up all those logs. Of course, now I wish I had scored the find. But I might change my story the next time I step on a stray log in my bare feet.

IKEA Know-how

How's this for savvy-ness when it comes to putting together (or taking apart) IKEA furniture. As anyone who's ever had to assemble one of their bookcases or some other piece of furniture, the instructions can be a little challenging-- at least for those of us who can't quite decipher the picture-only instructions. Not only did the boys take apart the chair, they also put it back together.

Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus

The welcome was warm but the pancakes were cold. Our local parks department put on its annual Santa breakfast a couple of weeks ago. CSR and RTR got to sit and visit with the couple of the hour and get their picture taken too. Better than some of our Santa experiences in past years.

Immature Behavior

It seems RTR might be learning some immature behavior at an early age. After a little roughousing with dad and big brother in our bed, it was time for RTR to get into the bathtub. So, after taking off his clothes but before getting in the tub, he runs back into the bedroom, climbs up and puts his hiney next to dad's face and passes gas-- on purpose. Would this be considered immature behavior for a two year old? Is this what we can expect over the coming years as the boys get older? Yikes.