From the Mouths of Babes in June

Robin coos and babbles.
Eileen:  The baby Robin bird is tweeting.

Eileen:  If you give three kisses you turn into hearts.

Linus: (sings) "With a heave and ho and a mighty throw we defenestrated mommy."
(5 minutes later) Hey mommy (giggle giggle) do you want to come with me upstairs?

Eileen: It's. Not. Happening!!!

Eileen to Linus:  Don't eat my brain.  You might get in trouble.  You should probably eat my brain tomorrow.

During a game of Frozen versus Harry Potter
Eileen: I'm not a muggle.  I'm just a queen with ice powers.
Linus: (singing) Let it go. Let it go.
Eileen: Hey that's my song! Linus stole my voice!

Linus shuffles in naked except for underwear
Me:  What are you doing?
Linus:  Being a cave man.

These guys just crack me up.

Maple Leaf Playground

We visited a new park this morning, Maple Leaf Playground. The whole park was recently redone.  I miss the beauty of the reservoir, but I suppose that's the price you pay for protecting the water supply.  Our morning adventure was the perfect opportunity to break out the kids' nature investigation kits. 

Linus found a small worm in the cave.

The kids and I looked at nature and talked about what we saw as we walked around the park.  I liked the butterfly garden.  Supposedly, there are 13 stone and glass butterflies around the park, but we only found six.  The kids collected what they found to be the most interesting, pods and leaves from big leaf maples and shamrocks.  They were excited to be able to identify them using the plant id guides I put in their packs.

The kids taped the pods and leaves into their journals.  We dated the entries.  Linus labeled his findings and then wrote a sentence about what he liked about this park.  The kids were really into hunting for things for their journals.

I give Maple Leaf Park 5 out of 5 stars.  There is a nice flat track for running/walking around what used to be water.  The playground is really nice and has an easy to use zipline (not too high that the kids can't do it by themselves or with only a little help).  There are tons of paved paths that are perfect for little bike riders.  There are shady areas for adults to sit in with good viewing of the entire play area.  My only criticism would be the that the play area is geared toward a younger set, age 8 and under.  Older kids would probably get bored.  I currently see this as a plus since it means I don't have to deal with the frustration of trying to help a little kid play on a something they aren't big enough for, especially since I generally have a baby strapped to me.

SlugFest

The banana slug is the native slug of the Pacific Northwest.  It has been fabled in camp song (Banana Slug sung to the tune of Twist and Shout), story, and sketch comedy. 

How can your soul not be warmed by the touching story of a boy and his pet slug?

Today we decided to cross something off the summer adventure bucket list and visit Northwest Trek.  We were delighted to learn it was Slug Fest and fully immersed ourselves in celebrating slugs.

We found two baby slugs immediately.

Visited the Slug Fest photo booth.

Made slug tentacles.

And competed in human slug races.  Linus won first place! 

I surprised myself by how enthusiastically I cheered for him.  He spent the rest of the day prominently displaying his first place blue ribbon.

Of course we rode the tram.  We had great animal viewing.  The bison got a little too close for my comfort.

This girl loved every moment.  Sometimes I can only watch in awe at her beauty.

And this guy just loved being outdoors and riding in the ergo.  He does not get nearly enough daddy snuggling time.

We finished off the day with water guns in the backyard with the neighbor boys and bacon waffles with whipped cream and strawberries for dinner.  It was a good day. 

Many thanks Mr. Banana Slug.  The kids are already making plans for next year's Slug Fest.  Linus is hoping for a repeat first place finish.

Cardboard Dad

If you do not know already, I think the world of my husband, Dave.  He's a pretty awesome guy.  In lieu of repeating myself, I will submit just one of the many reasons he is a great father.

Reason #1  Cardboard Construction

Dave may be an aerospace engineer by day, but in his off hours he is a cardboard construction master.  The kids are lucky I do so much of my shopping online because it provides their father with a medium for his creative genius.

Some past projects:

Front End Loader

Race Cars

Currently, down in our basement are several castles for the playmobil, complete with dungeons for Eileen's princesses (as per Linus' request).

Sometimes the cardboard creations threaten to take over the house and I have to sneakily break them down with a trusty box cutter and recycle them before anyone catches me.

Every kid should be lucky enough to have someone to show them how using their imaginations can transform the most mundane objects.  Linus and Eileen are already well on their way to demonstrating their own engineering skills.

Thanks Dave for being the kind of dad who makes childhood magical.

Happy Father's Day!

8 Months

Robin is 8 months old.  He is also ready to cheer his brother on at the tee ball game this evening.

very angelic

With each passing month, I try to soak up his baby-ness as much as possible because it really is all too fleeting.

Robin is now a sitting pro (despite occasionally toppling over).  He has expressed zero interest in crawling.  He is working on getting lots of teeth, so everything goes in the mouth.  Socks rarely stay on for more than a few moments.  He likes to babble.  He has the sounds for saying ma-ma but doesn't seem to actually be saying "mama." Soon.  His most distinct trait is how he kicks both feet out repeatedly when he is happy or excited, just like a puppy wagging his tail.

One of Robin's new favorite activities is bath time.  He begins kicking excitedly if he sees a tub being filled.  Oh the disappointment when the tub filling is not for him.

He recently discovered splashing.  Kitchen sink baths might have to end due to splashing water being sent everywhere.

We made an impromptu visit to Portland over the weekend.  It sounded like more fun than cleaning the house.  Robin and Cousin Gwen got to spend lots of time together. 

LOVE the expression on Robin's face.

Robin is chalk full of personality.  He has developed a healthy fear of strangers and people who aren't his mama.  This sometimes makes it tricky to get things done or let other people love on him.

He is finally sleeping a little better these days.  We are transitioning him out of a swaddle using a zipadeedee.  It's basically a sleep sack with flippers.  He still eats twice during the night and likes to join us in bed around 4 am.  He is the only baby who will happily sleep in our bed without kicking us or insisting on nursing.   I refuse to share my bed with him all night long, but with a bed buddy like him I can easily see how bed sharing happens.  I look forward to uninterrupted nights of sleep, but at least there is progress.