Is it Fair?

Well, August in Whatcom County means it is time for the Fair.  Although it wasn't a priority in our schedules, we did manage to make it to the final day of the Fair.  The Fair really was just a bonus to spending time with David, Lili, Maggie, Benjamin, Samantha, and Amanda.

Sydney got to spend the day with her friend Maggie, so she was extra excited.  She got to ride the smaller 'carnival' roller coaster with Maggie.  I figured she was a coaster pro by now, but she screamed the entire time.  I kept saying to other people who were looking on in horror, "geez, whose kid is that?!"  She got another chance to redeem herself on the spinning dinosaur ride, but she clearly did not like the velocity for which we were spinning, and for which she was plastered to the back of the vehicle.

Corwin enjoyed his time at the fair staring at livestock.  He looked amazed...I'm not sure if it was due to the size of the animals, or the fact that the cows were not smaller...inside buns...and covered with ketchup.  When he was rested up, he made short work of funnel cake, cotton candy, and lemonade before hitting the zipper and the grav-a-tron in the adult carnival area...at least he only wishes.  I'm sure in time he'll get to explore his thrill issues.

We are looking forward to Nana's arrival next week and I'm sure we'll have more fun updates to share.  In the meantime, have a great weekend!!!

 

Wedding Bells

We made a recent trip to Florence, Oregon, to celebrate Nathan and Amber's wedding.  It was a nice ceremony and all of the festivities went off without a hitch…well, except for the hitch’n that was supposed to happen. I served as best man for the occasion, so it meant I got to say a few words of advice to the newly married couple.  Really it meant I got to share some jokes along with offering the normal best wishes.  While I'm usually modest by nature, I gotta say I was sizzl'n hot!

Sydney had the task of handing out the bubbles.  She did such a thorough job that some people ended up with two bottles...you can never have enough, right?  Of course she was thoroughly entertained with the reception and the music.

Corwin decided he’d be in touch with his Scottish roots and sport a kilt.  He was great during the ceremony, and also the reception.  I don't think there were many occasions where he was anything but a happy little trooper.  He's had a rough couple of weeks on the teething front, so I'm proud he manned-up (perhaps little-boy'd up) and made it easy on us.

We also had a recent visit from Mary and Jake, all the way from Montana.  Mary will soon have her own bundle of joy, so we wish them the very best with their upcoming addition to the family.

Well, there is a lot more that can be shared, but I just wanted to give a few of the bigger highlights and share some pictures.

Have a great weekend!!!

Eight is Great

The Eastman’s made their annual trip to the United States from Japan.  Their timing usually fits with the 4^th of July holiday, which means good food (BBQ, yum), good company, and some entertainment.  Usually the entertainment comes in the form of sparklers or some other tame firework.  And while this year still contained sparklers, there was much more entertainment from all of the little ones that were drooling and crawling around (enough about Chris and me).

 

Myles and Corwin are just weeks apart, and Kaiya represents the eldest of the young party.  And with all of the kiddos around, you could certainly tell that the adult conversation has changed quite a bit over the years, from whatever fun random thing that could spark a conversation, to more of a theme...what's the type of best binkie to use, the benefits of certain butt creams, and also breastfeeding.  It's all part of the territory, though. 

 

Sydney and Reina, especially being another year older, had a great time.  Their time together, especially at night, had the ‘slumber-party’ feel to it.  During the day, they also put their time in at parks, as well as playing around the house.  It's fun to see the pictures taken at different times, just to see how much they've grown.

 

As for me, it meant that Chris and I got to catch a few soccer games, both for the Sounders and for the U.S. National Team.  It's great to be able to watch a little bit with someone else who understands the game.  Sydney will watch with me, but she doesn't understand the strategy of the game.  However, she is great at yelling GGGOOOOOOAALLLLLLL!!!  She gets props for that.

 

One thing is for certainly, Chris and Jillian make sure their time involves catching up on food they miss during the year, such as Taco Wagon, Hawaiian BBQ, Taco Wagon, Bob’s, Taco Wagon, and other locations that kick your salivary glands into high gear.  While it is all certainly fantastically delicious, I'm just lucky I didn't gain 10 lbs. for my participation.

 

It was great to have them here, and we'll miss them.  Fortunately, they are just a short Skype away!!! 

 

Picture That!

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  After years of having my large blue photo album that contained my baby, toddler, and early life pictures, I thought I had some good images to remember and reflect about.  It was only after I visited my brother and stumbled upon his 'THREE' rather large photo albums that I quickly realized, it's true, second children don't get the same photograph attention as the first born children.  It's likely because having a first child is a new adventure, and the excitement requires us to snap away at everything, not know what is important and what is probably just another picture taking up space on a page or taking up memory in the computer.

 

Well, I have to admit that we are probably going not buck that norm.  For the volume of pictures that we took of Sydney, it would actually be a little difficult to actually exceed that with Corwin.  Having said that, we have always been very aware of this issue and always made a conscious effort to get great photos of Corwin's young years.  So, even if he does not have the same quantity (not always the best thing), he would have some great quality to look back on, as we will too, as parents.  And in this digital age of snap away and delete the ones you don't like, he will have no shortage of memories himself.

 

Corwin has had three professional session, and the pictures in this post are taken by Rebecca Brethauer, a friend with a great eye :)

 

In other news, Corwin is on the verge of crawling.  He's been rolling around the house for a while now, but he's so close to making forward and not sideways progress.  He loves to stand, so I almost wouldn't be surprised if he skipped crawling and went straight to walking, or even running.

 Have a great weekend!!!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'!

A few things have happened in the last couple of weeks.  Nana from Montana made a visit for Memorial Day weekend. It was great having her and she got to see how far Corwin has come since Christmas. Sydney got to spend a girls day out with her too, getting pedicures and shopping.

We also got to go enjoy the local Highland Games in Ferndale this year. Joe always has to have some haggis, it is an important ritual. Sydney enjoyed watching the bagpipers and the dancers, in fact she wants to do some Scottish dancing, but we'll see where that takes us!

Syd started swim class again, she is now in the intermediate level, so hopefully this will mean that she can actually swim a bit soon. But she is slowly getting better and more confident.

And lastly, Corwin is now rolling to get places! Sydney never discovered that skill, she went straight to army crawling, so this is different, but he will roll all over the living room to try to get to this and that. It is very cute. I think by the end of June he will probably figure out how to move forward, then watch out! Also, he is very into yelling at his toys and making noise. If we were at all worried about him being able to make his presence known while Sydney is around, well, nothing to fear there!

That is it for now! Sorry it wasn't more entertaining, Joe decided to "let" me write one for once. (Maybe this will encourage him to get back on the bandwagon, hehe.

It's a Zoo!!!

Time does certainly fly by.  It seems like we were just changing Sydney's diaper the other day (6 wipes of course), and now she is a full-fledged four-year-old who can already read and clearly has her own opinion...and she's happy to tell you what your opinion should be, too!  

We hope Corwin doesn't grow too, fast.  Among his list of firsts...he made his very first trip to the zoo, specifically Woodland Park Zoo.  He had a great time, even though it was mostly viewed from the double stroller, which doubled as protection from the occasional raindrops.

 

We lucked out and were able to see most of the animals that we had hoped, and managed to snap a few decent pictures.  Although we took some great pictures of bears, flamingos, and kangaroos, I thought it would be more interesting to share a few other pictures of descendants of the gorilla family...Sydney, Corwin, and Karen.  Sydney has been to this zoo a total of three times now, so we thought it would be fun to share the comparisons between visits.  Of course, you also get to see Corwin's first gorilla picture (hint, he's the one on top).

In other news, Corwin got to spend a little time with his bud Myles, also known as JP and Elyse's little guy.  They had fun exchanging, chewing, and drooling on toys.  All in all they had a great visit and talked mostly about the Sounders season so far, as well as general techniques they employ to keep their parents up at night.  Corwin certainly had much more to share on this front, as he is way more experienced at practicing this skill (basically a different way of saying Myles is a much better sleeper at night.

We also made a trip to Federal Way to participate in a fun run.  This fundraiser event helped to raise money for a good cause, but also gave us an opportunity to catch up with Suni and her family.  Sydney also got to enjoy a 'sleepover' with her friend Jayna.  We don't get to see them enough, but we enjoy every minute we get to spend with them.

 
 
 
We look forward to sharing pictures in our next post of Nana's visit from Montana.  She arrived two days ago, and it's already been a fun time.  Until then, have a great holiday weekend!!!

First visit.

Second visit.

Third visit.

DL Part 2: Behind the Scenes






Fun time were had at the 'Mad T Part' in California Adventure.

I thought it would be fun to share a few more pictures from Disneyland, especially considering the amount of pictures that were taken.  As great as some of the standard pictures of everyone in front of the castle or with characters are, some of the best pictures are of the candid moments that happen along the way...at least that is where some of the best memories come from.  The picture from Splash Mt. is one of my favorites.  It was Sydney's first ever time going on the ride, and the picture says it all.  She was extremely terrified of the drop...I mean, after all, why would anyone choose to ride a perfectly good log down a hill on a stream of water???  Well, you can see I had fun, but I was actually more concerned with her making it through the ride in once piece.

 

Our encounter with a large flamingo!

In other news...Corwin is doing great at eating solid foods.  Obviously he has no teeth yet, but that hasn't stopped him from eating berries, toast, vegetables, and even getting serious with a piece of steak.  Once his teeth do come in, I am fearful for any food item that crosses his path.  It will surely be no match for his ravenous appetite.  He continues to get bigger, more vocal, and developing his hand-eye coordination.

In Sydney news, she continues to do great at everything, especially reading.  At school, they are focusing on learning a particular letter each week using fun activities.  Unfortunately for Sydney, she's known her alphabet forever and has been reading words and sentences, so I'm sure it's not at entertaining for her.  But we're proud of the progress she is making.  I'm sure she'll be reading Shakespeare to us next year!...ha ha!

All in all, everyone is doing great.  Have a great weekend!!!

Corwin discovers ice cream!



My definition of magic!