First Haircut

We've been debating about giving Jackson a haircut for a few weeks. It's not that his hair was super long, it was just all different lengths, and was starting to look like a mop. We finally broke down and broke out the razor for a quick buzz cut. We did it right after dinner, and gave Jackson a piece of licorice to suck on during the ordeal. We were all prepared for major screaming and thrashing (which is how Adam always responded to a haircut - it's only been in the past 8 months or so that he has finally stopped throwing a fit while getting a haircut.), but Jackson surprised us and just sat in his high chair sucking on the licorice.

He even managed to give me some good smiles!
Until we got to the back of his head, when he decided he wasn't having much fun anymore! The bad thing about giving him the licorice is that he was so sticky! He had a little hair beard! You can also see his face is tinted red from the licorice (although some of that redness is also because he was pretty mad)!
Here's the final picture after a nice shower to clean up the hair and licorice. I think he looks very different, but pretty darn cute! I do already miss all that fine baby hair, but his head is cute and fuzzy now!!

End of the T-Ball season

T-ball sure went fast this year. I think Adam had a lot of fun, and his t-ball skills seemed to improve. He's become quite a slugger - he just needs to work on the catching and throwing part. He does pretty good if he will actually look at the person he's playing catch with - otherwise the ball goes flying over the other persons head.

The Mill Creek YMCA does year end parties a little different - normally the team just meets up in the parking lot of the ball fields after the last game, the coach hands out trophies, and that's it. We had a great team, and they all wanted to have an actual little party, which was great for us since we were in Wisconsin the day of the last game. We all decided to head to a local park for pizza and cake. It was fun.

Here's the team with the coaches (Scott ended up as the assistant coach, which was great!)
Adam and his buddy Xander showing off their trophies.

After pizza, cake and a little presentation by the coach, we headed to the playground. Adam climbed to the top of this spiderweb thingy. Then he got stuck and Scott had to help him get down.

We're looking forward to t-ball again next year. We enjoyed playing with the Mill Creek Y, so we will do the same, and try to keep the team together.

Wallis Reunion - coming home

Saturday, the reunion came to an end and both of Scott's sisters headed on their way back home. The rest of us packed up, and headed to the waterpark for one last hurrah. Then came the drive from Wisonsin Dells to Decatur, IL where Scott's parents live. It was nice to see their home again. They've been working hard at replacing floors and painting walls, and it looks fabulous! Adam and Brian were happy to be out of the car and cuddled up on the couch!
The next day, we once again piled in the car for the ride to Indianapolis and the airport. We flew from Indianapolis to Houston and after a mad dash from the end of one terminal in the Houston airport, onto a tram, and half-way down another terminal, we boarded another plane for a 4.5 hour plane ride home.
I have to say, I am SOOOOO greatful that Uncle Brian agreed to travel with us! Three adults with two kids was AWESOME! Uncle Brian got Adam duty, which left Scott free to help me juggle the monster of a 10 month old we call Jackson. Now, before our travels, I would have to say that Jackson was a pretty easy going kid. There were a few things he didn't like, and he would put up a bit of a protest for these things, but nothing too bad. After our travels, it's a whole different story. Jackson has a MAJOR attitude!!! And, he's not afraid to share that attitude! He does not like being held in a small space, and he knows what he wants, and will keep fighting for it, until he gets it. We also learned that his voice works really well - as did all of our neighbors on the plane. He's developed this screech that could shatter glass - and he's not afraid to use it!
So, once again - THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Uncle Brian!! I know that there were some perks to traveling with us (like getting to go to the front of the security line), but those were totally outweighed by all the annoyances (having to wait in security to have every bottle and jar of baby food tested, the screaming, waiting for the stroller that was gate checked, the layovers, never having a moments peace from Adam). I'm not sure how we'll ever repay Brian for making these sacrifices! But, he does have the total adoration of one 4 year old! Does that help???

Wallis Reunion - Ride the Duck

Friday of the reunion came around and we were a little water parked out, so a few of us decided to go "ride the duck". They had several of these ride the duck places in the area, but we were told that the best one to go on was the "Original Wisconsin Duck". So off we went for a tour of the Wisconsin River. It was a pretty cool ride! We saw some beautiful fern beds and rock formations as well as some historic sites in the area. It was fun to go splashing into the water and rolling through forest trails.

Scott and Adam enjoyed making faces.

Jackson enjoyed the ride until he finally fell asleep.

After the duck ride, Adam wanted to go back to the water park. Instead, we talked him into playing some miniature golf. We went to a Pirate golf course, which was perfect for Adam. He had a great time golfing with his cousin, Jared, Uncle Brian, Uncle Carman, dad and Grandpa.

Wallis Reunion - Sleeping

With all the fun stuff we did at the reunion - it's no surprise that we had very tired boys at the end of the night. I went up to check on Jackson one night and found him sleeping like this. I thought it was cute!

We made a little bed for Adam on the floor of our room. He is such a crazy sleeper - he moves around a lot. One morning, Scott woke up to find Adam like this
Scott took the picture with his cell phone, so it's a little blury - but Adam's legs are underneath the bed! I'm not sure how he actually gets any rests some nights! He moves around like crazy! But, Scott pulled him out from under the bed, and Adam was so tired, he stayed asleep and slept for at least another hour that morning!

Wallis Reunion - Water Park Fun

Wisonsin Dells is the water park capital of the United States. I have to say that I have never seen as many water parks in one place. As you drive down the main street in town it is lined with water parks down each side. Pretty crazy! We talked about trying out one of the big parks, but we got free tickets to the Chula Vista resort park from the place we stayed, and who can beat that deal!! So, we spent two afternoons playing at the waterpark. We even stopped off at the waterpark after checking out of the resort before heading home.

Adam had SO much fun! It was the perfect place for kids. Lots of smaller slides that he could do on his own. Basically - just lots of water! There were also slides for the grownups. Adam was tall enough to go down all of the slides. He tried a couple of the bigger ones, but soon realized that he wasn't quite ready for those yet. His favorite was a gray slide in the outdoor area. He wanted to go down it over and over!The kiddie pool was great for the little ones! Very shallow water with little fountains spurting up all over. Jackson had fun playing with Grandma and Clara.

There was also a lazy river, which was great fun. We all jumped on some tubes and floated around.

And around.

I think this was Jackson's favorite thing to do. He laid on my lap splashing in the water once in awhile. It was hard to pry his little fists off the handles of the tubes when we were ready to get out!

It was lots of fun!

It was a fun way to spend a lot of our time while at the reunion. The park was the perfect size - it was fairly easy to find the others of our group, and there was enough to keep everyone from the babies up to the adults entertained!

I had to include this last picture!

Wallis Reunion - Flooding

Thursday morning of the reunion, we woke up to the sounds of rain - pounding, pouring, crazy rain! I have never seen it rain like that before! It rained most of the morning and would go from serious pouring to regular raining, back to sheets of water falling from the sky! The grounds of the place we stayed was covered in puddles!

While we waited out the rain, Jackson discovered a very fun thing! Sarah (Scott's youngest sister), had a baby in December, and she brought along this walker. Jackson loved it! He enjoys sitting in the excersaucer at home, but I think he liked this so much because he could make it go places. He spent lots of time playing in Clara's walker.
Here's Clara trying to figure out who that guy is in her walker!

We had a little bit of rain Friday morning, but not nearly as much as Thursday.

Wallis Reunion - Swinging

There was a little swing set where we stayed for our reunion. Jackson LOVED it. If he was having a hard time or being grumpy, the swing cured those grumps every time! Here are the many faces of Jackson while swinging!

It was fun listening to him squeal and giggle! The hard part was getting him to let go of the ropes and pulling him out of the swing. He never wanted to get out!

Adam had fun swinging too!

Wallis Reunion - Family Pics

We flew into Indianapolis and before heading up to Wisconsin Dells, the entire family met up for family pictures. Jason's daughters weren't able to go to the actual reunion, but they did join us for pictures - which was fabulous! It was the first time in 8 years where every member of the family was able to be together.

Here is the family shot.

In red at the left - Jason and Autumn, with their kids Rachel (11), Summer (8), Ashley (8), and Harrison (6)

In blue Mariner's shirts - Scott and I with Adam (4), and Jackson (10 months - sitting on Grandma's lap)

In Green - Uncle Brian

In Black - Laura and Mike with Jared (13), Zachary (11) and Megan (3 - also on Grandma's lap)

In white - Sarah and Carman with Emmalynne (2) and Clara (6 months)

In yellow - Grandma and Grandpa

Here are all the kiddos. Cute picture - huh!

The rest of the families did family pictures. We recently had family pics done, so we asked Adam who he wanted a picture with. He, of course said, Uncle Brian. Love this picture of them together!

Wallis Reunion - Wisconsin Dells

Scott's family gets together every other year for a family reunion. We didn't make it to the one two years ago, so were excited to head out to the midwest for this one. It was Scott's parents turn to put everything together, and decide where we were meeting. They picked Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. So, Monday morning, we got the boys up bright and early and headed to the airport. After a day of flying and then another day of driving, we arrived at the Sand Drift resort. Here is a picture from the beach of the resort. We stayed right on Lake Delton, which is a man made lake off of the Wisconsin River. There was a dock and a little sandy beach, which was perfect for the kids to play on.

Adam spent most of his time on the beach or in the water. In fact, we didn't learn very quickly that he wasn't going to stay out of the water. After changing his clothes for the 4th time, we finally decided to just leave him in his swim suit.

The lake was man made, so it was very shallow. Adam could walk out past the dock, and the water only came up to him waist.

Grandma brought this great alligator for floating in the water.

Adam spent lots of time floating on the alligator and paddling himself around with the garden tools.

He had so much fun playing in the water with his cousins.

There were also row boats, paddle boats and canoes. One night we decided to take the boys out on the water.

It really was the perfect place for us to stay. The beach and water were so fun for the kids! It was a challenge to keep Adam out of the water!

Argh, Matey!

Adam loves pirates! So, when he was invited to join his friend Xander at a Pirate camp, he was so excited! A new Little Gym arrived in our neighborhood several months ago, and we had been meaning to give it a try, and this was the perfect chance. Every day this past week, Adam and Xander have spent the afternoons learning pirate songs, making pirate things (hat, hook, telescope, boat), and finding pirate treasure. I was so excited to hear about all the fun things they did each day when I picked him up. It was great fun, and Adam has been walking around singing "Yo, ho, Yo, ho, a pirate's life for me" and "When I was young, I had some fun, the day I went to sea! I jumped on board a pirate ship, and the captain said to me; o we go this way, that way, port side, star board, over the deep blue sea!"

Here's my cute pirate!

One funny thing - the last day of pirate camp, Adam was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, and he leaned over too far, fell off the stool and banged his head on the counter. It bled pretty good, and he got a pretty nasty bruise. Now, anytime someone asks Adam what happend to his head he starts telling the story by saying, "I was going to pirate camp..." and then says something about falling down in the bathroom. It's hilarious!

Summertime Hiking

Summer has finally arrived here in Washington, and we couldn't be happier! After Adam's T-ball game on Saturday, we decided to head out to the woods, instead of going home to clean the house and do laundry - and who could blame us? Laundry can wait when it's a beautiful 80 degrees outside! We packed up some water and snacks into a backpack and headed up to Twin Falls near the town of North Bend.

Here are my favorite guys ready to go! We did this same hike last summer, but didn't go all the way up to the bridge over the falls. Something about being 8 months pregnant with a baby pushing his feet into my lungs didn't make me want hike to the top. But - nothing was stopping us this year! Scott carried Jackson on his back, which was an adventure in itself. Jackson kept throwing his weight back and forth trying to pull the leaves off the trees. He had a great time on his first hike. Although, in this picture he doesn't seem too excited. This is from the bridge at the top of the falls.

This one captures a little more excitement.

Again - my favorite guys! You have to walk down a whole bunch of very steep stairs to get down to this view of the upper falls. Adam was a trooper and walked all the way down and then practically ran up the stairs on the way back out.

After going up to the bridge, we hiked back down to a spot where you can get down to the river. We had a great time playing in the water and hopping on the boulders. Jackson thought the water was too cold, but he did enjoy sitting by the river and trying to eat the rocks.

Adam was fearless on these rocks! He and Scott did some boulder hopping and Adam almost pulled Scott into the water several times!

Adam and I got into a nice water fight, which was fun!

Scott caught this great picture of Adam jumping in to splash me. After playing in the water and chasing after a little water snake, we packed up and hiked out. It was a great way to spend the afternoon together. We are all excited to have many more days like this over the next month or two!