Father's Day

We were all so happy to have daddy home for Father's Day.  He had spent most of the week in Portland for work, and then had been at Mt. St. Helens on Friday and Saturday for the Tour de Blast bike ride.  The boys were really great and helpful while daddy was gone, but we sure did miss him!!

Sunday morning, just happened to be Father's Day.  Adam had it all planned out - what we should make him for breakfast, and how to get him to stay in bed.  Adam's getting to be such a big kid!  He was such a big help making breakfast!  He cut up the ham, cracked the eggs, shredded cheese and buttered the toast!  Jackson just stood there looking cute!

 The boys enjoyed helping dad eat his breakfast in bed!

We love you dad!  Thanks for being such a great Father!!!

The Dinosaurs are here!

Woodland Park Zoo has a dinosaur exhibit, so we went to check it out with our friends the Terry's.   Traffic was crazy getting into Seattle because we choose to go the same day as UW graduation.  We got to the zoo about 20 minutes before our friends, so we had some fun running around outside, and Adam found these cute hats they we just couldn't live without!

The first thing we did when we got into the zoo, was check out the dinosaurs.  I will admit, I was a bit disappointed (I think I was expecting something more like the dinoaur park we went to in Ogden - this was a very small exhibit).

The dinosaurs moved, and some of them even spit out water.  Jackson was terrified! 

 He would walk as far as he could on the other side of the sidewalk....

 Adam and Xander thought it was cool!

 This guy not so much...

 We couldn't even get Jackson to sit on this guy with everyone else. 

 After viewing the dinosaurs, we checked out some of the other animals at the zoo.  The boys had fun riding in the wagon.

 Jackson thought the Penguins were much more fun than the dinosaurs.

And he LOVED the elephants.  One was in the elephant barn and was eating some hay.  The hay was hanging from a basket on the ceiling, so the elephant had to lift up his trunk to grab the food.  Every time he did that Jackson would point and clap his hands.  Then he'd should "more, more!"

 By the time we were ready to head home the big boys were tired, so Jackson helped push them in the wagon.

We had some of our favorite pizza at Tutta Bella for dinner (Jackson threw a plate across the table where it shattered on the floor - great times).  We had such a fun time hanging out at the zoo with our friends!



Daddy's Birthday

June is almost over.  I've mentioned Scott's birthday in previous posts, but should probably finish with all we did that day.  Adam was so excited to make him a happy birthday banner.  He spent quite a lot of time drawing birthday robots and robot presents.

 We don't have a lot of wall space, so the only place we could find to hang the lovely banner was over the sliding glass door.  As a matter of fact, it is still hanging up as I type this...

 We had a fun BBQ for dinner and enjoyed being outside.  Then Scott opened a few additional presents (including, of course, a new Dallas Cowboys jersey!) 

 Then the boys helped him blow out the candles on his ice cream cake.  I let Adam pick out the candles at the store where we bought the cake.  I should have paid more attention - I thought they spelled out "Happy Birthday" but when I opened them I realized they spelled out "Happy Retirement".  Oh well!  It was a Happy day regardless of what the candles said!

We sure love our Daddy!  He works so hard for our family, and loves to play with his boys!  No matter how tired or worn out he is from work (and from getting up at 4:00 every morning to workout), he will always go on a bike ride with Adam, and then spend hours chasing both boys around the house before bedtime.  I am so greatful for the man I married, and adore him more and more every day!

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

Ride to the top!

My brother (Brian) and I have been training a lot on our bikes. (Thanks to Tammy for all her support!) We have been doing a lot of big rides looking for every hill we can find to ride up! Our longest ride has been 65 miles and we did that in just under 4 hours.

We signed up to ride the "Tour the Blast". It's an 82 mile ride up to the Johnston observatory overlooking Mt St Helens. You ride 41 miles one way and then back. On the ride up you have a 9 mile climb to do! That's why we were riding every hill we could find. We were in great shape and had no problem riding up the Mountain but this is the first time I ever got cold riding up a hill, especially 9 miles of it. The last mile I started to shiver! We got 30 miles in and tried to warm up but every layer I had was soaked. (Brian took his shoes off at one point and poured water out of them!) They had two warming tents with fires going and we couldn't warm up. Then we heard from support vehicals that it was down to 42 degrees 10 miles ahead at the top. So we started down. 30 miiles an hour on a bike, in the pouring rain, no visibility and unable to stop shaking from shivering so much was enough. We stopped about 4 miles down the 5 mile descent and went into the museum to warm up. We then got a ride down as the state patrol came and said no more bikes past the stop that we had just left because it was snowing above us. We ended up getting a ride down with all the other riders who got stuck in the bad conditions. A few wrecked other got hypothermia and a ride in the ambualnce.
For the first time Brian and I were smart and quit while we were ahead! At least our conditioning was great and the 9 mile climb was no problem.

By the way as we were walking to the starting line a group of guys were walking by with some very nice bikes stopped to look at my bike and said, "Wow, that is one mean looking bike!" Yes I puffed my chest out! So thanks to my awesome wife and brother for getting me such a great bike!

Here are a few photos of the ride the day before, Brian and I drove the route to see what we were in for and then a picture of me on the ride. That picture was only me about 5 miles in and you can see how wet it is already!





Here I am in the rain! Look close you can see al the rooster tail off of my back tire!

Is it summer yet?

I'm sure everyone who doesn't live in Washington (and probably many that do) are tired of hearing those of us that do, complain about the fall/winter like temperatures we've been having around here.  Seriously - today, the high 58 degrees.  My furnace came on this morning - it's June 15th for crying out loud!  We should hit at least 65 degrees everyday.  I want to wear short sleeves and be warm, instead of sweatshirts and still be cold! 

Ok - I'll stop complaining, and get to the real reason for this post.  The weekend of June 4th was BEAUTIFUL!  I ordered the sunshine special for Scott's birthday, and it worked!  (I just have to figure out how to get it to work the rest of the time!).  The weather on Saturday was up in mid to upper 70s.  Talk about heaven!!!  We decided to pull out the pools and let the water warm up so the boys could play outside after Jackson's nap.  Can I say again how heavenly it felt sitting out on the grass watching them play?

Here's my studdly Jackson.  He was given this cute swimsuit from our friend Xander.  I figured out after it was already on him and he was outside playing that I put it on him backwards.  He wasn't about to stop and let me fix it, so he wore it backwards.  Doesn't he look so grown up?

 Here's my darling neice Robyn.  She is 10 months old and so cute!  Daris and Rachael make cute kids - maybe they should try for another one?

 Robyn and Jackson hanging together.  Robyn thought that was ok until Jackson decided to start jumping in the water and splashing all over her....

 ...so, he moved to the big pool with Adam, and they jumped and splashed and had a gay-old time!

 It was seriously a lovely afternoon!  (Scott was at the bike shop having his bike fitting). 

Jackson and Robyn even took a little bath together before Robyn headed for home that night.  Cute kiddos!

Seiously summer - we are SOOOOO ready for your arrival!

Anyone want a bike?

Scott is a hard man to surprise!  In all the years we've been married, I've only managed it twice - the first time was when we went to Hawaii. I bought him a new wedding band (the band he had was a cheap one that was all we could afford when we got married).  I gave it to him our first night on the island, and he was seriously surprised!  The second time was at Christmas a couple years ago.  I replaced a watch that he had left on the top of the car when we drove off after a Mariner's game.  It was no easy feat to get the exact same watch, and he was so surprised when he opened it! 

With his 40th birthday coming up, I really wanted to get him something fabulous!  I thought about taking him to Las Vegas (he's never been), or taking him to Dallas to see a Cowboys game, in Cowboys stadium.  I think he would have loved either of those things, but after talking with his brother, I thought it might be fun to get him a really fabulous bike.  Scott and his brother have really gotten in to bike riding.  They ride at least once a week and Scott also does a spinning class at the gym.  They have signed up for several rides in the area and have been training really hard.  Scott has worked so incredibly hard to lose weight so he can be active and participate in all the fun stuff to come with our boys.  So, what better reward for all that, then a seriously nice bike?

It was so hard to keep it a secret.  In fact, I think he knew - but Brian is a good partner in crime!  Brian bought a new bike for himself back in March.  Scott was so jealous, and we talked several times about when he could do the same thing.  Then we found out I was pregnant, and it just didn't fit into our budget.  So, Brian offered to loan him the money, but then decided he couldn't.  Then they talked about Scott selling his motorcycle, but I told him I didn't want him too.  After Brian told me that Scott was sure he was getting the bike for his birthday, I told Scott maybe he really should sell his motorcycle - I had changed my mind (I'm pregnant - I can do that kind of thing!)  It was pretty fun to see how confused and crazy we could make him!

Brian worked it all out with the bike shop, that the boys and I could go in and surprise Scott the morning of his birthday.  Brian came over that morning, and he and Scott left for a short ride.  As soon as they left, I put the boys in the car, and headed down to the shop.  Brian told Scott he needed to stop at the bike shop to get one of his shoes fixed.  The guys at the shop were so nice, and they were super excited to be in on the big secret and reveal.  Several of them came up to me while we were waiting, and told me what an awesome bike I had picked out (really - Brian did all the shopping and building of the bike - I had no idea what to get him!)  I saw Scott and Brian walk into the shop, and quickly grabbed the boys and hid.  Scott saw the bike leaning up against the wall, and later he told me that he was so jealous of who-ever the lucky bastard was that got that bike!  Adam, Jackson and I jumped out of the room, yelled surprise and just laughed at how confused Scott was.  I seriously think this was the best surprise ever!

Do you think he's excited?

 Here we all are with the bike.  Brian had arranged for the guys at the shop to give Scott a full fitting (I guess they measure you and get the seat and pedals and handlebars and everything set so you can ride at your best). 

 Just before we left.

Scott ended up going on a short ride that morning with Brian, and has since (it's been a week) logged well over a hundred miles on the bike.  He did tell me that he figured he was getting a bike, but he was totally surprised to get it the way he did.  I'm glad Brian was here to help me pull it off!  Happy Birthday Babe!!!

April and May - up to date!

I've been busily adding the goings on for April and May to our blog. 
Don't miss reading about our Easter, Mother's Day, Adam's preschool graduation, or our anniversary.
Those were some busy months!

Coming soon - Scott's big birthday celebrations, and the arrival of the sun (even if it was short lived!)

The summer before us....

I have a bunch of stuff to add to our blog all about the month of May.  I finally downloaded pictures today, so I am one step closer! 

One thing that happened in May - Adam graduated from preschool.  Which means that our whole routine is up in the air - I was actually feeling pretty good about the way things were going, and now I've got to get my days re-organized!  Today was his first official day without school.  We did go in during the morning for an all-school clean up (it was a co-op program, so I'm kind of feeling like I graduated too!), but during the afternoon when Adam has normally been at school, he was home.  I put Jackson down for a nap and settled Adam into some quiet time with paper and markers so he could draw, and went in the other room to get some work done.  About 30 minutes later, I walked back into the room where Adam was, to find that he had done this to himself...

After the initial shock wore off, (he has never drawn all over himself before) I asked him what the heck he was doing and explained that we don't draw on our bodies.  He told me that he wanted to be an awesome super hero!  So, he drew blasters on the insides of his hands, and a cool disguise on his face and arms.  I even found out later that he had colored in some of his toenails and drew on his belly as well.  He went right into the shower after he promised that he would never draw on his body again.  I guess it's time to get some projects and stuff for him to do while Jackson naps in the afternoons.  Otherwise, it's gonna be a looooong summer!