Amatuer Photographer

SELF PORTRAIT

POP POP EATING A SANDWICH

Snow Conz!

Miss Molly cemented her status as the kids favorite neighborhood mom when she brought out the snow cone machine! We get one good day of weather this week and had to celebrate.

The kids were very excited that a treat usually only at the zoo and fairs was now coming from their front yards! The moms were overjoyed about the plastic cups (snow cones drip and that is fun for no one).

With the way Bayley and Hayden love to eat crushed ice, I think we'll have to invest in one too!

Clown Day

Hayden's preschool has fabulous theme days. Today was Clown Day. Hayden was so excited to get to wear his clown costume (courtesy of the dress-up bag we swiped from Gram-mo's closet a while back. It is an Ungle Gabe original, I hear).



He was bothered that I had no red lipstick to decorate his nose, but never fear...the teachers thought of everything! They gave him a red nose and red cheeks (complete with sparkles!)

Here's hoping it's washable! He wiped his red cheek on my pant leg!

New Camera & a Smoothie

Wonder why there haven't been many posts? Our camera died a slow death...but with the baby coming we got a new one. I don't know why, but having pictures seems to be essential to my boy blogging. Without the pictures I don't have the urgency to post anything!

So...Hayden gets these High Five magazines (like Highlights, but for the under 5 set) and they have a recipe in them. This month was a strawberry smoothie. He had a great time making it...especially since I let him use a very dull knife to cut up the bananas and strawberries...but he had no interest in drinking it. Bayley tried it, but decided it was too sweet.

Maybe next month's recipe will have more appeal.

Today was so so - by Bayley

Sunday

Today was so so . The bad parts were...Dad was not listening to me. Hayden was annoying me. I also got blamed for something I did not do.

The good parts were...I got to play Clue with Dad but he beat me. We played Candyland but Hayden threw a fit so we couldn't finish.

Sibling Tour

The boys had a class last night about being a Super Sibling and got a preview of the birthing center at the hospital. They even made Gracious Mae her first birthday cards! So cute!

The instructor showed the kids how to hold a baby...Bayley did great, but Hayden was more interested in taking the doll's diaper off and putting it on her head...they learned about always washing their hands before holding a new baby and not feeding the baby their food. It was great.

Until Hayden had a meltdown in the elevator. He walked through the birth center under duress. Even making the bed go up and down and seeing the bathroom didn't appease him.

This morning he did say he was glad there was lots of room for snacks in the room. OK then.

Up Up And Away...

The boys wanted to go to the Forestry Center. Simple enough, except they wanted to ride the forest canopy lift. It's not jumpy, but not something I'd think they'd appreciate a prego lady doing. So Grandma had to go twice! She was a sport about it, but I had to get evidence. Not sure it will happen again.

The boys enjoyed all their favorite things to do there - climbing on the jeep, sitting in the tractor seat, trying to maneuver the logging simulator, playing with the stuffed animals in the burrows, and jumping around in the raft.

They weren't keen on the photo exhibit...I think the dino exhibit that is coming in a few months will be more their speed.

Out of This World

A new play place recently opened up. It has pizza, ice cream, and enough activities to keep my boys busy for 4 hours. Yes. 4!

We came a bit before a group of friends from Hayden's preschool, so the boys got to check everything out. Bay really liked the rock wall, Hayden was all about the friction cars.

There were climbing structures (an enormous one with 6 slides for big kids, a small one for kids under 5...Hayden could do both!), inflatable obstacle courses (one for the big kids, one for the wee ones), and a padded area with books for little ones or kids who wanted to chill out and read (like Bayley when he got too sweaty.

It was quite the happening place. We were meeting up with 5 friends from Hayden's school...and 2 more of their school chums showed up! Bayley even found two classmates from his reading group at school!

Even the pizza was a big hit. Because we were there with the moms, I got veggie, Bay got cheese (5 slices) and Hayden had his meat (sausage). If we'd been alone we'd have all had cheese. I like going in groups!

Dinosaur Mania

Portland has gone Dino-nuts this year. Dinosaurs everywhere - OMSI, Forestry Center, Zoo, Chinese Garden...we hope to make it to them all.

The boys saw the dinos at OMSI last month, but Grandma & I hadn't yet, so we made a special trip. It really is a great exhibit. Then the boys split up so Hayden could enjoy the science playground, and Bayley could lead Grandma through the chemistry and science labs.

The boys even found a way to empty out Grandma's change purse for educational purposes...they dropped coins into slots to help them understand orbits. I think it helped them understand not to put your hand in the way of a rolling coin...but hey, who knows?

Easter Fun!

EASTER PARTY

We started the morning with a brunch and egg hunt with the neighbors. The kids had a BLAST! They love to get together and play, so playing while chowing down on doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, and muffins was their idea of heaven. As is sitting beneath the table.


Once they'd eaten, they rushed out for an egg hunt. It was raining, but these are Oregon kids, so they didn't even notice. We let the little kids start first, but I think the boys still managed to pick up more than their share of eggs. I think it was the huge baskets they picked to hunt with.

Either way, I had fun trying to sneak eggs out of the stash as they unloaded. And still, we have nearly as much candy as we did at Halloween!!

EASTER DINNER

The boys had another egg hunt once they got to Grandma & Grandpa's. Grandma hides the baskets, and usually they find them right away...as in before saying hello...but this year we had to play hot & cold.

Once they collected the eggs, they had fun playing with the 'hay'. My gosh, that stuff can sure make a mess!