Riding the Dog Like a Small Horse

The fact that Ally puts up with this astounds me. She is a great dog. Don't worry, I asked him to get off right after I got the picture. I love this example of Judah dressing himself. Camouflage pants and a striped polo shirt. Hey at least the colors match :)

Brothers!

Samuel is still a bit unsure of pictures with his brother.

My Clock is Yellow!

Today was a milestone. For months we have noticed that Judah is awful with colors. We don't think he's color blind, just really not interested in getting them down. Several months ago we got Judah a clock with colors that shows when he can get out of bed in the morning. Blue means stay in bed, yellow means get up. For months, every morning he comes into our room saying, "My clock is blue, I can get up!". It's actually yellow, so for months we've been saying, "You mean your clock is yellow?". Well, today Judah comes in and says, "My clock is yellow, I can get up!". Funny how it is exciting and sad all at once for him to have finally learned that.

Giant Leek

Last year we left a leek to winter over in the garden. We never got out to use it and when we finally started paying attention to the yard again noticed that it had flowered. It's hugely tall! Who knew leeks flowered, we didn't. 

A smile...with his brother!

Too bad Judah has his hands on his face. Most of my pics of the boys have Samuel with an awful look on his face, probably from being pestered by Judah. Apparently he likes movies and snuggling with Daddy.

Father's Day Camping Trip

We decided last minute, Wednesday, of a busy work week for Jamie, that we should go camping. Jamie found a place in Anacortes, Fidalgo Bay Resort, that had openings. We were able to stay right near the water, overlooking the lovely Anacortes refineries. You may think that isn’t a fun view, but being the Chemical Engineer I am I get a kick out of it. Jamie was hoping to get off early Friday as he had put in lots of hours earlier in the week. Unfortunately that was not possible and I packed as best I could with the kids until he was able to help at noon. We pulled out of the drive around 1:30, not bad!

Once we pulled into camp Jamie went to work setting up the trailer while I took the kids to the nice park across the street from our site. Judah loved it and made a friend and met a really nice cat. Next time we’ll try for site #16 or 17 which is right near the park and a big grassy field. Our site was also great, on a nice grassy area that connected to the bike trail. We went into town after setting up to get some early dinner as we hadn’t had lunch. Then it was back to camp for some bike riding and playing. Judah went to bed really easily in his big boy bunk. Samuel bunked in our stroller bassinet on the couch. It took a little to get him settled but thankfully he takes a pacifier and did sleep. Jamie and I started a cribbage game while we waited for the boys to sleep since I learned to play while at the lake the previous week!

Samuel did pretty good sleeping, only waking at 2:30 and then at about 5 but going right back to sleep. The day was rainy so we watched some shows and hung out inside for awhile. Then we went into town for lunch and to check out the outlet malls. We stopped at the “toy store” (Value Village) on the way back and Judah got a cool hot wheels race track set and cars. He and Jamie set it up on the picnic table to play. We had very nice naps that afternoon and then started on dinner of chicken, potatoes, and veggies. After dinner we did a walk on the trail and then off to bed. Samuel slept really well the second night and only woke up once in the early morning. We didn’t hurry to get going but got started around 10, thinking it would go quick. Turns out it took a bit longer, we didn’t pull out until 12! That’s what happens when the baby wakes up from nap and you lose a set of adult hands. Judah even got a new job, flushing the toilet to rinse the blackwater tank! He did a great job and kept at it for quite a while longer than we expected him to.

Jason and Amanda Visit

We started our weekend with a lovely date night on Saturday night. Jamie and I got away for a movie and dinner while the boys hung out with our great neighborhood sitter. After church the next day Samuel and I headed south to the airport to pick up Jason and Amanda. It was quite sweet to get a running, smiling hug greeting from Jason. The boys immediately hit it off and played together really well. Jason liked to do whatever Judah was doing. We had several adventures over the week. We had sent Jason the book “Larry Gets Lost in Seattle” so he was anxious to ride a ferry boat. After getting some ice cream we took an impromptu ferry ride to Kingston and back one evening when the weather turned out to be glorious. The boys ran all over and had lots of fun.

Jamie had Tuesday off for Memorial Day and since it was a business day and the Sounder Train was running we decided we should make that happen for Judah, plus Amanda wanted to do some downtown adventuring. So we got up bright and early to make the 7:15 train out of Everett. Samuel and I dropped them off and started to drive down to pick them up on the other end. That’s when the adventure got a bit hairy. Jamie will have to relate the whole story, but let’s just say it was stressful but they made the train! After that things went more smoothly. We had a nice walk at the statue park, took lots of pictures and had a snack. Amanda, the boys, and I continued to walk toward the market while Jamie moved the car. We got some yummy food at the market for lunch (crab rangoon, yumm!). Then headed to the Seattle Great Wheel. We got four revolutions on the wheel and got to see the view in glorious sunshine. Then it was time to head home for naps.

Wednesday Jamie headed back to work. We debated what to do with the weather and it turned out pretty decent so we went down to the zoo. We got to see elephants, monkeys, giraffes, and more! Amanda got the boys animal crackers for the ride home and we made it without falling asleep to nap at home.

The next few days we played lots more, had a great seafood dinner out, and we wrapped up the week with a fun halibut dinner with our neighbors, the Rikalos.