Personal Drinking Fountain

Hmm.  Water park, you say?  Can I drink from these things?

Holy crap, people, did you see that!?!  The water just COMES OUT OF THE GROUND!

Daddy, did you see?  Can you do something about this?

 

I’m just not sure this is right.  In my experience, drinking fountains look much different, but if you say so…

 

I tried drinking and it splashed my face!!!  Daddeeee!

The relative safety of daddy’s hand is nice.

 

Hm.  Now what?

This really isn’t as neat as you all think it is.  And I’m cold.

 

 

Ah, better. 

 

Oh, hi mommy.

 

Look!  A camera!

*I am genuinely sorry I didn’t capture Charles drinking from the water shooting up from his feet.  Priceless, I tell you, priceless.

Heading Home, Whistlin' a Tune

After a fantastic weekend at the beach (other than the stuffy noses with which we wake up after being assaulted by new allergens), we are about to head home. Here are some highlights:

-Charles stayed up VERY late to watch the Ilwaco fireworks from the Ankeny St (a boat) in the harbor, and the display was awesome. He learned to say "Oooh" and "Aaah" like a pro. We also confirmed that we have to completely wear him out if we want him to sleep the night through, so that has become our mission after naptime everyday.
-Charles rode the Merry-Go-Round in Long Beach after Grampa Joe bought him his first baseball cap (which says something about fishing, natch).
-We took the dogs to the beach - always one of my favorite things about this trip.
-Our friends Jarrod and Carole passed along a rocking tiger that Charles adores. My mom worries that he's almost big enough to tip it over.

We're heading home today, through the mad I-5 post-holiday traffic, and it occured to me and Tony that it has been awhile since we've done an installment for theme songs. And the newest category is this: Whistling Songs. You know, songs that contain whistling.

• Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard by Paul Simon
• Centerfold by J Geils Band
• Home by the Magnetic Zeros

... and countless others! Now you go!

Dirt Pits, Bad Weather, Scraped Knees, Parties, Strawberries, Espanol

It’s a bit hypocritical to complain that no one writes blogs anymore when I rarely write myself.  So!  I’ll start, you follow.  I’m dying to know what’s going on in your lives.

 

Come here, you lovely face, you… let me squeeze your cheeks.

 

Life has been stressful lately.  Charles is ever the horrible sleeper, usually waking a few times per night and struggling to go to bed in the first place.  He is much more difficult about it when he is ill (we have both had colds for a couple weeks now), and this takes its toll on our daily existence.  I constantly feel like I am doing 100 things at once.  I work my butt off at Goodwinds, then I rush home to prep dinner and clean the house in that “is this clean enough so that we won’t all die of diseases or slip on something gross?” sort of way, then pick up Charles and spend the next several hours trying to exhaust him, feed him, love him.  Finally, after he is down-ish for the night, we have been working on our yard. 

 

The yard, which used to look like this:

 

 

now looks like a dirt pit.  Tony rented a machine last weekend to dig trenches and pull out all the sod (which only grows nice-ish, patchy grass in May and June and is dead the rest of the year because most of our yard is hard-packed clay), and now we’re kinda stuck.  Tony is stressed about work and now the yard is in a horrible state not fit for humans or dogs, and we’re just not sure what to do next.  This is the problem with not being professionals at a certain job, not being able to afford professionals, and not having the time to do much research on how to complete said job in a professional manner.  So, we chip it off bit by bit, and it drives us crazy.  Our next goal is to get all the dirt off of the sod that is in three man-height piles, get rid of the sod, spread the dirt around, and then get more dirt.  But we might need to put in drainage first, who knows?

 

before the sod removal

 

I miss having a yard to play in with my boys, even though this project should eventually yield a better yard, one that is level and grows grass well.  For now, we are stuck with the ever-gloomy dirt pit. 

 

The stress has reached a tipping point a few times in the past several weeks.  Most memorably, during a furious bout of cleaning/baking/meal prep, I managed to cut my left index finger open on an immersion blender (I know, I know) while I was frantically cleaning it so I would have enough time to bake a cake for my friend’s birthday before picking up Charles from daycare.  So, an hour in the ER and the most expensive bottle of superglue I’ll ever buy, and I’m almost good-as-new.  Sigh.

 

*****

 

I’ve been feeling a bit like there’s a hole in my life lately.  Maybe it’s all this GO! GO! GO! without every getting anywhere.  Maybe it’s the fact that Tony is so busy with 10 hour workdays (yeah, it’s not tax-season hours, but it still sucks), Habitat board meetings, and triathlon training – and he’ll be even busier in the fall once he starts his master’s in taxation program – that I feel a bit lonely and kinda like I am not accomplishing much while he is out conquering the world.  Maybe it’s the residual 10 lbs that I can’t seem to lose, no matter how often I work out or how well I eat.  Maybe it’s the second babies my friends are having and “when are you going to have another?” question I hear all the time that are making me a bit crazy.  Maybe it’s just never feeling like there’s enough money or enough time to do the things I want.  Whatever it is, most days are feeling a bit, I dunno, not enough. 

 

What I really want is to be able to slow down a bit and enjoy summer.  Like this:

 

 

And the Pacific Northwest hasn’t really been accommodating to that dream lately.  Though with the yard the way it is, there is nowhere to put lawn furniture anyhow, so my fantasy barbeques while Charles and Buster tool around the lawn and Tony and I enjoy burgers and corn-on-the-cob whilst occasionally lobbing morsels to our overactive toddler to sustain him remain fantasies.  Maybe by late August, huh?

 

****

 

There have been some moments of light in the past few months.  I had a birthday, turned 29 for the first time, and had a great weekend involving a trip to Seattle, a long visit from Stephanie, the arrival of a new employee who is helping us take Goodwinds to the top, and a barbeque (indoors due to bad weather) with family and friends.  Charles enjoyed the dogs of Seattle, and they enjoyed him:

 

mmmm… toddler face.

We had some sunny days and I bought a water table (doubles as a dog dish):

 

 

And!  It’s strawberry season!  One of my favorites, and the family has been indulging in strawberries for a few weeks now.  The local strawberries are so sweet, it’s almost criminal.

 

whipped cream, strawberries’ best friend

 

Charles got his first scraped knee a week or so ago.  We’re so proud, son.

 

 

Stephanie came for another weekend and we took Charles to Seattle to be there for Maggi as she finished the Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon (wow.), went to Karaoke (I might have a video of that… we’ll see how it turned out), went bowling, and had lots of food and fun.  I sure love that girl. 

 

Charles LOVED bowling.  I wish I had brought the camera.  I have photos on my phone, but I’m not sure how to get them off of my phone.  Any ideas?  I have an LG Shine.  Anyhow, we put the lane bumpers up and they had this rack thing for Charles to use for his cute six-pound ball (which he carried himself!).  So fun!

 

Finally, as if you needed proof that Charles is his father’s son, observe their sleep styles:

 

 

Charles is now in the 2-3-year-old room at daycare because he is “advanced”, which basically means he has a lot of energy and needs more stimulation.  His vocabulary has exploded, in both English and Spanish (two days per week are Spanish only at daycare), though he doesn’t so much speak as just clearly understand and repeat words when forced.  Jugo!  Like, “duh mom, jugo, of course, now give me the darn juice!”  He gets so much stimulation in the morning, in fact, that he now takes 3-hour naps at daycare, from which the teachers have to wake him, even after all the other children are awake and playing and eating snack.  This has presented problems at bedtime, because by 8 pm, he’s only been up for 5 hours, and he’s not tired.  So yesterday I made Charles walk all the way to the park about 1/2 mile away and all the way back in addition to 30 minutes of play at the park after dinner.  He went right to sleep and slept the whole night through, praise God, hallelujah.

 

Well, that’s all for now.  I’ll try to write more often, as I do find it cathartic.  Also, you grandparents (“bampas and mamas” to Charles) need photos, don’t you.  I thought so.

Catching Up

It’s one of those weeks when things seem good, then not-so-good, then good again, then iffy, then good, and then bad/sad.  Kinda like the weather.

 

Charles is sick, but only sort of.  He is sleeping moderately well (those of you whose children slept through the night before age, oh, I dunno, 19 months, will think that his sleeping habits/issues are solidly in the NOT GOOD category, but for us, the baseline is SO MUCH WORSE), waking up only a couple of times a night, usually wanting a drink of water, which he has figured out how to reach all by himself about 50% of the time.  I think the white noise machine helps immensely, and you’ll find that some of our sanity has returned.  But.  But!  He’s been getting mild fevers (99-100 degrees F) all week.  Sometimes in the morning, sometimes after nap.  They all result in a clingy, cranky boy, until Tylenol is administered.  Then, within 20 minutes, he is screaming wildly, running down the hall, pushing toys, and laughing with glee.  I love that happy little boy.  He shows no other sick symptoms.  So we’re waiting it out, hoping that it’s some sort of rogue virus that will go away on its own without getting worse or infecting the rest of us.

 

The dog is losing weight, which is good, because the Toddler Diet has not been kind to him.  He begs for food and treats all the time, which is so annoying, for *****’s sake, dog, STOP FOLLOWING ME!!!, but he’s also regained some energy with the loss of a few pounds.  And it’s awfully nice to have a running companion who doesn’t have to stop every five minutes.

 

The summer is booking up waaaaay too quickly.  This weekend, Tony has a Habitat for Humanity board retreat, and we have two birthday parties to attend.  Next weekend is Father’s day and I have a big surprise for dad that requires a babysitter.  There are a ton of things going on for Rotary in the next few weeks.  Fourth of July.  Clear Lake Triathlon.  Friends coming to visit.  The backyard to continue fixing (it’s a dirt hole right now, but the rain has thwarted efforts to complete the rock removal, which, if I might digress for a moment, HOLY COW, are there a lot of rocks in our yard!  The deck is gone and there must be a whole dump-truck load of nice river rock that was underneath it.  We have to move it all before digging up the rest of the backyard and digging trenches.  The project is soooo daunting.). Tony’s fishing trips.  The family reunion.  Weddings.  Cruise.  Kite Fest.  Oh yeah, work.

 

And then, this week, I found the conflict that truly depresses me.  Our friends Jarrod and Carole are throwing an 80s party that promises to be so much fun, but it’s on the same weekend as a Rotary girls’ hike that I paid for and scheduled ages ago.  The hike is going to be fun, but I am truly sad to miss the party.  And now I’m afraid I’ll make myself upset during the hike, too, knowing that Tony is dressed up and having fun with friends at a costume party.  Sigh.

 

***********

 

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Eastern Washington, and we have some great photos to share.  Tony had an inventory count to attend in the Tri-Cities, so we took the opportunity to visit Sarah, Jack, and Claire in Richland, and our friend Stephanie in Walla Walla.  We had a great time, even though the weather sucked.

 

I’m not entirely sure Claire likes Charles.

 

Charles loves playgrounds and is quite the little monkey, climbing everywhere.

 

There is a complete juxtaposition of temperaments with Claire and Charles, clearly illustrated by this photograph.

 

Claire wanted to “paint the whale” with mud – Charles wanted to play in the puddle.  Claire was completely clean.  Charles was not.

 

Stephanie has a swingset/slide in her backyard, and Charles must’ve gone up and down for an hour.

 

Part of the ride home was like this. 

 

Part of it was like this. 

 

The end.

Photo Extravaganza Part 2 (Mexico)

My skin is peeling, but the tan is holding.  Here are some photos from our awesome trip:

 

This is the view from the hotel our first night (Ixtapa).  Also, here:

 

Tony on the private beach in front of the hotel.  And me:

Ixtapa had the most fantastic sunset.  The rest of the trip, we weren’t oriented well (the Zihuatenejo beach faced south, and there were cliffs to the west hiding the sunsets) for sunset viewing, so I’m glad we got a good one on the first day.

 

This was our room, complete with Swan-Heart-Towel Sculpture

 

 

We faced the ocean and had a room overlooking the pool.

On the bike ride, before Tony ate pavement.

The crocodiles were stinky, and a totally anticlimactic end to the bike ride.

 

 

Sunset on the balcony

 

 

On the way to Las Gatas beach (in the water taxi)

 

At Playa Las Gatas (Tony’s in the water)

 

There was much sleeping in the sun.

Soaking it up on the last day.

 

We can’t thank our parents enough for taking care of Charles so we could go on this trip.  He’s not teething anymore, so maybe the next time will be better for the grandparents.  You know, if they’re even willing to have a next time.

Photo Extravaganza Part 1

Our computer died, then was resurrected, then it died again, and now it’s back, but I don’t trust it.  Also, it managed to pass a disease to our external hard drive.  Which died.  And has not, as yet, come back from the dead.  So, I might have permanently lost all photos taken during Charles’ first year of life.  Hooray for me!

 

Anyhow, to make a long story about why we haven’t posted in ages short, we have been busy and I haven’t trusted any computer enough to upload photos from my camera.  So now they are on a thumb drive and my work computer.  And now here!  The following are from before our vacation to Mexico:

 

The Monkey himself, eating Mac N Cheese

 

Hats!  For Everyone!

 

PBJ, so good!

 

Hiding…

… because Milk is sometimes a private thing.

 

Naked Pre-Bedtime Climbing Club (1 current member)

 

Tantrums.  We experience them a lot.  And we laugh.

 

Yardwork is tough, but somebody’s got to do it.

Hola!

Mi amigos, I am writing from Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Zihuatanejo is situated in a bay and is primarily a fishing village aside from a tourist destination. I’ve been quite impressed with the amount of fishing done right in front of our resort, just a few hundred yards from shore. However, I never really got the urge to go fishing. The prices for things are relatively similar to those in the States, which surprised us a little. We expected prices to be much lower. It appeared to me that the only thing less expensive than at home was the alcohol. We are leaving tomorrow after being gone for a week and are very much ready to do so. No pictures yet, as we did not bring the cable, but they will be forthcoming.

I don’t think we had ever truly needed a vacation before this point. We had discussed/worried that we may get bored, but that was not really the case. We came to the conclusion that up until now, we had searched for adventure and new experiences in our various travels. In the time leading up to our departure on this trip, we did little to no research of the area, which is quite a change from earlier trips. This trip was simply for relaxation and has been a success in that respect. Until Wednesday (our fifth day here), we were perfectly content to hang by the pool and read a book or take a walk on the beach.

On Wednesday, we took a bike ride to see crocodiles, which we thought would be kind of interesting. It was overwhelmingly underwhelming. The only notable part of the trip was when I went over the handlebars while trying to wipe the sweat from my face. I escaped relatively unharmed with only a small bruise on my shin, but Amelia turned around to see me about half-maneuver. I’m sure it looked a lot worse than it was.

Yesterday, we met some friends we had seen on the plane at Playa Las Gatas (cat beach) and sat in lounge chairs at the edge of the surf. This is the type of place where all you have to do is put out your hand and a drink or food will be put into it. There was a deaf man there who gave me probably the best massage I’ve ever had and for less than $30 (half of normal, even for here). Unfortunately, the drinks were about the strongest I’ve ever experienced and due to the combination of that and great conversation with our friends, we forgot to reapply sunscreen as often as we should have. As a result, we spent all day today nursing sunburns.

We will arrive in Seattle sometime around midnight tomorrow and are very anxious to get home. No amount of thanks could adequately express our gratitude to our parents who made the time to take care of Charlie while we are gone.

Adios, Antonio.