Memorial Day 2011

The kids and I had a really fun Memorial Monday, and it was such a beautiful day that it was hard to be inside and get anything done.  In the morning we went to Portland's Memorial Day Parade, which promised an Air Force fly over, which never happened, but luckily Noah didn't remember that part.  It parade was short, but the kids really enjoyed it, especially the huge military vehicle.  Both kids spent the rest of the day pretending to be marching in the parade either waving from their fire trucks, carrying a flag, or playing an instrument.  The kind man sitting next to us offered to take our picture, but James had just woken up and this is all we got:)  

After the parade we went to the hospital to meet Gabe for lunch.  Since it was such a beautiful day we were able to have a picnic out on the grass of the Western prom.  The kids were thrilled to see Gabe and chase him around the park.  After nap time we went to a friend's house for a BBQ and more sprinkler play.  

Now that summer is officially here we have lots of things we are looking forward to starting soon.  The kids and I will resume our swimming lessons in 2 weeks and Noah will start summer camp at Camp Ketcha, which he is beyond thrilled about!  James will continue at the daycare by himself, but I don't think that he will mind much.  Then, starting on September 2nd they will be home with me and baby #3:):)  Which I really can't wait for!!  Speaking of pregnancy things, I really am growing fast now.  Patients are starting to notice that I am pregnant over the past 2 weeks, so something has changed.  Our last appt. went well, I had gained 7 lbs. in 4 weeks, but I think that I remember doing the same thing with the other 2.  So far this pregnancy doesn't feel any different and I have no sense yet of who is in there (boy or girl), but Noah continues to be adamant that he is having a sister... I have to keep reminding him that it could be a boy and that it would be ok to have a brother.  He is still stuck on the name "Jake" regardless of gender. He has been really funny about this pregnancy... he is always reminding James to be careful when crawling on my belly, and when he talks to the baby it almost always responds by kicking for him... very cute.  What I think that he is most excited about, and talks about constantly, is "we get to have the green car back when the baby comes"... we have traded cars with Gabe for the better gas mileage of the Corolla, but apparently Noah likes the Subaru better...

Sprinkler fun with Hil...

I know that I have said this many times before, but recently I have been really bad about picture documentation of life... I know that some of you out there have done some fun things with us this month and did take pictures, so please feel free to send them to me, so that I can post them:)  Over Memorial Day weekend Hillary came to visit on her way back from the DIII Nationals for Track & Field in Ohio... she just won 3rd place... no big deal... hahaha jk Hil we love you!! Great Job!!! Anyhow, she is always a good sport and keeps coming back even though I make her do chores every time she visits;)  Today she helped us (finally) get our vegetable garden put in at the community garden... more about that soon with pics, I hope. Then, she was a good sport and ran through the sprinkler with the kids while I watched and took pictures... :) James is talking more and is much more communicative than just a month ago.  He kept coming up to me saying his version of "cheese" and demanding his picture be taken.  He, like Noah was, is afraid to get too close to the sprinkler, but has lots of fun watching and collecting all of the balls. 

This past week has been incredibly busy with several things wrapping up.  Noah had his last day of preschool... they had a magician perform which just blew Noah away... he talks about magic all of the time now.  Actually, over the past month he has started talking nonstop... most kids do this sooner, but the time has finally come, and with it lots of "why" questions.  It is so neat to finally see how his mind works to figure things out, but it does keep me on my toes... it also exposes his OCD more... I have to be very careful when I talk about what we are doing and when b/c if we don't stick to that schedule, things don't go well... Noah also had his last session of soccer this week.  Yes, we did sign him up for soccer, 5 weeks of it, but there is no photographic proof. Gabe was working a lot this month and it was impossible for me to take pictures of Noah playing soccer without James running to play too.  Noah had a great time playing, but he has a long way to go.  His gross motor delay was pretty evident compared to the other kids his age there, but he did get better as the weeks went on... we will definitely sign him up again in the fall.  

Reading Time

Lately James has been very good with books.  He still occasionally rips pages, but luckily it is just in one particular book. His favorite thing is to "read" by himself, quickly followed by Noah reading to him, and in the case of this book, making up the story from what he remembers.  There are certain books that Noah has memorized and when we ask James if he wants daddy or Noah to read, he almost always picks Noah.  Not much has happened in the past few weeks that is of note... lots of those spring chores and cleaning/purging of the house (not that one could tell...).  My mom visited last weekend for a quick trip and we brought the boys to yard sales where Noah bought a $1 sprinkler (lots of pics of that to follow I am sure) and James threw one of his "I am a 2 year old" fits in the middle of the street, throwing himself to the ground because he didn't get his way, which prompted the lady to offer a discount on the toy he was crying about... I didn't buy him the toy;) I also bought all of my flowers and with Noah, and mom's help we got several yard jobs checked off the list... slowly, but surely our yard is looking like someone does live here and takes care of it...

Just when I thought I could sell it in the yard sale...

I bought both of these costumes at a yard sale years ago thinking they would be fun for dress up.  Which may have been true, but they are sized 12-18 months and 18 months. After hanging in the closet with zero use, and both kids had grown out of them I thought, "great, I'll just put them back in the yard sale this year"... Noah found them... and they both insisted on wearing them for most of the morning despite they fact that they were both way too small... they are now hanging back in the closet... maybe I will try again in a few years...

Mother's Day 2011- Seashore Trolley Museum & Sea Dogs

We were very lucky last weekend that Gabe had the whole weekend off, we weren't going any where AND it was beautiful weather.  In retrospect, we may have tried to cram too much "fun" into one weekend, but there were just too many free things to do;)  Sunday morning we went to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Arundel which Gabe had never been before.  It is basically a junk yard for old trolley cars, train cars, subway cars, and old buses are brought, then all of the old men come together as a hobby to restore them, conduct trolley rides and tours.  Needless to say, the boys LOVE all of the big machines around. They got to ride the trolley and climb in a lot of the different cars and buses. Their favorite part was ringing the bell that you have to step on.  We left there and went to the Sea Dogs game.  I think that we normally would have skipped this given that it was at 1pm (prime napping time for everyone) and we had had a very busy day with minimal napping the day before, but we were given 4 free tickets, so we went for it with low expectations.  We made it through 2 innings, mercifully the second inning was abruptly ended by a double play;) Gabe then left us to go and do some work at the hospital.  Luckily for us he forgot a big folder and had to come home early just in time for supper and to head to Lib's for some ice cream.  All in all a great Mother's Day!

BIW- Christening of the Michael Murphy

On Saturday Uncle Dennis was kind enough to share his Bath Iron Works employee privileges with us. It was the day for the Christening of the Michael Murphy Destroyer. Michael Murphy sounds like he was a pretty amazing guy and Navy Seal. Here is an article if you would like to read more about it: http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/05/09/news/doc4dc826c5cd7d8335162429.txt 

or just google it:)  We got there early and were able to tour another ship that is in the water at BIW, and the sailors are living/working on, but is not yet ready for departure.  The kids did well, until the end when James got restless and Noah got whiny, but all in all as good as could be expected.  Unfortunately, we were not able to stay for the whole christening given the attention span of the kids (and the fact that we left the snacks in the car). The top pictures are of the ship we toured, the middle is of a ship they are building, and the last one is of the actual Michael Murphy ship.  It was a really neat day, thanks Uncle Dennis! 

New bird?

We have had several bird feeders in the last year.  Some were just cheap and fell apart, the last one got eaten by the squirrels this winter when the snow was high.  This is our newest "squirrel proof" set up.  How he got up here is a mystery, but he was persistent, even with both kids banging on the window he kept eating...

Portland Discoveries

Portland is a fantastic city for outdoor activities.  There are many walking/hiking trails throughout the city that make you feel like you aren't in the city at all.  We are fortunate to have one just a block over from us into the Evergreen Cemetery, but we are always looking for other adventures/short "hikes" with the kids.  Our latest find is Mackworth Island. I have had this place ear marked for a while, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate for me to take the kids to by myself.  It was totally worth it!  We spend 2 or 3 hours there the other day. There is a 1.25mi. loop around the perimeter of the island, which is fairly flat and you are able to push a stroller on it.  There are lots of little stops along the way to enjoy the view,  to swing or sit on a bench, to walk down to the water, see the pet cemetery, or make your own fairy house.  For this "trial run" we stuck to the trail and played on the big beach at the end.  The kids had an absolute blast!  For the first time in a while I was able to get actual pictures of the kids together (more or less).  James is finally old enough to show some discretion and not run into the water or over the cliff at his first opportunity.  We will definitely be making this a regular stop for exercise and picnics.