Since we've been home

We've been back for two weeks, but I'm still in vacation mode. Having Kenny at home has been amazing. We've had a lot of fun, gotten a lot done, and I've been completely spoiled so when he goes back to work I'll be miserable.
The good news is, I'll have a car so I don't have to wallow at home in my misery. We finally bought the Durango. After discovering that there are pretty much no healthcare options that would give us maternity coverage, and that we therefore need to wait maybe a year or so before the next baby, my consolation was a car. Sadly, the car was much more affordable than a pregnancy would be:(. But, I had been debating between having my kids 2 or 3 years apart- this just defaults us to the 3 year option, which is fine- we can take things a little slower and just enjoy being a family of three. And someday when #4 comes along, we'll have a way of getting around in our 2002 durango:


My birthday went well- nice and quiet and relaxing. Kenny bought me some books (I read 6 books in the 7 days after my birthday- I highly recommend the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series) as well as some good smelling oils and candles and treated me to a 1-hour massage that was just heaven.

I've been going a bit stir crazy, feeling a bit too lazy, spoiled and unproductive just sitting around reading, so we decided to paint a room. We chose the smallest paintable room in the house, a bathroom, not realizing that small does not necessarily mean easy- with the windows, shower, mirror and light fixtures there was plenty of effort involved. I think we did ok, though. Where the master bathroom used to look like this:


It now looks like this:



Kenny, on the other hand, has been working lots around the house. He just barely finished my new bookshelf- I'll post some pictures of the shelf tomorrow on facebook (where the shelf isn't just a dark blob in the photo, since tonight's pictures don't show just how wonderful the shelf is). I'm so excited to have a husband who can build me stuff!


Daniel has been a blast lately. No complaints there, he's been nothing but fun. Though the other day he did get into the fireplace and eat some ash, but he didn't seem too fazed by it (note his black hands and teeth):

His favorite game currently is taking things out of, or putting things into, other things. Like this- he put my shoes in my hamper then had to climb in to get them out again:


We just went to a free US Army Field Band and Soldier's Chorus show at the pavilion and sat out on the lawn and let Daniel run around and smile and wave at everyone, and this sweet old lady walked over at the end and said "I just had to let you know, you have the cutest baby I have seen in many years". It made my night. He's just such a ham in public.

So there's life in a nutshell. Kenny goes to a (lame) how-to-teach-like-a-robot class next week, then he only has 3 free weekdays after that before going back to school full-time. Having him home has been like a second honeymoon, we've both been so happy. But I always have next summer to look forward to...

Family Pictures

While at the Ranch we got a LOT of good pictures in. First, the family pics:

Looks great until you realize I'm making this face:

But that's ok. At least Amy and Misha are making these faces:

And Jeremy and Ashley:

and let's not even mention Katelynn's bright pink underpants;). Aren't family pictures fun? (Forgive me for posting semi-embarrassing pics. I must say I think Misha, Amy, Jeremy, and Ashley are all good looking kids. And Kate has lovely underpants.)

Here we are trying to rejuvenate tired smiles:

But I think we turn out alright in the end:

Then there are the pics with just the kids, where Addie waved her booty at Daniel:

and he couldn't help but sneak a peak:


When Daniel is happy or reacting to others who are happy, he claps, so most of the pics include him in some state of clapping:

The kids started losing it, then Daniel's hat attacked him:


We got some decent pics of just the three of us, but Daniel was pretty done with the picture-taking process by then:


Step-cousin Debbie got this great pic in of Daniel:


Lori took these of Daniel and Addie out in a field:



Except Daniel had a hard time staying upright in the grass:

And didn't enjoy the pokey hay:


So I took him up to a cabin where he could easily stand and not be poked. He liked that much better:



Lori and Addie joined us, but keeping both babies looking the same direction was tough, and we were losing our lighting:

Portland/Vancouver

We ended the trip in my hometown of Vancouver. My parents were still in Canada but let us stay at their house for a few days. We went to the Vancouver's new Farmer's Market, which was fun- apparently it was "Pride in the Park" weekend so I got to see just how many Drag Queens Vancouver has. Then went to downtown portland and saw the Saturday's market there, where we had a delicious Funnel Cake with strawberries and whipped cream (yes, I'm blogging about what we ate- it was THAT GOOD). Daniel quite enjoyed the use of public transportation:

He hammed it up and smiled and waved at everyone on the train.

Then we went to the Ira Keller Fountain in Portland- a fountain that was designed to be played in that takes up a whole city block:

Three years ago, Kenny proposed there, knowing it was my favorite fountain ever (and I really love fountains), so it has special meaning to us. Daniel really enjoyed playing in it- I could barely keep him from diving into it:



Anyone in the area, I'd highly recommend throwing on swim gear and going to that fountain. It's awesome.

We went to the Portland Zoo with my sister Becky and family. Daniel got to pet the goats (I was amazed he wasn't at all frightened of them, compared to his last encounter with farm animals):

And I got attacked by a Lorikeet:

(if I had known my pony tail was failing that badly I would not have gone in public, but oh well).

And last but not least, we went down the railroad tracks on the river just a few blocks from my home, down to the Fish Hatchery.

A train went by:

And nearly blew Kenny and Daniel away:


Our flight home was uneventful (aside from us having to be picked up by an airport shuttle at 4:00 am) and we're happy to be home, with it's quiet and predictable schedule.

Seattle

Kenny had never been to Seattle, so we stayed a few days thanks to my mom graciously letting us use her condo timeshare. We stayed at The Camlin in downtown Seattle (near Pike's Place) and we liked it fine for something in the city.
One of the biggest reasons Kenny wanted to stop in Seattle was to see the Nintendo Headquarters of America in Redmond (turns out it is literally next door to the Microsoft headquarters).

It ended up not having much for tourists, but we got to take pictures and go to the gift shop, where we bought a soccer ball that looks like a chain chomp and a plush bumble-bee Mario.
We also walked to Pike's Place market, where I got to revisit the store where we bought my first harp in 1998. We had a lot of fun just looking around, and I'm very proud to say we didn't buy a thing.
We hit up the Seattle Aquarium as well, but I remember it being a lot bigger and cooler than it was. Daniel enjoyed that he got to put his hand in the water at a few places (though he couldn't reach the anemones that I got to poke):

Walking around Seattle is tough, there are so many hills:

It really tired Daniel out:


The highlight of our stay in Seattle was something I didn't even plan: there was a Jim Henson Exhibit at the Seattle Center.


It was awesome. We got to see this delightful little video of a very young Kermit learning about visual thinking and Jazz:

And Kenny got to be a muppeteer for a live Muppet band (videos will be posted sometime):


We got to see my high school friend Megan Spencer, which was a lot of fun (sadly I forgot to take a pic). It was so good to see friends and hang out with Lori (and see her new house, which I'm way excited about.) Then we headed on down to Vancouver again... (to be continued)

The Return of the Blogger: The Ranch

July has been a fun and crazy month and I've quite enjoyed disappearing from the world for a while. Many pictures have been posted of our travels, but I'll sum up here:
We flew to Portland on the 1st. We had a layover in Denver, where we arrived in good shape, but the flight from Denver to Portland was AWFUL. It took off 3 hours past Daniel's normal bedtime, and he was exhausted but didn't know how to sleep with all the hubbub going on, so instead he screamed bloody murder for an hour or. Now, I have social anxiety issues, so that's pretty much my worse nightmare. It made a HUGE difference that no one gave us nasty glares or anything (I wouldn't have blamed them), but instead we got many sympathetic looks and well-meaning advice.
We had one day in the Portland area before driving up to Canada, so we went to Oneonta, a waterfall in the gorge near Multnomah Falls.

You have to hike through the water in a narrow canyon to get to the waterfall, which you can then swim in if you can brave the freezing water (which I did:)

It's one of my favorite places on the planet, plus I have many good memories there, so I am glad we got to go.

Then we drove 9 hours or so to my Aunt's Ranch in Kamloops, British Columbia. Daniel handled the drive well, and it's a BEAUTIFUL drive:

The ranch is beautiful and scenic up in the hills and forests:

Yet the second we stepped inside the house it just felt so much like my Aunt Lori (formerly an architect in San Francisco, who's sense of style I've always admired) that we might have forgotten we were 45 minutes outside of civilization.
We had a great time. I got to ride a horse (we cantered up and down the lane, and my butt and thighs felt sore still a week later, but it was SO worth it):

And we did a family talent show and a sing-along. Kenny's talent was solving a Rubik's Cube in under 2 minutes:

One day it rained so we went into town to an indoor swim center; the water was so warm and Daniel had a good time showing off his newfound swimming skills:

And, last of all, we took many, MANY family pictures. My mom and sister Becky made adorable cowboy outfits for all 13 grandkids:

I'll do another post with some more of the professional-style pics in a bit.

After 5 days on the ranch, we pack up and headed to Seattle, with Lori and her daughter Addie riding along:



We even got to stop in Bellingham to see Nick Hatch, who was my best friend/"boyfriend" on and off through Junior High and High School:

He's much shaggier than he used to be.

The ride went well, though Daniel squawked a bit and we got a bit lost just north of the border, but at least Addie was an angel. Daniel got sick at the very end and threw up just moments from Lori's house in Seattle- I should be grateful he waited until we were close. He's not a big vomiter anymore but we had a rough few days there in Seattle- not sure if he was actually sick or all the different foods and situations were just too much for him).

Next post: Seattle.