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.

Return of the Shenanigans

I keep telling myself that someday (hopefully soon) Daniel will learn about logic and physics and listening to warnings. In the meantime, life gets more and more interesting. For one, few surfaces in the house are safe from him now. He can reach his little hand over the edge of the table, and even thought he can't see what he's getting to, he knows to wiggle and flop his hand around til he finds something to pull down. Like animal crackers:

Which he then eats whole:

even though they are too big for his mouth, which causes him to choke:

and then cry:


He no longer gets stuck between the washer and dryer, but now he knows how to open them and put in items (like hairbrushes, computer mouses, and flip-flops):


(note: the drooliness in that second picture is pretty commonplace around here. I'm pretty sure this kid could hydrate all of Africa with his drool. He just cut teeth numbers 11 and 12, so here's hoping the drool factory slows down a bit).

But sometimes I get back at him, like making him wear a baby bonnet of mine I found in my memory box:



His newest trick is blowing filberts (when you take your open mouth against something soft and blow, making "pbhhhhbbbb" sounds). He does it against my legs, arms, and neck all the time. Better yet, he's discovered our leather furniture delivers a good sound. He continually tries to do this on the dog, usually leaning on her in the process. That alone is pretty comical (filberting doesn't work on hairy creatures), but Lucy doesn't like being filberted so she moves out of the way, causing Daniel to fall on his face. I, being the horrible mother that I am, crack up every time. So funny.

Hand-me-downs

Kenny and I don't like buying things. This is just as well, since we're living off a starting teacher's salary. We've been very lucky to inherit a good many things for free. Most recently, we inherited this couch and coffee table from a couple who moved out of the ward:

I LOVE the couch, but we're still trying to figure out how to make the coffee table fit our style a bit more. (Any suggestions, particularly from Anna Rose?) The couple that gave it to us used to be mission presidents and told us at least 6 General Authorities have sat on that couch:).

When we married, inherited a LOT of furniture from my deceased Grandma. Including this beautiful teak table:

And this bedroom set, which was meant for a Full, but we had a king... so kenny sawed it right down the middle, spread out the sides, and put some plywood and two-by-fours in the middle (we covered up the gap with some wood- and now we have extra under-the-bed storage):

(note, these pics are OLD from when we first moved into the house). I do secretly wish that my grandma didn't have such a thing for natural oak furniture, but... free is free. She also gave us a natural oak entertainment center, and a natural oak desk.

We also got a TV from Kenny's parents (which has since given up the ghost and is now a glorified alarm clock stand in the extra bedroom), a couch from Kevin and Candace, a queen and a twin mattress for very cheap (we now have TWO guest bedrooms), countless clothes for me from my sisters over the years, and toys for Daniel from ladies in the ward (we've bought maybe 6 toys for him his entire life, and he still goes for the ones we got for free). I think word has gotten out that we need/accept free stuff so we're getting lots of little things regularly. My guilt from mooching is nearly entirely gone- we make good use of what we get and in turn we happily give away the things we aren't using anymore.
And some of my favorite outfits of Daniel's were hand-me-downs from my siblings:




And now, for the happiest news, here is another hand-me-down:

A 2002 Dodge Durango.
K, we're not getting it for free, or even close, but we're getting a great deal on it. We're not completely decided on it, but unless something goes very wrong in the next month, we'll buy it when we get back from vacation.
A good friend of mine in the ward has been meaning to sell it and heard me bemoaning my carless state and offered it to us for a great price. She loaned it to us over the weekend and we fell in love with it.
I'll admit we're scared (terrified, actually) of buying an american-made car, much less one with 100k miles on it, but it's a great deal, we know it's complete history (only one owner, no mechanical problems ever, mostly freeway miles, well maintained) and... well, frankly, I want it. I'm completely biased because the idea of having a second car completely thrills me. It took a lot of budget finagling, but we can afford it even after our recent mortgage fiasco. I must admit I'm proud that we'll own TWO cars with no car payments, even if the cars are nothing to brag about. Now if we could just get rid of my student loan (at a whopping $80 a month), we'd have only a mortgage to worry about.

On a side not, we need car name suggestions. Our black civic is named Morgan (after another old black man.) I bought Kenny an Autobots and a Decepticons decal for father's day (to replace the one he lost in my car wreck), and we're pretty sure Morgan will be the Autobot (how could it be a Decepticon with a name like Morgan?), leaving Green Car to be the Decepticon. Ideas would be appreciated- I don't want it to end up like my Elantra or my Accord and never merit a name. My first car was Mephistopheles, and that was hard to top:).

Such a ham

Daniel is a huge ham. Any time we go out, he waves, giggles and smiles at everyone we see and is constantly entertaining whoever else is in line with us, or behind us in sacrament, or in the pick-up truck next to us. He just cut teeth #11 and 12 (top molars) and fortunately this teething experience wasn't as bad as tooth #10.
He is just such a joy. He makes me laugh all day long. Really, the only thing I'd change about this kid to get an ideal toddler is I'd teach him how to sleep somewhere other than his crib in complete silence. Vacation will be interesting.

The other day we discovered that the property tax people just realized that they were taxing us only half what they should be and we now need to pay another 400 a month to catch up. This came to us in the middle of me going over our budget (my 5-sheet, 1500-row excel spreadsheet) to see if we could afford a second car. We could buy the car out of our savings but to afford the month to month (and rebuild savings) we cut out our cable television and landline (I have a new cell phone number, by the way- email me if you don't have it). Things looked great and shiney before the tax thing happened, and I was very proud of our frugality. Of course, I was pretty bummed when I finally figured out that the tax people have the right numbers now, it wasn't a mistake, and we're in the hole (even without the 2nd car). So here I am, sitting on the floor sobbing, and Daniel comes in giggling and cuddling. He's never seen me cry like that before and he thought it was hilarious! It sure is hard to cry or be upset with a toddler giggling and burying his head in your shoulder. (the good news is if we refinance we can get back to the same place we were before- no 2nd car, but no debt either).

So we got some video of him being giggly and playful. They're kind of long, but I think the cuteness is worth it:

A Day at the Pool

Today we went swimming with our friends Josh and Jen at her parent's pool. Daniel and I have been doing swimming lessons together and wanted to show off his new skills.
This is his biggest new skill- the dunk:

Can't you see how much he loves it? Just kidding. Here's a more successful attempt:

He does very well but always sticks his tongue out, which is hilariously cute. He sticks his tongue out pretty mch all the time, like this pic with his BFF Jennifer:


See how well his duck tail is coming along:

I promise we'll cut it soon. I just love the curly hair too much, but I do know the mullet is hardly fashionable right now.

All in all we had a great time. I've posted lots of recent pics and videos on our web album.