Friday, September 25, 2009

Good Bye Summer....

It is officially fall but the days here in DuPont have been just fabulous! The rainy season has yet to set in and that's okay with me. Hopefully we can get a few more bike rides and picnics and trips to the park in before the rain comes. One of the things that we have enjoyed about the summer here are the flowers. So since summer is leaving us I thought I'd share the pictures that I've been collecting of our flowers from the summer. Yes, these are all from our house either planted in the ground or in pots of some kind. It has been fun. Soon we will be planting tulips to add to our next summer collection.
Enjoy:

















Okay Grandparents....I know that's not exactly what you were looking for so just for you....
Here they are:

Thursday, September 24, 2009

This is the best I can do....

Too tired and delirious tonight to write about anything.
So here is some entertainment for ya:

Kade at our local Farmer's Market one afternoon....



Ryne is already figuring out how all of Kade's instruments work.
We've got another music lover on our hands....


Including this one just because it makes me smile. Hope you get a smile from it too!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

How to Celebrate the First Day of Fall....

Welcome Fall!
91 Degrees in DuPont, Washington today.
Before you start thinking that it was miserable let me remind my southern readers that we are taking a Pacific Northwest 91 degrees.....totally different from 91 degrees that you guys know. And we don't reach the high until early in the evening anyway so that is nice.
It was a beautiful sun-shiny day! We know that the rain will be coming soon and setting in to stay for months and the sun shine with be very scarce in our part of the world, so we took advantage of this beautiful first day of fall and planned a trip to the park.
We went with our neighbor Michelle and her two boys Will and Carson.
I can't remember if I've told you anything about them or not but I do need to fill you in. David, Michelle and their two boys moved in a couple of months ago and we noticed off a the moving truck was unloading that there was a little bike and it looked like a little boy bike. And sure enough it was. We had them over for dinner and got to know them a bit. They are a military family who moved here from North Carolina and their boys and our boys hit it off from the get go. Especially Kade and Will! Will is 3 (4 next month) and Kade is 2 (3 in Jan.) and you would think they have known each other forever. They run and chase and tackle and scream and act ALL BOY like I cannot believe. The first night that we hung out William kept saying "this is the best fun ever!" I haven't gotten any pictures of them playing before today because it has always just happened as an unplanned thing when we happen to all be outside. And there is no leaving these boys to go get the camera. Carson who will be 1 this month and Ryne (8 months) mostly just sit in their strollers and watch the big boys play. Carson is the sweetest thing and so easy-going. Every now and then Ryne has too much stroller and has to get down and try to join the big boys.
So, all of that to introduce our planned outing today. It was a trip to the park to play and picnic.
Here are some pictures:

Check out the sequence of the first three as we set out.

Kade is leading but keeping an eye on Will to make sure that he's still back there.


Will is in the lead but keeping an eye on Kade to make sure that he's still back there.


Gee it is so much easier when we just walk right next to each other.


The baby boys had it made...they got to hang out in the strollers.


Then after about 20 minutes of walking (we didn't realize how long the trip to the park was going to be on the trail that we took) These guys were getting tuckered out. Kade just sat down and said, "I've gotta take a break, I'm too tired to keep going."

So, for the next 15 minutes or more....

This is how we traveled. Kade on my shoulders as I pushed Ryne. Wish you could see the number that he did on my hair while he was up there.

Then here are some picnic shots:

Kade having fruit treats.


Ryne and Carson getting some hang out time.


More of the little guys.


Okay I have to explain Kade's hat here. I kept trying to pull it up some and he kept putting it back down telling me that it was hiding the sun for him.


Slide time.


William.


Gansta Kade? No idea what's up with this hat.

Then we started home. Kade was going so slow and I know it is because he was exhausted so I let him ride here:


Ryne didn't mind....

He was snoozing underneath him.

Kade begged to get down and walk with Will.

Will begged for Kade to get down and walk with him.
I gave in.
Then....

We could not get these boys to keep moving. Look at them checking out this sign as if they really understood everything it says. *look closely and you can see Mt. Rainier in the background
So I had to hoist Kade back up to my shoulders to get the rest of the way home.

Kade and I were exhausted but Ryne had his nap on the walk home so Kade was the only one who got to rest. Ryne and I woke him up after a couple of hours because we had plans.
We wanted to celebrate the first day of fall and that included a trip to home depot to cash in our "buy one get one free mum coupon".
The only way I could get Kade out of bed was to tell him that he would get to drive the race car. Worked like a charm!


Ryne got his first try at driving the race car and LOVED it!

Kade even enjoyed sharing the driver's seat.

And here's what we got:


I was going for mums and Kade requested pumpkins to go with them and I couldn't resist.
WELCOME FALL!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Happy 38th 23rd Birthday Daddy!!!
So sad that we can't be there to celebrate with you today. Thanks for letting us have a virtual party on Skype the other night and for letting us indulge in party hats and party horns. Kade was especially fond of the party horns. Speaking of Kade, I wish you could have heard him last night when we were praying and we prayed for you, he started right in practicing his "Happy Birthday to Grandaddy" song. It was VERY dramatic and melodic and funny and I really hope he sings it just like that to you on the phone today. I had to stop and listen and then try really hard not to chuckle out loud so that we would be able to finish praying when he was done.
I hope that you have a great day today even though you will probably be working hard. Know that I love you very much and I feel so blessed that you are my Daddy. You have been a great Daddy and I am so thankful that you have always loved me and believed in me and trusted me and that you were always willing to make sacrifices so that I could have and do the things that were important to me. I promise that your love has not gone unnoticed nor unappreciated. And now not only are you a great Daddy but you are one fantastic Grandaddy!!! Just ask Kade and Ryne. They know for sure that Grandaddy loves them, too!
I wish that I would have taken some pictures at our virtual Birthday party to put on here but for some reason that didn't occur to me. So instead, since we can't be there with you today, here are some pictures of us with you so that we can have our very own blog birthday party....minus the party hats and party horns of course.
Love you lots!
Big Hugs from Washington on your Birthday!