It's Called a "Yurt", Y'all!

Our first family camping experience goes down in history as nearly successful. It depends how one defines success, I suppose. We stayed in our delightful little yurt, explored the surroundings, touched our feet on west coast sand...then drove home a day early while we were still relatively sane. Steve did an excellent job planning and shopping, preparing the food (we had french toast and bacon!). But one cannot prepare for the whims of a 3 year old. Furthermore, a 9 month old can only function for so long in strange territory before he slowly dissolves into a pathetic, tearful state. I think he cried more than half way home, poor little guy. His misery is cleverly disguised with a chipper little grin in most of the photos...so sneaky, this baby of ours.

This is a yurt, for all of you ignorant in the ways of west coast campers. Call us wimpy, call us cheaters, but we were fifty billion times warmer than the guys down the road in their rain-soaked tent. We had heat, futons and even laminate flooring!

Here's our youngest camper. Who knew a water bottle could provide so much entertainment? For those in the blogosphere who aren't in the midst of the preschool years, that's a Bumbo chair he's sitting in. No, it doesn't come with the yurt. It was a gift from my sister and family. It's a perfect little portable chair for babies and we just love it.

Luke was a superstar rookie camper. He slept in a strange bed, ventured out onto the beach and had a good time exploring the campsite. A little quality time with the portable DVD player worked it's magic, as well.
For those of you who live in close proximity, the campsite was Grayland Beach State Park in Westport, Washington. A popular destination, so book now for next summer!

Ugh...3 More Weeks

Luke and I deposited Andy with a friend and jaunted off to Redmond for another whirlwind appointment with Dr. Knows-All-About-Eyes. Luke was a superstar, jumped right up into The Chair like he owned the place. A lady we hadn't met before examined his eyes. She tested him very thoroughly and he showed tremendous improvement, identifying almost all of the pictures correctly. Just before she left the room, she turned on the movie "Monster Inc", right at the part where a monster jumps out of the bedroom closet and screams at a small child snuggled in his bed. Luke's expression was a mix of terror and disbelief. I scrambled quickly to explain that it was just a movie and it was really quite funny because the child was actually going to scare the monster, instead of the monster scaring the child, isn't that funny, hee, hee, hee...
Luke looked right at me and said, "This is a little bit scary to me."

Thankfully we were relocated to the next exam room for our 4 minute session with the good doctor. He was most impressed with my precious little patch-wearing boy. I was just thinking we were home free when he blasted me with, "I'd like to patch for 3 more weeks and then schedule surgery."

Did he say 3 more weeks? Twenty-one more fun-filled days of bribery and negotiation.

Oh, well. We'll just keep partying here in Patchville.

This One's For the Boys

Hip, hip hooray! About 18 months ago, I was asked to serve on a committee at church. Our mission: to fill a new position, associate pastor for small group ministries. I remember thinking at the time that I would probably want to have a second child during the time I served on the committee. In my ignorance-is-bliss, only-have-one-child state of mind, I thought, "oh, what's the big deal, we can do this!" Well, it's been a long and challenging commitment, but as of today, I am officially done. Yahoo! We introduced our new associate pastor at church today and he was greeted with much enthusiasm. I bet he and his family are 10 times more relieved than I am.

So this is a big thank you to Steve, Luke and Andrew who endured the absence of mama on many occasions so I could participate in this process.

Dance Like Nobody's Watchin'

Luke's buddy, Jack, came over for a play date yesterday. Luke has recently entered the world of imaginative play. Jack definitely has some experience with this phase of preschool life, so he made an excellent master for apprentice Luke. Our vast collection of Shrek 3 Happy Meal toys were living a lonely existence (prior to Jack's arrival on the scene), long since discarded in the toy box. Jack and Luke to the rescue! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the battles that ensued, Gingerbread Man and Puss 'n Boots duking it out on the top deck of the Hot Wheels cars parking garage. After a quick refueling of Caprisun and Fruity Snacks, Jack asked me to "turn up the apple" (this loosely translates to turn up the volume on the Ipod, please). Luke and Jack rocked out to "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts. This is also known as the Cars movie song, by the way. These boys showed no inhibitions. I've never seen a 3 year old play the air guitar quite like that. So, as I'm enjoying the free entertainment performed on the stage of my very own kitchen floor, I see a long-forgotten magnet hanging on the refrigerator:
Dance as though no one is watching you...sing as though no one can hear you

Now that I'm a grown up and responsible for little people on a daily basis, I get so bogged down in the mundane tasks of everyday living. I don't feel much like dancing and I'd rather grumble over another load of laundry than make a joyful noise. But today I was reminded that I have much to be thankful for and so many reasons to dance.

Maple Valley Days

Maple Valley has a weekend festival every summer. It usually rains and so we have usually skipped it. This year, our friend Megan invited Luke to ride along with her son, Jack. The float was designed to be a train, so Luke and Jack were pretty excited. It was pouring down rain by the time things got started, but that didn't stop anybody from participating. Luke came home completely exhausted, so I guess the morning was a success.

An Exciting Addition

We went and did it, that thing we said we wouldn't do, invested in a small play structure for our little guys. As most of you have witnessed, our yard is quite small. But this mama is tired of loading 2 boys in the car to drive to the park. As soon as we get there, Andy is usually crying and needs to go home. So, I'm hoping this might give Luke some more opportunities to play outside and appease Andy at the same time. Steve and Luke assembled it with only minor frustration and came inside just as a thunderstorm rolled in.

We are trying to convince Andy that he really could feed himself. He seems to enjoy holding his bottle all by himself, but mostly shakes the contents around the room. We have experienced some warm weather this weekend and he was able to get outside for a few minutes. He is fascinated with the dog, his brother and all the activities going on around him.