Zach loves his stickers Grandma gave to him....

He even sleeps with them, sometimes with poor results.

We bought an Xbox... I think we made a mistake...

Zach reading. This is his favorite thing

Zach eating pudding... and painting with it too.

Trunk Or Treat

Wednesday was our ward Halloween activity. There was crafting, cookie decorating, games, and OF COURSE the annual Trunk Or Treat.

Zach has been totally excited about all things pumpkin, ever since the first day I let him try on his pumpkin costume. His favorite game of the evening was this pumpkin toss. He actually did pretty well throwing the pumpkins so that they would stay on the bars.
His next favorite game was fishing for spiders. He even caught one!!
But only one...
Then we headed out for the Trunk or Treat. He really got the hang of thrusting his pumpkin basket in peoples faces as if to demand candy. Some ran out before we got to them and he was pretty perturbed and sort of stomped away. He was pretty good with "saying" thank you every time. With his little hand clasp sign. We still don't know how he decided it meant "Thank you" to open and close his hand. But I guess it works for him.

Don't ask what I'm dressed as- I guess it's a super chubby ballerina? I'm not even sure.
I do know this is the cutest pumpkin I'VE ever met.
Ooooo... and who's that handsome guy. He's dressed up as.... HIMSELF!
Here's the stash of goodies I... I mean Zach came home with. Not too shabby for a 2 yr old.
More to COME!!

BOO at the Zoo!

Our Halloween celebrations were officially jump started tonight by attending our:Zach RAN straight to this pumpkin and stuck his face through the hole for a picture.
He then wouldn't allow us to walk away until we let him peek through Frankenstein as well. NOTE: he has started to chew on his bottom lip constantly, so you will probably see this funny face in many pictures to come. Any tips for how to help him overcome it? Growl!
No, he's not sleeping. He's just really comfortable.
He LOVED seeing all of the pumpkins. He would point at them and then point to himself since he was also a pumpkin.
He thought they were pretty neat.
You just can't tell because he won't stop sucking on that lip!
There were cute little scenes set up all around the zoo and you could follow the whole story.
Zach RAN through the hay bale maze. He was totally excited, especially when he went through a little tunnel and escaped dad for a second. Too bad it didn't lead very far.
Run Zach Run!
He would also run down all of the hills along the path. I'm thinking we're all going to get a great night's sleep tonight.
He found some pumpkin lights that looked just like him!! He was thrilled.
On the way out we stopped to snap a picture with Captain Jack Sparrow, Zach wasn't so thrilled.

All in all, it was a great time. We LOVE the Zoo!!

Felt Board Fun

I've been meaning to work on this one for a while now. Finally, I buckled down and I'm really happy with how it ended up. Zach LOVES this book "Freight Train" By Donald Crews. It's super simple, just describes each colored car and then tells where the train goes. The drawings are very simple but he loves it- he basically loves anything train related. I figured it would be a perfect felt board story so I traced each car on it's respective color and WHA-LA! We now have our very own Freight Train. We are missing the purple box car because I didn't have any purple but I still think it will be a great learning tool for colors.

Once Upon a Time...

OK, I know I haven't been to very good at keeping up with blogging and what not but I'll try to give you a little bit of an update. I had my very first "official" photo shoot with a happy engaged couple. I actually delivered 5 gigantic prints for them this morning. It was really exciting to see my work blown up to a 20x30. I think they turned out great! Someday, I hope to upgrade my equipment so they can be even better but I'm still really happy with the way they turned out. You can see more at my photography blog in the left hand column.
Jason has been setting up interviews for residency next year and while it's really exciting, it's also a little nerve wracking to be wondering where we will be a year from now. For me that has meant a major purging spree. Jason and I have been married for 7 years now and have managed to accumulate a LOT of stuff. I've now decided it's finally time to just let it go. I participated in a clothing swap this last week where I was happy to unload, I mean donate, 5 large boxes of clothes. I have more miscellaneous items packed up and ready to go to good will. I feel like I'm actually losing weight by unloading the excess that has been cluttering up our home. It feels really good. I might have to be careful that I don't start enjoying it too much or I might give everything away!
Zach has grown up a ton. He went through a little texture aversion phase with his food and mostly stuck to milk and juice, but he's finally seemed to grow out of it. Topping his favorites would have to be animal shaped Mac N' Cheese and Brown Sugar Oatmeal, Oh... and I can't forget just straight cheese. For some reason he LOVES cheese! He has figured out how to run and he thinks it's just hysterical to run from one side of the house to the other, screaming and giggling all along the way.

His favorite thing to do is read. I think I could sit down with him and read every book in our house (and that's A TON!) and he would quietly sit and enjoy every one of them. He has even started to read them to himself. He will sit on his little couch and flip through the pages pointing out certain object and talking to himself. (Note: the book pictured here is actually upside down!) He is such a sweet content kid and just loves to cuddle any chance he gets. How did I manage to get so lucky with this one!

Building the firetruck at Lowe's

Finger Painting

A few days ago Zach had an idea and he was pretty excited to carry it out. He found a bottle of paint then gathered up his bib and insisted on being put into his high chair. How could I deny him? We started with finger painting and then pulled out an old jeep for a repeat of our driving project from his tot class a few weeks ago. He was totally thrilled to get down and dirty. Here are his creations. I thought they turned out pretty neat.

Then, I turned my back and when I looked back I found this. HOW, I don't know. But I thought it was pretty funny. He didn't like me laughing at him very much.

What a Freebie!!!

Have I told you how much I love freecycle?

Well- I LOVE FREECYCLE!!!

Why? Do you ask? Isn't that just a whole bunch of just people are trying to get rid of?

Maybe... but not always.

A few weeks ago, we got THIS...

No, not the boys tangled up and giggling- We got a trampoline! FREE!!

It's in great condition and already it's a HIT.
We had some friends over to roast marshmallows and hot dogs in out fire pit (also from freecycle) and play on the trampoline. The kids had a blast. And believe it or not, NOBODY got hurt. Horray!
Zach also enjoyed making funny faces at mom while practicing our rolling skills in the wonderful sunshine.

THANK YOU FREECYCLE!!

A Special Zoo Trip

When we renewed our zoo pass for this year we got a whole pack of free tickets for the special exhibits and they're expiration dates were swiftly approaching. Last year, they expired before we remembered to use them. DARN! This year I was proactive and we planned a trip specifically for the purpose of using those tickets.

We started with the TRAIN!!

Zach is obsessed with trains so he was thrilled.
Those silly pursed lips are him making the train noise, which coincidentally sounds a whole lot like his cow AND his cat noise.
Then, completely worn out already, we headed home for a nap.
The day wasn't over yet so, after his nap, we met some friends and enjoyed the Sea Lion and Seal show.
Zach thought the sea lion's honking noise was hysterical.
The ball balancing trick was quite impressive. But the hi-light of the day was our trip to the Birds from Down Under exhibit. Jason caught a bird with his food stick right as we walked in the door.
Zach followed his dad's example, putting his stick into the air after the birds.
He wasn't expecting one to ACTUALLY LAND on it. A bird swooped in only moments after we had walked in the door and he latched on to Zach's little stick.
I expected him to immediately drop it. But, he kept a secure hold and the bird stayed for several minutes. He kept looking nervously my direction like"Mom! He won't get off!" But he somehow managed to stay calm.
The bird got a pretty good meal out of it. If only he had known how close he was to a perilous drop.

Zach tried to catch more birds without much luck.
This guy was especially elusive. He would act interested, reach out for the food...
Then snatch a chunk off and high tail it out of there.
It was quite the experience. And I think we might actually go again, even if we ARE out of free tickets. It would still be well worth it.

What a happy kid!

Artwork by Zach

So, I've been REALLY bad about posting lately haven't I? I guess my focus has been elsewhere. Zach is definately growing up so fast. It's tough to keep up sometimes- literally! I have to keep my running shoes on since he never seems to stop running. I enrolled him in a class through the community to get some 'out of the house' socializing in. It's supposed to be a sort of toddler fitness class where they get to dance and run around. So far, the dancing isn't so much his thing but the running, of course, is a hit.

They also have a arts & crafts time. This week we painted with cars. What could be more fun! I expected Zach to go wild, rolling back and forth as fast as he could. What was I thinking? Zach is a very thoughtful kid and, of course, even the rolling of the cars were slow and meticulous. It was like he was intently concentrating on getting the lines just right. Here's his masterpiece:

When Jason got home he was SO excited to show his creation to his dad. He ran the painting over to Jason and then picked up a car to show him just how it was done, rolling it over the picture for him.

Last week was equally exciting. We learned about the animals on a farm, well everybody except Zach who was way too interested in driving the tractor around. Of course! The craft that day was to paint the mud for Mr. Pig with pudding. He loved it and, as you can see, he actually tried to keep the mud in the puddle outline. I tried to get him to go crazy with it and spread it all over (the stray smudges at the top were actually mine) but NO, once again he very carefully painted the picture just the way he thought it ought to be. And then snacked on the "mud" just a little bit.
That's my boy!

Tip of the Day:

No matter how secure you think your child's sippy cup may be. DO NOT give them grape juice.

Because as sippy cups tumble down stairs, they tend to pressurize and... SPRAY as they go.
But who can stay mad at this cute kid who plopped down next to me as I was lamenting my ceiling.

Anybody know how to get grape juice stains off a white wall/ceiling?

My latest creation

OK, don't laugh... too hard anyway.

'cause I'm obviously laughing quite a bit. I had an order from a gal on Craigslist for adult tutu's to be worn at her bachelorette party. I just HAD to model them. HOW FUN! Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a 7 yr old girl. Why didn't we ever come up with awsome stuff like this!

Zach and his cars

Zach likes to use his home made race track, and he likes all of his cars to go down it at once.

Zach throwing up in Toilet

Rexburg Fun

WARNING! There are a TON of pictures to come. I'm a bit behind and I need to get caught up so you are about to get our Entire Idaho trip in one shot.

Grandma's house was full of all sorts of adventures. Zach actually figured out how to turn on the hose and start up this little sprinkler all by himself. He would "run" through it giggling hysterically and then do it again and again.
We had a campfire in the backyard with roasted hot dogs, marshmallows and starbursts... you heard me right... STARBURSTS. They are surprisingly yummy. Try it!

I got a new lens for my camera so I had to experiment a bit with shutter speeds on the fire.

Zach would ofted disappear and we would find him hiding in the closet "organizing" Grandma's car collecion. He was very particular about it.

Other times, Zach was totally content to be pushed around in this little car for as long as you could stand it. At least Grandma could talk on the phone and push at the same time. Horray for Multi-tasking!

Make sure you keep your pinky up when drinking from the top of Bob the Builder's head.

I left Zach with Grandma for only a few minutes while I took a quick shower and what happened? SHE PAINTED HIS NAILS! She claims it was HIS idea.

Twins! Well, second cousins in matching gear anyway. This is Jason's Cousin Shelly's little boy and it appears they may be exchanging words over a toy.

The time went So fast and before we knew it we were packing to go camping!

Just a little Sun

I forgot to include this in the last post... ooops!
After Jason gave us a HUGE lecture on putting sunscreen on Zach we tried pretty hard to keep re-applying. The thing was... there was just NO sun on our camp out. At least there wasn't until the last few hours as we were packing up. Go figure, it was just enough to give Zach a funny "blush" to his cheeks. It faded by morning but we had to giggle a little bit. Zach's FIRST sunburn. (Oh man... I'm such a cliche with "firsts" aren't I- don't mock! I'm only human)

Camping

Uh Oh! Here's a little foreboding view as we approached out campspot.
But it cleared up for the most part. Zach loved sitting in his very own camp chair... that actually talked back!

We painted rocks with the cousins.

But Zach "painted" with water... thankfully.

They looked so innocent in the beginning but you should have seen the table, and ground, and clothes after they were finished.

Zach loved picking out the perfect rocks along the banks of the tiny creek that ran past out campspot.

He also love trying to throw them into the water like his bigger cousins.

It was a tad bit chilly but beautiful no less.

Our only other boy cousin, Roy, was more than willing to show Zach the ropes.

Uh Oh... Zach. Don't follow his lead too closely.

Zach was completely enthralled by his cousin's dog Daisy. Even though she knocked him over on more than one occasion, he was not scared one bit.

It was definately NOT warm by any means but we still had a great time.

Zach even learned to play a little badmitton.

At least he understood to go after the birdie anyway.

Of course Zach had to start another rock collection.

Check out his goods!

Soon the cousins followed suit- that's right, my son is a trendsetter.

The attempted to take a nice cousin picture with ALL of the cousins standing nicely in a line. Wait... who thought it would be a simple task to line up 8 kids under 8-in age order, get them to stand still, AND look at the camera WITH their eyes open?

Zach thought it was a game and would Bolt every chance he got.

He knew right where the path to the river was and would assume this pose on a regular basis hoping that his cuteness would win someone over and get him a trip to the water.

Zach's cousins taught him to blow on the dandelions. Yes, that pouty bottom lip is him "blowing".

Zach LOVED Aunt Brendi. He would wrap his arms around her neck, lie his head on her shoulder and pat her back. Then he would pull her face into him and give her a BIG kiss, just because.

On the last day, to keep the kids busy during cleanup, Grandma started them filling water balloons. Zach collected a few and very carefully marched them around the campground in his stroller.

What a HAM!

See that one squinty eye? That's Zach's "I'm squeezing with all my might"face. Thankfully he never did figure out how to pop a water balloon. Wheeeew!

All in all, we had a great time. Zach LOVED hangin' with his cousins AND spending basically all of his time outside. The only person missing was Jason. Someday... right?

Post Camping fun in Rexburg

After we got home from camping at Green Canyon we visited the splash park in Rexburg. It was actually REALLY cool with water slides, a giant bucket that dumped water every few minutes and fountains of all sorts and sizes.
Zach was somewhat cautious at first.

But he warmed up to it when he saw his cousins enjoying the fun.

After lunch we rode the carousel and even though Zach insisted I ride next to him I could tell he was enjoying himself. After we got off he kept running back and trying to sneak in with the other kids.

I "got sick" very suddenly one day after trying to mix prenatal vitamins with fruity pebbles. Zach watched and laughed the whole time- Thanks buddy, I love you to.

Ever since then he has decided that making yucky noises into the toilet, coughing and spitting, is just what toilets are for. Oh... and grandma taught him to splash in them to. Thanks Grandma!

Video to come soon so you can get the full effect. I just haven't figured out how to get it to work yet since it was on Grandma's camera. It's pretty hilarious. WHAT AM I TEACHING MY SON!

Just before we headed to the airport we were greeted by a giant dump truck! Just what every little boy loves to see. Zach was totally excited to see it in action.

Utah trip

Well, it's official! These are the telltale mountains that say... I'm IN UTAH! I just love them. I love the blue sky!

I love the brightly colored "weeds"

Warm weather is great for practicing our walking on nice green grass, with NO stickers!

We tried really hard (note the pursed lips) to make a wish but these are some tough wish-flowers. They would not fly away no matter how hard Zach tried.

We visited Karlee's cemetery and Zach was enthralled with all the beautiful flowers at each headstone. Especially this one with the pinwheel.

Zach and Grandma spent a good amount of time collecting rocks and when he realized she was throwing them back he quit giving them to her and brought them to me. I made a little pile and when it was time to go home he very carefully put each rock back where it belonged, one at a time. He even had to move one that had landed in the "wrong" spot before he would let us go home.

We played with sparklers on the 24th and Zach was quite nervous, but he was still really excited. Especially when his cousins would paint swirly pictures in the sky with them.

Today was Creed's farewell so we had some family pictures taken.

The menu... pumpkin, pumpkin, pumkin and MORE pumpkin. It's Creed's favorite.

MORE TO COME SOON!

Zach

Zach sleeping with Teryn's stuffed animal.
Zach found the junior mints, These are his favorite snacks, you can see he has about 10 of them in his mouth.

Zach likes to be like dad, even with dad's pager.

In Rememberance...

Jason hates when I interupt our regular family blogging for "other stuff nobody wants to hear" but this morning I just felt like I HAD to say something. This morning I started my usual "blog stalking" and was shocked to find terrible news on one of my favorite blogs.

The Thifty Chick (Stacy) passed away unexpectedly on Monday. She suffered a stroke just 14 days after giving birth to a beautiful baby boy. She left behind a loving husband and 4 children. I broke out into tears as I scrolled through her most recent posts. She was a creative genious. I know I will truly miss watching for her regular updates. I can't imagine how her family is coping with such a loss. Especially with a new baby.

I will be keeping them in my prayers today and I hope some of you will take a moment to visit her blog and enjoy her creativity as I have. Please say a little prayer for her family as you do. I think I'm going to go eat some chocolate cake now, and maybe cry a little bit. We'll soon return to our regular programming.

Latest Creation

Zach has started to get really excited when we practice pointing out body parts. "Nose" and "Toes" are definately his favorites as he will contort all sorts of ways to point out his, mine, AND Jason's. He seems to really enjoy matching things and pointing out similarities. SO... I made him a Mr. Potato Head for our felt board. He has really enjoyed it so far. His favorite is to point out his teeth and then find the big toothy grin to stick on the potato. I kinda wonder though what he thinks about the silliness of sticking face parts on a potato. Hmmmmm.... I do wonder sometimes what goes on in that little head of his.

At The Beach

We headed to the beach today for a special treat. Partly because I had a really great idea for my entry in the photography challenge this weekend. The topic was "Line" and THIS is what I decided to use...
It doesn't look like much here but it's actually a shrunken version of a gigantic panaroma of 27 different pictures all stitched together. I loved how dramatic the clouds were- that's even SOOC! (that means no photoshop mom- lol)

We also took the opportunity to practice throwing rocks into the water while we watched the waves. Zack was totally enthralled and giggled histerically everytime the rock spashed into the water.

You can just see the ripples off to the right where the rock landed.

That's my uber-hot man hauling our little one away from the beloved waves. Tough guy right? I luv him!

Here I'm guessing he's showing Zach the correct form.

Then they let it fly!

Here's my 2nd place option for the challenge- in case I couln't figure out the photostitching.

I realized all these pictures don't show Zach's face, so I uploaded a few more that you can see his face with.

One of the balloon's at the end flew away, Zach was very distressed about it.

This is right as soon as he noticed the balloon flying away.

Zach and Lightning McQueen on his new race track.

Zach saying "WOW!"

Parade

Zach clapped for the horses again and againHe liked to tall people
He waved, hoping for candy...
One of the Brewer's sausages giving him 5
The tall lady blew him a kiss

4rth Parade

Zach waved at the fire engine.I just liked the fact that drug dealers used to own this truck, now the sheriff does.
Zach loved waving at the horses

Teryn taught Zach if he waved, he got candy, so because of that he waved at everyone in the parade hoping he would get a treat.

More pictures

Zach's new race trackBronze statue at the zoo
Zach and the huge tower

Zoo Playground

Teryn and Zach looking at the tigerZach finds ants more interesting than any other animal at the zoo, if you look close you can see the little black critter.

Zach loves the slide....
Sometimes he forgets it is for sliding down.

Crazy Kid

Don't worry, we're bolting the shelf to the wall TODAY!
I guess Zach has found a new play place. He's such a goofy kid.

Swimming!

Checkin' out the joint

A bit nervous...
All Right, All Right, All Right... lovin' every minute!
Wow!
Needless to say, our first experience at the local swimming hole was a success! We definately look forward to doing it again.

Happy Father's Day

I forgot to post this earlier. What was I thinking!!! This was a handmade frame by Zach. Used some great Tempura paints (another freecycle deal) and some dollar store gems. Zach loved being able to use both a paintbrush AND his own hand to make fun designs as I turned the frame around and around. He also picked out each gem and I added glue then he stuck it, very forcefully, to the frame. It was a fun little project. I really like this picture of Jason and Zach at the hospital (as long as I'm cropped out of it! I had just given birth after all)

She's a photographer!

Well.... -ish
.
.
I got the opportunity to be an "official" photographer for a wedding on Saturday. I know, I know, I not a professional or anything but I had a good time and I learned a lot and I THINK I actually got a few fairly decent pictures (out of the almost 1400 that I took)
I teamed up with my friend Melinda (photography blog HERE) so that between the two of us amatuers we would be able to offer some good stuff. I've also started a blog for my photography and the link is over on the side bar here. Or just go to http://www.gundersenphotos.blogspot.com/. I hope you will leave me some feedback as I'd like to be albe to improve to the point where I might dare charge next time. Though I have no idea how much.
.
What should I charge for my services and a CD of all of the pictures I took? (not for this wedding, it was a feebie- for the next one.)

She's a Decorator?

Now that I'm a certified Blog Junkie I have been storing in my very tiny head all kinds of fantastic ideas. However, not too very many of them have actually come to light.

Finally- I followed through on one of my planned projects. I found these framed "Cars" pictures at a garage sale a couple weeks ago for $1 and I thought they would be perfect for my 2 "Cars" obsessed boys. (Yes, I counted Jason there) I just didn't absolutely love the frames they came in. Kinda plain, boring, and not really my style.

Here's the big one...
Well, I've seen tons of women (bloggers) who just rave about the magical powers of SPRAY PAINT so I figured this would be the perfect time to test them out.

TA DA!!

P.S. My latest favorite crafty blogger is The Thrifty Chick, I'm all about thrifty these days! She is also one of those who does the spray painting stuff.

Oh! And as I was getting these frames ready to paint I discovered that the pictures are actually taken from an old calendar! Genious!

After all is said and done though I do wonder- How is it that these women can be spray painting away on everything and not get terrible cramps!?! I did 3 measly little frames and I tell you what- I am hurting! (but I am known to be a pretty terrible wimp)

This Week's Favorite Toy

Zach has taken a liking to trains lately and this mega blocks one that I got from freecycle has been all kinds of fun. He drives it around all the kitchen chairs, under the table, around the living room, up the stairs and basically anywhere it will fit. The only problem is when it comes apart he has to take it to mom to fix it... which is a lot.

Zach Walks!!

New Landscaping

When we bought our house 3 years ago it had these beautiful shrubs in the front. A deep purple one and two green with pretty purple flowers. Unfortunately, these very shrubs seem to go through a regular "awkward teenage" phase each year. That phase actually seems to last most of the year, especially with the help of our neighborhood bunnies that keep eating the one closest to our door.

Here they are in all thier glory!

But as of today... THEY ARE NO MORE!

Replaced by some evergreen boxwoods that may not have as pretty of colors but they will actually stay looking nice all year around. I'm not completely finished yet. I plan on surrounding them with mulch and some flowers. But so far, I think they look pretty. darn. good.

Especially since I planted them MYSELF! (Well, Jason dug up the old ones and I replanted these.)
Don't worry, we didn't throw out our old pals. They just found new homes where they wouldn't be the center of attention durring thier dead months.

Here's the darker purple one under the garage window in the back yard.
And the other two have been moved to the side of the house.
Notice: they are about 10 times the size that they were when the original picture was shot. That's what I was talking about. They actually look really nice for about 3 months of the year, it's just the other months that they look like a pile of sticks. I was just afraid we would end up getting stuck trying to sell our house during the stick months so I figured evergreens were a safe bet. I'm sure glad for the change.

MOM! Look what I can do!

Since Zach has learned to say "keys" he also had to demonstrate that he knows what keys are for.
I LOVE that he's up on his tippy tip top toes. So cute!!

A new toy...

Yesterday we had a family garage sale trip. We came across some real treasures and I'm pretty excited about them. So is Zach.
This is one of those Mellisa&Doug puzzles but instead of having removable pieces to lose like the traditional puzzle, this one has locks and latches to practice opening and closing with a different color of animal hidden behind each door. They are also numbered so he can learn his colors, numbers and coordination all in one spot.

I thought I might be more impressed with it than he would be. I thought he was probably too young to understand all of the different latches. I was WRONG!

He has spent long stretches of time analyzing each and every door. I watched him meticulously latch and unlatch the yellow one probably 15-20 times today. Practicing and analyzing. It was really fun to watch.

Yesterday he was so excited about his new toys that I couldn't get him to take a nap. I finally sat him in his crib with this puzzle and went downstairs. I could hear him clickety clacking away for at least 20 minutes before he finally went silent without making a peep, he was sound asleep. I think this was ABSOLUTELY a dollar well spent.

(more garage sale treasures to come)

Happy Soon-to-be Anniversary

Since our 7th anniversary is coming up, 20th of July- I guess it's still a little ways away but I'm EXCITED, we decided to finally get a nice picture to put up in our living room. We had these taken for our engagement but never actually ordered a full sized one.

Jason jokes that we aren't ever going to look this good again so we really ought to use the pictures. Sadly, I think it's true. I don't think I will ever fit in those pants again and that shirt... HA!

Anyway, we actually purchased the negatives (dirt cheap too- I think he just wanted to get rid of them after all these years) and we are scanning them so that we will have a digital copy. We've only done a few so far but this one is one of my favorites.

Aren't we cute!!! And so in luuuuuuurve!

Camping Adventure

So, here's the story. This past weekend was one of those few weekends that I actually had a husband so we wanted to take full advantage. Some friends of ours (also med students) had the same idea so we joined forces for a fun filled camping weekend. They were a lot better at time management so they got a head start for the campground and we followed about an hour behind them. The plan was to leave around 2:30 and reach Buckhorn National park around 4:30 with plenty of time to set up camp and enjoy some campfire food. (My Favorite!)

We ended up making it out the door probably around 4:00 and about halfway there we got a phone call. Our friend's car had broken down on the highway and they were stranded at the side of the road. Luckily they knew we were on our way so they didn't have to panic. We stopped and bought some oil at a gas station in case that was the problem, in HOPES that was the problem. Sadly... it wasn't. They did manage to drive it off the highway and made it to a truck stop where we met them and, instead of campfire dinners we had truckstop diner food. Our waitress was really nice though and helped us find a mechanic.

We ended up leaving thier car at the mechanic's and then just making two trips in our car to the campground. When we got there it was already pretty late and completely pitch dark... OH! And there was a WALL of mosquitos waiting to greet us. We still managed to get our tents set up, built a fire and doused ourselves with bug spray. Unfortunately, bug spray isn't 100% so we still walked away with a good number of itchy bites. Check out my Mission24 challenge to see what Zach looked like when we got home.

That night it didn't just rain it POURED! And apparently there were racoons because they ate almost all of my bananas. Bummer! It was one of those "count your blessings" deals though. We had left most of our food in the car just in case and there wasn't any rain at all untill we were all snug in our sleeping bags for the night. The next morning the sun was out and the ground was dry and we were greeted with a beautiful day- and fewer mosquitos. Horray!
Jarom got to enjoy his kyak.

The water was glassy and beautiful.

The younger boys loved being packed around by thier moms. That's right... We're superwomen!

Here's the Gang!

Here's the camp.

Aren't we cute? I just love Zach's grin.

Cool photography Andrea.

Zach loved pushing his stoller around. Though he did try to make a run for it on more than one occasion.

All three boys thought our camp cart made a great jungle gym.

We did find these creepy web sacks around the camp. They gave me the heebi geebis like something from a horror film.

I was relieved to learn they weren't spiders though... still creepy.

On the way home I snapped this shot of a cool tilty house.

All in all we ended up having a great time. Maybe it took some extra effort in the beginning but I still look forward to many more camping trips to come. I was most nervous about how Zach would handle it and he was a real champ.

Unfortunately, the car is still in the shop. Our friends stayed an extra night. Since I was playing my violin on Sunday we had to hurry home. It worked out well though because Jason left right after church and went back up to pick them up. He didn't end up making it home until 8:00 but he's just that kind of guy. My Hero!

You know, I love that guy. He's just the kind of guy that will drop everything to help out a friend. I know he would have made the trip for them even if it had been 4 hours each way, and I love him for it.

Art Museum

WARNING: This is a VERY picture heavy post.

Of course, how else can one document a visit to the art museum without tons of pictures right?
Here we are in the world famous lobby overlooking Lake Michigan. Not only is the view fantastic but the architecture is amazing.
You could see the "wings" open above if you peeked through the windows just right.

We got there early so the first hallway was completely empty which made for a pretty cool picture.

I've always loved this crazy blown glass sculpture. It sure made for some pretty neat "bokeh"- see me speaking photographer-ish?

Zach enjoyed coloring pictures in the new children's room. It was nice to find an area where we were ACTUALLY allowed to touch things.

I traced Zach on the chalkboard wall. Quite an accomplishment if you know of my phobia of chalk.

This is Zach's art. I thought he did a pretty darn good job. Great use of colors and parallel lines. : )

I made friends with the "janitor"- he didn't talk much.

This was one of my favorite rooms. I took one picture with the flash to show what the room looked like. It was basically a bunch of suspended glow sticks.

Here's my picture with the flash off. The shutter stayed open for a whole 25 seconds to get the light. I held as still as I could but I kinda like the way my slight wiggles make it all look. A bit "Matrix-y" don't you think?

I call this "Pensive Boy at the waterfront"

I call this one, "Pensive Boy at the waterfront with his Mom"

I loved how this sculpture looked with the hazy lake behind it.

And this was a whole table of blown glass sculptures that looked like a very messy dinner party.

So, there ya go. Our trip to the museum in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed it- Farewell all ye art connoisseurs. I bid thee adieu and good night.

Sandbox!

As his Memorial day project today, Jason decided to build a sandbox for Zach. He saw a really great deal on sand at Home Depot and figured it was the perfect time. He even built a lid to cover it so that animals and leaves wouldn't get in. 

Here's Zach with his classic question hands. "Where'd my legs go?" He was pretty excited to play. Now we just need to collect us some sand toys. 
After filling his pants with sand Zach had to go on a walk with Dad to shake some sand off before I could let them both in the house again. He's getting really good at walking. We're up to 7 sturdy independent steps now!
I love watching babies walk. 
And those little legs, and that bum! I just love them to pieces. 

Holy Moly

I think we might have a future skyscraper architect on our hands. I realize that this is NOT my best photography but I was racing to get the shot. I couldn't adjust my camera settings fast enough and just after this was taken, the tower took a tumble. I almost missed it! I was actually in the kitchen and when I stepped in to check on him I found this! WOW! I promise I was NOT involved in this creation at all.

Winner Winner!

I really didn't expect much from this picture. I was just experimenting with shutterspeed to practice some of the things I've learned on this new blog. I guess it worked!

WORMS!!

BIG NEWS!!!

I've noticed this funny trend with my son. There are certain landmarks in a child's life that mark his progress and growth. All of the big firsts. First solid foods, first sippy cup, first haircut. Periodically, a child's physician will check in on these firsts to see that said child is on track with the norms. There have been several times now that we have visited the doctor and had him ask about something only to have me look worriedly at my son wondering if he really should have been doing this particular task by that time. (example: crawling- he was slow to take the leap to mobility) The funny thing is, whenever we talk to the doctor about these benchmarks it's like a cue for Zach to suddenly decide it's time. We talked to the doctor about him not taking sippy cups- suddenly he took to them like he had always loved sippy cups. We talked to the doctor about him not sleeping through the night. Suddenly- 8:00 to 7:00- OH bliss! We even talked to him about Zach's apparent lack of interest in crawling and all of a sudden he was scooting accross the floor.

Are you wondering what our big new is yet? Have I left you in suspense long enough or did you already guess?

Well... yesterday was another doctor's appointment and we visited over all of the expected benchmarks. Stacking blocks- check! Finger feeding or using utinsels- check! Using tools for thier correct purpose- check! Following instructions- check! (still in suspense?) Walking and Talking? NO CHECK!!!! So we talked about some possible solutions, even checking into some physical therapy. He was ahead of the curve on everything except walking and talking- something you would think would be the basics. Our doctor wasn't too nervous about the speech stuff because Zach is actually really good at communicating non-verbally. He has some signs that we've taught him and our doc said that was great! It was more the walking that he said we might want to get some help for.

SO... right on cue with our past experiences Zach finally decided it was time to take the leap. Of course the day AFTER our check up. This morning he found some keys that had fallen off our key rack by the door. He brought them to me giggling and said, quite clearly "KEYS!"

HE SPEAKS

Then just as Jason was getting ready to walk out the door to go to work we decided to practice walking a bit. I held Zach, helped him stabalize, and then let go and WA LA! 7 whole steps to dad. I think he would have had more but they ran out of room.

HE WALKS

Apparently Zach just has a little bit of an attitude and doesn't want to listen to his parents. Only the Doctor can tell him what to do!

I'll have to remember that when he's a teenager and wants to do something crazy. Good thing his dad will be a doctor by then right? WHEEW!