Hogwarts Express

For the last three days the boys have been turning their bunk bed into the Hogwarts Express. While I generally cringe when I see this kind of mess, I've actually enjoyed watching and listening to the boys working together, imagining together, solving problems together, and generally loving playing together. So, the mess isn't so troubling. Besides, they clean it all up before bed each night. I'm so grateful for these little glimpses that make all the rough days seem worth it!

Fifteen Months

This was a first for us; the boys never had 15 month appointments. Elyse must have sensed the injustice of it because she was a tyrant at her appointment. She even managed to break the pediatrician's head measuring thing in a fit of rage. The good news is that she is very solidly on the weight chart, weighing in at a whooping 20 pounds. At 15 months Elyse is:
• walking pretty steadily, less steadily when she's tired.
• still not napping, at least not in crib. Sometimes she'll sleep over an hour in her car seat, but it's not all that uncommon for her only to sleep 20 minutes during the day.
• an excellent screecher. We like to call her our screecher creature.
• starting to be very opinionated about food, and actually just about everything. When she's not interested in eating something in front of her it quickly ends up on the floor.
• loves pressing buttons. She runs down the hall with a pointed finger whenever I'm near the washer and dryer.
• loves to scribble, especially with markers or sidewalk chalk.
• loves to wave good bye to Matthew at the bus stop.
• gives the best little kisses.
• tolerates the gym childcare pretty well, but still cries when I drop her off.

This is one of our most recent photos of Elyse, taking a quick nap in the middle of the gym kids club.

Between Sessions

We took advantage of the unseasonable warm weather and went for a strategically planned walk; a route with blackberry bushes along the way. We did pretty well!

First Day of Preschool

Since Matthew got a special first day of school breakfast, I thought Sethie should get something special too. After a real breakfast and getting Matthew on the bus we headed to "Grandpa's favorite doughnut place," as Krispy Kreme is known in our home and I treated Seth and Elyse to a doughnut of their choice.
Despite being "a little nervous" when I dropped him off, Seth had a great first day.

Zoo Camp

Matthew is halfway through his week of Zoo Camp and loving every minute. I think Seth has loved spending at least an hour at the zoo everyday before picking up Matthew. Although, I wish he was as interested in the animals as he is scaling the rocks in the Zoomazium.
It's been very school-year-like here with Matthew gone all day and it makes me feel dread and look forward to the start of school all at the same time.

UTAH!

For our summer family vacation we decided it was about time to make the trek to Utah.  Hard to believe we hadn't been back for six years!  Since it wasn't exactly my idea of a dream vacation, I took the time to make it more thrilling (for me, maybe not for the kids) by planning reunions with several friends that we haven't seen in a long time (none of which we documented with pictures).  Of course we got to see LOTS of family, which made the long drive worth it all.  Did I mention that Elyse cried the entire length of Oregon on the way home?!  And the kids really did have a great time!  Seth even decided that Utah was "the best place ever" and is planning his return trip.

Here are some of the highlights, at least the ones that we captured:

Alpine Slides and Coaster

 

Temple Square

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Point

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hot Tubing at Grandma and Grandpa Isaacsons

 

 

 

Not pictured: spending time with Paul, Lynne and family; visiting and making new friends; and lots and lots of driving!

Block Creations

A few of Matthew's Space Needle inspired building:

Version #2:

An airplane:

Cruising

Both boys were quicker to walk than Elyse. But at least she's cruising along couches, walls, chairs, and the fish tank at in the Zoomazium.

 

Happy Birthday Elyse!

It's been a long year . . . but we've all survived. Barely! Here are a few pictures of the festivities: 

 The cake:

Sadly, we didn't catch and footage of her digging in.  Poor third child!

Hard life

What better way to follow up a parade than a round of mini-golf. It's a hard life for these two!

Everyone loves a Parade

Last year we missed marching with Matthew's school in the Wallingford kiddie parade because I was in the hospital having Elyse.
This year Elyse marched along with me (in the backpack) while Matthew rode his unicycle. And what's a parade without shaved ice at the end?!