Grandparent Fun & Some Improvements

GRANDPARENT FUN:

We love grandparents! My daddy just can't stay away. And we're SO glad! He must like us. We had such a great visit with him. My kids were not themselves, however, and so it wasn't as great for him as I was hoping. There were glimpses of normalcy during the weekend so it wasn't a total loss, but I wish they'd felt better. My dad always cooks us such yummy food while he's here. Steak and chicken kabobs on Friday and his famous ribs on Saturday. Oh man. Lots of hanging out at home, playing. My parents gave Max a bubble mower, which he loves. My dad made up a game for the kids so that they could use his power drill. Coolest thing ever, according to Max. What a fun Papa!We had some gorgeous weather and so we also got to see some pretty places. Plus he got to be here when Kelly made the walking decision. Maybe she was just waiting to show Papa Dan. We love you, Daddy! Come back soon!

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The grandparent fun continues! My in-laws came for a visit. I LOVE them. I love when they come. I love that we got to see so many cool things while they were here. I love having people visit my corner of the world; it helps me to appreciate the beauty that surrounds me even more. And, mostly, we just loved spending time with them and having them hang out with our little people. They love Maggie and Papa Mick!

My husband likes to be mysterious and surprise people. He'd found out about a short walk to a beautiful waterfall that is really off the beaten path but hadn't told me. So without much warning he's pulling off the road in search of this place. We got lost trying to find it, but it was worth it once we did. Nice surprise. Max's favorite part was definitely riding on the very tall (6'5") Papa Mick's shoulders and having Papa Mick run him into leaves and almost hit branches. Bottom right - one of my favorite pictures ever!
HOH Rainforest. Pure beauty. Wonder and admiration for our Creator.
The beach. *Also the Maxster's birthday* It was such a warm, beautiful day...until we walked out onto the super windy beach where it was freezing. It was perfect for kite-flying which was cool since Ty brought the trick kite we purchased on our babymoon before Max was born. And we sought refuge from the wind behind one of the huge logs on the beach where Kelly could pick up tiny rocks and put them in the bucket to her heart's content.

Tuckered kids on the ride home

Maggie and Kelly sat and stacked rocks Maggie brought home from the beach for the better part of an hour. Kelly is very into sorting and stacking and putting things away. Girl after my own heart.

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Max turned 3!!!

We had a little shindig the Monday after with a few of his favorite people. Just some cake, ice cream, and a whole lotta noise from the little people. We were in Forks, WA, for the actual day. We gave him a few presents and played at the beach that day. I got to sit with him on my lap and tell him about the day he was born. It was cool because the way that he was laying on me and looking up at my face while I told him was SO reminiscent of when they put him on my chest right after he was born. He was kind of fussing and when I said his name he turned and looked into my face and we shared one of the most precious moments of my life. I'll never forget that. It seemed like a long time, but was probably only a minute or two. The doctor said, 'Pinch that boy or something - I want to hear him cry." I declined following the doc's orders on that. He did give a wail when they took him away.
Some entertainment for your day...Max-isms:

"Mom, you're so wove-a-wee (lovely)" - I don't know where he got it, but I hear it several times a week and I bask in it each time. I am love-a-ly!

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Yesterday we went on a walk. I stopped to talk to a neighbor and Max and Ty went on home and were hanging out outside. Suddenly Max comes running up the street, "Mommy, mommy! Dad speaks Spanish!" I said, "He does?" "Yeah! He said, 'Oh, crap'!" :)

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We were talking a few months ago about stopping the thumb sucking. Logic works well with my boy so I thought I would ask, "Max, why do you suck your thumb?" The following coversation of which Max played both sides was the answer - "He said, 'I have a good idea!' I said, 'What is it, mouth?' 'I'm going to suck your thumb.'" And that was the end of it.

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"You go to the Darth Vader....that's where you watch movies." After some thought on my part, "Oh, you mean the movie theater?" "Oh, yeah, the movie theater." Funny that he even knows who Darth Vader is, we have some friends who are into it. I didn't even see Star Wars until my first year of marriage.

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IMPROVEMENTS:

I ran once again in the 5-mile Viking Fest run held each year in Poulsbo, about 15 minutes north of us. I improved my time by 4 minutes. Not bad. I hadn't run in anything official since the marathon. It was nice to be running again. I recruited another friend this year and she did great! It was cool to think back to last year...5 miles was the farthest I had run in my life to that point. If you would have told me then that in 6 months I'd be running a marathon I would have laughed - loud and hard. Or just rolled my eyes. Probably both. What a difference a year makes!

After the race we perused the Viking Fest booths. Max even got to put on this cool, so-heavy-he-could-hardly-lift-his-head metal head covering. Ummm...I didn't think I was in the picture to the right. Awkward. We ate some grilled corn-on-the-cob, watched some cool older ladies clog (something I will totally do when I'm their age, if not before) and enjoyed the sunshine!

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Because I like to sit around thinking of things to make my life busier/crazier, I decided that I wanted to improve the kitchen by refinishing the cabinets and lay some new flooring. No biggie.

This picture is just before we moved in nearly 3 years ago - just to show what the cabinets looked like before.

Two months and MANY hours later, I am pleased to say that I am finished and love the result. Each cabinet door had to be stripped, scrubbed, sanded and then received two coats of stain on each side. Most of it was done during naps or at night after kids were in bed. In one day I tackled the frame in the kitchen. We took everything out, put up some drop cloths on the openings to the kitchen to contain the dust and in about 14 hours I was done. My friend, Marcela, thought that Tyler had done it all. He would have if I'd asked him to, but I love doing stuff like this. My idea, my vision, my hands at work. I think that it was worth it?! Someday we'll do new counter tops and appliances, but this is it for now and it makes my heart happy.