Thursday, September 29, 2011

More Random Snapshots

This week I've been tired.  Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall asleep till early morning.... tired.  So blogging?  Not interested.  But, I did manage to take some pictures.

The weather has been lovely.  Cool, warm, sunny, breezy, wonderful. 



Playing on the deck so much now that it's all opened up.






 Playing Star Wars Monopoly for days in a row.




Loving playing in the rain.  And licking water off of everything.



Drawing giant flowers all over the sidewalk.




Remembering how chalk has been a part of our summers for so many years.




Checking out the new tires Todd was finally able to get for the Jeep

Now he can off-road safely again and has been out mudding twice already :-)




New invention -- kitten swings!!





 Pulling down the wallpaper border from our baby-days.  Ready for some paint!!




Playing in the rain after dinner.




Sporting crowns they made so they could be a Prince and Princess.


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I Was There Too!


My mom emailed this to me after reading our recent Walnut Creek post.  That's my family at Buttermilk Falls in the summer of 1988.

In case you were wondering:
That's Brook (almost 12) on the left always going for the laugh, Me (newly13) always wanting to be helpful, Keir (2.5) in the front probably trying to dive in and be dangerous, and in the back, Bryce (4.5) and Zak ( nearly 7) always "Knick and Knack" side by side doing life together :-)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Random Snapshots


 Two front teeth growing in!!



Just one of his many dangerous stunts.



My sweet kitchen helper... cleans all the utensils for me.



I have no idea what they do together anymore:
 There is a parrot hanging from the ceiling fan 
and a string they were flinging lego guys from.
Weird.



A family portrait.  Click to zoom in to see some awesome realistic hair.
 That's Evan, Me, Todd and Chloe -- holding Dad's hand



This bike is too small.  He rides it anyway.
 And he blocks me when I try to take pictures.



This boulder is a regular stop on our walk around our block.



Dreamy golden waves.



Flowers for me??  Um.... thanks?
 (check out the outfit...she is so cute)


Evan knows better--
Don't bring them home.  
Blow them in the neighbor's yards :-)



Crazy swing tricks inspired by her big brother.



Coolest uncle ever:
Wearing rocket shoes just for Evan.  
Because he loves him that much.



Double rock crawler fun.



Playing horses.  This time with real food:
oats, sugar, also a carrot and an apple (not in the photo) 
rice from the rice box (technically NOT real food)
and quinoa (a grain none of us preferred) 
which she calls it Keen-Lah or Cannellini.
My vacuum cleaner makes a lot of noise these days.



Sliding down "snail-style" --
 that's when her shoes stick and slow her down.



 They climb up slides all the time.
 Why do people insist on not letting kids do this?  
Parents have too many unnecessary playground rules.  
I could rant for days....



He couldn't do these rings last year.  Now he's an old pro.



Hanging out together.
 Admiring Evan's new Star Wars poster from Gramma.
And the usual random toy stuff going on...


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Playground: A Close Up

Usually at the playground I either walk around near the kids, watching.  Or sit on a bench with a book, sort of watching.  Or sneak around trying to take pictures from a distance that usually end up super blurry. 

This time I got right in their faces.  And they didn't seem to mind (a first).  So here is the playground adventure, close up (mostly).














Friday, September 16, 2011

His Bow and Arrow

About a month ago, Evan made a bow and a couple of arrows out of sticks
(He was inspired by his friend Jed who did this too).


Recently he brought it to the playground. 
For protection.



It really shoots the arrows pretty nicely although I couldn't get a clear picture of him doing that.



He brings it in the car wherever we go too....
the co-op, the toy store, church.
 


Just in case.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Walnut Creek

Sparkly still waters.  Perfect for wading.  A bit too cold for swimming.  Just us.



Wandering.



Minnows all around our feet.  Blue heron tracks underwater.  An injured dragonfly floating by.



Looking closely.  A long walk.  The waterfall our goal.



Me: hand in hand with Chloe.  Evan: barefoot, wild, dangerous.



Finally there!  Awed by such splendor.



Paused for a staged photo. 



 Up close.  Freezing!  Fun!


Slippery too!


Walking back.  Shivering.  Slow.  Sweet.



Late for dinner.



Enjoying the journey.



Worth it.