Mini Jeremy

Tanner is entering a new phase where he likes to imitate EVERYTHING we do. The other day I heard a lot a ruckus coming from our bedroom. As I got closer I heard a lot of frustrated grunting noises. When I arrived this is what I saw…

This is Tanner exercising just like Daddy. This was his first success at getting his shirt off by himself (hence the frustrated grunting noises).

Jer got home shortly after I found Tanner on the treadmill. We were having our normal after work chat to catch up on the day. Jer walked by me and gave me a couple little love taps on my derriere. Tanner followed closely behind doing exactly the same thing. Jer saw it from the corner of his eye and said, “Did he just...” and we both started dying of laughter.

We’re learning quickly that we have to mind our P’s and Q’s if we want Tan to do the same.

Here we go again!

Wow, I feel like we just went through this with Tanner... oh wait, we did about 18 months ago!

We'll our happy little guy started doing the super crawl and pulling himself up all in the same week (this was a couple weeks ago... I'm just a little behind). He has entered a new world and loves to explore. His favorite things to do are: Climb the stairs (and scare me half to death), walk in circles around the coffee table, pull off all the books on the bookshelf, and empty out all the toy boxes. As you can tell by the pictures, he is VERY proud of himself. Now that he's figured out how to get around, he can't hold still.

Tanner is loving this new stage Max is in. Every time Max starts crawling towards Tanner, he thinks they're playing chase! It's great... Tanner get's really excited and starts running in circles around the house. Finally, someone else can play chase with Tanner!

A WINDY Day at the Beach

Well, we went to Longbeach with my parents yesterday. We love Longbeach! You can drive out on the sand and it's usually the perfect place for flying kites, window shopping and eating great food. This has become a tradition to go to Longbeach so this was our 3rd annual summer trip. Each trip to Longbeach has given us many hilarious memories, and this one did not disappoint. We drove into town car packed with kites, buckets, shovels, chairs, a canopy to protect us from a full day in the sun, a picnic, swimsuits, towels... and the list goes on. The town was packed with tourists...this was our first sign that no on was at the beach. After a delicious stop at the bakery we ventured out to the very desolate beach. We opened the car doors and instantly knew why we were the only ones out there! Dad and Jer's hats blew off, Tanner got blown over, sand blew in mom's eye and the door slammed shut onto my leg. Needless to say we were all back in the car within 3 minutes.
Despite the wind and rain, we still enjoyed our time in Longbeach. We did some window shopping, Tanner rode the marry-go-round and we all got some ice-cream... and yes, Max LOVES ice-cream! Tanner loved his ice-cream too... he wanted cotton candy ice-cream... yummm! Max and I shared a blueberry cheesecake cone! Look how excited he is!

Not quite the same as a picnic on the beach, but at least it wasn't windy in our front yard!

The FAIR

Last night we went to the fair and we all loved it! We loved the noise, the people, the chaos, and the smell of cotton candy in the air...ymmmmmmmmmm!

We spent a lot of time with the farm animals... apparently too much time, seeing that Tanner is now afraid of pigs! We watched a cowboy do some cool rope tricks, ate an elephant ear, and Tanner went on his first horse ride! I was thinking we would just go look at the ponies but all of a sudden I see Jer unbuckling Tanner and getting in line for the pony ride. I know, shocker! Jer is not one to spoil, but Tanner must have put on the right face ... because he sure got what he wanted. It was so fun to watch. Here's a little clip.

The main reason we went to the fair last night was so we could watch the MOTOSPORTS show. Since Tanner loves motorcycles we thought he might like this... and he did. Every time there was a pause in the show he kept saying... "More, More". There was a lot of air and a lot of cool tricks!

Fun at the ZOO

Our friends (Jenae and Ethan) have a zoo membership and they invited me and the boys to be their guests yesterday! It was a blast! The weather was perfect, the boys were very well behaved (THANK GOODNESS!) and all the animals were ready to put on their best performance.

Today Tanner has been running around the house itching his armpits (his impression of monkeys), growling like tigers and throwing his arm up in the air like elephants do with their trunks. He was so quiet the whole time we were at the zoo, but I think he was just taking it all in. He would see a new animal and point to it to make sure I saw what he saw. He loved the petting zoo and being able to brush the goats, ride the tractor and sit on the wooden horse. He kept saying YEE-HA, YEE-HA, YEE-HA.

Oh yes, Max was there too. Sweet little Max is cutting 2 teeth and went to the zoo without a morning nap (to my dismay) but he just sat in the back seat of the stroller like a little angel. Every once in awhile he got bored, sat up and started playing with Tanner's hair to get his attention. I think he was having too much fun to think about his hurting teeth and sleepless morning.

It was the PERFECT last day of my summer vacation, seeing that I had to return to work today. Thanks Jenae and Ethan for letting us tag along!

Seattle Trip

We were lucky enough to go up to Seattle and spend some time at my parents house with some family members (7 adults, 6 kids). Since we were all staying at my parents house it was crazy every minute. This trip was filled with lots of activities, fun games, laughing, baking, eating and partying! It would have been even more fun if Jenn, Chris, Ethan, Tori, Jon and Matt could have been there too!

(WARNING: Jeremy read this post and said, "Isn't this a little boring for others to READ?" I was a little shocked because when I re-read it I laughed and smiled through the whole thing... so either way, consider yourself warned!)

Here's an outline of the activities:

• Friday, July 18: We packed up the car and drove up in the evening. We arrived just in time for pizza and chillin outside. Got caught up with the Texas and Utah folks! Jul and I introduced Shannon to the World of Blogging!
• Saturday, July 19: Went to a nearby beach and made an awesome sandcastle with "The 3 Amigos". Went to a movie (The Dark Night... SCARY!). Max got his 2nd tooth... that explains why he was up until 1:00am! Sorry Mom and Dad (they were the designated babysitters while we were at the movie)!
• Sunday, July 20: Church (Singles Branch), Pirate Birthday Party (2nd Annual Summer Birthday Party for EVERYONE)
• Monday, July 21: Went on a quick shopping trip to Target and the Old Navy Sale (I have never seen Jer get this excited about shopping!), Chipotle for Lunch, and off to Qwest field for the Mariners vs. Redsocks game where we ate Trophy Cupcakes (I felt like royalty in awesome seats and delicious food!)
• Tuesday, July 22: Jer and I got to babysit 5 kiddos while everyone went to Dim Sum... (I think we got the better end of the deal). I tried a new recipe... Raspberry Ice-Cream Cake. Jul, Mike and Lucy leave (Jer leaves, but will come back on the 25th) That evening Papa Bob gave the 4 older boys Geodes in bags. They worked at cracking them open to see what they could find inside.
• Wednesday, July 23: Mom, Shannon and I took 5 little boys to a totally awesome Children's Museum. Later that evening we went to a fun park and on a hike with Papa Bob.
• Thursday, July 24: I made mini quiches for breakfast then Shannon and I went on a fun shopping spree with the Toddlers. Later that day we had Pizza and jumped on the Giant Bouncer (I think Max enjoyed it the most).
• Friday, July 25: Went to Costco (some were very excited about this), Tanner had his first experience chewing gum... thanks to Auntie Shannon. Went to Bothell Landing to feed the ducks and play at the park. After nap we got out the slip-n-slide and kiddy pool. Jer arrived just in time for Taco Salad outside. Papa Bob set up the Tent (which smelled up the whole backyard) and he and "The 3 Amigos" slept thru the night in it. We were all surprised they lasted!
• Saturday, July 26: Fishing (Tanner, Max and JEREMY's 1st Fishing Trip!!), Claim Jumper for dinner (YUMMM!)
• Sunday, July 27: Church (Singles Branch). We had a delicious Roast dinner and then left to come home. It's always hard to say goodbye!
  
  Please note that whenever there was a free second we were playing outside on the scooters, big wheel, skateboard, bikes, playing baseball, exploring behind the trees, digging for buried treasures in Papa Bob's planter boxes. The kids were in heaven.
  
  Below are just SOME of the pictures taken throughout the week. You can see more pictures at my sisters blogs... FABOOLOUS and THE 3 AMIGOS. Please understand that we see each other once sometimes twice a year, so whenever we get together the camera's barely get a break.

I had to post a couple pics separately because Jul took some awesome shots that I LOVE!

I also had to post this short video clip. Who would have known that our man of few words LOVES Pirates! He was in heaven at the Pirate Birthday Party. As you can see in the clip, "The 3 Amigos" taught Tanner what Pirates say.