From Padden

Nursery Kid

One day your baby is old enough to sit in those little chairs and drink out of a non sippy cup.

It is now his life goal to always drink out of non sippy cups.

 

I think his favorite is snack time. He just sits up their forever, kicking his legs and saying "yay!" when they refill his fishies.

4th of July

Our day started by looking out the window and yelling, "the cows are out!"

It was like I was home in Fallon. L

This year was a low key fourth for us. 

We drove around Birch Bay while the rain came down. 

People up and down the bay were lighting their fireworks. 

We bought snowcones and some fireworks, then headed home. 

We went to sleep with the sound of Shock and Awe out our window,

once again.  

Moving

We will miss our street friends,

And good ol' Papa Neighbor. We will miss hearing him talk in his back yard about what's going on and what needs to be done. He loves to grow garlic. He loves to work in nary but some cut off jeans. 

All day I cleaned and packed whilst this lot churned behind me, uncleaning and unpacking. 

I took a break to watch some World Cup, and they insisted on being within a foot of me.

Jim gets home from work and we get the moving van. 

It's exciting and exhausting and sad and nostalgic.

We had one last street party. 

The neighborhood kids were seriously helpful. They would come into the house, take a box/thing, and give it to Jim out in the truck. We had most of the "non-furniture" things packed in no time.

These two had a little scooter race.

Putting all your stuff into a truck, and then dumping it willy nilly into a new house...such chaos.

So long, Moonglow Place! 

Three years, good bye to Piper, Hello to Andrew. First days of school, lots of visitors, lost teeth, first steps. Evan was a toddler when we moved in. Andrew is a toddler when we moved out.

Both kids were potty trained here. Both kids got a ride to school on a bus here.

We will only be in this new house for a year. It is almost like we are house sitting.

It's kind of strange, but not that strange. They have fun things in their back yard.

I don't miss: the laundry room, the counter-less master bath...

I do miss: neighbors, our biking/running routes.

I love: the view out the back and front, the floor plan...

I wish: we were closer to Blaine.

I wonder: where we will move to next year. 

Summer Fun. So Far.

If I'm being honest, I was a bit afraid of summertime: no school, no schedule. 

Bored kids can be...crazy.

This list  somewhat assuaged my fears. I use these activities as leverage when I need peace, chores done, obedience. (for the record...a chore system still eludes me.)

It has evolved, been doodled on, "pool" changed to "Lake Padden", and vacations added (San Clemente!), and so far we have checked off all of our "weekly" list a few times.

Strawberries! 

Andrew just sat on down and helped himself, thanks.

Then, since it's so close, we went to Edaleen's ice cream. 

check check check.

The kids love to play out front with all the neighborhood kids. 

Our new house is not in a neighborhood. We will miss the daily kid meetings out there.

(well, somewhat...there is a bad dynamic between Evan and another kid...blah.)

The season of sunshine is here. It doesn't get dark until so late. This was summer solstice, longest day of sunlight. See our blue dot in the corner of the country? We are the last inch of America to get dark.

But here is what we have been doing the most of:

watching World Cup

and Packing.

World Cup! What are we going to do with ourselves when it's over? We watch the games during the day, and the replay/analysis during the night. It's a blast.

This was Sunday's game against Portugal. 

The kids did NOT like the yelling and overall "freaking out" coming from their parents.

But what a game! What a game.

We have a goal to go to parks we have never been too before. 

This was a cool one, smack dab in a forest.

 It is definitely a summer park because no sunshine can permeate; it would be too cold in the winter.

Feeding saltines to ants: a strange kid-instinct activity. 

We are born knowing that the ants would die without our feeding them crushed saltines.

(this between runs through the sprinkler. for me, it doesn't get more "summer")

Speaking of crushed saltines...one time when we were little me and Jamie were riding one bike together. I was "driving", she was riding the handle bars and eating saltines. We were arguing about something...then somehow she pulled the brake...and we flipped. 

It was a me-Jamie-bike-Corkill Lane-sandwich.

Somehow we weren't hurt. The stack of saltines she was holding was crushed on the road, and it cracked us up. We laughed and laughed at those saltines. 

I'm not sure how this evolved, but lately we are in to bird watching. 

I have been wanting to learn about local birds, and then Nettie told me about a bird watching app, and then we got this book at the library, and now my kids talk about birds all the time.

We went back to Lake Padden equipped with binoculars, cameras, and the bird book ready to find some blue jays (the kids' favorite). It was a fun little hike, but we only saw a robin and ducks. 

Maybe Evan's yelling at the birds has something to do with that.

Jim went on a ride while we hiked.

Next Padden adventure, we are wearing swim suits and getting properly in the water. This is the second time we've ended up with wet clothes.

Semiahmoo.

This is probably my favorite place. It's, like, our go-to place. 

He walks. Just in time for nursery.

See the seal out there? Hey buddy! Do a trick!

And not shown here, we are packing up to move (in two days!)

Yesterday I sent the kids to our friend's house so I could pack and clean efficiently. 

My friend called and asked if Avery was missing her front tooth when she came? No? Because she's missing it now.

Knocked it out on the teeter totter.

(in the spirit of being honest, I am super sad about this. I love baby teeth. Once they start growing the gnarly, snaggle big kid teeth...that's it. No more little girl.)

My kids are growing so fast. 

Every now and then I hold the big ones in my arms like they are babies and kiss their cheeks, and they squirm and giggle to get free. They aren't baby sized anymore. They are stinky, sweaty, run into the house for a drink of water, dirt in their fingernails.