25/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

24/52

We're back from a wonderful, albeit tiring, weekend in Pemberton, BC. Liz & Steve got married on a beautiful sunny day & good times were had by all. Looking forward to sharing lots of photos, once I get them organized & edited! In the meantime, this week's portrait...

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Showering Liz

I imagine that most of you who read our blog have met Liz at some time or other -- perhaps at our wedding or a Christmas or Easter. Liz is one of my best friends who is also part of my family. 
Together, we've been laughing, adventuring, baking, thrift & antique shopping, celebrating, comforting & confiding in one another for almost two decades. We've seen each other through minor high school events that seemed major & through major events that have shaped our lives. Sometimes months pass where we don't talk, but we always fall right back into our friendship with ease & humor. I know we will always be in each others' lives -- we're family.

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to help honor & celebrate Liz for a major upcoming event in her life -- her wedding.
It was a gorgeous sunny day when we gathered at Liz's home & I had a great time decorating & preparing things she would like. It was such a joy to be able to meet some of her new friends & "shower" her with love & support.

Toilet paper veils were pretty entertaining...

So happy for my girl & can't wait to celebrate her wedding soon!

3 Kids

Catching up...the weekend before last my little sister needed some help getting her family moved in a short amount of time. We helped by taking the kids for the day. I don't remember the last time I've done so much in one day. We went to the park, built towers, read, played the guitar, walked the trail (twice) & fed the ducks (once), put together a tent & had quiet time in it, ran through the sprinkler, gardened & watered all the plants (twice), read some more, ate lunch & dinner & upteen snacks. And those are just the highlights! It was great fun, Blake loved hanging out with his cousins & we were beat at the end of the day. 

 If there was any doubt, we are now quite certain we do not want more than two kids.

Visiting Poppa & Grandma

Climber Baby

On Friday, in one swoop, Blake figured out how to climb stairs. For a couple weeks now he'd been eyeing them but hadn't made any big moves yet. Grandma was unloading the dishwasher & could hear him playing over by the stairs. When it got quiet she went to investigate. She stepped just a bit around the corner, no Blake -- maybe he made it up a step? Stepped further around the corner, still no Blake -- looking around the living room wondering where he crawled to. Stepped all the way around the corner to find him six stairs up!

  
And he did it with a ball in each hand!

 After watching him climb a few stairs, it's a good thing he kept going that first time -- when he's done he tries to sit back (his escape when standing) which would have sent him tumbling down the stairs.

 He's pretty pleased with himself.

23/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Mazama 2013

 Lost River, Mazama, Washington

Memorial Weekend (year four?)

JERPS, Mattney, Davlyn, Leviza, Bandy, Ashlic, Grantly, Johnann

First agenda item: rerouting the stream

We got the same camp we had last year, a favorite because a small offshoot of the river runs right through camp -- easy dishwashing & beer cooling. We arrived this year to find the stream all dried up. Not that they need one, but this provided a great reason for the boys to play with the river & they set to work diverting it through camp again. They dug channels & moved rocks about 100 yards up from our campsite & within two hours we had water running through camp again. I had visions of waking up to everything underwater in the morning but the stream followed the boys wishes & flowed through camp, rejoining the river another 100 yards or so downstream.

Camp life is good.

This was Blakey's first camping trip -- it was also his cousin Myles' first camping experience. They both did great.

Sleep & keeping them warm were the most challenging aspects. Our first night was a bit rough, as it was trial & error to figure out how to keep Blake comfortable. Each night got progressively better & we surprised ourselves by staying all three nights! His Patagonia fleece bodysuit proved to be worth much more than its $4.99 price tag & has solidified its place as the best Goodwill find ever.

While there was an occasional overwhelming moment with juggling everything, it was outweighed by how much fun it was to watch Blake experience it all. If he could tell us, I imagine his highlights would be hanging out with everyone around the campfire (he got lots of quality play & snuggles with Auntie Boo & Ashley) & playing in the dirt. Early morning was one of my favorite times, as he snuggled with us or crawled around the tent, the sun streaming in the open tent flap.

Inevitably most photos are of Blake, but I did get one or two from our hike also.

Myles loved playing in the dirt. One night after dinner, he got himself especially dirty & David suggested he take a bath in the dutch oven that our dinner had recently been cooked in! The boys each had a turn in the cooking pot, enjoying it & all the attention immensely.

We did get in a little biking on our favorite Sun Mountain -- it was a first for me to pull Blake & the first time he'd been on mountain trails. The bumpy ride seemed to make him sack out in the trailer even more than usual.

By the last night, the stream through camp had a full-fledged waterfall & beverage cooling pool.

Of course a boat race was next.

The rules: boat must have an opening, must complete the race with its two bottle cap passengers intact & the passengers cannot be secured inside in any way. The entries were pretty creative, including a party barge (the milk carton). The competition was fierce, with lots of hollering & swearing (& one minor injury) as boats got stuck along the way. I don't remember who won, probably because it was hotly contested.

All in all, it was a big success for our first camping trip as a family of three.

Oral Fixation

Everything these days is going into Blake's mouth. I picked a gorgeous week to take vacation & we spent a chunk of time outside today. Lots of crawling around & exploring & tasting everything along the way. Leaves are particularly interesting, so I gave him spinach & lettuce leaves from the garden. He especially liked dunking the lettuce in his pool water & then sucking on it.

22/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."