Northwest Vaction Part 3 - Gig Harbor

After a fun filled week in Lincoln City, OR, we drove back up the coast to Gig Harbor, WA and spent an amazing weekend at Rachel and Scott's home. Scott and Rachel have the most beautiful home and a very fun farm! Laura, Chad, Jake and Clara also came for the weekend which was the icing on the cake. The kids had more fun playing with the chickens, puppies, hunting out the kitty, feeding the goats and of course Scott's famous tractor rides. Saturday night Scott and Rachel hosted an outdoor movie night which was fantastic! Such a fun neighborhood activity! DJ thinks we need to do it at our home but for those of you who have been to our house - I don't think the neighbors would appreciate it. We spent some time at Pike's Market enjoying the amazing scenary, drinking wonderful coffee, eating great sea food and more! We rented a boat for a day and took a small tour under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge - what fun. I think one of my highlights was all 9 of us traveling in the suburban! What fun....I say we do a road trip sometime. :) Thanks to Scott and Rach for opening their home to a weekend of "controlled chaos". 

Northwest Vacation Part 2 - Lincoln City, OR

The 2nd part of our travels led us to Lincoln City, OR. Most of DJ's family was able to come for the week and partake in the fun. We had such a fun week playing on the beach. Some of the many wonderful highlights were: blowing a glass orb (mine ended up looking not so round...), playing in the sand, crabbing (DJ, Mark and Michal caught our meal for an evening) YUMMY, seeing the cousins play and sometimes bicker, attempting wire wrapping (Corey was a great teacher and very patient with her students. Meredith was a quick learner and I was too much of a perfectionist. Although very fun and I am happy with my end results!), YATZEE til all hours of the night (James - "That's something!") and running each morning at sea level and going for coffee/scones afterwards. I still can't believe how out of breath I am running at 7000 ft and I was only gone for 12 days! (Maybe it was all the cookies and cake I ate) Hah...

Northwest Vacation Part 1

On the 13th of August we headed to Seattle to spend a weekend with DJ's Uncle Steve, Aunt Dawn, Christopher and "Meow-lly" the cat. We had a wonderful and very memorable weekend. DJ's Grandpa Bookout passed away in January and had a love of fishing. So, Steve and Dawn took us out on their boat in the San Juan Islands where Steve found the most perfect and beautiful spot to "Set Grandpa Bookout to Sea". It was a very awesome celebration of his life!

Before our venture to Lincoln City, OR - we stopped at Nana and Grandpa's. Grandpa has been working SOO hard on remodeling their Albany home. We were very excited to see the amazing work of art Mark created! And, Cole was even more excited that Grandpa let him drive the backhoe tractor.

Night-time Scares

Cole's nightlight and ipod have made it back to his room and seem to be helping. (I guess I took them out when he really started moving around because I didn't want the extra cords. And he was sleeping so well I didn't even think to put them back.)

Annie has been a big help too. I have been letting her lay on the floor by his crib until he falls asleep. It works out good - she is ready to leave the room when he falls asleep (that is if they can stop playing). She likes to have the "choice" of which room or piece of furniture to sleep on. We try to keep his door shut so she isn't in and out all night disturbing him. And we know she would be...:)

I don't think Cole woke up last night. I have a vision of getting up once but each night is a blur now. He did wake up crying "Mamma Munder", "Mamma Munder".  Poor Baby Cole...

Scare...Mamma...Scare

The last several nights have been very rough for DJ and I. We are in our seasonal "Monsoon" season so get afternoon/evening thundershowers every day. The thunder is very disturbing to Cole and he gets very nervous. When the storms are in the late afternoon and it's still light outside Cole seems fine - he gets nervous but we are right there and he can see we are not afraid and can talk to him about it. The thunder at night-time is a different story. He cries and screams out to Mamma and of course I go running to comfort him. He gets up anywhere from 2-4 times and DJ and I just take turns. We are SO not used to this - Cole has always been a very good sleeper at night. 730-730.
Funny thing is, the last couple of nights we haven't had any "munder", Cole's pronunciation. So we don't know if he is scared of the dark or has gotten into the habit of us running when he calls. It's a tough situation because we both want him to self soothe himself to sleep but if he really is scared we don't want to mess with that. Last night when I put him to bed as soon as we walked into his room Cole said, "Dark Scare". I explained there was nothing to be afraid of and mommy was right across the hall and then went and got his nightlight. Then he cried "Tractor Dark Scare". So who knows, maybe he doesn't like his tractors outside in the dark.

School Days

Every couple weeks Cole's school gets the swimming pool out for the younger kids. Of course this is one of Cole's favorite activities. Yesterday I had to make a quick mad dash home because I forgot to put a towel in his bag. When I got there he was so mad at me (I think he was afraid I was taking him home and there'd be no swimming. The teachers laugh at this sudden personality change - only when I come to pick him up.) He bonked two friends on the head with a wheel barrow! I was embarrassed to say the least and quickly handed the towel to the teacher and left.

Cole isn't one for getting his hands dirty when he eats. Can you notice!!!

Cole and Peak - notice Cole has a car in his hand and his shirt. Hah...

 

Oh Man...

Oh man is right! Almost an entire month has gone by since my last post - I need to get with it! Cole's vocabulary has grown incredibly the last few weeks. DJ and I often catch ourselves saying phrases that should no longer come out of our mouths (no swear words thank goodness). Cole may not learn his colors by kindergarten but he will know the name of every Cars car, tractor etc.

A few weeks ago I gave Cole a cookie to eat while on the couch watching cartoons. Normally he isn't allowed to eat on the couch but mom can break the rules sometimes right? I left the room for a few minutes came back to check on him and just laughed at the mess and said, "Oh man" with great inflection, but not upset - (Seriously...like I would have come back to anything but right!) Anyway, this is Cole's new phrase and he says it when he makes a mess, when Annie makes a mess and when DJ comes home (this one cracks me up!). As soon as DJ walks in the front door Cole starts saying "Oh, Man..." and tries to mimic my tone because of course I have to copy and say it again.

Nake (Snake) Bite is also a common phrase when outside. We have a family of garter snakes living in our yard which less than appealing to everyone except the boys across the street. We knew we had one snake and I didn't want to get close enough to determine the species so just told Cole "Snake Bite". DJ gets the willies worse than I do and has nightmares so neither of us are much help. Well, I quickly discovered the 2nd snake by stepping on it and doing the "prance of disgust" trying to get it off my foot. Cole was not happy watching me scream and jumping and shouting I had a snake on my foot. He actually cried - poor guy. Ever since this, he walks very closely by the tree and WILL NOT be left anywhere near the tree alone. I really think they are harmless but don't want to find out or have Cole hand me one someday.

Dirty Bug and Icky Spider...oh I am so glad Cole isn't a fan of bugs! I found my cabbage patch doll and raggedy ann doll the other day and decided to set them out in Cole's room. Of course he doesn't play with them but I wanted him to have them anyway. One morning we woke up to Cole repeating something over and over in his crib. DJ went in to see what was going on and Cole was pointing to a bug on Raggedy Ann and saying "dirty bug". Neither of us were quite sure who refered to bugs as dirty but hey...works for us!

What else is up...Cole is currently giving DJ the cold shoulder. DJ was out of town for a few days hiking with his Dad in Colorado and ever since he came back Cole just isn't sure...poor Daddy. He just wants his mamma and gives DJ the "look" - "if looks could kill look". Hopefully tonight will be better.