Summer Fading into Autumn

After spending several weekends at home (or at least felt that way), we decided to kick cabin fever with another mini street vacation. I had read some about Kitsap Peninsula and how the naval base had old retired ships on display. On our way, we stopped at the famous Oyster House in Olympia and tried out fried clams and fried oysters.  The clams are really yummy but I would bypass oysters ever again. The oysters had been made good, but the flavor is not my thing. Plus it kept making me think of Alice in Wonderland and the poem about the Walrus and the Carpenter.

On a whim, we decided to stop at the car museum in Tacoma right off the freeway.  We've driven by it several times and remark we should stop sometime and we finally did it. It was a fun detour. The museum is built in many levels. You choose to start one side or the other then slowly make your way down to the basement walking on graded pavement, plenty wide for the cars to be driven on to be put in their spots. Then you make the long trek back to the top floor on the other side.  

 

  

The kids were obnoxious and noisy and made for a quick walk down to the kiddie area that had a 'working' car, a driving table and several other vehicle experiments.  Laith loved the driving table. He crawled right under and popped up through a hole and caused quite the commotion when it was time to head back up.

 

 

  

Our final destination was the tippy top of Kitsap Peninsula to a lighthouse. The pictures of that lighthouse are the post before this. These ones are of us playing on the beach some.  The sand got everywhere, even without us sitting down to officially play. The sun was already heading into the ocean and it was really cold and windy. Both kids found a broken shell and scooped large clumps of sand to dump all over. Laith gave his hair a sand treatment that took about a week to finally depart.

 

 

The next weekend we drove down into rural Portland and visited Alpenrose Dairy Farm. They have a mini old west town with toy trains motoring around, animals to pet and ice cream. We missed out on the animals, as the day we went was also the event for the junior midgets...meaning midget sized vehicles that 12 and unders drive. The twins loved watching the midgets zip around the track and these kid drivers were amazing! Most were having fun just going in circles, but there were two who duked it out, wanting the win really badly. There were caution flags waved, as well as a couple red flags to get midgets straightened out. It's super tempting to try this out in about 3-4 years...

 

 

 

 

The NICU the twins stayed at when they were born hosts an annual reunion. We made it to the first reunion, which was super boring as they were not quite 5 months old and just slept through all the festivities. The second one was missed to a service project Bryan participated in. I was determined to make it to the third one! The kids had a blast coloring with chalk on the concrete, catching paper butterflies thrown up by a blowy elephant, putting together art projects and blowing bubbles. It was super hot though, and Vivienne seems to be susceptible to heat exhaustion quickly. We left after about an hour.

 

 

 

 

On Bryan's days off during the week, he spends extra time with the twins keeping them busy so I can cram in a bunch more work during my usual work time. I don't work any extra hours, as I like to spend the time as a family but it's nice getting the reprieve to accomplish a bunch of tasks. I love the smile on this boy. He has a huge fun loving personality. He loves to come up behind me and wrap his arms around my neck and give me big lovely hugs. Most of these result in me being choked yet if I lean forward fast enough, has hands slip down just enough to not hit my jugular and I get to enjoy the moment.

  

Vivienne has turned into quite the cuddle bug. As a baby she absolutely hated to be cuddled; that was Laith's domain. She never wanted to squish up next to me. Now with her being bigger, she finally craves that one-on-one mommy time and most of it is spent next to me on my work chair. This makes working really hard, as I have to slide forward and twist my hips in a weird way to allow us to both fit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming 101 was a huge hit this year. Our wading pool did a great job and lasted beyond five swimming sessions. It finally got a tiny tear in the bottom yet the suction to the porch is so great that not much water leaks out. The kids have had a blast setting their slide in the pool. The last time we went swimming, I set it so you slid into the water. Laith wasn't so sure about this, as it broke our habit, but then he tried it out. And the S-H-O-C-K on his face of pure joy was great. Then Vivienne discovered you could sit straddled on the pool side and bounce really well. The fits of giggles were too contagious.

 

 

Obviously, we play hard. However, nap time has gone the way of the Dodo bird. Then one afternoon, Vivienne grabbed her pillow laid down with her legs on my lap so I could scratch her back and fell promptly asleep. Then Laith made his way over with his tablet, laid his head against me and fell asleep trying to hold it up to watch his Donald Duck cartoons. This NEVER happens, and so I sat back and enjoyed this ultimate quiet cuddle time with my no longer babies. I don't know how I didn't fall asleep...it was so cozy on that couch. The twins slept for an hour and half this way and Bryan arrived home just before they woke up to capture the moment.

 

The tale of the bug bite. I'm not sure how or when exactly it happened, I just remember sitting on the edge of my bed, Laith next to me, Vivienne in the master closet where Bryan was changing from work. We were just chatting about the day when suddenly my arm started itching like crazy. I took off my sweater and found what looked like a mosquito bite on my arm. There was no bug (or bug remains) in my sweater so I truly thought it was a mosquito. Two days later, the bite was still itching and had an enormous red circle around it. I started to panic and research info on the internet and about gave myself a heart attack. I called Bryan in tears and he rushed home so I could go to Instacare. Of course, of all the days he comes home early, the Instacare was dead as a door nail and being there with twins under three would've been easy peasy. Oh well. At least I was seen quickly.  The doctor figured it was a regular bug bite that was inbetween regular and becoming infected. Since I was so panicked she prescribed me some antibiotics, which I took right away. This all happened September 20th. Just last week, my skin finally went back to normal, to where you can't see a discoloration or bite marks anymore. The doctor told me if it was an infection that I most likely would suffer this in the future as it seems once you've had it once, you're destined to have issues the rest of your life. Geesh!

Finally the Children's Museum! On a rainy afternoon in September I got a bee in my bonnet to do something outside of the norm for our family time. Even though it was pricey ($10 a person; ouch!) The museum was a hit. Everything is geared towards a toddler aged kid. The museum was also hosting the Wizard of Oz. There was a special room with a bunch of Oz activities, like building a rainbow out of foam blocks, taking a walk through Dorothy's tumbled house, spinning a tornado, crawling through the Lion's den and brushing his mane, creating a horse of every color with projection lights, sliding down the witch's castle and on. There is also a  craft room where you can color, draw on the chalkboard and make pottery. With Oz being in attendance, we made tissue paper poppies. We also played with magnetic puzzle pies that glowed in the dark, a train station table, an ambulance, and finished with a performance on a music stage. The kids fell asleep on the way home, tuckered out from the fun we'd had. I'd say every dollar was worth it at the museum that day.

 

 

 

 

 

And yes; my kids were the ones to knock down the rainbow...at least they wanted to help build it again and again and again :)

My most favorite current picture. A couple weeks ago we went over to Safeway for a couple emergency groceries (milk anyone?) and we tried out the car grocery cart. The twins absolutely loved it. We had screaming fits when it was time to get back in our own car. Then a few days later we went by Safeway for something else, and with Bryan along, we had to show him how fun the car was. The twins beeped through the whole store, waving hi, making vroom noises and steering like maniacs.

Gems

Bryan's phone recently had a melt down which led to a folder that was added to my desktop titled "Bryan's Phone". I started thumbing through the images and found this lovely stockpile.

Here we are visiting Bryan for lunch, eating the twins most favorite take-out, McDonald's.

A shot while we still had the high chairs and the brand new toddler sized table. There has been much scooching back and forth as each twin tries to wrestle the table closest to them.

Birthday money in a card. These two have no concept of money, yet here they are smiling gleefully at their luck, and proudly counting out how many dollars.

A trip to our closest park. Laith took off on a random walk that resulted in Bryan running the 100 meter dash. We didn't think he'd be that interested in the dog that walked by. He was determined to find it.

Not often we get a nice pose from this rambunctious kiddo. He moves too fast usually. However, this instance, he sat up on the bench and yelled 'Cheese' out to Bryan.

The beginnings of my garden. I love how the flowers and bushes lead up to it, just didn't realize how truly beautiful they do look.

The blast of red and blue in our front flower garden that coincides with July fourth. I swear this is just a happy accident.

Vivienne's most favorite spot while I work. Her bum is always squished in next to mine and she plays on my phone or her tablet. I'm sure her pretend play involves her version of work.

 Once again, a rare pose. How can you resist that cheeky grin!

My garden a few weeks back, while the peas were still giving us yummy pods. The corn is already twice as tall now and tassels are out. I even can see one ear of corn starting to grow.

A moment in time on the plane ride to visit family in Utah. Bryan had the brilliant idea of us buying the bench with him just across in the aisle seat. We were lucky on both flights, to have no one next to Bryan, so we were able to 'switch' twins as needed during the 1 hour 20 minute flight.

Last winter, a rare moment when both babies were in my lap and wanted to smile. I try to get a picture for the daily grandpa text, but it doesn't always work out. This one was the million dollar prize.

After a day of playing outside. The trucks, rocks and dirt all had a great time, especially on his face. This was a day we were practicing two new rules. 1.) Be nice and 2.) Stop getting into things. The failure of both rules led to a play date with the backyard to help cool mommy down.

Vivienne discovered the valve cover could fit on her head and shouted 'Cheese!'

After too many falls from the bar height dining table (which I loved...I miss sitting in the sky), we resorted to a regular height dining table. The tablecloth covers our table like a shroud of Turin. I plan on making a fitted table cloth, as I'm tired of replacing the cloth every time Laith rips it off. He laughs his head off finding his trick absolutely funny, which is the source of much consternation for me.

The slug I found the morning we left for Utah. I was so grossed out...they're just slimy and yucky looking. I ran back in for salt after documenting my find, and poured it all over, to just be grossed out even further. If you ever salt attack a slug, don't stick around to watch.

A couple of trick-or-treat bags I made from leftover fabric for the table runner project I made last fall.

The gate I fixed while Bryan was in Seattle. There is a VAST difference in moisture from winter to summer here. During the winter, the gate swells and I have to lean on the fence, giving just enough push, to close the gate. In the summer, the latch barely will make it and was finally to the point it was hitting the ball end of the latch and wouldn't shut. In a fit of frustration, I wedged the latch as best I could, determined Bryan would fix it when he was back.  Later, it resulted in Nivia escaping, me realizing at about eight pm, and hauling the twins into the car, driving around the local neighborhoods shouting her name. I didn't find her, and went home angry and heartbroken for my dog. I fixed the latch and went to bed dejected. Around one am, I got a call from the vet office, Nivia had been found. The next day, we got another call in the afternoon, this time from the humane society. That wily dog had escaped again. But not because the gate failed. She clawed a fence board off and squeezed her way through. Jax was still around. His tired old body wasn't up for an exploration. Thankfully Bryan was almost home when we got that call and he was able to slap a board across the fence slats, to keep her from clawing another off.

The flowers I received as a result of Nivia's escapade. They really did help me feel better.

The fort we built while Bryan was in Seattle. It didn't last long, but the twins had a blast trying to put the blanket back up, and jumping in and out onto pillows.

Last, but definitely not the least, the selfie Vivienne took. Yes, she put my phone on the camera setting, held it out to me, saying cheese. I held it up and she gave me this sweet smile. I was over 30 when my first selfie was taken...I can only imagine what technology she will have when she's over 30...