Colorado: Day 1

A few weeks ago, on an outing to Multnomah Falls, Husband and I started throwing around the idea of possibly driving to Denver to see my mom and sisters. We had made the trip by car before 13 months ago and now we were wiser after learning from our mistakes the fist time around. I had five days to plan and got right to it. We left the house at 4am on Saturday with scheduled stops in Pendleton, OR and Boise, ID at McDonald's restaurants with a Playplace. We also had dual screens on the headrests and plenty of DVDs. This worked so well for our kids. They did awesome for the first 10 hours or so. There were a lot of tears in the final miles before we arrived in Lehi, Utah to spend the night with Husband's sister, Cami. But after 15 hours, they were all smiles when they finally got to run around with their cousins.



The next morning, we were out the door by 8am with our first stop in Grand Junction, Colorado, at where else? A McDonald's with a Playplace. The scenery was gorgeous and the drive (10 hours) seemed so short compared to the day before. My stepdad, Ken, had dinner waiting for us.

Our first official day in Denver was pretty low key. Ping and I took Ami the park....


while Husband and Tinyman got some much deserved rest; he did all the driving.


We also played in the pool...



and snuggled with family. Both the kids really enjoyed being with their relatives. "Cynda! Cousin Ping! Where are you?" could be heard constantly coming from Ami's mouth.


She warmed up quickly to her Nana bringing her books in the evening to be read and tormenting the cats while husband and I had some alone time rotting our brains in front of "The Bachlorette".

Sleeping Angel

Even though I try to put my little girl to bed by 8:00pm, she'll play on her bed for hours. So I stopped putting her down for a nap and just dealt with her dinner time crankiness knowing I could put her to bed at the same time as Calvin and get some real alone time with Husband. That lasted one day and she did fall asleep just a little after 8:00pm. Now she is either crawling into bed and demanding to take a nap, or falling asleep on the couch. I even offered her a snack to keep her up. I don't have the heart to wake her so I'm back to square one.

Multnomah Falls

Wanting to take advantage of the nice weather, Husband and I took the kids on their first hike up Multnomah Falls.


Ami did very well and received a lot of compliments from strangers on her endurance.


She stayed close to momma and bravely explored shallow caves and twisted trees.


Throwing rocks in the water. What fun! I love how such simple things bring them joy.


Husband helped Tinyman stretch his legs on the way down. I thought they looked so cute walking together.


A great time was had by all. We're looking forward to more outdoor adventures this summer.

The heat wave begins

It was hot today! Too hot for clothes which works well for my kids because with potty training and the banishing of sippy cups, I can do less laundry.

Slugs are bugs

I love the fully fenced backyard we have at our house. You could say I've loved it all my life. We don't have any elaborate play structures or a pool. Just a worn patio and deck covered with second hand ride-on toys, plastic trucks, buckets and shovels. There is a beautiful maple tree that provides a ton of shade and the ground is barefoot friendly. (No poop or thistles) And of course, lots of good old fashioned dirt with wonderful bugs. Ami found a slug today. She ran around playing with it for half an hour. Eventually, she tucked the slug in the soft earth and insisted it was taking a nap now. I then insisted on bathing my children.

Yes, Crissy, we named him Slimy.

Boy cousins

Friday evening, we had the pleasure of hosting Jason and Christine's boys for several hours. Calvin LOVED playing with his boy cousins, especially Preston. It was so nice for him to have a playmate since Ami can be uh...difficult. She was a snob most of the evening but finally warmed up to them after playing in the backyard with Logan. I made pizza and a box of mac'n cheese that Christine had provided. She had actually left three boxes and I foolishly only made one, which wasn't enough (duh!).


Calvin has been mistaken for Ami by two set of grandparents now so I'm seriously considering taking him for his first haircut. I trimmed it a little in the front so it wasn't in his eyes anymore but I think that makes him look even more girly.


What should I do about my little man's mop? I know he'll look like a big boy if I take him to get his hair cut (if he'll even sit through one), but I don't know if I'm ready for that. The shaggy look captures his babyness.

Gray skies are gonna clear up

It finally stopped raining and these two couldn't have been happier.


This is the third year I've used this sprinkler/pool.


Everyone kept telling me she'd slim down as she got older and more active. Never happened.


I love you, my little chunkster.

Remember when ...

the box was more fun than what came in it?


dad was a mountain to be climbed?



you used to play under the bed with your siblings?

Pink Elephants On Parade

I love that Ami loves old school Disney movies. Not one of her favorite movies was made after 1989. The animation was so graceful and beautiful then. And the music so much more lyrical. She listens to her Ariel songs in the car and even Calvin sings the part of Ariel loosing her voice (I'll have to figure out how to capture that one on video to share). The latest movie to captivate her is Dumbo and she loves dancing to those pink elephants. Playing this video for her resolves any *ahem* dissagreement.



Calvin's favorite Disney creation is the original Toy Story (Thank you, Aunt Crissy) and Ami is also quite fond of it.

Better than Charles E. Fromage

It has been raining all week here in El-view and my kids are bored. That 9-11:30am weekday time slot needs to be filled with something to burn off energy and get them ready for lunch and naps. We just started attending a playgroup at a nice Baptist church every other Tuesday, which they love, but that still leaves the other nine days. I tried taking them to the library, but that was a disaster. So today we went to the Kids Club in Salmon Creek.


It is totally worth the drive and in north Vancouver so really only about 35 minutes in the car. I could not have gone to this place alone so I'm very grateful for my neighbor Kendall (seen here behind Ami) who chases Amidala while I follow my tinyman. She is very mature for a ten year old and we have our love of musicals in common. Her favorite is Phantom of the Opera (mine too!). She also acts in community theater and was recently a Who in Seussical: The Musical.


Ami can be so demanding; it was nice to be able to spend some time focusing on Calvin.


I used to frequent this place a lot about 4 years ago when I worked as a caregiver. Although I've never been there on a weekend day, it's always surprisingly uncrowded. *sigh* I miss living in a real city.


We only lasted about an hour before everyone was sweaty, tired and hungry. This Burgerville is only a few miles down the road and is one of the nicer ones with a kids area, plastic cups and a busser.


Of course, it didn't rain today.

Thank you, Papa Murphy's

With two such young ones at home, I have to celebrate the times when things are easy. My kids are officially old enough to eat pizza relatively unassisted.



Calvin ate almost two pieces. We sold his highchair and he loves sitting at the table with the rest of the family.




Ami also ate quite a bit, dipping her pizza in ranch. She loves all kinds of sauces. Inexpensive, convenient take and bake. As we were eating, I realized it was the most effortless meal we'd had in months (maybe years?). This may turn into a weekly dinner thing. My only regret is that I forgot to use paper plates.

Love thy neighbor

I trade babysitting with my friend Lynell, who lives just down the street from us. Both her daughters are a joy to have over. Kendall is very patient and helpful with Ami. Calvin and Wakelee were born in the same month and get along so well. She was his first Valentine.




Look what Ami did! She plays so quietly when it's close to bedtime. I totally remember doing that. In that exact same room no less.




Every evening after Calvin goes to bed, Ami asks to do ABC Train Puzzle. She is really starting to recognize letters as I draw them on her MagnaDoodle. I'm trying to teach her to write an A but she is still so intent on drawing vacuums. Perhaps I should start with the letter V.




I have never cared for pacifiers but Calvin is addicted. After getting up several times a night to retrieve his precious bink, I did what Lynell does and attached it to his Lion. Wow, what a difference. Why didn't I do this months ago?

Blond, fair skinned, blue eyed, button nose ...

My friend Brittany likes to refer to my daughter as clone. Not a clone of me, but of my little sister Natasha (aka Ping). Britt used to be Tasha's nanny back in the day. I never really got that until I posted Ami's new haircut and then felt this weird deja vu feeling.





This is Tasha when she was Ami's age. Care to guess who cut her bangs?

Ami's bangs

Cutting Ami's bangs is always a bit of an ordeal. I've tried everything from distractions to bribery but nothing works. When they get so long they start to stick to her snotty nose, I have to get serious. After a bath, I wrap her tightly in a towel (to keep her arms pinned), lay her on the carpet and gently sit on her with her head between my knees. Then I twist her bangs into one peice and do a quick snip. I always cut them a little too short but figure that's just more time before I have to torture her with this routine again.



After a few weeks, you won't even notice the botched job. Even though she screamed through entire procedure, she couldn't stop looking in the mirror and smiling. So looking forward to taking my little drama queen to the dentist in a few weeks.

Easter morning

One of the many great things about being newly married with children is starting your own holiday traditions. This was the first year we really celebrated Easter. Husband and I had a lot of fun hiding the eggs.




Ami LOVED the egg hunt. Especially when she discovered each one had an M&M inside.



Both kids really liked their Easter Baskets. Husband got a new reversible dress belt. He misplaced his previous one somewhere between Colorado and Washington last summer.



We decided to dye the eggs alone together last night and skip the kiddy mess. Niether child was too thrilled with the hard boiled variety. Gimme those plastic chocolate filled ones, mom!



For dinner we had a big ham and fresh baked apple pie... Nah, really we had breakfast for dinner made on my Easter present, a fully submersible liddle griddle.

Ami sings the ABCs

I told you she was a smarty pants.

As the vacuum turns

I haven't posted in a while. We've been really busy. Nothing major, just being a family.


Husband studying for his math final. Amidala studying her vacuum ad.


Pages and pages of vacuum art. Why can't she be this obsessed with using the potty?


She also likes to draw faces. This one is grandma. I think the large eyes are supposed to be glasses.


I put away clean laundry, Calvin eats a crayon.

This one's for you, Ems.

I heard my niece Emmalee only likes to view my blog to see pictures of Ami. Here's an extra dose for her.


Ami loves to close her eys when she swings.


Can you believe this park is at the end of my block!


Spoiled kids.





This is Ami in Colorado last June. Too cute not to include. It reminds me of photos of husband as a young child.