AC Gilbert Discovery Village Sept 21st

AC Gilbert Discover Village is just a short car ride up the freeway and offered the escape from the daily grind we were looking for. So together with our friends Heather and Kaden we spent a fun Friday afternoon playing!


Our first stop was a kid size grocery store. The kids loved shopping for their own food and then putting it on the conveyor belt and paying with "real" money. They even liked putting the food back so that other kids could enjoy the store.



Colin and Janessa in the produce department. Choosing healthy vegetables- of course!

Janessa was a tireless shopper- she needed a much bigger basket for all of her purchases.

Next, up the stairs to a nautical and water treatment room. They loved driving the boat and using the touch screen tv.

Look Mom I found a..... what is that? Oh yeah, a crawfish- I knew that! Doesn't every two year old know everything!!

Just around the corner was the Trip to China room. We enjoyed a tea party and some hot soup.

Colin found his birth year tile on the wall. He was born in the year of the Horse.

Janessa found hers too, with Mommy's help. She was born in the year of the Rooster.

Colin snuggling with a giant panda.

The next house had an exhibit all about the human body. The kids loved climbing inside of the large mouth and then thru the tunnel that represented the stomach- including balls of food.

Right next door was a room full of bubbles and water play. It ended up being a favorite for the day.

My camera was a little too slow- he actually had a massive bubble from the hoop that popped just as he got it to his forehead. There was also a station where you could stand up and pull a chain down that raised a bubble cylinder all around you. We were not very successfull in getting that one to work correctly.

There were all sorts of dials and knobs jsut perfect for the kids to explore and get wet and soapy!

Upstairs to the castle room. We passed a suit of armor and climbed onto a stage set as a castle. There was a huge trunk of dress up clothes. Don't they look thrilled to be dressed so royally?!

Outside to an enormous play ground complete with cone checkers and a life size erector set to climb on.

Colin is waving to us from the dinosaur dig sand box.

Into the Dinosaur exhibit. Janessa loved to go up and slide down the dinosaur. She did it over and over and over.

Here she goes again!

Look out T-Rex! You are no match for this little girl!!

Colin liked excavating the dinosaur bones with the little paint brush.

Then it was off to find something even more exciting, a dinosaur nest with lots of eggs.

Finally a turn on the slide- but he was much to big to actually slide down it so he chose to walk.

The three little monkeys sitting in the biggest rocking chair I've ever seen. They had such a fun time together today!

Janessa in her own rocking chair with her artwork from the dinosaur room.

Colin's First Day of Preschool Sept 12th

Unfortunately, due to a very sick tummy, we missed the actual first day of school. But by Wednesday he was ready to go! We went over the basics again about raising your hand and listening to the teacher. Which was all met with "yeah, yeah Mom. I know what to do" spoken like a real pro. We arrived and unloaded, hung up his coat and bag. He went in the class room, washed his hands while I signed him in then it was a wave goodbye and I'll see you later Mom. I ran a few errands with Janessa and Eric and it was time to go back. He was excited to see us and proceeded to tell me he had such a good time that he didn't even miss me! Sigh!! He filled us in on his first day and was interested in what he could possibly have been doing without him. He was proud to tell everyone that he made some new friends and he raised his hand to talk to his teacher. It has been a difficult concept to explain that its not time for him to go to school everyday yet- that day will come!!

The diva is in!! Sept 11th

My little darling has certainly taken to dressing up. To think I was worried when all she would play with was her brothers guns and trucks. That phase is long gone!

Forget trying to help her put her sunglasses on the right way. She will inform you in a snotty tone that shw can do it herself! But who could resist that cheesy grin.

Colin & his little buddies Sept 11th

All I can say; is it's a good thing we are doing daycare at home. Colin's first question morning and night is "who is coming over today". He is quite bummed when my answer is no one. He requested a picture of his buddies in the recliner with him- no girls allowed!

I think they were trying to shoot me with their finger guns but in the picture it looks more like a silly bunch of boys!!

Janessa's Real Jewelry Sept 9

After many requests from Grandma Trisha and Great Grandma McCord; this morning seemed like as good of a time as any to try and capture a picture of Janessa in her real jewelry. Within days of being born they gave her a gold baby ring with hearts etched in it and a diamond necklace (which happens to be her birth stone- lucky girl!). This is our first attempt at putting them on her and taking pictures......

She is saying "pretty princess" in this pose! If you look closely at her right ring finger you can see the baby ring. And of course, around her neck is the diamond necklace.

She is now trying to take the ring off... much to my dismay. Try finding that tiny thing outside!

Our special rings together and a glimpse of the necklace.

I decided a prop was in order because I had already lost her interest in playing dress up. So here she is trying to saw down the maple tree with her princess wand!

How the princess truely plays!! We will try again to capture the elusive real jewelry. She was absolutely livid when I removed both pieces for safe keeping.

Kidsfest at the Indoor Soccer Park Sept 8

The Corvallis Sports Park hosts a open house each year and sets up lots of fun activities for kids to come in and try out. We tagged along with some friends this year and had a ball- literally!! There were large bounce houses and a tall bounce slide. A series of tunnels to crawl thru and two soccer fields to play in. Upstairs had cartoons, coloring, face painting, and popsicles.

Colin and his power soccer kick! He ran and played so hard that his cheeks were flushed and he was all sweaty.

Janessa's approach was much more laid back. She kicked the ball some but was more worried about cleaning up the balls that were strewn about.

Face painting was fun! She actually held still and picked out each of the colors of her butterfly.

Colin enjoyed his spider. He tried to scare people with it but it's hard to be startled by a 6 legged green and blue spider :)

His main concern was that he didn't mess it up while he was eating his treat and later dinner.

Wooden Airplane Ride Sept 3

Happy Labor Day!

We decided to clean out our shed and reorganize the piles. When Dustin dragged everything out the kids were all over the old wooden airplane. They pretended they were on a trip to South America just like Uncle Timmy and Aunt Julie.

Janessa Plays Dress-Up, All by Herself- Sept 2nd

Janessa woke up from her nap this afternoon and wanted to play quietly in her room. I checked on her a couple of times and then heard a racket coming up the hall towards the dining room. All I could make out of the broken record speech was "broken vacuum". Then she came around the corner.....all dressed up and quite put out that the hose on her vacuum was broken!

Complete with shoes on the wrong feet, her tiara on the back of her head and upside down, her butterfly wings upside down, and her clutch purse with a tiny doll inside. Papa grabbed the camera quickly and started snapping pictures.

Mommy was allowed to right the tiara but that was all! She posed and told me "fuzzy pickles".

Here is the tiny playmobile doll that she was transporting in her Cinderella clutch purse. Funny how she forgot the actual dress!

Goodbye Messy Messy Plum Tree -Sept 1st

Dustin was looking forward to a nice long weekend..... little did he know of my plans!! I made my case and he finally agreed to cut down the ornamental plum tree that has made a royal mess in our backyard for way too long. The kids were excited to be involved in the project but a little nervous about the loud chainsaw. It only took about half and hour to get everything on the ground and start the long clean up task.

Colin was granted the task of using a small hatchet to chop the branches- far away from innocent bystanders. He thought he was pretty hot stuff!

Who needs shade when you can have trees that are this beautiful?!!

They really enjoyed their tree tunnel slide.

Complete with ear protection, we made short work of the enormous mess.

Up, Up, and Away- August 25th

Albany Art & Air Festival

Our friends the Taylors mentioned on Thursday that this was the weekend for the Art & Air Festival in Albany. They get up early and drive over to watch the hot air balloons lift off at "o-dark hundred". I think my comment was, "oh that would be fun", never imagining that we would be up and going that early on purpose. Just goes to show you what fate can do!! The kids were not only up at 5:30am but were not even remotely interested in going back to sleep or lazing quietly around the house.... so we decided why not check out the balloons. Of course, by the time we left the house the balloons were already launching. We spotted three on the drive over to the Albany airport and the chase was on! There was a train downtown and Dustin pulled some "evasive" not quite legal manuevers to get around it so we didn't loose the ballons. We ended up stopping in the Home Depot parking lot and got to watch five balloons lift off and up as the floated along south I-5. The kids were enthralled and kept squealing and pointing. We might just try and make it there again tomorrow morning so we can see more!

Squeaky Clean and Silly as Ever!

Having fun in the bath tub! Papa is in charge of these silly kiddos and snapped some great pictures. Janessa's new trick is to tell us how tough, rough, brave, strong, and mean she is- this would be her version of having a belly like Mama's!! I guess Mama got carried away with the bubble this time. Colin's first beard looked like Abraham Lincoln.

2 Boys + 1 Hula Hoop = A Choo-Choo Train?!?!

Never a dull moment at this house! We were laughing so hard when they started the "train" that I just had to capture this on video.

Colin was quite serious about how to be a good train but all Kaden wanted to do was jump!

Yummy!!

Brownie Batter is YUMMY!!!

Life is good when Papa has a brownie craving and lets the kiddos lick the beaters.... chocolate heaven!

Potty Training 101 August 9th

Potty Training 101

Step 1: Find two 2yr olds.

Step 2: Gather two potty chairs and two potty books. (Emphasis on two!)

Step 3: Sing silly songs and give lots of encouragement.

Step 4: Leave diapers on- check for success without cleaning up messes!

Everything is better with a buddy! It makes the time fly when there is an interesting book and good conversation!!

Converse shoes are so cool!!

Thanks to the generosity of our wonderful neighbor Karen and her daughter Shelby's shopping abilities, the kids are the proud wearers of some really cool Converse shoes!

Janessa's are pink with glitter on the toes and soles and a fancy silver scroll work on the top. She calls them her princess shoes!

Colin's are black high tops with a red, orange, and yellow phoenix on the sides and back. He thinks they will be perfect for going hunting with Papa... because they have strong soles.

Funny Hat Day August 7th

What's that candy bar jingle.... "sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don't"

I guess today was a "nutty day"!!

What can we say, it sure makes for a fun day when we spend it doing silly things and laughing at each others antics!!