Cousins

I'm in the middle of an 11 day period with my only visitation being a 3 hour window. Arriving at Grammy and Grandad's house we met up with cousins Max, Collin and Chloe. We all played hide and go seek more times than I can count, although we played an interesting variation. Only one child hid at a time and the rest counted. Hmmm...these girls like to count. Sliding down the stairs was popular and Alex persuaded Grandad to join her. But climbing up the outside is fun too. Two hours after arriving we jumped back in the car for the journey home. I sure miss those girls.
 
 
 
 

Woohoo Weekend

Over the course of this month, I get to see the girls for a total of 18 hours. Although I am unsure how to maximize the portion I have been served, I'll try my best. This past Saturday was the only weekend day allotted so we lived it up. Taking in some beautiful summer sunshine we visited the Seattle Center. Most of the time the girls explored, played, and generally whooped it up at the Children's Museum--a very cool place. Then we had some obligatory time spent in the fountain. When it is over 90 degrees out, water fun seems essential. The girl's smiles, giggles, and enthusiasm are infectious.

 
 
 
 

Aquarium

I haven't seen my girls in two weeks. The last time I saw them, we spent the day at the aquarium. They thoroughly enjoy seeing all the fish, octopus, otters and seals. Wandering around the exhibits they know the way to their favorite animals. We've done away with the stroller. When they want to, the girls can cover a lot of ground on their feet.

I love these girls and I am really looking forward to seeing them again.

The Playground

The girls have traversed the local playground since they were born. It stills holds a special appeal and they dub it "The Rock Park" due to the gravel underneath the toys. As they grow, they play on the same toys but differently. No longer content with climbing up the ladders, they climb up the slides themselves. No longer content with crawling under the bars, they now grab hold and swing themselves around somethings launching themselves down a slide with an extra big swing first. Swings are no longer simply for sitting on, they are for flying on your tummy. I'm very looking forward to playing with the girls again.

Cool Mountain Streams

We took the girls hiking a few weeks ago to one of their favorite spots. Cold mountain water rushes down granite slabs creating a natural playground for the girls to cool their feet and participate in the joys of rock throwing.

On the way back to the car, the girls walked well over a mile down the trail on their own. Soon enough they will be outpacing their old man. I'm looking forward to hiking with them again soon.

Climbing Vacation

I took a little vacation recently to the Canadian Rockies to get my climbing fix. Since the kids arrived, I haven't climbed much...or at all. Deciding to climb off the couch, we went in search of some big frozen waterfalls to climb. The Canadian Rockies were perfect. We found what we were looking for and had a blast. A week straight of good climbing was just what the doctor ordered.

One of these days, the girls will come with me.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Up to Date

It's time to bring this up to date. I've been preparing to go on vacation, then went on vacation, then recovered from vacation. Now I'll try to be more consistent. Let's see, what's happened since the last post...

Braedyn had a birthday party with Isabella and Alex's enthusiastic participation. Mmmm...birthday cake.

Kids Bounce is always a hit.

Isabella was abducted by Little Kong.

And finally, what we hope is the last nasty weather--an inch of hail. Unfortunately this occurred while daddy was out on a bike ride.
 
 
 
 

The Beach

Saturday dawned sunny and warm. With a good low tide forecast for noon-ish, we headed down to the sound for some fun in the sun and sand. Unable to restrain themselves the girls trotted through tide pools as if it was August. Thankfully, it was summer-like. Searching the pools and under rocks usually there are countless crabs to be found, but oddly enough we only found one. I'm not sure why. But innumerable rocks were thrown into the water as the girls counted the sailboats going by. I hauled the girls around in the bicycle trailer. The hill leading back from the beach seems to be getting steeper. The girls total around 70 lbs now. Their weight plus the weight of the trailer means I can gain 100 lbs and still cycle ok.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cousins

Tom, Rachael, Max, Colin and Chloe came down for the weekend. Everybody rallied at one of the girls favorite places--the Science Center. Not only do they get to practice looking cool in their shades, they get to check out the planetarium, learn about dinosaurs, watch goofball liquid nitrogen antics, see butterflies and think about eating a plate full of bugs. They love it.

The previous day the zoo hosted our clan. Wandering around the animals all day the girls grew enamored with their cousins. That night they not only named their dolls Max and Colin, they also renamed themselves. Max and Colin have practice being big brothers and it obviously shows.

The end of the weekend saw tuckered out kids at their grandparent's house getting a rare treat of watching some television.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Home Run

Isabella did a good job with a bat and ball the other day. Wearing sunglasses and swinging for the fences she hit the ball. Her mommy and I will be left arguing whose side of the family that comes from.

It's sometimes surprising what the girls are afraid of. Rightfully so, they are usually weary of strange dogs. But oddly enough they sometimes seem completely unafraid of heights. Heights scare me and I've spent a good amount of time being scared by them, often on purpose. But they seem to like physical feats. The other day I walked into my parents house only to see Isabella out of arms reach holding onto the railing and climbing up the *outside* of the stairs. Since I couldn't reach her, I had to ask her to climb back down and she did, giggling the whole way.

So they like physical activity which is cool. Kellie said when they drove on their cousins toy 4 wheeler they pushed it up and down the hill. Good girls. Motors are for wussies.