Thursday, April 30, 2009

To end the delinquency

This is going to be a sad excuse for a blog entry - but we don't want to be delinquent any longer. We've all been a bit crummy lately and have been looking like (to quote the lovely Jodie) something the cat had been sucking on. Hopefully we'll fare better in the coming days. This is Eli's pitiful makeshift crib on the floor beside Kelly's bed. He's blocked in by two laundry baskets covered in blankets. But hey, it worked.
This was his crib buddy at Yaya's house, crazy cat Robin.
Eli is a super big boy lately. Here he's coloring and having his first booster seat experience.
Betty (my sewing machine) and I have been very busy since we've been home. Here are today's project - Froggie booties for Tummy Baby. Awww.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Such a Tourist

Eli visited two must see Seattle tourist attractions. First, the musical fountain at the Seattle Center. When I was a kid, this thing was MUCH steeper and the fountain part was encircled with jagged shards of something meant to dissuade us kids from playing on it. Didn't work. Now, thankfully, they have re-worked the fountain to be kid friendly. It was a blast.

Ooops! Almost got wet! (incidentally, he never got wet. He danced just outside the water's reach and was very happy with that).
Felix got wet.
Grifinn too.
Eli stopped to read my palm. The future looks bright.

And today we made a swing through the tulip fields of Skagit county. It's Tulip Festival time and they were breath taking. I remember ten, no, make that twenty years ago going to the tulip fields with my baby sisters who are now 19 and 21. Geez I'm old.




I've never asked him to smell anything, but somehow he knew what to do when I said, "Can you smell it." He made sniffing sounds and all.








What fun!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Beach Baby Beach Baby

Yesterday Yaya, Madeline, Alex, Grifinn, Felix, Eli and I headed to Camano Island State Park to the beautiful rocky beaches of the Pacific. We had a grand time.
The happy fishermen didn't catch a thing, but didn't mind.
Eli was most content amongst the drift wood, playing with rocks and logs.
I have always loved hunting for little crabs, and now the next generation is into it. Grifinn collected these guys and brought them to show Eli.
He thought they were bugs and wanted in on the action.
Singing and rock organizing.
Action shot.
Can't see a thing under this hat!
More rocks. More logs.
Traversing the rocks.
Hanging with Yaya in the cool driftwood fort somebody built. Yaya tickled him with a feather and he thought that was hilarious.
Getting hungry.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

and now for something completely different....

While Jessa and Eli are in Seattle, where it's in the 70s and sunny, I'm back here in Colorado, where we're digging out from an April snowstorm. Although predictions ranged from 2-4 feet of snow, we only ended up with about a foot and a half. Still, that was enough to make for some fun.

The snow piling up on the roof.

Knee-deep in the driveway.
The deck.
Christa (our housemate) and I decided that we needed to take advantage of the heavy, wet snow. We considered three options: giant snowman, epic sled run, or snow fort. We ultimately decided on the snow fort. Here, you see the beginnings of our efforts: the first layer.
We worked non-stop for about 4 hours, shoveling snow into a tub that we used for a mold, packing down the 2x1 foot bricks, and putting the thing together.
Here's Christa with our creation after the second layer.
We made two windows.

Here, the third layer is on, and we're working on filling in gaps.
Here's Christa standing full-height inside our snow fort. We think the turrets are a nice touch.
And here's me standing beside it. The floor inside is about a foot lower, which is why I look so tall here.

We're curious to see how long this thing will last. It's supposed to be in the 60s and 70s next week (of course it is; it's Colorado), but the snow is packed pretty tightly, so it might last a while.

I had a video to add too, but Blogger's video uploading is notoriously awful, and it wouldn't load. So check out my Facebook page to see it.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

A quick one from Seattle

Greetings from our first morning of our Seattle trip. It is in the throes of Spring and absolutely gorgeous here. Eli woke up in his little pack n' play this morning and didn't notice that I was asleep not three feet from him. I watched the top of his little blond head as he played happily with the monkey and his Harrys for over an hour. Then he laid back down snuggled between his two pillows and rested for a while. I was eventually the one who got bored and got us up. But not before snapping a picture of his cuteness.
Morning snack.
We are having a lovely time taking over at Yaya's new apartment. Eli loves her veranda.
Sweet morning sunny snuggle.


Watching trucks.
Shadows are funny.
He is taken with this painting and visits it often.

Look out! More Seattle entries to come...