Sunday, May 31, 2009
We love Doe Bay (Summer's here!)
Gelato Heaven
W: Last night D had a gals' night out, so the Deuce and I decided to have a guys' night in. The weather was perfect for some outdoor dining, and Finn made the call for -- you guessed it -- pizza. I paid.
Finn's tastes are highly refined, and while he will eat just about any type of pizza, he prefers the good stuff. And since we were ordering the good stuff, Ollie politely suggested that a bit of gelato was in order on account of the good weather and alfresco dining. Plus, he said he loves a good gelato after a hefty pizza binge.
I'm pretty damned sure that they were working as a team on this.
On to the photos...as you will be able to see from my little photo essay below, the Deuce are highly conscientious of the rare, but wonderful gelato; they take every precaution and all means to use every part of the gelato. And what they can't use, well, they let the dog share in the spoils.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
A mothers day celebration
Last weekend we took a very impromptu Mothers Day trip to a nearby state park, Camano Island. It was everything I wanted my Mothers Day weekend to include (besides having to work a 10 hour day on Saturday). Immediately after I returned from work on Saturday, Walker had our newly inherited Shasta camper trailer (thanks Dad!), all packed up and we were all set for a 1.5 hour drive up the coast to Camano Island State Park.
It was a weekend of many firsts... first time camping with the Shasta, first time ever staying at this camp ground, first time camping with the twins, first time camping with the kids AND both dogs. etc. And like most firsts, they may not have been very easy (as you can probably imagine, there was not a lot of sleeping going on). But that was OK, we were just happy that we were away, with our family and enjoying getting started on the rest of our lives together.
I know it sounds corny (and maybe it had something to do with being centered around a holiday that celebrates motherhood and family) but I could not help myself from dreaming about all the adventures that we will have together, in each stage of our children's lives. It's pretty exciting to think about!
Instead of gushing over every detail of my short 24 hour Northwest family vacation, here are my favorite pictures, briefly narrated.
Once we set up camp, we took a short walk around the campground. This is the view from our trailer, overlooking the Puget Sound.
The boys loved playing inside our camper together.
And reading books while cuddling up on their big boy bed before bedtime.
The next morning we played in the camper with play dough... (who says play dough isn't messy?)
We explored the campground and made many wishes on the dandelions.
Then we packed up camp and headed down to the beach.
And the best part of the Mothers Day trip... I got to spend it with MY mom! Since we were so close, they drove up on Sunday to spend a few hours with us on the beach.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Pictures speak for themselves
D: This was a trip to the Tulip Festival, the day after our first day of toddler beds. Needless to say, we had some pretty cranky boys on our hands!
Besides the tears, we still managed to enjoy the beauty, and the boys loved seeing the farm animals and playing in the muddy fields.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Getting the hang of it
D: All right, so I admit that sometimes I can get a little panicky. When times are tough, I tend to think that they will ALWAYS be tough. Which of course, is NEVER the case.
We are well into our second week of the boys' transition to their toddler beds and things have gotten much better. The boys turned the corner, actually only a few nights into it, but I've been putting off writing this post, since I really didn't want to jinx it.
But I must say, since introducing the toddler beds, bedtime has come much more peaceful. Once they got the hang of it, we haven't had a single night where they have 'cried it out'. They just seem to understand the routine better... which has become a little more 'sleepy-time' centered, with long quite reading and then laying with the boys next to their beds in the dark whispering quite "goodnight, I love you"s.
There are still a few nights here and there that they will get up, no matter how much time we spend with them before we leave. But I just go back in, quietly, tell them that it's bed time and they need to sleep in their beds now and put them both back to bed. Usually they are hiding in the closet, or (recently) I found them both under the rocking chair. It's still a little mischievous, but at least it's not crazy, full of energy antics. More like quite giggles.
However, as I said, I'm not holding my breath on this one. I've definitely learned that sleep is not something that I can count on. And like all transitions, they Deuce are just going to be leading the way while I follow blindly, scratching my head in confusion and calling out 'mercy'!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Sleep... interrupted
D: Yesterday was a huge milestone for us...one that we were not necessarily ready for: the boys are now in toddler beds. For the past few months, we have been doing everything to avoid/postpone this day for as long as we possibly can, but the boys have been doing everything they can to climb out of their cribs for some time now.
The first step we took was to turn the cribs around, so that the higher part of the sleigh bed was in front. A few weeks later, we lowered the mattress to its lowest setting, hoping that would buy us another few months. I then decided it was time to cage them completely in, with crib tents... but the boys were much too smart of those pesky zippers and too strong for the fabric (two weeks later I was left with two broken zippers and 4 huge unrepairable holes). We then lowered their mattresses BELOW as far as they would go, ie. we took out the inside frame of the crib and the mattresses were on the floor, with just the crib frame around it. That gave us another month or so. But yesterday, we ran out of options, and we decided we would just bite the bullet and go to toddler beds.
Unfortunately, we are not having the best luck.
Yesterday we listened to 3 hours of fighting, playing, screaming, fighting, playing for them to finally fall asleep... one in his bed and the other on his chair. Last night was much better... only 1/2 hour of talking and they both ended up in their beds all night long. (magical!)
But today is hell... at the moment we're on 2 hours worth of screaming and fighting. And every time I go down there, they have NO interest in going near their beds. We've tried taking everything 'fun' out of their room, but they still have each other... and what's more fun than beating up on your brother?
Friday, May 01, 2009
Ollie-isms
D: O-Bear's been hamming it up lately, singing songs and making up words for things that he thinks is hilarious. Here are some of my favorite:
(sung) "Twinkle twinkle soccer ball, la, la, la, la, what you are."
(when he sees a large boat down in the harbor with freight cars on it) "It's a Choo-Choo Boat!"
(when it's his turn for the toy) "Finn's turn! Finn's turn!" (while pointing to himself).
This one tough to explain, because he is always hearing us say, "it's Finn's turn"... which to Ollie, signifies that it's time to share.
Or maybe he really thinks he's Finn? ;)