Hard At Work

Elliot and his cousin, Jack, spent a good long time digging and dumping in the dirt pile at the end of the driveway. They worked hard side-by-side one another.  And Elliot did a lot of watching and learning from his big cousin.  The boys were having so much fun that little Maizy, who is Elliot's age and lives next door, got her Mama to bring her over for some scooping and pouring, too.  It was a super fun impromptu play group for all of the little people.

Strawberry Picking

Where's the best place to pick the yummiest strawberries?  Right outside in Amuma's backyard, of course!  Extra-juicy, sun-warmed, mouth-filling strawberries.  A whole patch of them.  What a lucky little boy.

Moo Baa La La La

Elliot learned all of his animal sounds just in time for a trip to the Western Idaho Fair.  We were so delighted with his interest in all of the farm animals.  And, because he would run up to  them making their sounds, we knew he was interested.  He says a perfect, high pitched "mmmahm" for the goats and an awesome, deep, loud "bHHAAA" for the sheep.  His "nehh" for the horse is adorable, too.  It was so amazing to hear him make the all of the sounds with complete accuracy, and then watch him as he heard the actual live animals make the sounds right back to him.  Live animals, plus some of the sweetest corn on the cob I've ever tasted, a corn dog and some churros, and we had ourselves one perfect trip to the fair.

Indiana On My Mind

Welcome back, from Indiana.  We have just enjoyed the most wonderful week in North Vernon, Indiana, with cousins Austin and Traci, Auntie Granny and Uncle Gramps, Nan, Nana and Grammy.  What a visit! 


There was a whole lotta water play.  Fun, fun, fun.

A bunch of dog cuddling.  Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle.

And a weeks-worth of gabbing.  Love, love, love.  

We also had a trip to the urgent care to have a tick removed from under Elliot's arm (yuck!).  And this was Elliot's first time meeting some of my most favorite relatives, and specifically his first time meeting his great-grandma Nana.  We are lucky, lucky, lucky in so many ways.  The only thing missing at this point is more time to spend with our loved ones in Indiana.  What a great week we had.  We can't wait to go back again for more water playing, dog cuddling, and gabbing.  

Water Day

The sun in Idaho is bright and the heat is hot.  It's desert heat, and we're not used to it.  This little toddler needs to get out in the world to move and explore and be loud and run, but that's hard to do when it's so hot out.  So today, we did what one does when you need get your ya-yas out but stay cool while you're doing it.  We played in the water.  Three times in three different places in three different ways!  The fountain, the Boise River, and the good old fashion sprinkler.  It was the perfect solution to staying cool outside.

Watch Out

Only fourteen and a half more years before he's really behind the wheel!

Good Morning

Thank goodness for parks.  They help make big transitions feel a little more normal for little people.  Getting to wake up on our first morning in Boise and head to the park (in what I hope to be our future neighborhood) was just perfect for Elliot, not to mention for me and Andrea.  So... good morning Boise, we've finally made it. 

Good or Bad?

Do you think that it's a progression or a digression in Elliot's eating habits if all he will eat these days are pickles?  Dill pickle spears.  Pickle chips.  Half a jar of Amuma's bread and butter pickles.  Vegetables and proteins... no way.  Pickles... yes.  Any kind of pickle you give the kid, he will eat it.  He will, emphatically, choose it over anything else you're offering him.  So the question remains, does this mean his palette is getting more sophisticated, or more narrow and picky???  Hmmm....

Learning To Love

Today, after naptime, I took Elliot and his snack downstairs for one of his favorite activities... watching traffic.  Luckily, we live right off a very busy street.  A quick hop across the street and there is a great grassy, shaded area right behind a bus stop.  We sat, with a freshly peeled and sliced peach from last week's trip to Sauvie Island Farms with Auntie Mira, and watched buses, trucks, vans, motorcycles, bicycles, cars, even a tractor and a police car with its siren and lights on!  They all passed right before our eyes.  Never before would I have thought I'd spend afternoons watching, commenting on, and, dare I say, getting excited about traffic.  Andrea says it's like when Greg Brown sings about "learning to love what your lover loves" in the Good Morning Coffee Song.  We didn't teach Elliot to love heavy machinery.  We never even considered pointing out the passing semis and garbage trucks. But when your child is literally leaping out of your arms and screaming with excitement, there's not much else to do but to get in the mood.  So, for now, we are all in serious love with each passing TRUCK!  BUS!  and CAR!  

What Does Elliot Think About His Auntie?

Ahhhhhhhhh!  He loves her... THAT much!  He loves her at the park, on the street, and in the house.  He loves her laughing, playing silly mouth games, and reading books.  He loves her in all of these places and in all of these ways, and so do I.  We are so lucky to have Auntie Mira in our life.  She is, most definitely, the best.  Thank you for coming to visit, Mira.  We are so very lucky to have you.  xoxo.

Hold On Tight

Whatever you do... no matter how tired you get... don't let go of your pretzel.  

Days Start Early With A Toddler

By 11:00 this morning we were home for nap time, having already been out of the house for three hours.  It's long mornings like these when a park like Laurelhurst comes in handy.  I haven't spent much time at Laurelhurst, but it turns out it's the perfect place to take a toddler.  All at one park you can watch traffic go by or get immersed in the forest, you can play on the playground or run in the field, you can watch kids play tennis or basketball or chase, there's a duck pond (see his fingers in the second picture above?  he's doing the sign for "duck")  and lots of space for one of Elliot's new favorite toys... the age-old bucket and shovel.  I think we'll try and get our fill of Laurelhurst in the next few weeks.  Seems like it's just our speed.

Stay-At-Home Mummas...

make blueberry pancakes for breakfast, right?!?  My first Monday home of my month of unemployment (getting a job will happen soon!) and I couldn't think of anything better to do than make Elliot some homemade blueberry oatmeal pancakes.  If day one starts out this fun, I can't wait for the rest of this month!!

The Piggy Bank Fund

 I am certainly no authority on dive bars, but I do know a good one when I see one.  Dark, loud music, friendly bartenders, lots of posters and neon lights on the walls, pool, video poker, and big comfy booths. Thatcher's is all that, emphasis on the on the big booths and friendly bartenders.  We used to live just a few blocks from it and were regulars pre-Elliot... well, we went there more times than anywhere else and we always sat in the same booth.  I think that kind of makes us regulars.  Did I mention they make awesome burgers and the best "special" sauce?  Yeah, Thatcher's is all that.When Andrea, Annika and I lived together we had a joint piggy bank for all of our pocket change.  We agreed that we would let it accumulate as much as we could then have big Thatcher's blow-out and spend all of the piggy bank money on video poker.  Seems like the right idea, don't you think?!

Well, here we are, just two weeks left in Portland and our sweet friend Emily in town.  Seemed like the perfect time to cash in the bank.  In total we had $64 to blow.  Of course, Andrea was the only winner in the group.  She swears it's because of her positive attitude.  I think I'm just too focused on my awesome burger and bottomless fries to be be good at anything else.  Regardless, it was a perfect few hours away from the babe, enjoying one of our iconic Portland hang outs.  And, we all agreed, the perfect way to blow our piggy bank fund.