Summer of Fun 2011

This is the first summer in our family's history that all three of us are planning to be (mostly) home through August! I will be teaching summer school for most of July but Cam and Clem are home, having a blast. We decided to make this once in a lifetime opportunity the Summer of FUN!
We kicked things off just like we do each year with a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. On this beautiful sunshine-y day I met up with Sissy and Nolan, my friend Erin and her 2.5 year old triplets and my friend Danielle and her almost two year old twins! Altogether, we had 7 toddlers with us! It was such a blast!!
We saw all the critters in the place throughout the day. On special exhibit are animatronic Dinosaurs which I thought Clem would love. All through the park are these big blue Dinosaur footprints, leading the way to the separated area; she loved hopping from one to the next.

But when we got to the exhibit, the first thing we saw was this angry looking guy who spit water and roared. Nolan ran shrieking away while Clementine stood frozen in place, terrified.

Here's a face I have rarely seen on my fearless explorer: the look of true fear!
She was a trooper, of course, but often wanted me to hold her as we walked past the growling, roaring, angry ones.
Until we found the "babies" hatching from their eggs. This was a display she could really get behind. She watched the babies hatch over and over again, cooing and pointing to these little critters.
By the end, she was less scared and she even went to sit on the last dinosaur in the exhibit. We walked through the gift shop and got her a T-Rex chomper.
When she went to see the penguins, she held the T-Rex up to the glass and the penguins swam right on up to check it out. It was really funny to see them so interested in the chomper. Clem loved teasing them with it.


Fast forward a week or so. Next adventure was to the Everett Children's Museum for a play date with Nolan! We've seen our share of Children's Museums but this one is, hands down, the best. This one has three stories inside where kids can play on the farm, climb a tree house, pretend to fly a Boeing 747 and squirt stuff in the water room.
What sets this place apart is the rooftop deck. I had no idea what to expect up there, but I was truly blown away. There is a Dino Dig mock archeological site, some steel drums and the mother of all big toys. They have a three story big toy with slides, bridges, monkey bars, you name it.
We spent 2 hours there before going to get lunch with the fam. Then I forced Cam to take us back and we spent another 2 hours there! We really could have stayed all day long, it was that fun.


Fast forward another week or so and we went to Annabelle's 2nd birthday. Clementine had so much fun playing with "the baby" and checking out a whole new toy bin! (I loved scoping out Jen's beautiful, DIY home and landscaping projects!!)

But the hit of the party was, of course, the home-made barnyard cake! After polishing off her first slice, Clem literally dove into the cake with both hands, shoveling more chocolate-y goodness into her mouth. I'm so thankful for other moms who understand impulsive three year olds!

Summer of 2011 has already been such a blast. We have so many more fun weeks planned. I am so grateful for this time that we all get to spend together.

Recently (3.0)

Recently, Clementine has discovered the hanging bench on our neighbor's porch.
She had a playdate with her BFF from preschool. We went on a bike ride but Clem was far more interested in pushing/steering her friend than riding.
Recently, Clementine got a hold of my camera and took 30+ pictures of her stuffed monkey in various poses.
She's been practicing her letters (she's matching cut-out magazine letters and gluing them on top of my hand-written letters) and taking it *very* seriously.
I recently spent several hours dealing with this toy room. This picture was taken about a half hour in to the clean up. I recently deduced that this girl of ours has too much stuff!

The Perfect Weekend

Last weekend Sissy and Nolan came up to enjoy a little fun in the sun!
We hit up the Scottish Highland Games at Hovander and saw some incredible bag pipers, drummers and dancing. But the BIG hit, of course, were the JUMP-JUMPS!
Clementine and Nolan each took a couple turns going down the huge slide, then bounced to their hearts' content in the Bounce House.

I love this picture capturing Clementine mid-bounce while the baby girl in there with her does a face plant!
The next day was almost just as nice, so we packed up the babes and headed to the beach.
There was a lot of smiling and laughter,
a little mud-eating (Nolan),
some "swimming,"
and lots of exploration.
There was also a lot of this: both babies giggling like mad while Clementine tried to tickle or hold hands or, like in this next picture, trying to hug Nolan.
All things ended like this; both babies toppling over in the next gentle wave. Both still giggling like mad.
Then, Nolan discovered how enjoyable throwing mud at Clementine was. I think her running and shrieking away from him just egged him on more (funny how quickly she turns into bossy older sister and he turns into pesky little brother).
With both babies covered in mud (and Nolan's lips turning blue from the cold water) it was time to head home.
Both kiddos had a great weekend spent running and playing and, most of all, laughing together.

Gettin' Crafty

Oh yes I did. I jumped on the bandwagon; creating flowers out of fabric. Only, I didn't go BUY fabric, I chopped up some old shirts we had around the house. Clem's snowflake shirt had a cup of hot cocoa dumped down the front of it this winter. It's toast. Plus, I had a gray shirt that just looked sloppy.
A few snips and several glue gun burns later:
Voila! A cute flower headband for my delicate flower.
And since I couldn't feel my finger tips anyhow, I went ahead and did a second one with button flowers!

Three and a half

Our baby is no longer a baby. She's a big kid and, boy, does she have some strong ideas of her own (our little Scorpio).

Three and a half is a roller coaster ride. We rejoice and cheer her independence, intelligence, language (FINALLY!) and helpfulness. We love watching her little personality develop--she can get everyone around her laughing in no time. But then we have the desperate times (she doesn't nap)--clothes being the #1 issue around here lately. Twice last week while we were literally walking out the door to go to our schools, she stripped down to her underwear, proclaiming all of her clothes were unworthy of the day.
But I digress, this post is meant to savor all the incredible, tender moments we want to hold on to. Three and a half is more fun than I could have imagined. We love all the Clem-isms she's come up with:

*She and Cam both love to drink unflavored Seltzer water. Clementine calls it "Spicy Juice," which makes so much sense to me. But she also calls Band-Aids "Lollipops." This I do not get.

*She loves to check things out from above. She still loves for me to hold her as I start the laundry, while Cam BBQ's or while we're taking a family walk. I will always hold on to her own little phrase "I'll hold you, mama." I hope she requests this for a long long time.

*While she does have one stuffed animal she's particularly attached to, her bed is filled up with Boo Boo buddies (soft ice packs) as her comfort objects. I don't know how she came up with this.

*Lately, in the middle of everyday life, she'll say something like "Mama! Turn the music off...I love you." I love the "Love yous" we're getting lately.

*She loves dinosaurs. So. Much. We bought these three dinosaurs at a garage sale last year and they are, hands-down, her most played with toys. They go in the sensory bin, the vegetable garden, the rock path, and the grass. She can play with these guys for hours.

*She takes roll all the time. "Grandpa's in Mexico, Nolan's with Sissy, Daddy's at home..."

*Everyone is her best friend and everything is her favorite.

*She's been making up a lot of her own songs (see the video "Our American Idol") and loves to belt them out. She also loves to dance. Her favorite moves are Beyonce's.

We love this little girl and are having so much fun at 3.5.

Sea to Ski Parade

Bellingham's annual Ski to Sea festivities have been underway this weekend. On Saturday we went to the Grand Parade downtown. Clementine and I went a few years ago when she was just a wee little Bellinghamster. This time, I think she enjoyed it more because she's older and because Cam came along!
We got there an hour early and found that most of the prime spots had been claimed. People are so serious about this parade that they brought chairs, tarps, tents and canopies. We brought only a picnic (and our pop up chairs).
The picnic was over pretty quickly, so, while we waited, Clementine entertained herself with a bag on her head.
Then the parade began. There were cops on motorcycles doing tricks in formation, lots of colorful flags and, my favorite, lots of MARCHING BANDS!
Clem liked picking out the enormous horses that pulled carriages through the city streets.
THEN---Cam got in on the action! Usually, he doesn't come to things like this with us because he hates (people) crowds. But, when a live action stage coach heist rolled by, the actors were drawn to him like a moth to a flame.
He handled it like a pro, not swearing at anyone.
There were all kinds of entertainment during the parade,
Clem loved the rainbow flag.
But she says her favorite thing from the parade were the drums. Love that girl.

This May weather has been totally ridiculous. We've had several backyard projects going at once with more interruptions than I can count. (Can you see the hints for the backyard projects in these 1st two pictures??)
As soon as the rain lets up, we are outdoors fast as lightning.
We have been out back playing a lot of basketball.
SCORE!
Here's Clementine's newest "character" she brings out. He's called "Mean Guy." She growls and bares her teeth and says "Mama, I'm a mean guy!" In her world, mean guys are usually Pirates but they are sometimes wrestlers or guys who don't use manners.
Then, just like that, she's "Princess." Princess preens and flutters her eyelashes, holding her hands close to her face in unnatural positions inspired by the movie Enchanted. Princess always has with her a magic wand.
Here's Princess, the damsel in distress.
Inevitably, we are stuck inside all weekend with deluge going on outside. We scramble for things to do before the cabin fever epidemic hits.
Yesterday we made bath paints with shave cream and food coloring. Then took a 45 minute bath in the middle of the day.
The artiste at work.
Here's hoping that June might bring some sunnier days that let us play outside more often.