Memorable Whirlwind Part I: Open Space

We did our first summer vacation loop--where we went to both of our hometowns to visit family in one crazy tornado of a trip. There were so many memories made, and great pictures... at least from the first 4 days. Afterward my picture taking stamina seemed to peter-out. Luckily by the time we got to Portland, my family took over the picture taking stamina--I just have to wait for the pictures to get to me. And so, we shall publish in parts.

Here is our Arizona part (not all pictured): cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents (3 sets in fact all in AZ), horses, cows, water, lightning, 24 hour sickness, and open space. Lots of open space.


Big Lake. Perhaps Big Cold Lake may have been the more appropriately name.

I could not believe the open fields that appear suddenly after traversing mountains of dense forests. The fields made my inner sound of music come alive with the little hills that gently sloped. Arizona is so diverse in its landscape!

Old meadows homestead of Peter Isaacson. Norman took his Ford F150 to levels the commercials don't even touch in finding this meaningful "whole of a wall".

Most spectacular was the hand dug well that was still next to the old stone house. Made me think of Laura Ingles Wilder, and her Pa digging a well. Oh the luxuries we have today.

   Hard to picture our little family surviving more than a day in the arid 
   Northern AZ open spaced country. Oh they were faithful saints indeed!
   The country they were asked to settle was pretty much like jumping off a
   cliff :)




Somehow the cows survive and thrive in the arid land. I learned the rough prickly brown grass has a higher protein content then then nice green stuff they get to forage for up in the mountains. Allie and Jackson did quite well helping them look for healthy grass.

Jackson was adorably confident as a little cowboy, until they broke out the branding irons. He was about has disturbed as I was when the calves skin sizzled.

I suppose the cowboy confidence came from the awesome riding lessons the kids received prior to cattle drive. 

 

That horse blood runs thick. These lucky city kids get to actually touch something so tangible from their past.

Mostly the kiddos enjoyed the near tangibility of supreme cousin love.

And open enough schedules to get wet and jump and play plenty of make believe.

And get well acquainted.

 (I think Allie met her match in size!)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for such a lovely week.

Jackson missed out on hoeing school, but was able to help G'pa with the planting.




We'll have to pencil it in to our open space next time.

XY

Jackson called it. A brother is on its way!

We'll be sporting blue this winter when a new little boy arrives sometime around Thanksgiving.

And cue name ideas please...

Moving to Zone Defense

#3 is growing. Oh wait, did we mention that? Ya. No longer one parent per kid. Time to share the love family, or grow more. 

We had a lovely photo session today to remind us this is actually happening (11/30), and Mark and I feel like we are seasoned ultra sound viewers. We recognized 85% of the images as part of the human body! Big improvement over the first time where the tech had to point out everything but the foot.

Can you tell what the gender is just looking at that profile? (I guess we weren't that seasoned we couldn't either).

 (It's the same picture)

We will reveal on Saturday... feel free to guess in the meantime.

Beach... What!?

Jackson's been in this habit lately of saying "WHAT?!" after we tell him something exciting, like "tomorrow we have swimming lessons," or "aunt Savannah is leaving on her mission today." He says it as though he can't believe whatever you are telling him, but he has that sparkle of excitement lurking underneath a raised eyebrow and crooked smile. Most likely it perpetuates because we think it's hilarious.

I felt this surprised "what!?" feeling when a friend of mine told me about a beach that was only an hour from DC. The beach wasn't on the Atlantic ocean with crashing waves, or swarms of people, but it had sand, warm water, and it was 1 hour away--not 3, like every other beach we have visited.

We went on what is likely to be the last 78 degree, low humidity day until autumn, and I must say... it was so nice to be burning our feet on the sand.



The beach is along the Chesapeake bay, where there are apparently multiple sandy spots not owned by private households. This particular beach had bathrooms, and nets to keep the jelly fish out.

 

 And no giant waves to knock toddling water carriers down.

 And shallow enough water to be enjoyed by the resident 4 year old swimmer.

I feel like this treasure of knowledge is so precious I've been proselyting it to all friends who live in the area.

I love when their faces scrunch into their own version of "what!?"

Amazing Fathers

Jackson and Allie built this tower together this morning and immediately Jackson said, "MOM, mom! Take a picture of it and send it to DAD! He's going to love it!"

Mark's enthusiastic response, and his excitement at seeing his kids after work tonight are things that could change the course of a child's life. And they're normal at our house.

How grateful I am for the amazing Dad these kids have. Let's add dedicated husband and dish washer to his resume and I feel pretty lucky. Pretty lucky both of us had amazing Father's who helped direct our lives in positive ways and set a high precedent for Fatherhood. 

 

Here's to Father's. And a world where this is the norm for the majority of the world.

Pool Days

We ushered in the hot weather last week by breaking out the kiddie pool.

How can such a little water produce such pure joy and entertainment!?

Since it was such a success, we planned a pool party for our joy-school friends (who would be here this week).

The weather made a startling move from the high eighty's to cloudy and the high 60s.

This was no deterrent for the 4 year olds. They walked in exclaiming "We're having a pool party today!!" There was no going back.

I sprayed them all with mosquito repellant (since sunscreen would not be needed for the 30 min of cloud cover they would experience) and they had at it.

 I was ready to put on a sweater, but they had no idea. Oh water bliss.

Oh joyous hose and plastic. We shall meet again often this summer.

The Moments Fleeting

Prior to forgetting, I want to record:

Allie at 21 Months

We're growing out the bangs. It's a slightly awkward stage, but after our last try at cutting, we decided they should grow.

Allie has nasal "nyo" that is pushing her into independence. She pulls out "no nononono no!" whenever we try to help her do anything she has the slightest potential of doing by herself--like buckling her carseat, or climbing into her crib.

"Mommy mommy mommy!" Allie's pronunciation of "mommy" makes her sound very articulate, when really her vocabulary consists of maybe 20 words. I suppose she's gotten plenty practice.


Her dramatic conducting style is beyond adorable (watch out G'pa Ardean). She loves to conduct. Often she'll stand on one of the bathroom stools and go at the music with 2 hands. I haven't figured out what songs trigger the movement, as it seems pretty random, but when she is inspired the music comes alive.


Jackson at 4

The esteemed 4 year old asks everyday how old various people will be when he is 5, 10, 42, or 100. "When I'm 19, how old will Allie be?" He also loves reaffirming that he will always be older than his little buddy Ms. L, and is likewise disappointing to learn he will never "beat" Bodie to a particular age.

After a recent nature walk, we have both become enraptured by our neighborhood birds. Unfortunately our identification is limited to Robins, Cardinals and Blue Jays, but Jackson's excitement over the birds has me predicting future bird loving.

And the accomplishment of the week, pedals.
 

(Don't mind Allie's wailing screams. She was not injured, just scared I would leave her.)