I once caught a fish THIS BIG......

For Jack, this statement will be true. Not so much for his parents. To date, our fishing experiences (combined) boast of a total of probably 5 oz of fish. Good thing the red tornato has more patience than both of us with fishing!

We went down to valleyfest yesterday and they had some anglers out there helping kids learn how to cast and fish over by the falls. The man (pictured behind Flo and Jack) helped him cast and fish yesterday over and over until Jack had the biggest fish in the pond take a bite of his worm...


Jack (with the help of daddy) attempted to reel it in but the fish gave them a little trouble since he was a bigun! Flo definitely had to lend some muscle (remember the circus balancing strength?) and Jack was like "ow ow ow". Yep, Flo was crushing his little hands by helping steady the line and pull in the fish.

There were quite a few spectators and the fish put on a good show...

But in the end Jack prevailed. We were so proud.

They put his fish (who he named Woody) in an ice chest and Jack kept opening up the lid to look at him jump around again and again. Then, he posed for his picture to be taken for the outdoor sports club's website with his fish - soooo proud!

It was a good day for Jack. A good day for Daddy. Not so good a day for Woody.

We also visited the petting zoo part of Valleyfest and this goat though it would be funny to keep eating my back pack. He wouldn't stop. He liked me or he thought the combined smells of fruit snacks, fish crackers and baby wipes were too much to ignore.

The kids loved petting all the animals and cooper wanted to hug then all...llamas, goats, sheep, bunnies, chickens....not all of them wanted to be hugged by him but that didn't stop a run by hugging by Coops.

The bunnies were especially popular with both boys. Jack couldn't believe how soft they were and lets just say it was a good thing this bunny had a fence between him and coops.

Valleyfest was really fun. It was a beautiful day and really nice to get out and see some new things. RIP Woody.

What a difference a week makes...

10 days ago we were in sunny San Diego.

Now: cloudy-rainy Spokane. Welcome Fall.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fall. I love pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, apple picking, crisp evenings with warm sweaters...but the gray clouds I could do without! None-the-less I am looking on the positive side and trying not to focus on the many months ahead of no blue sky and enjoying all the fun activities with the boys.

These are the sunflower seeds we planted in may with the boys. It has been a great visual on how plants grow and patience as well (We all know we could use some of that!) seeing how much they grow each day and waiting for the day when they would bloom.

This is one of the giant ones that Jack claimed as his and was kind enough to relegate all the "baby ones" as Cooper's sun flowers.

The boys making monster sounds at me (these are the faces I envision when I am having a frustrating day) practicing for Halloween.

but these are the actual faces I see... its when its quiet that I worry. Code names: Trouble 1 and Trouble 2.

10 days ago I had a sweet little boy who slept 12 hours a night in his crib and 2hours a day for nap time in his crib... now: this. This was taken on the first morning that he learned to escape.

Escape from his pottery barn jail.

No falling out of the crib and hurting himself. Just climbed out and then decided to not only pull all the toys down in his room but help himself to the pantry. When I walked in on him, he was munching on captain crunch berries and gushers. He went for for the good stuff.

Now that Jack in in Pre-school 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day I get to spend some one on one time with my second born. I absolutely love it. Its so nice to spend some quality time with him and get to know his quirks and personality better instead of playing referee as much between them. This is what I've found out so far.... Cooper still has a loud high pitched sound that he emits when excited or frustrated (it really wasn't from his brother poking him), he gives lots more kisses when its just us, he loves to secretly play with jack's big boy toys when he's in school and knows I am wrapped around his little finger if he tilts his head and smiles and asks for a snack. I cave. How could I not!? I love being able to have my Jack time in the mornings before coops wakes up and then with Coops while Jack is at pre-school.






Coops showing me how he can scoot.

Big man on campus

1st day of Pre-school at Spokane Valley Calvary Pre-School for Jack and he woke up with bells on ready for the day, more alert and ready than either his brother or myself singing "do you know the muffin man" at the top of his voice to wake me up.

He wore his new favorite shirt and posed oh so willingly for the camera for a 1st day of school shot...


And then again with his cool hat and back pack just to mix it up....

And then again with this trusty side kick (holding his version of a back pack: a lunch sack)....

Tears were at at the classroom door, but they weren't by Jack but by his little buddy...he didn't want to be left behind. Chocolate milk and a beagle fixed his tears and we picked Jack up to celebrate the first day with lunch at a park and got to hear all about how there were numbers on the walls in the bathroom and his friend Ethan had the same shoes as him.

And so it starts....

Family Vacation Part II - San Diego

On our family vacation I lost my husband to the circus.

What? you say...

Well it all started when we were at the San Diego Zoo one day sunny day....

We were watching this act in between shows and visiting exhibits and the boys were in awe of what these guys could do....

It was pretty impressive. They would pull people from the crowd (usually little kids to) to stand on them and such and then give them a prize....

And then they pulled out Flo. Oh boy.

He definitely didn't let anyone down. People were clapping and were really impressed and Jack wanted to know if they could come to our home.

It would definitely make for some good dinner conversation.

We had a great time at the San Diego zoo and spent the day taking the double Decker bus tour, sky tour, and seeing some amazing exhibits. (this panda was my favorite - I think he looks just like a stuffed one in the store). The boys LOVED all the animals up close and cooper wanted to hug every one of them.

We saw two of the elephants going for a swim and getting lots of snacks which was most impressive.

Flo enjoyed seeing the cheetah and the dog on a stroll together around the park, which walked right by us.

My little monkeys were continually trying to scale the barriers that separated us from them, which only confirmed which exhibit they should be in when we visited the monkey trail and they were hooting and monkey calling with the best of them.

Sea World was awesome. Awesome to see the Kid's faces as they experienced all the animal. Awesome to see the shows ourselves and be wowed. Awesome to pet and touch so many cool animals and creatures. We definitely had to tear the boys away and pay a special trip to Shamu so that they boys could say goodbye. Jack put his hand on the glass when she swam by and said I love you.

We sat in the soak zone for the dolphin show and it lived up to its name.

The kids enjoyed feeding little fishes to the seals through the tubes but of course that gradually morphed into just just chucking them over the wall because that was more cool to see them catch mid air rather than take out of the tubes.

Jack was fulled prepped having watched Free Willy twice before the trip but we had no idea how much he would love the whales and the show. When asked on the way home what his favorite part of vacation was it was the whales as evidence of the mommy and baby killer whales that he picked out of the shop.

I even convinced Jack after this moment to go on the Atlantis ride with me (makes splash mountain look small) and has a few drops. The kid is crazy brave.

Sea World also had an amazing play area complete with Elmo and Zoe. The meeting of friends never ended.

Kids petting the sting rays.

Group picture with one of my best friends from college - miss Ashley dean. Who played volleyball with me at Dartmouth. We spent the day at mission beach enjoying the sun, surf and sand with her!

The kids loved it. Jack spent most of the time running and jumping in a massive whole that was dug out and collecting shells while copper...

Shockingly enough spend the day running and running and running. In the water, out. In the water, out. In the water out. He got very good at spitting out the sand that he ate at least a bucket of.

It was an amazing relaxing day and the kids loved having the freedom to run and play after 2 days in the car and 5 days at parks.

this was 2 seconds after we arrived. both kids were basically swimming and rolling in the sand and Jack kept saying how soft it was. When asked what his favorite part of vacation was Cooper said without hesitation "the beach."

it was a great family vacation.

Family vacation part one: Disney Land

3 days at Disney land chalk full of fun, ice cream, rides and seeing all the kid's favorite characters = 4 totally exhausted people! We had such a blast at Disney Landon our first 3 days of vacation and crammed as much into those days as possible that I wanted to post a few pictures of our adventures...

Jack and I after driving Autotopia. The kids LOVED driving the cars that we had to go back a few times. Jack was actually a really good driver and it wasn't until he saw he make a funny nose when we bumped the wall that he started to do it on purpose!

The water park at Adventureland (key factor on the hot days!) we would just go across the park and take part for a while to cool off!

The naps in the stroller happened at some point every day while we usually rested our feet and or ate ice cream and took in a parade or show and then the kids were up and at them again ready to roar.

We were so proud of the kids. They went on all the rides that they could including splash mountain, the Matterhorn, roller coasters, huge Ferris wheels....everything. It was really fun especially since it wasn't super busy because we went during the middle of the week and hardly had to wait in line for anything!

One of the highlights of the show...the Pixar parade where the kids got to see all their favorite characters. Quite possibly the most fun parade we have ever seen!

The kids got to meet and see all their favorite characters including woody, buzz, lightning McQueen, tow mater and so many more!

I don't know who were bigger kids on this trip.....I know the place is geared toward their age group but we had such a good time with them the whole time! And, on a serious note, VERY VERY impressed with Disneyland. They not only know how to put on a good show and production but had bathrooms everywhere, changing rooms everywhere and anything you could need as a parent. It was pretty cool.

The kids were awesome and definitely got into our routine of getting in and out of the stroller for rides and exploring.

A definite highlight of the trip!!! We had to go back a few times. So cool to see their faces.

We have so many good memories from these 3 days and I know the boys do as well. It was a blast to sum it all up!