Monday, July 23, 2007

Wonder Max

Max is growing so fast I can barely keep up with him. He is eating almost everything already, He crawls all over the place and is pulling himself up on anything with in his reach. He is such a fun kid, very chatty and funny. He is demanding however and feels he needs to be held alot, I think he likes the view better.


The boys are just starting to kind of play together, Ollie gets this funny smile on his face that he only gives to max. I will try to get a picture, it is pretty funny.

Concerts in the Park

One of the great things about living in Portland is the concert in the park series during the summer. They have fun local bands that play at a bunch of different parks all summer long. We always have a good time, packing up food, and beverages and head out in the warm weather to let the kids dance there little butts off. Last week we went down to the sellwood park and listened to some country/americano music, not my favorite but none the less it was fun. They were handing out bubbles to all the kids so Ollie spent most of the night blowing bubbles. We are going back this week, they are having an Irish band play so it should be fun. I will post those pics later... fun stuff...




Monday, July 16, 2007

Sunday at the Beach


I love the beach, and so do my boys. Changing sandy diapers for a week is always a joy. This was maxes first time at the beach that he could actually get down and play in the sand, all other visits were either in my belly, or safely perched in the sling while Ollie ran around. Max had a blast, and I must say I did pretty good at not freakin out. I guess when you get to the second child you are not as paranoid as you were with the first child, you realize a little sand will not kill the baby, and that it brushes off, and when you leave and they are covered from head to toe, they had a great time, and a bath fixes everything.





Aunt jo is our fun times weeked companion, I am going to be so sad when she moves away to school, but super stoked for her... and stoked that weekend visits to seattle will be happening often...

I love the beach.... I think I could live there

Thursday, July 12, 2007

making ice cream...yumm

About two weeks ago, me and the boys took a trip to the farmers market and bought some yummy strawberries. It was also the week we had 100 plus weather, so we decided as a family treat we would make homemade strawberry ice cream. I love cooking with my two year old, it is fun to see him learning, and having fun. Even though he is two, so throwing fits is a part of the process also..



When we cook together, he either brings a chair into the kitchen, or I bring everything down to his level. For Ice cream making, I pulled in his little desk and set up all the ingredients and than got to mixin and measuring. It was fun, but very tiring, trying to keep the right ingredients in and trying to keep little hands from adding extras.



Here he is measuring and mixin... and tasting


















I had to put the baby gate up once we got the mixture into the ice cream machine. Ollie had a slight hard time grasping the concept that he was not able to eat the ice cream in liquid form. A throwing himself on the floor crying fit pursued the putting up of the baby gate. He also with all his might was trying to climb over the baby gate. We are working on patience in this house.










The finished ice cream was a perfect treat for the hot weather. I did cut the sugar in the recipe in half, and used lower fat milk with the cream, I thought it was great, the first thing B said when he tried it, "is there sugar in it?" That boy.... he is lucky I still cook for him, not that he does not enjoy my healthier alternatives to things, but he does always make comments.

Monday, July 9, 2007

We had a super busy weekend. I think I am still in Vacation mode, or maybe it is the great weather that is making me want to get out and get a tan. Jo and I took the kids to the sellwood pool on sunday, it was so much fun. It has some splash park elements, but is mostly a walk in pool. Ollie loved it, but being the sensitive little guy he is, got cold quick. I kept having flashbacks to when I was growing up, trying to keep becki warm in the water while her lips were turning blue; looks like ollie inherited becki's cold blood. Max on the other hand got my blood, he could stay in the water all day long, even when his teeth start chattering he does'nt seem to notice, silly little guy...
The pool had an itty bitty beach party, with games and stuff for the kids, we got there towards the end, but ollie got a balloon. well multiple balloons, we are learning gravity at this house, he loves balloons, he also like to take them everywhere with him, and is still learning that if you let go of your balloon, it goes away. Which for his two-year-old temperament causes drama....

After the afternoon in the pool we got snow cones... yummmmm when I was pregnant with max I craved snow cones, but without the syrup, I would blend ice in the blender and eat it with a spoon. I still love the taste of snow cones without syrup, but don't be alarmed my iron levels are fine... Max got his first taste of snow cone, and also loved it. "Hey mom, this is mine"

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Meier Family Vacation..





We just spent a week in Black Butte with the family it was such a great week, I did'nt want to come home, and realized I could probably live in a commune with no problem.




Ollie loves the outdoors, he spends alot of his days in our backyard so to be up in the mountains, with so much to explore he was stoked. He spent alot of time throwin rocks.. He kept takin off on his own to just pick up sticks and throw things and sit in the dirt.. that boy is 100% boy.. through and through..



Becki planned our meals and did a great job juggling everyones dietary needs. Becki and Nick are Vegan so every meal had a vegan option, it was great to see everyone exposed to vegan/vegetarian cooking. The best was jeff meier wrapping his roastbeef in veggie slices and saying this cheese is pretty good... I think he missed the point. We also discovered some great veggie burgers that taste like egg foo young, I will let you all know when i have chinese night...






Annie is really getting into Yoga and lead some great classes for us. I hope she eventually ends up teaching because she is a great teacher, and it was awesome to see how stoked she was on Yoga. I am bummed though I did'nt get any good pics. Brian took a bunch of my ass in the air with ollie trying to walk under me like a bridge, but I thought I would save you all from that... haaa... In th pic you can see ollie joining in on our yoga.


















We spent one of our days at the fish hatchery by Camp Sherman I think .. we saw a ton of fish and Ollie had a blast throwing pellets of food and watching the fish jump to get it. The fish were pretty strong and would end up splashing you with there tail which was fun to watch the kids get splashed. There was also a black lab that was following us around and kept jumping into the lake trying to chase the fish, Ollie thought that was pretty funny too..



I did'nt get any pics, I left my camera in the car. One day we headed out to find a lake that supposedly had a ton of frogs. After a very bumpy ride on a gravel road we made it to the lake. Parked our cars and realized we parked very close to a mesquito nest or something becuase we all got attacked. Luckily rachel had bug spray, and we were all quickly coated in protection. We found one dead frog, but the highlight was a steep, sandy, bank that still had snow on it. The fun part of the trip around the lake was sliding on our butts down the snow bank. Gavin was awesome and was able to slide down on his feet. It was a ton of fun...


We did alot of hikin around, it was so much fun. I learned alot on vacation this week. That I can allow my kids to fall asleep when they are tired, rather than stickin to a nap schedule. I learned to appreciate my family for all the individuals they are, and be thankful that I come from a big family and am sorrounded by so many great people that share my blood. It is great that as adults we can get together with our families and spend a whole week together, and still have fun, and like eachother at the end of the week.