Cape Disappointment State Park - Long Beach Sandsastions!!!

On Saturday we went up to longbeach to see the sand scultping competition. It was pretty small but it was fun to see. Here are the really impressive ones. The "master's class".

Indiana's Bones

Reptiles

Sweet Dreams

Gopher Trouble - you can't see it very well but the man on the ground has dynamite and the thing in the back is a giant tunnel drill with a gohper driving it.

There were a tone of kites flying there. People would get their kites up in the air, anchor them and walk off to go do other things.

Dillon got very tired after walking around for a while he fell asleep in the back pack it was too adorable to leave out. He was out cold to the point that he didn't even flinch when I took the backpack off OR when I pulled him out of it and put him in his car seat.

Kayda was little miss social and was waving at people as they walked by on the boardwalk. We figure that next time we go we'll enter the "family class" just for fun. There were actually quite a few that really weren't anything impressive. You could tell they were just doing it for kicks and we'll do it if were ever there during another one.

Cape Disappointment State Park - outside the campground

We went around and saw quite a few extra things and read some interesting info. We went up to MacKenzie Head which is the first place where Lewis and Clark saw the Pacific Ocean.  It also happens to be the location of some old defensive military gear (the guns are gone of course). We found out that the land the campground is on now didn't exist in the 1960's. When they built the jetties to tame the Columbia river estuary the land formed, it used to be bigger but in the last 20 years or so the ocean has been pulling it back out to sea. In this picture (if you can see it) the white dot in the middle is where the campground was, all of the land you see (except the hill in the background and foreground is new.

Here's our little family of four up at MacKenzie head.

Here's Kayda deciding that she likes to jump off of things whether she is jumping into the water or not.

Here's Grandma and Dillon having a great old time up there. Kudos to Grandma for being able to get Dillon to eat when mommy couldn't! It was really sunny and the sun hit the camera wrong but it was too cute to leave out!











We also went on a very short, easy "hike", if you can even call it that, to see the North Head lighthouse and we walked the original "lightkeeper's walk" to the gift shop. Grandpa decided that it would be funny to put some grass in his mouth. Well Kayda is very observant and shortly thereafter was pulling the grass out of Grandpa's mouth and putting it in her own.













 On Thursday our friends Jesse and Kala (from Eastern) came down from Aberdeen with their almost 2 month old little girl, Madison. She's a little red head like her mom, she's teeny tiny and absolutely adorable.We didn't get a good picture. But I have to prove they came down! So here they are walking down a trail to another beach with us. The tiny little bundle in her arms is Madison even though you can't actually see her. Poor Jesse and Kala, we made them hike... Sorry!

At the beach the trail led to, Grandpa found a crab that he thought was dead. Well the key word is THOUGHT. Turned out to be the only crab that was alive on that entire stretch of sand. Brian rescued it from the birds.

Cape Disappointment State Park - at the campground

Wednesday through Sunday we were at Cape Disappointment state park with Grandma and Grandpa G. It was a really nice campground. You walked right out onto the beach (no climbing), there weren't any annoying rocks to walk over and it was actually decent weather too! Above is a picture of the North Head light house and the beach you walk onto from the campground (Benson Beach).

Of course the first thing Grandpa and Daddy do when we get there is start showing Kayda how much fun the waves are. We put her into her swimsuit thinking we wouldn't be able to keep her out of the water. We were actually wrong, she didn't like the waves at all. She ended up getting her feet wet ONCE on her own and it was an accident Sunday morning.













Kayda had a great time playing with the sand.  She helped build sand castles and knocked them down too.




























Dillon really seemed to enjoy the sand. I don't know if he did it intentionally or not but he ended up pouring it on his legs. We had to watch him very closely to make sure that he didn't eat it. He got it up to his mouth a couple of times before we could stop him but we were able to intercept most of it.

We discovered that he likes to sit in the middle of Grandma and Grandpa's big red wagon. It was actually easier to pull onto the beach than pushing our big stroller was (it has wheels like a bike).

Pretty much everyone enjoyed the sand in someway or another. I think Grandpa was the only one that didn't play with it of his own free will. Kayda made him play with it though.

Grandpa and Grandma really showed how much the kids have wrapped them around their little fingers. Kayda led Grandpa anywhere she wanted and could get Grandma to help her do just about anything. Most of the time with Grandma, Kayda was playing with dominoes or turning on the radio in their trailer. Here Grandpa is lounging with Dillon sleeping all snuggled up on his chest (after Grandma got him to sleep at the beach).

Of course we had to keep their nightly routine of bath, books, bed. They still had a hard time getting to bed and we had one nightmare of a night. It got bad enough that Grandma came over and took Dillon away so that we could get Kayda back to sleep and actually have a fighting chance of getting Dillon back to sleep. For the most part they did really well. Here is one of their baths....It was too cute not to share. Sorry it's foggy, the bath was nice and warm!

So Sweet

Well, not a whole lot has been happening. The kids are keeping me on my toes, they aren't lining up their naps anymore and they are both getting over colds, hence the lack of posts. Kayda and Dillon have developed a new level to their relationship. The morning routine has been altered drastically. As soon as Kayda gets up in the morning she comes into Mommy and Daddy's room where she knows her little brother will be (I gave up on getting him out of here until after camping). Once she's there she'll get up on the bed and whisper "hi" to Dillon while she rubs his head or gives him kisses. Once he's decided to wake up she'll pull the clock radio off the dresser, turn on the music, grab Dillon's hands and try to dance with him. I thought they had a good relationship before but they are definitely bonding even more! Kayda is constantly going over to him and he watches her EVERY move.
She was trying to feed him her milk the other day and she ALWAYS wants to hold him. It's fun trying to help her hold him. Your arms get sore trying to keep him in a decent position for her.

Last Tuesday I discovered that Dillon now has his second tooth (his bottom left). I have yet to get a picture where you can see either of them, I'll keep trying though. He hasn't decided that he wants to roll over yet. He has all of the pieces but just can't decide to do them at the same time. It's actually pretty entertaining. He'll push his legs so that he twists at his hips. His stomach will still be flat on the ground but his little bum will be sideways. Or he'll push himself up on his arms and twist his little body around to look at everything but his legs won't have moved at all. If he would twist everything at the same time he'd have it but I'm starting to think he'll crawl before he rolls over. He is constantly pulling his legs underneath him and he can move himself around pretty good, slowly but he does move. He's a total sweetheart, he just sits and looks at you until you look at him or talk to him and then he'll just smile forever.

I thought this picture was cute, Kayda has decided that she likes her tooth brush. She can't brush her teeth on her own but she's obviously picking it up from her nightly brushing that I do for her. She was playing with the water and chewing on her toothbrush. She looks all grown up and responsible standing on the chair looking like she's brushing her teeth.

Totally different topic. My sister is now on a modified bed rest, meaning she can start to do a little more as long as she doesn't start having contractions. We're happy our unborn nephew will be able to stay in a little longer. Sarah (my sister in law) is also expecting around the same time, her little guy hasn't given us any scares though. I thought it was funny that Kirsten and Sarah had their last babies within two weeks of each other and are now both having boys due once again within two weeks of each other.

Northwest Trek

Since Grandma G could be gone for the majority of the summer, because Aunt Kirsten is on bedrest, we decided to go to Northwest trek today (Grandma's been wanting to take the kiddos since they bought a pass). Once again we lucked out on the drive, both babies slept.

When we got there and got inside Dillon started getting crabby. He was hungry and we discovered that I, being the wonderful parent that I am, had forgotten the bottle. Remembered the formula, the hot water, even the karo syrup the doctor is having me put in his bottles right now, but forgot the stupid bottle. So he got to drink out of big sister's sippy cup. Grandma G and I had fun trying to pull that off. He did pretty well though.

Both children had a wonderful time, especially with Grandpa G. During our trip he tickled them, carried them around, let Kayda touch trees from his shoulders... and he wonders why they love him so much. If I had someone that would carry me everywhere, let me explore, let me touch everything, hang me upside down and just generally keep me entertained at ALL times I think I would want to be with them whenever I had the opportunity too.

Kayda also enjoyed looking at the animals with Daddy . We rode the tram around the "free roaming" area. Kayda thought it was spectacular. We could always tell if she saw the animals because she would yell and smile. She was passed back and forth between Grandma and Grandpa G and Daddy to see the different things. When we saw the bison she immediately started going "moo". Turns out she's a super genius because despite the fact that they aren't cows we were told that they are part of the cow family. Way to go Kayda!

Dillon spent most of the tram ride asleep in my arms. He woke up at the very end in a great mood. Oh an interesting fact, the human eye can see more shades of green than any other color, hence why night vision goggles display a green picture. You learn something new everyday.

Another tid bit of information we found out was about the madrona (spelling?) tree. It's a tree that only grows in the coastal regions of the northwest with beautiful bright red bark. They are Grandma's favorite tree and we found out why today. Apparently the berries ferment while they're still on the tree so if you eat too many of them when they fall you get a little tipsy. We had fun teasing Grandma about that. The tour guide told us that the wild turkeys that used to be in the park would eat them and end up rolling down the hill drunk.









We discovered that we prefer this zoo to point defiance. It's more fun to walk around and the tram ride is fun. Daddy and I ended up having to stop at Fred Meyer and pick up a bottle for Dillon on the way home. He refused to drink out of the sippy cup a second time. Oh well, it gave Kayda a short break. Thanks for taking us Grandma and Grandpa G!

Happy 4th! (Dillon's 1st and Kayda's 2nd)

The fourth was a very busy day for us. We got up and went over to Great Uncle Mark's house (over on the peninsula) it took about an hour and a half to get there. The kids did really well, Dillon slept the whole way and Kayda fell asleep when we were almost there. We had a barbecue there with Great Uncle Mark, Great Aunt Marcy (sorry if I spelled it wrong), Grandma and Grandpa H, Uncle Pat, Aunt Sarah and their 4 (soon to be 5) munchkins. While we were there we found out that Sandy had died (Sandy is Grandma and Grandpa's dog) she's been having a rough time of it lately but fortunately it sounded like she died in her sleep so there wasn't any pain as she was dying. Dillon was having a terrible time of it while we were there so when he fell asleep we decided it would be best if we drove home. Kayda fell asleep too and they were both asleep until about 5 minutes from the house.

For dinner we went to our neighborhood barbecue. More hot dogs woohoo! They started lighting off little fireworks, parachutes, some sparkles, you know small stuff. Kayda LOVED it. Here she is just after they started the fireworks in her little outfit of course. She laughed whenever one of the fireworks would pop or whistle.

Dillon was having a good time while we were eating. He fell asleep by the time they started the first rounds. Grandma and Grandpa H came by to say hi. Kayda was too busy watching for fireworks to smile for the camera. But neither of them were happy when Grandma and Grandpa left.

Brian ended up with another migraine and had to go in and lay down so I brought the kiddos back inside until he woke up and felt like going outside. It turned out to be a good idea for entertaining the kids. Kayda was really hard to watch outside with all the fireworks. Once it got a little darker Kayda got to try out sparklers. She thought they were neat but liked to watch the big fireworks much better.

Dillon spent most of the evening asleep in Cheryl's (our neighbor across the street) arms. When he finally woke up he liked to watch the fireworks he cuddled in my lap and watched them. He didn't like it when there were too many "pops" in a row. He didn't mind the bangs, or whistles or occasional "pops" just not a whole bunch of them at once.

Dillon and I called it a night at 10 because he desperately wanted to go to sleep. Of course he didn't fall asleep until around 11. Kayda called it quits shortly after Dillon and I went in (when Daddy finished lighting off the fireworks he bought) and fell asleep almost immediately.

Happy Fourth of July!

The wonders that are my children

I love my babies. The last few days have been tough because Kayda has been sick and Dillon hasn't been feeling all that comfortable either. But I was thinking about it last night, what I consider an absolutely horrendous day with them probably isn't actually THAT bad. I watch my babies around other kids and hear people's stories about their children and I just have to remember that I lucked out big time and have two little angels so when they have their version of a bad day it could probably be considered a good day for someone else's kids. I guess I need to count my blessings. Our pediatrician also has children 13 months apart (the first one was adopted) and he was telling me that his older daughter hits and pushes the baby. His oldest is a month or two younger than Kayda. Thank goodness I'm not having to deal with THAT.

Anyways, on to what I actually planned on sharing with everybody. Dillon got his first tooth!!! YAY!!! It's his bottom right tooth and the left one isn't far behind. He's been drooling so much we knew it had to be some time soon but it finally decided to come in. Grandma G found it on Tuesday... I guess that would be yesterday.

The other thing I wanted to tell everyone was about little miss Kayda. We have both the kids in swimming lessons every Monday evening. Brian and I get in and play with them. We've trained them pretty well on our own but we were having a hard time getting them to the pool so we signed them up. Dillon really seems to like the water. He just hangs out, goes underwater, floats on his back (we actually have to help him hold his head up, it likes to sink) and we're trying to get him to kick and move his arms. Pretty good for a not even six month old baby. Kayda LOVES the water but has learned that she doesn't go in without Mommy or Daddy so she'll stand by us until it's time to get in. She goes underwater, jumps in from the side, kicks, moves her arms and crawls along the walls of the pool. She doesn't really like to go on her back, we're working on that so that she can learn to float. But her newest trick... She can hold onto a noodle and kick BY HERSELF! She just did it for the first time on Monday I was amazed. I just can't keep up with that girl. Unfortunately because both mommy and daddy are in the water I don't have any pictures to share with you. We'll have to get our family photo addict (Grandpa Mike that's you!) to come and take pictures for us.