A Walk in the Park

"I'm hiking, I'm hiking, I'm hiking!"

 Our banana slug buddy. "Want to give the slug a hug."

The momentum of throwing rocks over the ledge was nearly enough to knock him off balance so Mason held onto his shirt...just in case.

 The rocks sometimes made funny noises depending on where they landed.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the men out there who are influential to their children, both young and old. Zane is lucky to have so many positive male figures in his life, thank you to each and every one, but especially to Mason.  Zane and Papa time is special and I love to sit back and watch them interact. Thank you Mason for your attentive, adventurous, silly, and loving nature and for sharing it with our Zaney. He has the best role model in you!

Zane and I made cookies for Papa. He helped with every step of the process from mixing and scooping, to using the spatula to get them off the tray and, of course, taste testing.

 Zane's photo of his handiwork.

The camera ran out of juice after this, but we also made play dough pancakes, drew pictures, and wrapped a present for Papa. It was a great day, but do you notice someone who's missing? Like Papa, perhaps? Sadly biodiesel needs to be processed even on special days so Mason was at work. We were going to celebrate tonight but he got called in...sigh. Zane is learning what work ethic is at least :)

Water Pocket

Mason and I have been waiting for the perfect day to build Zane a water pocket, where it's nice and sunny, but a little too cold to get totally wet. Today was that day! I saw this idea on Pinterest and am so happy that it was easy, cheap, and fun!  During Zane's nap we rolled out a 10x10 piece of plastic sheeting and used heavy duty Gorilla Tape to hold the seams.

Then we poked a hole in the top to fill it with water. We had some colorful foam sheets from a friends' birthday party last summer that have been waiting for a purpose...sea creatures for the water pocket was that purpose.

When Z woke up he was still groggy, but thrilled to have a new toy and it didn't take long for him to get into it. Before long he was asking Papa to "wave him," where he would lay down and Mason would make waves rush into him.  It leaked a bit, but not enough to noticeably diminish the water or soak the boy.

Water pockets are best when shared with friends.

On a totally unrelated note: we grew artichokes! I'm not sure these are quite ready to eat, but the entire plant fell over and uprooted itself due to the weight of the 'chokes. I'll do some research and see if we can eat them. I'm also looking forward to the apples and blueberries from out front!

Maternity Photos

Maternity photos by my very talented friend: Jaden Johnston. Thanks lady!!

36 weeks...only 4 more to go...

Morning in the Park

Living so close to a park is fantastic. When the weather is nice and playing in the yard just isn't cutting it, we can stroll over and play until lunch time. We had the place mostly to ourselves so I didn't feel bad about letting Virgil stretch his legs a bit. If there are other people around I tie him to the bench and he stares at us with sad eyes as we meander from one play structure to the next. 

 "I do myself." Surprisingly, he can make it all the way across by himself, but I still hover over him when he does this one.

 Bringing cars to zoom down the big slide is a necessity.

 Haha Virg, now what? He eventually turned around and skittered down the stairs.

 Snacks for the wagon walk home...also a vital part of the outing.