Sunday Parkways

Today was Sunday Parkways for North Portland. We borrowed a bike trailer and had a blast! Hannah couldn't comfortably sit back in her helmet, poor baby. We decided she'd be OK without one since we were traveling at a snails pace.

 Zane had a great time zooming around on his balance bike. He rode from our house all the way to Kenton Park!

 There was a bouncy castle at the park!

 Hannah laughing at her brother.

 The exit was a slide. So super cool.

 This is the over-stimulated crazy run. AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

 Lunch time.

 Home and naps for everyone.

Boys Trip to Seattle

Mason, Zane, and Virgil went up to Seattle for a quick overnight trip on Sunday. Mason's cousin, Daniel, is back from Afghanistan and threw a homecoming party of sorts. Hannah and I were supposed to go too, but little miss was not fit for a 3 hour car ride....lots of unpredictable diaper changes, if you know what I mean. So the boys went and had a blast. They met up with everyone at Lake Sammamish for boating and swimming. Apparently Zane was VERY concerned about whether or not the boat was going to sink and would ask repeatedly "Is the boat going to sink?" "Remember when that boat sinked?" We have no idea what boat he's talking about. 

Here he is hanging out in the boat with Mason's Aunt Lily and Renee (Cousin Ben's wife), who both live on the east coast and we rarely get to see.  Luckily, we get to see them all in Sept. when we do our RI/DE vacation!

Zane and Dan in the tube. They didn't get pulled by the boat, but had a great time floating. Dan is Zane's new favorite person.

They stayed over with Matt and Audrey. Zane entertained his 7 month old cousin, Alice, and played "bad birds" with Aunt Audrey. That's what he calls Angry Birds. Zane told me all about "their room" that Uncle Matt made up for them in the basement and Mason told me all about how he was woken up in the morning by a small hand zooming cars on his shoulder. 

Hannah is feeling better now. I'm not sure if her tummy was getting used to her new foods or if she had some kind of stomach bug. Despite the sickness we had a nice time and took it easy, did some cleaning, and some baking. She goes to bed at 7 so I actually watched a movie (!!) and ate popcorn. It was quite nice :)

Dog Box

In lieu of a doghouse, we opted for a dog box. Our friends, Brad and Annie, had a huge wood crate that their daughter's dollhouse was shipped in. They suggested repurposing it for our beloved hound and it worked perfectly!

Mason and Zane checked the dimensions carefully. It came with insulation so they cut it to fit the outside and then screwed on another piece of plywood to hold it all in place. If we ever have a tornado out here, I'm hiding in the dog box. There is a front piece that we may or may not cut a door in.

 Then, as per request, it was painted red.

Hannah was the project manager.

 Boom. Dog box complete. Now if he would only sleep in it. He still chooses to sleep on his old bed that we moved under the shelf in the laundry room. We even bought him a new cushy bed...maybe he just needs to warm up to it. We tried putting his old bed in it, but he still wasn't happy. Poor guy just wants to come inside.

The garlic that Mason has painstakingly tending over the winter is ready! Check out the elephant garlic on the left. By painstakingly tending, I mean doing nothing. Garlic is the easiest thing to grow. You plant it in October and then pull it up in July. That's it. Way to go, Mason, you're a gardener! ;)

Hannah laughing at Papa's piggy noises. Zane's hands are red because they were playing in a cornstarch/water/food coloring mixture at daycare...it's delightfully smooshy.

Successful Morning!

This morning I made gluten, dairy, and egg free waffles and based on the empty plates, sticky fingers, and arm flapping - they got a thumbs up from everyone!!  I'm so happy about this. I need to get a system and a setup down (for everything in the kitchen) but I plan to make a few of the dry mixes in advance to have on hand so I can whip stuff up with less hassle. This new cookbook that Dave and Doris sent is amazing and I love everything about it. I read it cover to cover, and will do so again. She has quick tips, recommendations for freezing, kid friendly snacks, a list of places to buy products (she's from Bend, OR so the places are familiar), and a glossary with photos in the back. I LOVE it. 

I'll be making a lot of the bread in advance and freezing it so I can just pop a muffin in the microwave (yes, we will finally be getting a microwave) and be good to go. We're also going to look in to a freezer chest for the garage to reduce trips to the grocery store and so I can store lots of bread goodies, berries, and meats. There is a lot of change afoot, but I'm feeling good about it!

Fun with Zane

While Papa and Hannah were at the allergist the other day, Zane and I went to the Children's Museum for some fun. The Forestry Center shares the same parking lot and has a really cool old train, I learned her name is "Peggy" from the display. He hadn't explored the train in ages and didn't remember it so it was fun to check her out again.

It was the perfect day for outdoor play, so we did the maze outside the Children's Museum. I like the name :) We sat and ate our snack at the picnic tables at the end of the maze. It was nice to sit and chat with him and hear about what's on his mind. We talked about the maze, why rocks get inside your Crocs, how Hannah doesn't feel well, Peggy, riding bikes, books, and most importantly, what to have for lunch.

All throughout the maze are "secrets" as we called them. Little doors and windows, one dead end ends in a tower of bells-all with different sounds, there's a telescope platform, bushes that look like animals, and tunnels. Basically it's A-maze-ing. Do you see what I did there. Super clever.

 Of course we couldn't pass up the face painting or clay areas. His new technique with the clay is to get a paintbrush and wet his cube of clay down until its a flat sloppy mess, then he scrapes it up and does it again and again.

 Dig pit conveyor action.

 We had a lot of fun building houses and castles out of the translucent, magnetic blocks! He would tell me "This is Hannah's room. This is Virgil's house..."

Unkie G

Last week we had the great pleasure of having our friend, Garon, come stay with us for a few days. We kept it simple most of the time (well the kids and I did, you'll have to ask Mason about their evening adventures), but we did hit Lewisville Park up in Washington for an afternoon. We found a great spot by a playground (though Z was captivated by the water so we didn't even migrate over there), a nice shady spot for the blanket and baby, with easy beach and river access. The water was frigid, of course, but that didn't keep the Rippey boys out. Garon and I opted to watch Hannah on the blanket!

 Watermelon kids!

 When we got home, Zane wanted to float some more.

Garon is leaving for Japan for a 2 year tour for the Marines. Best of luck to you, G!! We expect many stories upon your return. Zane is already telling us that his friend Unkie G will be back when he turns 5.

Allergy Test Results

We just found out that our sweet Hannah is allergic to dairy, gluten, egg yolk, sesame, peanut, and dog. What are some websites/cookbooks you like for this? I need to totally rewire my brain as far as cooking for her is concerned. The reaction to dog was low, so we're hoping that once we clear out the other allergens from her system and she starts walking that Virgil will be allowed to stay. For now, Mason and Zane are building him a doghouse.

We'll be fine, but these first few weeks will be a little intimidating and scary as we navigate these new rules. At least we live in a city where finding things to fit her dietary needs is relatively simple (though more expensive!). At least we know what it is now. Sigh...wish us luck!!

Sunday of Birthdays

We started off the morning by opening presents. Hannah thanks you all! She was especially taken by this card from her Great Grandma Lueder.

After Hannah's nap we headed out to Sauvie Island for our little friend, Maggie's, 4th birthday. We enjoyed a tractor ride, picked raspberries and blueberries, snacked, and hung out under the shade trees...so fun!

 After afternoon naps we had Hannah's birthday party in our backyard. It was also quite fun!

 Her bestie, Elsa, showed up in a frilly skirt so Hannah had to do a quick outfit change because she felt under dressed.

 Thank you, friends!

 Zoe (and her Mama) made Hannah's birthday cake! Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Thank you Zoe and Tara!