Chris Goes to the Park, Claire & Chloe Go to A Musical

Monday after taking the girls to school, Chris and I went to the park. I can't say enough about Bille Park, it is always clean, welcoming, very beautiful overall, and the kids love it! Immediately Chris headed for the slide.

There were just 3 or 4 other children there and the play yard wasn't as busy as sometimes. We weren't there long and Chris wanted a snack and a drink. We made our way to the bench and sat there for a few minutes while he snacked and watched what was going on around him.



He tried several other activities and explored around the area. He looks so grown up in the picture where he is standing on the discs. I can't believe that is our two year old grandson!

Before long, a school bus full of children arrived to have a picnic lunch and play. Chris enjoyed all of the activity and especially looking at the school bus. We took a walk over and looked quite closely at the bus, counted the windows, and touched the big tires. He was pretty impressed.

On Tuesday evening our family celebrated Mother's Day. Chris had spent the afternoon with his Daddy at work and he was excited to see Paula and his sisters again. We had a great dinner out, and then Claire and Chloe came home with us for the night. The following day Claire, Chloe, and I went to a stage production of The Little Mermaid, compliments of Paula. It was the first time the girls had been to a live production that I know of, and we were fortunate enough to get in the first row. They loved the musical and after the show,  for lunch, we decided to go to the Red Lobster in order to follow the "sea" theme. The girls did not eat any of Ariel's (the little mermaid) friends, but did have shrimp and also got to touch a live lobster. Quite a day for them.....the picture was taken as they so patiently waited for the show to begin.

Looking back it was a busy but very great week. I'm so thankful for the time I get to spend with our Grandchildren. There is nothing better!

Chicks and Cousins

The excitement for the week involved the arrival of the new baby chicks that will be living in the three C's back yard. Claire, Chloe, and Chris are very interested and enthused for this new family project. The girls talked non-stop about gathering eggs, what the different chickens were going to look like when they are grown, and all the details of life raising chickens. Of course discussion of egg gathering is a bit premature, but nevertheless it brought them great joy in thinking about it. I believe as these children grow they will never be without something interesting and exciting going on at their home. If they aren't planting plants or trees, or collecting bugs, fish, tadpoles, or rocks, they are planning their next adventure with nature.



On Saturday, Claire and Chloe went with Papa and me to a family baby shower near Sacramento, at Aunt Jenny and Uncle Mark's, to honor cousin Nate and his wife Jaime. We are all excited for this new life that will soon be part of our extended family. Claire and Chloe thoroughly enjoyed time with their cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Below Claire and Uncle Larry are having a deep conversation like only Uncle Larry can do.

Cousin Jess and Alexa are especially attentive to their younger cousins and spent lots of time with them not only around the house, playing hide-and-seek but eventually in the pool. Alexa also did a great job of braiding Claire's hair.

Chloe said she had a "broken arm" so she really needed to borrow Papa's cane. :)



We hadn't brought swim suits but fortunately Daddy Mike had the foresight to pack some pants and t-shirts that worked fine for swimming and time in the hot tub.

Cousin Emma, our darling and quite shy little cousin, found a friend in Claire. Below they play in the very shallow kiddie pool.

Since we were probably going get home fairly late, Claire and Chloe spent the night at our house. They stayed awake until about 15 minutes from home and then both fell soundly to sleep. It was just enough to give them a 'second wind' and those chatterboxes were awake until very, very, late. Here they are bright and bushy-tailed in the morning ready for their breakfast wearing two old softball t-shirts of Aunt Suzie's. We enjoyed having them so much.

Wishing all of my Mom friends and relatives a very Happy Mother's Day. I have had a lovely day so far, and am looking forward to celebrating on Tuesday evening, a time that will fits much better into the schedules of our family!  Our project for the week, according to Papa Norm, is to get a chicken house going...boards cut and ready to put together. This should be an interesting week! :)

Rolling With the Punches!

This past week had potential for some good narrative for this blog. Life, however, doesn't always go as planned, and sometimes we must 'go with the flow'.  The plan was for some extra time with the three C's as Paula had a couple of seminar/classes she was attending. I spent a few hours on Tuesday at their home, and then we were excited that on Wednesday I would pick them up after pre-school and all three would spend the night and the following day at our house. This was the first time that all three were coming to spend any length of time and overnight. We had, previously, had them for a quick over-night when Chris was much smaller, but he was really only here during night sleeping hours. All went as planned until about 3 AM Thursday when I woke up with a 'bug' ....boy, did I,..... I was so sick. I managed to get their breakfast but then spent the remainder of the day, for the most part, in the downstairs guest room, on the bed, and in the bathroom. Ugh!!! I listened as Papa herded them around and tried to keep some order. It would have been funny at times if I hadn't felt so lousy. The children survived even after having a unique lunch of canned Pacific Wild salmon and fresh blackberries. I do believe, however, they had more than their share of snacks . Mike left work early and came to our rescue in the mid to late afternoon. If we didn't have this old two story house it would have been so much easier, but of course the kids always want to go up and down the stairs a million times..Papa, of course, doesn't have that luxury, so let's just say they did plenty of exploring!!

Below are a couple of pictures from Tuesday. Chris is 'playing' the keyboard while Claire practices her hula dancing.

Here they are eating breakfast that I hope wasn't filled with germs from me on Thursday morning.



In addition, I thought I would throw in a few pictures that someday may give Claire, Chloe, and Chris a laugh. I used the best picture of this group of shots on last weeks posting. You can imagine what we go through to get decent pictures at times...just like with all kids. We annually print this blog into a book and in the far future they may enjoy seeing the picture taking efforts. It's all worth it, I might add....

Looking forward to my day with these precious beings tomorrow. Here's to a better week ahead...and a prayer that Papa nor any of the three C's catch that bug!!!

Keep On Smilin'

Below you see Claire, Chloe, and Chris early on Monday morning a couple of weeks ago. Monday is our normal day to help with childcare and since that is a school day for the girls I help them get ready for school. Both Claire and Chloe have started (actually some time back) to be quite particular about how they wear their hair. On this particular morning they both wanted braids...not my best skill...and both were happy after two re-dos on each of them. By the time we took this picture however, both looked as if they had slept in their braids. :)

A few days later when we came for a few hours Claire immediately told Papa she had a story for him. That is a switch because usually it is Papa telling the kids stories about Wyatt Earp and Josey Wales. He occasionally throws in a Peter Rabbit one too, but not often enough for me!  Claire has a very active and descriptive imagination and the story went on and on.



One of the other activities of the day was the use of my camera. Occasionally the girls have asked to take pictures with my camera and I have discouraged it, but on this morning I decided to let them have a go at it.

The following pictures are some that either Claire or Chloe shot and actually they did a pretty good job.

On that particular day, Claire and Chloe were invited to a birthday party. Here they are ready for some fun and a first time visit to a bowling alley. They reported later that they were both good bowlers and I think their high scores were 48!

Since Claire and Chloe were going to be gone and busy we took Chris home with us to spend the night. We had a great time and he did very well. He didn't seem the least bit concerned about anything after we left their driveway. Getting in the car he found it a little hard to say good-bye to Daddy but he recovered very fast. Sadly, I didn't get many pictures during his stay...guess we were just too busy playing!

Below you see another picture taken by Chloe. It was last Monday morning and I couldn't quite make Claire's hair like she wanted it. Thank goodness Paula arrived home from work just in time to rescue me and fix it perfectly. Chloe took the opportunity to record the moment. Incidentally, if I had worked all night as Paula just had done, I certainly wouldn't look this good. Paula is not only a beautiful person inside, but outside, as well, as evidenced here. Her patients are very fortunate to have her as their night nurse!

Yesterday we decided to take the children to a local parade in their town. When we arrived, Claire had styled her own hair. What a beautiful job she did. I was able to convince her to take a few bows out before we left for the parade, and she ended up wearing only two, one on each side.

Here are the kids with Papa waiting for the parade to start and a picture of Chris that shows off his new haircut.

Chris has started pre-school one day per week now. The reports are that he really enjoys himself and has to only be occasionally reminded that Mommy will be back in a while. Claire and Chloe, although not in his class, see him on the playground and report that they hug him and talk to him sometimes. One of the books that we read several times this week is called, Llama Llama Misses Mama. Chris is very funny when we read it. When Mama Llama starts to leave baby Llama, Chris wrinkles up his face like he is crying. Later in the book when Mama returns, he shoots his arms into the air and shouts "hurray"!!! It is lots of fun to read to him.

Goodbye April and hello May--the time is flying by!! Enjoy each day --- my current goals include to live in the moment each day and not to think ahead so much. Believe me, it doesn't come naturally to me, I tend to be solving problems way before they even arrive, but I am working on it!

A Little Catch Up!

On the Monday after Easter, Chloe was still not feeling well enough to go to school. She stayed home and spent some quiet time with Chris and Grandma. About mid-morning she suddenly had an increased appetite and wanted a salami sandwich. Now mind you, a salami sandwich to both of the girls is one piece of bread, cut in half, with very thin cut salami, no mayo, no mustard, just salami! Below you can see Chloe having her sandwich. I especially love this picture of Chloe!

Chris got a new Etch-A-Sketch type toy and Chloe and Chris played with it for quite a while that day.

The following day, Papa and I jumped in our car and headed north for a few days. We had lunch in Medford with Aunt Wanda, Link, and Papa's cousin Melody. The food was very good and we had lots of laughs before hitting the road again. Our primary reason for traveling was to meet our four month old great-nephew Evan, see his parents, and  see my sister, Evan's Grandma, who is helping with childcare for a few weeks. Below is a picture of proud Grandma Jean with her precious Evan (taken a couple of weeks before our visit).  

He is a darling boy so full of expression and the ability to look you directly in the eyes with great intensity. Below you see him having fun with his Grandma, also taken a short time before our visit.

His favorite activity is reading books and he concentrates like no other four month old I have seen. Here I am reading him Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? He appears to take in all the details of the pictures. 



His first meeting with Great-Uncle Norm....

While in the area, we visited a cute little town of Poulsbo....hadn't ever even heard of the place, but one of the women at our hotel recommended it as an interesting place to see, and she was correct!

We also took a quick morning trip into Seattle, stopping only for our 'fix' of beautiful fresh flower bouquets, hazelnuts, and jerky that we love to purchase at Pike's Place Market.

We returned home on Sunday and I spent a great day with the children on Monday. On Wednesday I got an extra treat to spend time at the park with the three C's while Mommy had an appointment. It was a beautiful sunny day and we all enjoyed it so much.



Whoo-hoo, tomorrow it's Monday again...my favorite day of the week!