Orcas visit with Nonie

Each year for the fourth of july, we like to go to Orcas. It is like visiting Americana fourth of july - parade, fireworks and all the favorites seem to be present, so if we can get to the island we do. Well this year, we were challenged. We got up really early and left the house at 4:30am. Jan & I packed the night before. While we packed, Rocky ran away and we had to search the neighborhood for him (our dog). All were found and packed and we were ready to go. We got to the ferry at 12:10pm - that's right, it took us forever thanks to the WSDOT, and the numerous road construction projects being performed on Highway 2. When we got to the ferry, the ferry worker asked us if we really wanted to get in line since the next ferry wasn't until 2:50pm. I assured her we did, and here is our money. She asked again, I handed her our money and said, let us pay and get in line please. We were the 4th car in line. The ferry was full within 30 minutes. Hello 4th of July - is the ferry worker new? Could have been all new people since as they were loading the boat, they put too many lopez cars on the ferry and people were jockeying for position in line. I actually heard one guy offer the car in front of us $50 to switch places so he could get on the earlier ferry. This would not have been a good trade since a car + driver is something like $42 unless you have a commuter pass... Love the ferry workers!

So we made it to my parents for dinner time, and then the fun could begin. As you may know, my mom is a quilter. She actually has a whole bunch of fabric strips pre-cut in a basket. Well the basket was right at Caden's level. He found them and handed them out for everyone to wear as headbands. It's pretty funny to see all of the adults and Caden wearing different colored fabric headbands and sitting around catching up.
The next day we went to the beach to look for crab and eels and other sea life.

Orcas also is a haven for bald eagles. We saw about 6 in the span of 5 minutes so Justin & Jan went in for a closer look and hopefully a picture.

On Saturday - the actual fourth - we went to town for the pancake breakfast at the firehall and then the parade. Caden got to help wash the firetruck on Thursday so it was ready for the parade.

Our annual family photo in the fire truck...

Caden was dancing around the firehall while we waited for the parade to start. Caden & I were in the parade with my dad, no pictures of that, but I found one on facebook of us...

I was trying to take a picture of Caden standing next to the wheel, but he wasn't in to that. He really liked this gal, and she was actually the firedog mascot. Caden called her "my dog friend."

After the parade, we headed back to the cabin to rest and play in the pool and slip & slide. Caden loved the pool, the slip & slide - not at all! He hated it! I went on it once and so did justin. Caden ran down it and slipped and that was the end of it. (we had a cheering section of my cousins at the top of the hill)

It was a great weekend on Orcas and so fun to relax and hang out. Crab season wasn't open yet, but it was a great weekend!

Nonie comes to visit!

Justin's mom came to visit us for 3 weeks and we were busy. Caden calls here Nonie, hence the nick name. This was her first visit to Spokane, so we wanted to show her as much of the area as we could, without overexerting ourselves. The first night Jan was here, we went to Manito park. Caden doesn't want to pose for a picture, so this is what we got.... Then on Saturday we went to Wallace Idaho - a mining town. We went on a tour of a mine and got to wear the hard hats. We told Caden that he could be like bob the builder, so that got him to wear his hat. It was a really interesting tour and we learned lots. We then headed to Montana so that everyone could say that they have been there before. We were so close at that point (15 minutes) why not. So we went to the silver dollar bar. They have something like 51,284 silver dollars all over the building, mounted to the wall and such. It actually was impressive. The scenery was beautiful as well, especially looking down at lake coeur d'alene in the morning!

The next day, Sunday, we went berry picking at Greenbluff. This was so fun, and hilarious to watch Caden "help" us. He picked a few green ones, but did pretty well.

When we got home, we played some bocce in our yard, gardened and made jam. Busy week!

Here is the little stud muffin showing off - he didn't want to wear a shirt because daddy wasn't!

Caden is potty trained - yep!

Caden is potty trained - I already shared that... But here are some pics from a birthday party that we went to the weekend after. The amazing part of this picture is that 2 of the 3 two year olds are actually looking at the camera... this was tough! This was Cole's 2nd birthday - he is in the red.

Both Caden and Cole could not get enough of the swings. I think they each spent at least 20 minutes in the swings. Heck if I could get someone to push me and fly around, I would too!

Child locks

The child locks are meant to keep your child from going somewhere safe. We prefer to keep Caden out of an area. Case in point, we want him to stay in his room at night, so there is a child lock on the inside of his door. We were feeling brilliant for this for the last year. Caden can only come out when we are ready for him.

This backfired on Thursday night. He came out of his room at about 9pm with the child lock in his hand. He let us know it was broken and he would be throwing it in the garbage. Even when you are a little annoyed that he escaped, it's hard not to laugh at a 2 year old with the child lock in his hand!

A Bike Rider I am not...

My boss bought 4 cruiser bikes for us to use at work to run errands around the downtown area so we don't have to drive. This seems like a good idea, because it allows us to not use our cars during the day and help the environment too. Well I took my maiden voyage on Tuesday, and it was an adventure! Lets start out by saying I haven't ridden a bike in probably 15 years! So when I first hopped on, I was a bit wobbly. Then I got in the groove. There are only 3 speeds, so it's not like I will be going up a hill anytime soon.

I think that some of the hardest parts were hand signaling, braking (you have to pedal backwards) and looking over your shoulder to change lanes. I was a bit of a zoo riding this bike. I also had on sunglasses and when I went through the tunnel, it was a bit dark, but I just powered through.

When I was on my way back to work, I made it to the last stop light without incident... But when I was trying to signal that I was stopping and turning left, things got a little out of control.. When I finally stopped, I was in the oncoming traffic lane with my feet being used for brakes. After I got to the office, I jumped off the bike and hit my shin for the 6th time on the metal basket (provided to carry my shoes, purse and files to my destination). Oww!

So, to sum it up, I am not a pro bike rider, but will be taking the bike out for practice rounds in the park to get better. If you want to see my picture, go to the Meet In Spokane Facebook page and you will see how awesome I look in a bike helmet! :)

Another success!

Warning - potty talk - skip it if you don't want to know...







Caden woke up dry this morning, he did not wet the bed! He also did 2 #2's last night in the potty! I am so proud of him and he is so proud of himself.

Funniest thing this morning happened after he went potty on the potty. Justin had to go too, so the experts encourage you to let the little one watch. I heard this in the bathroom... Daddy you are going in the potty, good job, you are a big boy!

I haven't laughed so hard at 7am in a long time!

Computer challenged

Just a heads up, our computer at home is abit crazy right now, so no pics of anything. Our exciting news is Caden is being potty trained. WE did a crash course this weekend and things really sunk in! He is a big boy now!

We are doing this without pullups, so Caden has about 30 pairs of underwear now! 1 minor accident to report yesterday and a wet bed last night. Things are beginning to click for him!