Seattle/Ferry Ride

Ok, so I'm back to catching up again on our vacation to Montana/Northwest. I think in the last post about the vacation I mentioned us heading out Thursday night the 18th of June for Ft. Lewis, WA to visit some old friends, Nils & Scarlett and their girls. We arrived in Washington, after an all night drive at 6 in the morning. Scarlett was waiting up for us, as Nils was at PT. Unfortunately, even though mommy and daddy didn't sleep much, the boys did, so they were ready to go once we got there. I let Chris nap since he did most of the driving, and stayed up watching the boys and talking with Scarlett. When Nils got home I woke Chris up, and he stayed up so that I could nap with Ben. Most of that first day was us swapping naps with watching the kids. Surprisingly it worked out well.

Saturday we decided to head up to Seattle and see the sights. I had never (or at least didn't think that I had) seen Pikes Place Market, and thought the kiddos and Chris (we tried to go see it when he graduated from LDAC, but it was closed) would enjoy all the sights. I always thought Pikes Place was a place full of fish, but had no idea it was a huge market area, where people were selling everything from paintings, to t-shirts, to jewelry, to flowers, to honey/jams, to amazing (delicious) fruit, to the fish that I had envisioned. It was nice and crowded so it was a little hard to navigate two strollers and 4 people. Chris bought us some raspberries and strawberries. I miss the northwest so much for their yummy (and inexpensive) raspberries. The strawberries were as big as John's fist, and delicious too. He enjoyed an entire pint of them. Boy we regretted that decision when we changed his diaper the next day!! Ben spent a good portion of the morning looking around before being lulled to sleep in the sling. I was pretty shocked as he doesn't usually fall asleep in the sling anymore. My favorite part of Pikes Place was the infamous Fish Market where they throw the fish that is purchased back and forth from customer to the wrapper, to the guy weighing it, back to the guys out front, and back to the customer. It's especially exciting when they throw a big fish. It was a lot of fun to watch, although John had more fun watching the doggies that surrounded him, and like I said, Ben was asleep, so he missed the whole ordeal.


Walking up to the market. We parked a few blocks away!


The original Starbucks. Nope didn't even stop to get coffee there. Chris was determined to make it his entire trip without drinking any Starbucks coffee. He almost made it except the day before we left Montana to return to Texas we went to the mall, and they had no coffee shops, except for a Starbucks in Barnes and Noble. He was disappointed.


The Seattle skyline with three of us.

And now with the 4th one!!


I just loved this "park" with all the pretty flowers and the ocean behind it.

Starting into Pikes Place.

Ben was fascinated


Not sure if you can tell how ridiculously large the strawberry is that he is eating. I love the Northwest! Yep, one of the ones out of the pint we bought.

And he finally fell asleep


Making sure we got a pic with the sign in the background to legitimize that we were actually there!


The fish throwers. Unfortunately we didn't get a video of them throwing fish, b/c we just forgot to turn it on. When we did,nobody wanted to buy anything they were just standing around waiting for someone else to buy so they could get pics of the flying fish.


We decided not to do the Space Needle as the boys wouldn't enjoy it very much, and we didn't want to pay boocoo bucks for scared boys! The other thing that we knew the boys would enjoy was a ferry ride, so we decided to ride one on the return trip. Not before we had stopped and eaten some of the famous fish (or chicken for me) on the Pier. Nils & Scarlett wanted to take us to a restaurant where we could eat overlooking the water and watch the ships come and go, but the wait there was over an hour, and the boys were getting cranky, so we decided to see what they had along the pier. Funny cuz it was deja vu from when my family had gone to Seattle for a missions trip over Spring Break back when I was in highschool. I ate at the exact same place as I had back then. (We had a free night where we rode the ferry, and ate at the pier). Brought back so many memories of the homeless shelter we helped at, the people we served, the group, the lessons we learned about serving and loving people. I want my kids to have the same experiences I did, and learn how to love people and serve those to whom others wouldn't even give a second glance.

Chris & John walking up the pier

After lunch, we hopped in the cars and drove to the ferry dock. Of course John fell asleep on the 10 minute drive over there. We decided to let him sleep as long as possible and then wake him up with enough time to enjoy the splash. Nils & Scarlett and their girls went up to the main deck and watched everything while we stayed in the car. I think we were in the middle of a discussion about discipline and kids. Yay. Ben enjoyed playing with his daddy and pretending he was driving.

The many faces of Ben

Yay toes!

We felt bad that he had to sleep sitting up, so we laid him down on the floor and let him sleep. Still doesn't look that comfortable!
Seagulls hoping for some food.



A view out the back and the Seattle skyline!

Playing with daddy

Let's see what does this do?

Hmm,and this?


AAaaah watch out world here I come!


Some of the sights we saw on the ride.


We woke John up and he was fascinated!

Another family pic


John pointing out the splash to Kaitlyn

Aren't they cute?

Like I said he was fascinated!


By the end of it all we tuckered this little guy out!

Not your typical favorite

So, even though it was slightly drizzly today, I took the boys and Kebap out for a walk. I was just going to walk up to the drainage ditch, so that John could throw some sticks in the "splash." But then it wasn't raining that bad, and it felt good to get out and about, and Ben was having a blast, and John was pointing out everything he saw, so I decided to go a little bit further, and then turn around when it really started raining. Well, I decided to go on a route that I don't take often to see if my Indian friends were outside. I keep trying to catch some of the family outside so that I can talk to the women. I didn't figure they were out due to the drizzle, but I walked by their house anyways. Then I turned down the street that winds up at the corner with the doggies. John was pointing out the blue cars, and the white cars, and the silver cars (well, actually he would say car, and I would say what color it was, then he would repeat me.) Then, out of the blue, John starts saying "Noah, Noah." I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, until I looked across the street and in one of the yards, I saw a statue very similar to this:

I said, "I don't think that's Noah, but I suppose it could be." I then started singing, "Who built the ark? Noah, Noah. Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark." John repeated after me, "Noah built the art." Then not even two seconds later, he hollers out, "Other Noah." I looked at where he was pointing and it was a statue of an angel.
Now when you ask most kids who their favorite Bible character, it's usually: Jesus, Mary, David. I rarely hear Noah. But apparently Noah is John's favorite Bible character as he pointed out two random statues and called them Noah.
There could be a lot that plays into this. When we were in Montana this past summer, for Sunday School, John learned all about "Noah built the ark." Here at home, we have a Bible for kids, which simplifies each story. John is always turning it to the Noah story. Maybe cuz he remembers Montana, maybe cuz he likes pounding on everything, and the story says "Pretend like you are building a boat." Who knows? But, I am still trying to figure out why a statue of Mary and a statue of an angel remind him of Noah. All the pictures that we have showed him of Noah look nothing like the statues. Ahh, the imagination of a 2 year old!!

Update (Thursday)
So, John comes up and starts "talking" to Chris, and says something about Noah. Chris asked him what Noah did. "Noah built the art." He has never responded correctly about ANYTHING when we ask him (unless it's what does such and such say), so this was pretty exciting!

Fun in Language Learning

So, last night I took the boys out to Morgan's Point to visit a friend of mine. As we were driving through her neighborhood, I pointed out some deer to John. He was fascinated. Then, I saw one peeing, and I said, "Look John, that deer is going potty."
"Deer potty?"
"Yes, John, deer is going potty."
We watched it for a few more minutes, then drove on to find more deer (we were waiting til the workers finished paving their street)
"More deer?"
"Yes John, we are looking for more deer, do you see any?"
"More deer?"
"Yes John do you see any?"
We found a few more groups of deer, some with babies, and I pointed those out to him.
"Baby Deer?"
"Yes John baby deer."
"Baby deer?"
"Yes John baby deer."
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes John deer went potty. Let's go see if we can find it again."
Alas, it wasn't there when we drove by, but we were able to go see the snorts and make it to Kathryn's grandma's house.
When we left, the whole drive home (25 straight minutes)
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes, John deer went potty."
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes, John, deer went potty."
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes, John, deer went potty."
"Deer un ......

I guess repetition is key in remembering how to say something. Or maybe my son is obsessed, I don't know. I will probably post pics later of our time with Kathryn & Zaky, so stay tuned.

Oh and also on the way there John kept saying "Itty baby." I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. I knew it wasn't baby kitty, b/c he said that clearly when I woke him up from a nap he took in the car on Tuesday. He got frustrated with me, and "sulked," and the next thing I heard him say: "Uh oh, bag of trash." I couldn't figure out what he was talking about until I looked and saw big orange bags of cement or sand holding down the road construction signs. Too cute. "Yes John, those look like bags of trash don't they!" was all I could say while chuckling to myself.

today was a first

So, just today, John became fascinated with a bear that we have. Chris's dad & Penny got it for him a long time ago. It's a mama bear with a baby bear in a pouch in front of her, and when you push her hand, she sings, "Momma said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this momma said." And the baby echoes, "Momma said, momma said." And then she repeats herself.
So, today I see John playing with her, pushing her button over and over and over and over. Then all of a sudden I hear him tell her, "Shoes on. Go outside." (Apparently he does listen cuz I am always telling him he has to put his shoes on so we can go outside)
Then, he goes and actually gets Ben's Robeez shoes and tries to put them on her. I asked if he wanted some help. He said, "Help,please," and brought her to me. I put the shoes on her and he wanted to go outside, so as soon as I got Ben ready (I decided to go on a walk), we went outside. He tried to strap her into Ben's seat, but I told him that Ben had to ride there. He was just going to carry her, but knowing how absentminded he can sometimes be, I suggested she ride in the storage area below so that she could still see everything. He thought that was a great idea, but first he had to put her on his tricycle and see if she could ride the trike!
Of course, once we were on our walk, he wanted to take her out every time he got out, to show her things, especially the splash. I just had visions of her ending up muddy and in the splash, so I somehow convinced him to leave her where she was. Once we got home she ate dinner with us.

Funny, cuz earlier that day he had found his Mickey stuffed animal and I saw him take him to the time out chair, and he set him in there, and said, "Sit, no no...(repositions him) sit, no no...(repositions him again) sit." Pretty much repeated what we have to do with him EVERY time he goes to time out. Then, he started to put him in his booster chair for lunch, and tried to put his bib on Mickey. He had found an oatmeal bar and I had opened it for him. I helped him get Mickey situated, and I look over and he's feeding Mickey his oatmeal bar. Too cute!!

And of course I forgot to grab my camera and capture the moment.

Funny thing, just two days before when it was ridiculously wet and rainy, I was reading in a book my sis gave me about how to keep toddlers busy and safe, and one of the suggestions was to give them a baby doll, and some of their old clothes and let them dress their doll/stuffed animal. I thought, "Nope, John would get so frustrated and bored, not even gonna try that." Hmmph, he showed me.

***Update, Wednesday Sept 16th.
So, today he was back again playing with the bear. Not that he really stopped, but today it was priceless. He again got the shoes and put them on the bear almost all by himself. He also put her in the highchair and fastened the straps, but the thing that took the cake. I see him lay her down on the ground and say, "Diaper." I asked him if he wanted a diaper, and he nodded. So, I went to get him one of his cloth diapers from the diaper bag. He puts it under her, and said, "Uh oh mommy, wipes."
You need the wipes?
Nod
I tried to give him a dry wipe, but he said, "No, other wipes" So, I got him the package of wipes and he wiped the bears bottom, and then put the diaper on. I helped him put the cover on. Of course once the cover was on, he wanted it off and the diaper off, and he was done with playing with her, but it was still too cute.
I remembered to capture the moment & got some pics, but I will have to post them when I get them uploaded. Soon. Really.

Montana Vacation-Hyalite Canyon

Finally, I have a few free nights to start catching up on my blogging!! So, June 16th we left San Antonio for Montana. The boys did surprisingly well on the flights. I was nervous about keeping John entertained during the flights, but my mom came fully prepared. He had tape to unravel, cards to thread, wallets to remove all the "credit cards," coloring books, stickers, cereal, cars, and various odds and ends to play with. He ended up wearing himself out and was asleep as we landed in Denver. Chris took us to the USO where John remained passed out on a pile of pillows, while I tried to get Ben to go to sleep, and catch some z's as well. I had never been in a USO. It was amazing. Free food, free beverages. All sorts of video games, books, magazines, toys, internet access, and even comfy chairs to lounge in and a room to sleep. I can't believe I never took advantage of these. I guess I haven't flown much since Chris was active duty. But I most definitely will be using the USO's whenever I fly again.

So, Ben fell asleep for about half an hour, and then was wide awake again, ready for the next adventure. We hurriedly left for our gate, only to sit at the gate b/c our plane hadn't landed yet. My mom thankfully took John to go look at the airplanes as both Chris and I were staring into space from being so tired (I think we got 3 hours of sleep).
The next flight ended up being a lot smaller, two seats on both sides instead of 3. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a lady who wore the worst shorts she could possibly wear. No they weren't skin tight and half her bootie hanging out. They were flannel, and came down to her knees, but they had a billion colors on them, and Ben found them fascinating, thus he didn't sleep. She loved him playing with her, and even didn't mind the drool. She was on her way to pick up her grandkids to bring them down to her place for the summer. John didn't fall asleep this ride, and got a wee bit more fussy, but with all the distractions, managed to not make everyone on the plane crazy!!
We finally landed in Bozeman in time for lunch, and of course we went to my favorite place, Taco Time. Needless to say Ben konked out right before we arrived at the place, so he took a nap in his carseat while we ate. Hasn't done that in FOREVER!
The rest of the afternoon we relaxed. Both boys napped again, and hung out with my fam.

My mom kept a lot of our old toys, so John had a field day. His particular favorite was this yellow "trumpet like" thing that if you hit the bottom, it would "pop" the ball out. He would chase that around for hours every day, and bring it to you, wanting you to "pop" (said while he demonstrated popping ) the ball out.

Here he is chasing the ball across my parents deck


Papa and Ben having a deep discussion about something, probably the taste of pine cones!

"Am I going to be able to catch the ball? Or where did it go?"

Ben thinking he was hot stuff at the dinner table.

1st chicken bone. Definitely hot stuff!


His old man face! He actually used to go "Mmmbaa" and open his mouth really big, and then do it again.


Thursday (we arrived on Tues) was our first big excursion. I think we were recovering the day before, and just enjoying not having anything pressing to do. Mom and I did take the boys on a walk around the neighborhood (she pointed out all the houses where we used to know people!)and to my old highschool. So anyway, our excursion: Hyalite Canyon. Last time we were in Montana over Christmas, we went here and got some amazing pictures of the lake frozen, so we had to show Chris (& John & Ben) the lake unfrozen.

Isn't Montana amazingly beautiful? Heaven must look something like this.


Ben pooped at the beginning of the hike. Not so fast buddy we have a long way to go!

John was super excited!

Family pic as we hike

John hiking with Grandma


Yes, they had so much rain/snow/precipitation, whatever you want to call it, that there was actually a stream floating down the mountain across the trail that we got to walk right through.


John enjoyed riding on daddy's shoulders when the going got a little steep.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Rocks, over there"


A family picture at the top of the trail. Ben & John found the water beneath them more fascinating than posing for a picture


Chipmunk!! John kept calling it a squirrel, (which maybe I started, oops.) and tried to chase it everywhere.
Daddy & Son

A view of the falls, and if you click on the picture, you can see Chris & John way up almost underneath them. And my dad halfway up there.

This is actually pretty much right underneath the waterfall. Brian (one of the guys who lives with my folks) and Chris stood on rocks in the stream caused by the fall and handed John across.

They made it safely across, hooray!

Trying to get John back across so that Chris could go hike some more. Papa sacrificed a wet shoe and pant leg in order to help Chris get him across.

My happy boys

The rest of us.

I had to recreate this picture. One of Chris's favorite pictures of me is me making a strange face in front of this exact waterfall, when I was about 3rd grade. It even made it into our wedding video. I wish I had the laptop, so that I could put the two side by side. I will try to do so later.
Chris decided to hike to the top of the waterfall! Crazy boy!

While daddy was hiking, Papa and John went searching for rocks...


...and then John decided to do some mini off trail hiking himself. Like father, like son!


And, of course life doesn't stop when you have babies. They need to be changed regardless if you are at the top of a mountain or not!! :)

Chris & John studying the rocks and trees.

We had a blast and got the boys sufficiently worn out for our long trip to Washington that night. See proof below:

(However, it was not the smartest thing to do for Chris, as he hit a wall at about 4:30 in the morning, and I had to take over driving.)