Today was Carson's first official trip to the dentist! He did OK... we expected him to be hesitant, and he was, but he still let her clean his teeth and take a peek around his mouth. The hygienist gets two thumbs up from us for handling his desire to lay face-down on my tummy with grace, charm and some contortionism that made the cleaning possible. His next appointment will be in December and I'm sure he'll do even better when he knows what to expect. Nice job Carson!

I’m guessing most people that follow this blog have kids or have raised kids (If not, and you’re waiting for pictures or posts that do not involve our kids – good luck. That would involve us having free time and/or a life!), but just in case someone doesn’t have kids, or it’s been a while, here’s a glimpse into the lives of two parents:

 

2:30pm – Scott emails with a suggestion of dinner at the beach. (Ymmm… Mo’s!)

4:30pm – Scott and the boys pick me up at work and we head out.

5:30pm – Arrive at Mo’s (no line!)

6:30-7:30pm – Play on the beach (chase seagulls, bark for seals, watch the crab pots come in, kick logs into the water… tons of fun)

7:30pm – Head home with plan to stop at Starbucks for coffee and hot water for Nolan’s bottle on the way out.

7:45pm – Unable to locate an open coffee place (What?? This is Oregon??)

7:50pm – Decide Nolan is doing fine and keep heading home (Yes, we should have turned around and hit the McDonald’s for water… I know that now.)  

8pm – (Bedtime on the nose and 5 minutes out of Lincoln City) Nolan starts screaming.

8:20pm – Carson says he is “sick” and has a “broken leg”. (This is common when he gets tired.) Nolan is still screaming.

8:22pm – Carson throws up all over the back seat. (This is not common when he gets tired. Yeah, to Daddy for packing PJs that we change him into.) Nolan is still screaming.

8:45pm – Arrive in Grande Ronde & stop for hot water. Nolan is temporarily quiet when he gets his bottle.

8:55pm – Carson asks to stop to “go potty” – which involves throwing up again. Nolan finishes his bottle and starts screaming again.

9:10pm – Finally home! Nolan goes down, Carson watches some Curious George and then gets tucked in bed.

9:30pm – Carson walks in the kitchen and throws up on the floor. (What the heck??)

10pm –  Carson down again. Mommy starts cleaning nastiness out of the car seat cracks with a toothpick while Daddy starts laundry.

10:30pm – Daddy sneaks off to the fire department to finish some stuff for work before their open house tomorrow…. Mommy sinks into the couch and contemplates just how quickly the pendulum can swing from a great dinner and playtime at the beach to a crazy trip home!!

 

Just another great day of being a parent:)

 

We've come to realize that Nolan is a complete water dog! It really doesn't matter if it's a wading pool or the bathtub (or the dog dish or the toilet for that matter) he loves to play in the water. I've turned around and found him fully clothed in the wading pool outside after it rains and watched him struggle to climb into the tub by himself, only to be disappointed that apparently it isn't always full of water. And, yes, the dog dish is a favorite play toy whenever he thinks he can get away with it, as is the toilet if we forget to close the doors. It's a good thing it's summer! There are lots of opportunities to get wet in the next few months.

 

We celebrated the coming arrival of baby girl Estella Noelle to Elaine's cousin, Melissa, and her hubby, Gilbert, this morning with a baby shower at our house. The weather was fabulous for a back yard full of family and friends, and we had a great time catching up with everyone. Congratulations to the growing family!

It's worth blogging that tonight we gave Carson a haircut - completely free of crying! And not only was there no crying, there was no kicking, screaming or (yes, as has happened on some occasions) vomiting. Haircuts have been awful for three years. All of them. But tonight he sat on my lap, wore his haircut shirt, covered his face and let Scott cut his hair. I'm not sure I've ever been so proud - our little guy is growing up!

While many people take advantage of Memorial Day weekend to camp, we've been scouting for a larger trailer that would accommodate our family of four a little better than our old one. (Which I vowed never to camp in again after 11 days without hot water when we were hunting last year.) We finally located one Friday night and Scott and Carson drove up to Sandy on Saturday to bring it home! It has bunks for the kids and a smaller-end slide that moves the couch and the kitchen area out for more floor space (the slide is not out in the picture), so I'm very excited about the thought of not tripping over the dog and not having to put the table down to make the kids' bed each night (as well as having a working hot water heater). We have two camping trips planned in July so we have a little time to play around before we take it out, but we're looking forward to family outings with the new trailer!

   

Oh, the blog post I could write about my analysis of the male fascination with being a fireman... but instead I'll just post these pictures of Carson playing outside this afternoon, and leave it at that:)

 

Evergreen Air and Space museum is an amazing part of our community and a great place to spend an afternoon with a couple of rowdy boys - one of which is fascinated with rockets and planes! Having two small kids means the word "museum" doesn't come up a lot for us, but they've done a great job of providing activities for kids that do not involve actually going inside - correctly knowing that years of museum memberships will be in our future once they're hooked.... and a little older. Carson calls it "airport park" and he and Nolan flew a helicopter in the playground and ran around the grounds under the planes on display outside (see Carson in the picture below going "nose-to-nose" with a MiG-23 - literally!). Inside there are even a few activities free of charge, like a bi-plane ride for the little ones. And rumor has it there's more to come with the addition of an indoor water park planned in the next couple years. (Complete with a 747 on the roof of course!) This mommy says, "Bring it on!" We love our outings to "Airport Park" and welcome more kid-friendly activities sprinkled with educational opportunity in Mac!

       

After a few days of being cooped up in the house because of rain, we got back outside this afternoon for some fun in the sun. Nolan discovered that he could successfully take on the big slide in the backyard (so much for that toddler one we kept for him) and Carson's friend Jake came over for an evening bike ride. Now let's just hope this weather hangs on through the weekend!

One of my resolutions post-Nolan was to simplify my life by reducing the number of volunteer commitments I have (an ongoing problem for me). With that in mind, after four years of working with the Community Leadership Development Program through the local Chamber of Commerce (a year taking the class and three years on the planning committee) today was my last day to coordinate. I'm a little sad about it, since I have really enjoyed being a part of the program, but it remains one more thing that takes time away from work and home - which is enough to balance at this point! To ease any sadness, I chose the "Travel, tourism and agriculture" day as my last one so that I could spend it touring a brew pub, a local olive oil mill and wine tasting... not a bad way to say good-bye!