Max Makes Another Appearance

Hi Everybody!

 Maxwell here! I hacked into mommies blog to share some great pictures from today. Mommy and I met Jake and Bridger at Farrell McWhirter park today. It was sooooo much fun! Jake and I decided to let mommy and Bridge catch up and talk while we ran around and played. Jake sure can run and he loves to explore stuff. Mommy kept saying something about peer pressure being a good thing at this stage. I started to get into the running and playing thing too.

The park is really a small farm with animals that you can touch and look at. They were even having pony rides for some of the bigger kids. There are lots of trails to explore and stuff to climb. Mommy got the idea to go there from her good friend Dorothy. I am so glad!

Jake and I let the mommies even get our picture together!

Here we are playing drums together! Jake sure does rock!

We also checked out the animals together. Jake likes to moo and give the animals kisses.

The baby goats came right up to us. There was even a miniature pig.

Then we walked along the trail to see some horses and a burro. There was a cool area with tire swings and we played together there too.

 This is "Jake the Snake" looking super handsome!

Mommy says with Jakes dark hair and dark eyes and my light hair and blue eyes we're going to catch all the babes. Aren't we a handsome pair?

 Eat your heart out ladies!

Love to everyone,
Maxer

Explanation Please?

Since it was such a beautiful and warm day today I thought I would check on the watering needs of what is left of my deck vegetable garden.

These 2 romaine lettuces heads are all that remain. Some of you maybe asking yourselves, "She worked at Molbak's?" "She was the vegetable specialist?" Ahem! Yes I was. That doesn't mean I always get things right. This sad state of things is not what requires explanation however.

If you look a little bit closer...

WEEDS!!! At least 5 different kinds!

Let me further explain. This deck is on the 2nd floor. How in the name of all that is Mother Nature does this happen? I already know the answer. The wind, birds, Mother Nature at her finest. Yet every year it boggles my mind that I have to worry about weeds on the 2nd floor deck of our townhouse.

As Charlie Brown would say, "AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"

Blast you Mother Nature, oh and thanks for the sunshine today! Love ya!

Happy Father's Day

Okay! So I am a little late! Anybody who parents a toddler will understand that your time is no longer your own and I do things when I get around to them, instead of when the calender dictates. Anyway, I though I would show everyone what I did for Terry's 2nd official Father's Day and how we did it. The first was hard to beat and this year Maxwell was a little less then cooperative. I had big plans and instead came up with something much more enjoyable for both Max and myself.

We went to the local CSA farm, Jubilee Farms, and checked out chickens, tractors and the veggie starts. It was an amazing day on Wednesday last week so we walked all over the farm investigating stuff.

In case you are new to the blog, Maxwell loves large machinery! This was next to one of the tractor wheels. I said, "go over there and stand in front of the wheel so I can take your picture." And he did! Of course he wanted to climb on it but I said no and he was actually alright with it.

Then we walked around to find the chickens. They usually have them in a movable hen house so that they can use the poop for the fields.

 Here is Max walking right up to the coop. No fear at all. The chickens all came running up to see who was there.

 There was lots of tall grass with seed heads and Max was trying to get the chickens to eat the grass.

This naughty red chicken actually pecked at his fingers while he was holding on to the fence. He didn't cry, just looked at me like "what the heck!"

We walked through the orchard and the veggie area. Let me re-phrase, I walked with him on my shoulders through the orchard and veggie area. When we got out into the fields a little I put him down so that he could walk around and explore and get out some energy. Nothing doing!

This is Max being mad at me for not picking him up. One of his new words is "uppy." Needless to say, I did not pick him up and walked away, calling him until finally he looked up, saw me, smiled and ran after me. Aha! My evil plan worked this time. Next time I may not be so lucky.

We stopped on a sloping hill to rest and check out another tractor when we caught sight of a slug.

Both Terry and I have been working to get him to touch and explore things. Unfortunately he is like me when I was young and doesn't really want to get dirty, at first. He watched the slug until he disappeared into the grass.

I love this picture of us and he loves getting his picture taken.

Here is daddy's Father's Day present.

Max did a great job on the hand prints. First try, no mess. Yippee! When Terry opened it Max even put his hands on his hand prints to show daddy how he did it. Supercute!

So Happy Father's Day to my dad and my baby daddy. So lucky to have both of you in my life. I love you both!

A Kid Free Play Date...with Wine

This past Saturday I got the best treat ever. Not many of you will know that I am a huge fan of the NPR radio show A Prarie Home Companion. My love of NPR begin with my grandmother while visiting her in New York every summer. It was the soundtrack of her life and by the time I was about 18 I was hooked. I like hearing the news through them because it leans in my direction and is just enough information for me to think about without depressing me, like the TV news and newspapers. Anyway, I don't remember when it happened but I fell in love with the great variety and gameshows they have and secretly wished I could see one in action. Well, on Saturday Bridgette and I went to see a live taping of A Prarie Home Companion at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. What an incredible treat! She has liked the show for a long time also. Not only was it great fun, but there were no kids, yummy wine related snacks and a bottle of wine!

Though these grapevines are beautiful and actually growing grapes, most of the grapes grown for their wines are grown in Eastern Washington. Appearently it has something to do with the fact that they get more sunshine over there then we do. As you can tell by the thickness of the vine stalk, these are still pretty old. At least 10 to 15 years. Really cool to see.

Some pictures of the sound stage and the homey setup. There were even advertisements for "Powdermilk Biscuits," "The Catchup Advisory Board," and "Guy's Shoes." Pretty cool to get to actually see what we have been listening to for so long.

The Bridge and I before the show started and before to much wine!

After having babies and being off the sauce for so long, both of us were light weights! 2 glasses each and we reached our limit.

Before the show was actually broadcasting over the airwaves Garrison Keillor actually warms up the audience by walking around, through the crowd, shaking hands and singing littles tunes. I was bold enough to go up and shake his hand. He really is very tall! And I love a man in a seer sucker suit!

 There is also this awesome sound effects guy, Fred Newman. He makes ALL of the sounds for the show. Animals, cars, airplanes, you name it. If it's in the script he does it. It was super cool to see him in action. He was totally not what either of us pictured.

The rest of the radio acting cast. My apologizes to Tim Russell for cutting him off of the picture. He does great accents and is really funny and great at ad-libbing. Sue Scott is the female voice.

There was a great a capella singing group called the "Bodacious Ladyhood," that really jives and a young lady singer named Sara Jarosz who performed as well. You should really go to the Prarie Home website and listen in. Sara Jarosz has a voice that channels a little bit of Patsy Cline, with a little backroads, blue grass feel to it. (http://www.prariehome.publicradio.org/)

There I made it easy for you! But keep reading, there's more.

 I don't know how much he writes down in preparation and how much is off the cuff, but he really just goes with the flow and it can be really funny one minute and very thought provoking the next.

He did Guy Noir, Private Eye, and used the Alaskan Way viaduct as the back story. There were some really passionate people in the audience. You could tell he does some homework before he comes to town.

Truth be told, we did talk about the boys a little bit. Sometimes you just need to hear that someone else is going through the same thing and feeling just as frustrated in order to know that you're not doing anything wrong and everything will be alright. We also talked about the daddies too. I guess we have more in common then I knew. I won't get into here, but it involves remote controls, helicopters and airplanes. I won't bore you with the gory details.

Thank you Bridgette! It was an amazing afternoon! I am so blessed and grateful to have such a good friend in my life!

Not Always Roses and Sunshine

*Warning: Personal blog post ahead!

Well, it had to happen sometime. We have been so lucky to have such a happy little man for so long. I am not going to say that it is the terrible 2's because I don't believe in that. I think that he is developing his own personality and wants and sometimes they come into conflict with what I, Terry or we want him to do.

My first sign of this was at the library about 3 weeks ago when he pitched a complete tantrum, in the library, because I would not let him play on their computers. We had gone for story time and he would not sit still. So we walked outside to the childrens area and he climbed onto one of the kid sized chairs and started tapping the keyboard. I worry it will break or send the computer into some kind of failure and I don't want to be one of those parents that lets their kids destroy something and walk away. So in a effort to change his direction we tried reading a book. Nope! We went back to story time. Nope! He wanted those computers! So we started to leave and he exploded! There was squirming and screaming and then he went limp, while continuing to scream. What was I to do? We walked out of the library and I stood outside in the pouring rain wondering what happened to my sweet, happy little boy. To close to nap time? Hungry? I just don't know. He cried all the way home in the car, after I fought with him to strap him into the car seat. As soon as he saw the trains at the depot, he stopped and as quick as it started, it was over.

That was tantrum #1. Tantrum #2 happened yesterday. After a couple of beautiful "summer" days, it started to rain again. AH HA! Seasonal affective disorder?! Just kidding, thats me! Anyway, we started our walk with no rain, by the end we were running home as it poured down on us and we were soaked. Max of course loved it because he was in the wagon with a huge smile on his face as we run along trying to get home. Once home and in the shelter of the garage, we started to go upstairs and Max wants to go outside. We try to entice him to swing in the garage. We set it up special for rainy days. Nope! He wants to go play in his new sandbox. So we try to explain that its raining and we can't right now, maybe later. Start of tantrum #2.

Screaming and kicking and flailing himself around. We finally get him upstairs and he drops to the ground howling and crying. Terry tries to talk to him, I say just let him cry it out. In the words of my least favorite expression, "it is what it is." So I found a Thomas the Tank Engine movie on instant Netflix and suddenly everything is fine.

I know there are more of these days ahead. I, oddly am looking forward to them with a little trepidation. It is a chance for all three of us to grow and learn, teach each other patience and tolerance and maybe even play in the rain, I guess?

Zoo Day with Jake

Max and I met Jake and Bridge at the Zoo on Tuesday morning. In the morning while we were getting ready it looked like it was going to be a beautiful outside. Ah! But we live in Washington little grasshopper!! I even called Bridge in the morning to check the weather in her neck of the woods. All clear! We left with confidence in a great day of sunshine. As soon as we got the zoo in we were in the gates. It started to rain! So we ran to the Zoomazium and figured we would just hang out there and play for a while. The boys had other ideas! Max as usual hung out by the entrance of the toddler area being the gatekeeper. Maybe it's the giant banana slug door handle, I don't know. Anyway, Jake and Max were ignoring each other as usual. Just two kids in their own world. I guess Jake was bored so he wanted to head outside in the rain. I tried to get Max to join in, but no way, no how!

So yet again Bridge and I spend a play date speaking in 3 word sentences chasing our boys in opposite directions. Finally I put a screaming Max in his stroller and we went off in search of the gorillas. He likes them and I know if we can just change the scenery his attitude will change. So off we go in the sprinkles and see the Jaguars, curled up like big kitties and the gorillas having a lazy day right in front of the glass. Both boys seemed to like seeing them up close. While we were undercover it started to rain in earnest and Bridge and I just decided to call it quits. The rain, the grumpies and us looking a little down trodden, play date failure!

Before we parted ways, there is a bronze sculpture area near the gorillas display with life size gorillas. Oddly enough both Max and Jake exhibit the same adorable behavior. They begin running after each other kissing the sculptures. Super Cuteness!! Max has been kissing everything lately, his pizza, right before he eats it, his cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, books, you name, he loves it. Bridge says that Jake is doing the same thing. Good to know it's not just my silly boy.

Anyway here are some pictures in the sculpture garden.

 This is my friend the silverback, come say hi mommy.

 This is my little friend. He is more my size.

But I just want to give you a hug buddy!

When Bridge and I parted that afternoon we said that the next playdate would be just us and a bottle of wine. That is more like it. I can't wait!

I was good to see you both and hopefully we can try the zoo again when it stops raining!

Rock Band in the making

My mom sent Terry a belated Birthday present and I have to post the pictures of the gift(s).

This is Terry realizing what it is.
Terry got a t-shirt that actually plays like a guitar. No lie! It sounds just like an electric guitar.

Then chaos ensues...

 Note Maxwell dancing in front of him.

My daddy the Rock Star! Even if it is only in the kitchen.

Max got a suprise gift too!

"Check out my drum kit!"

"Thanks Gramma! You Rock!"

Day at the Seattle Aquarium

This Memorial weekend we did a whole lot of nothing...but spend time together and love each other. Terry was actually gone for some of it so it was just Max and me hanging out and trying to fit in some outside play time in between the rain. Saturday we had big plans to go to the zoo close to your house. Unfortunately the weather put a stop to those plans. We opted instead to head to our favorite independent toy store in Issaquah, White Horse Toys. They have a huge section of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff and Max plays at the train table for hours. I swear that Thomas is crack for toddlers. I am not sure what it is about that little blue train but as soon as he hears the music he will not be distracted. The people at the store are great and know that people go there just for a little toy therapy. Sometimes we break down and get Max a new train car or something else. It is all I can do to say "thank you" for saving my sanity and not being cooped up inside the house.

Sunday we took our usual walk into town so that Max could see the real trains. He doesn't quite say train but he calls them choo choos. He gets very excited when we drive by and loves to walk on the tracks and wave at the trains that we pass. He doesn't even mind the VERY loud train horn when it goes off as it is passing by. I was plugging his ears and now he won't let me anymore, so now I plug my own.

On Monday we decided, last minute, to go to the Seattle Aquarium. Terry and I went a long time ago and boy have they made some improvements. The main building now has 3 huge touching pools and a lot more tanks. They also have a photography exhibition of BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill photos. The pictures are taken from the air and show the oil spill in brilliant reds, oranges, pinks and yellows. They are floating atop the surface being moved about by the currents. The photos were beautiful and tragic all at the same time. If you are in the area, it is well worth the admission price just for the pictures.

Max had an awesome time getting wet and touching the starfish. He would not be contained and walked or ran throughout the main building going from one thing to the next. He waved and said "Hi" to all of the fishes. Then we went over to the adjacent building and the tanks were floor to ceiling. Max proceeded to walk along the tank kissing the fishes. I tried to get some pictures but because of the glass and my cell phone camera they did not turn out well. However, some of the others did.

 This dorsal fin of an Orca is life size. Yikes!

My big, proud boy! He climbed up all by himself.

We had a great day at the aquarium and will probably go back when Max is a lttle older and can enjoy more of the tanks and animals.