Dad & Kids Camping Trip - 2010

Last year, Harrison and dad made the 2 hour drive to the Dad & Kids Annual Camping Trip spot only to realize they had arrived a week early... no one was there! When they revisited the site the next weekend, dad and 6 month old Harrison relaxed, waded into the lake and returned later that night. 

This year, Harrison entered camp as an 18 month old toddler and if you stop to think about a typical campsite, you pretty much have a child proofing/safety nightmare on your hands. Although I am strictly forbidden to set foot anywhere near the campsite, Michael reports that he spent much of the time chasing after Harrison keeping him away from the fire, knives left on the tables, etc. They spent Saturday canoeing, playing in the lake, eating man food and hanging out with Zaidy, uncle Stephen, Aunt Rae Ann, Aunt Alexis and Great-Papa-Hugh. Father and son shared a tent and since it got pretty cool at night, dad slipped him into the sleeping bag and Harrison slept blissfully next to dada (he never sleeps in bed with us so that was a treat indeed!). Just before settling in for the night, Harrison spontaneously vomited in the tent, however dad handled it so the grossness dirtied items that could be put outside the tent and left the sleeping bad unsoiled!

Sunday evening Harrison ran through the door to greet mama with a weary dad following behind. They were immediately sent upstairs to shower and bathe as the pair reeked of campfire smoke and the dirt was very visible... Harrison had dirt under all his fingernails (as expected) as well as dirty finger like streaks all over his face and body (huh? they were only there for 1.5 days!).

the little explorer, scootching down the hill on his behind

Getting ready to canoe

The two dads

Captain Zaidy!

The rocking of the boat lulled a tired boy to sleep so dad put him down in the bottom o the boat!

Shutter Bugs

This momma loves to take pictures. My momma instilled this in me as a kid even while my brother and I griped about posing and smiling for a zillion photos; it seemed like her picture taking would never end! Now I can't get enough of it and have tried to better my skills with a few classes and blog reading. Last weekend, I gathered three of my friends and we hit the streets of Seattle, joining Seattle Shutter Tours with one other photo loving visitor and our tour guide, Valentina (check out her website, there are photos of James jumping off a window ledge). While we all have nice cameras, we all wanted to better learn how to use them and Valentina was patient and knowledgeable guiding us through aperture, white balance, shutter speeds, etc. Here are some of my favorite photos from our three hour tour (some are taken by my friends, check the captions).

The "Gum Wall" in Post Alley - Raina

Wall opposite the "Gum Wall," Post Alley - Raina

Raina & Kristen, Post Alley - Valentina

Nectarines, Pike Place Market - Raina

Farmer stand, Pike Place Market - Aaron

James, Raina, Kristen, Aaron, Post Alley - Valentina

Pike Place Market - Kristen

Pike Place Market  - James

Hammering Man, Seattle Art Museum - Kristen

WaMu Courtyard, 2nd & Seneca - Valentina

WaMu Courtyard, 2nd & Seneca - Valentina

Raina through a cafe window - James

Tia Raina

Last weekend, I left the boys at home for THREE DAYS. This was by far the longest I have ever been away from my baby and it was evidently harder for me than my son. I asked if Harrison seemed to miss me and Michael said no, not really. I like to think that he would have missed me but dad just kept him too busy to think about me. Right? Michael never complained and handled it like the Pro Dad he is, keeping busy and tiring Harrison out taking him to play grounds, parks, a street fair, a Mexican restaurant and brunch with his family.

Harrison evidently has a new found taste for black beans!

I spent my three days in Boston visiting my six month old niece, Argenta. You wouldn't think it possible to be so cute until you meet her and she exceeds your already high expectations!

Jon asked me what I would like to be called as Argenta's aunt. I hadn't really thought of this and had so far referred to myself as Auntie Raina. They suggested a Chinese word (indicating the eldest aunt on her paternal side da gu) but I felt I didn't really fit it... Audrey's two sisters speak Chinese and Chyna embraces our Chinese heritage more than I do... to be frank, I am her "white aunt!" Ironically, as we walked near Harvard Square, Jon had a brainstorm - "tia" is the Spanish word for aunt and we thought Tia Raina had a nice ring to it. But then I had my own epiphany... Tia Raina translated from Spanish means "Queen Aunt." Let's just say I was more then eager to proclaim myself Tia Raina. The rest of the weekend I used my very limited Spanish vocabulary to speak to Argenta. Te amo Argenta!

Behind all the curtness, you may notice they have some vintage Playboys hanging on the wall... very cool, especially in the industrial loft (used to be an old light bulb factory). Next to those (out of sight), they actually have a deconstructed piano on the wall!

Tia Raina gives a glimpse into Argenta's future... with hair!

Jon and Audrey graciously let me bunk in their already full loft; my sister Chyna was there (as part of her 6 week summer stay), Audrey's sister Irene was there for one of the days and Audrey's mom Sandy lives with them to take care of Argenta for the next several months. It was nice to "sleep in" until 9 (well, 6am in Seattle!), take naps (Argenta and I napped together for a couple hours) eat out and not have to get up and down with a needy child and shop for a few hours with my sister (we visited the Urban Outfitters Bargain Basement more than once)... all things that are nearly impossible to do at home. That said, I missed home and my boys quite a lot and was very happy to come home Sunday night.

The middle window reads "Dewey, Cheatum & Howe," the fictional legal representation and radio studio for the NPR show, Car Talk, which I love (Harvard Square)

I had a great weekend in Boston, Thank You Jon & co! I arrived home around 11pm Sunday night. Michael woke up at 3:30am to catch a plane out to Chicago for work and got home Tuesday night around midnight... we literally saw each other for about 10 minutes in 5 days!

Utensils Optional

Our little guy is becoming more proficient using utensils, however he certainly lives by the mantra "utensils optional." He usually begins his meal using his spoon and although food often drips onto his bib and smears his mouth on the way in, all in all he does a fine job for a 17 month old. However about half way through his meal, he seemingly decides that surely it must be more "efficient" to eat using his fingers directly without this bothersome middleman of a spoon.

Spaghetti sauce all over his face!

No big deal when he's eating cheese or some other solid food particle, but when he consumes yogurt or pureed veggies (he doesn't like them "hard"), madness ensues. The tell tale signs of this toddler are everywhere... all over the chair, on the table in front of his chair, on the floor around his chair (deftly missing the large, plastic mat), on the sliding glass door and the wall behind his chair...

This doesn't even take into account his actions when not eating; when Harrison decides he is uninterested in the food before him, he starts "dropping" it on the floor (or into Winston's mouth waiting eagerly below during most meal times) with the most innocent "uh oh" you could imagine.

Last night for dinner, I resorted to making him french toast with some syrup (don't judge me!) and at some point, he picked up his plate, tilted it so the remaining pieces fell to the tray, then placed the plate upside down on top of his head. When he removed it, the syrup left lots of little drops all over his hair and resembled quite closely a spider web full of morning dew (wish I had a picture of that!). If he wasn't so darn cute, I would be ridiculously annoyed by this behavior!

Taking it easy

A couple weekends ago, we decided to take it easy and hang around the house. Michael installed new curtain rods in the living room and kitchen so Harrison and I used the time to putter about the deck as well as visit the park.
Remember a few posts ago I mentioned potting some herbs? To keep them alive, I have been watering them often with a watering can and Harrison immediately took a shine to it. Now whenever he steps onto the deck, he immediately walks over to the table (which is out of sight behind a protruding wall) and and says "more, more" and points to the watering can. He walks over to our little maple tree and pretends to water it for several minutes and then asks me to lift him onto a chair so he can water the herbs on the table. And woe be unto she who tries to take it away in less than 10 minutes! Now he also insists we walk into the kitchen and actually fill the bottom with water, which is funny because he can't lift it high enough to pour the water out and I have to do it for him. I love this bit of  Mommy-Harry time together.

After the plants were sufficiently pretend-watered, Harrison and I ventured to a nearby park which boasts a super awesome water play ground. On this day, there were three birthday parties plus the normal park visitors so the place was packed. Harrison doesn't mind crowds but he likes to sit back and observe awhile before venturing into them, so he actually didn't play all that much. That said, he still got a light sun burn on the tip of his nose. This mom is just excited his little Hawaii swim wear gets another use while it still fits!

Father's Day Weekend

I am going to attempt to blog via my cell phone and see if I can manage to write more often during my commute, although I usually reserve this time for reading to make me smarter or sleeping to make me less cranky. So you may get more posts from a sleep deprived dummy, but hey, at least you get your Harrison fix.

Father's Day 2009 found us starting a new tradition - the NW Brewers Festival. Basically a park is used to host 50 local breweries and you can go around and taste different beers and they make it family friendly with music and a kids area with activities, games and root beer.  Michael was looking forward to his 2010 date with Brew Fest for weeks but when the big day arrived it was raining. Pouring in fact.

To stall for time, we took Harrison to an indoor facility with bouncy houses, thinking he could all have some good ole family fun. Michael carried him to the toddler area where they were greeted by a giant, inflatable lock ness monster at which point Harrison begins to whine and a pretty dramatic look of panic enveloped his face. Once inside he clung to dad for dear life. Unable to wrench him free or calm him down, we leave after 10 minutes.

Once lined up, our shoes seemed to represent the three bears

The weather let up just enough that we decided to go to the festival for an hour or so. The rain stayed away for about 90 minutes, just long enough for Michael to have a good time and rub elbows with his buddies while the wives corralled the kids under a small party tent to stay dry from the light sprinkles.

 The Saturday before Father's Day, we invited Grandpapa Hugh, Zaidy Steve and the rest of Michael's immediate family for breakfast at Casa de Fein. Although we often get together for holidays, birthdays, etc. we rarely take any photos so I turned into my mother (take this as a compliment mom!) and insisted everyone pose for family photos. I got some great shots in just a couple minutes; we only wish Aunt Rae Ann could have joined the festivities.

Harrison's "dads"

 The family

The Ladies (and his highness)

 

Harrison in all his cute glory! 

He recently took a shine to crayons; found some orange crayon residue in his teeth a few minutes later

To our dear old dad: dada, we love you so very much. You are the best dad in the world and we are so lucky you are ours! Happy Second Father's Day - and many more!

PS I managed to type half of this on my cell phone and then uploaded photos and finished the end off at home. Not too shabby!

Summer is Here!

Summer briefly flirted with us last weekend so Team Fein took advantage of the gorgeous weather with a trip to the dog park at Marymoore with a stop at the local outdoor mall. For years I had walked by the water fountains that bubble up on warm days, thinking it would be fun to be able to let my kid play in there some day. Here is the result: 

 

As a side note, we still have not found our lost camera and have concluded that it is unlikely to ever reappear. That said, these pictures were taken with our new smart phones and we are impressed by the picture quality.

I was so inspired by the nice weather that I even "gardened." I have a pretty black thumb when it comes to any type of flora, so rather than fail at gardening I just refuse to do it. When we bought the chiminea, I spotted this cool strawberry pot and instantly thought I could plant an herb garden in it so on Sunday I finally spent a couple hours potting the herbs and flowers - I have a farmers tan to prove it!

Aunt Rae Ann's graduation

Auntie Rae Ann graduated from Seattle Prep High School earlier this month and we couldn't be more proud of her accomplishment. In the fall, she will be off to Western Oregon to start college and play on the volleyball team. Since Michael and I each have a large age gap between us and our younger siblings, we can't help but feel like a parent and say "I remember when..." I will take just a moment to say, I remember the first time I met Rae Ann, a fiery little six year old, excited to stay the night in her oldest brother's college dorm room! Here are some of my favorite pictures from graduation night, provided from grandmama's friend Betty.

One last memory... here is a photo I took four years ago when she graduated from 8th grade!