Trip to the Washington Coast

My mom really wanted to plan a family vacation this year over the Independence Day holiday, something to get all of her kids and grand kids under the same roof  allowing her unfettered access to their smiles and shrill screams. Requesting some place near water, we settled on the southwest coast of Washington, just north of Ocean Shores in a place called "Ocean City" although no one would mistake it for a city, there isn't even a stop sign as you drive through "town." The house was situated just up from the beach, with a grassland and stream in between. The beach was a five minute walk through the grass, over a little floating bridge then up and over a sandy embankment.

Michael and Jonathan took the kids exploring and returned with quite a story. As they approached the embankment, the kids suddenly started to cough and gag and then suddenly the adults knew why; the putrid smell of something decaying seemed to have settled right there. They made it up and over and spotted a dead whale 500 yards north on the beach.

Jonathan found local news articles online that told us the "fin whale" was 68 feet long and had been found on the beach about 3 weeks earlier (cause of death was likely blunt force trauma, likely from a boat). While it was a sad sight, I also knew this may be my only chance to see a whale this big, dead or alive, so Gran Hart, Po Po and I made our way to the beach. The smell was indeed terrifically awful but once we got onto the beach the smell was almost nonexistent, in fact we were able to walk within a couple feet of the whale.  In the photo below the head is on the right, turned to the side and partially buried in the sand, we weren't even able to make out an eye or mouth the way it was positioned.

We turned our attention to the seagulls and sand and enjoyed a bit of beach combing. The "tree" was a sort of sign erected by someone to mark the path to leave the beach.

The house had a big deck on the second level looking out towards the ocean which was just barely visible in the distance but you could certainly hear the waves crashing. It was the perfect spot to enjoy a morning cup of coffee, a sunny afternoon eating fresh bing cherries or an evening filled with smores and hamburger grilling.

The location was secluded enough that there wasn't too much to so our days were filled with good company, the kids playing, drives into the town of Ocean Shores, kite flying, a trip to the storybook town of Seabrook and a trip to the Lake Quintault  inside of Olympic National Park. Tucker was really interested in the sand, he was mesmerized watching it slip through his fingers, I think he was shocked he couldn't pick it up and eat it as it disappeared too quikly! The first couple photos were taken in Aberdeen on the drive to the coast.

enthralled by Curious George

Glowsticks! Po Po had a bag full of surprises for the kids

Park and Beach time in Seabrook

Near Lake Quinault

Lake Quintault Lodge

Some Summer Fun

Here are a few fun bits from the summer:

Our neighbor Fran gave Harrison this storm trooper costume her daughter didn't like - I promised on the spot it would get lots of use at our house!

 Playing around in the morning:

Cooling off with his buddy Gavin (the umbrella was their "shield")

Both kids love the new water table:

Tucker is 10 months old!

This kid is so much fun and seems to grow at lightening speed since his nine month birthday. He is fine tuning his crawling, cruising and eating skills, learning to do them all faster and with more precision and fewer mistakes.

 Grrr, Hulk Mad!  (that's avocados on his face!)

Preschool Graduation

Yes, yes, we agree that the notion of a preschool graduation is ludicrous but I have to admit being there was really sentimental and special. Since starting Miss Lovely's class, he can now write his full first name on his own (he used to only write the "H" reliably), color within the lines of a picture, know his letters by sight and sound (probably 22 of 26, we just did flashcards the other day and he really impressed me), use sign language for colors and more and count to ten in Spanish. His growth really impresses me and I know that I could not have taught him all these things at home myself, especially not with an infant in tow.

Harrison made a room full of friends this year. The girls are our neighbors so they play together a lot outside of school and I have made great friends with Brady's mom and we enjoy play dates together often.

Many thanks to Miss Lovely, a very loving teacher Harrison will always remember.

Little Gym Showcase

With the end of the school year comes the end of the regular season at The Little Gym. Tucker and I got to sit inside the gym as the Mini Flips showed off their skills. Harrison joined the "show team" in March and has made some strides benefiting from a much smaller class, spending more time on technique all the while still playing games and making it a lot of fun. Harrison is less flexible than the girls and doesn't have much (or perhaps any) grace in his moves but he can run faster and jump higher than any one and is never scared to try something new. I took several videos but again blogger won't upload them, sorry!

 

Yosemite

Grandmama invited the whole family to California for Memorial Day weekend in Yosemite National Park. This place is very special to Great Papa Hugh as he spent a couple summers working there, visited often and took his family there to share the awesome beauty.

Tucker and I decided to stay home since the trek to get there would be too much for an nine month old and that turned out to be a great decision. Michael and Harrison met up with the rest of the family during a lunch stop. Anxious to get to the cabin, our boys and Aunt Alexis jumped in the car ahead of everyone and got on the road. As it happens, the turn off they were looking for was right up the road and they proceeded on the highway without realizing they had already passed it. 

Evidently about 90 minutes into the drive they realized there weren't any cars around and no mile markers. Deciding it would be wise to consult a map, they pulled out their smart phones to find they had no reception. an old fashioned paper map? Nope, all they had were written directions to the cabin. Eventually they surmised that they were heading through the sierra Nevada mountains to the far, far, far side of the park boundaries. LONG story short, it was best to continue driving out of the mountains and transfer to another highway that would take them back into the park. They actually took the scenic route and reported it was indeed beautiful although all told it was an eight hour ride that should have been about three hours. 

Once they arrived they enjoyed hiking, swimming and breakfast at the Ahwahnee Hotel. 

When they reached the top of Vernal Falls, dad recalled the trip when he proposed to me and had Harrison pose to match this photo of mom!

Flying in and out of San Francisco, dad and Harrison got to spend a couple nights at Uncle Jon Jon's house, play with Argenta and meet his new little cousin, baby Falcon. Hearing about the whole trip, Tucker and I were envious, maybe we'll return in a few years!

Upon their return we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary, low key at home in the middle of the week. Since we were engaged in SF and immediately spent a couple night in Yosemite, here are a few photos to commemorate!

More, More

Tucker learned his first bits of sign language. He tells me "more" by using a clapping gesture but with one hand positioned like a ducks bill - I have a video but it is refusing to upload. He also imitates "All done" which looks like waving both hands in the air, although he doesn't quite use it correctly yet - he does understand me when I use it though. Yeah Tucker!

Peek-A-Boo

Tucker is 9 months!

This is big milestone birthday for our Tucker-pie. He had been working on crawling and for the prior three weeks it was imminent that he would crawl however he just never seemed to do it. On his 9 month birthday I took him in for his 9 month check up and the nurse asked me if he was crawling. I gave her the "so-so, almost there" answer and then she left. While we waited for the doctor, I put Tucker down on the floor and he almost immediately crawled across the small room. I got a little bit of it on video but it wasn't quite as impressive as that initial sprint.

About a week earlier had also succeeded in pulling himself to standing inside his crib so dad had to lower the mattress and not a moment too soon as he now does it daily in his crib, in his little play house and on the ottoman. Has balance is still pretty wobbly but I noticed today when he takes my hands to stand, there is no struggle, his core strength is there and he knows what to do to get up.

Here are Tucker's 9 month stats: 

Length: 29.40 inches (85% percentile)

Weight: 20.90lbs (58% percentile)

Head: 18 inces (64% percentile)

Cuteness: 100%

Teeth count is now six (two bottom middle teeth and four top middle teeth). I had tried to give Tucker puffs and other baby foods that dissolve quickly in the mouth but he would try to swallow them immediately and then would choke a bit and threw up a couple times so I back off. Just before the doctor visit I started giving him the cereal puffs socked in water to soften them up and now several days later he seems to be happily chewing puffs, baby crackers and yogurt melts with no problem. I also gave him bits of soft pizza crust and tortilla and he gives me a big grin as he is so happy to have real food in his mouth. In fact, he is sort of protesting the purees he had previously eaten. Yesterday I am pretty sure he was starving but refused to let me put his favorite purees in his mouth, only the cereal puffs which he can't yet eat enough to fill up! Love this kid!

Mother's Day 2013

Since we just celebrated my birthday, I asked for a low key Mother's Day. We kicked it off early a Mother's Day program at Harrison's preschool. I have some sweet video of him singing "You are My Sunshine" using sign language along with his classmates on stage, but my video editing skills are lame and the file is too big to post as is. Sorry.

Earlier in the day the kids were asked "What does your mom do while you're at school?" Most the answers were "works" or "plays hide-and-seek" but my Harrison didn't have to think twice. Every day he asks me "what you going to do while I'm at school today mom?" As you can see below he knew that I exercise with Tucker at Stroller Strides right after I drop him off.  I love the picture of me with all the hair; hair is a drawing skill he says is hard for him to do. 

On Mother's Day, I again awoke to the smells of dad cooking in the kitchen. This time I was greeted with eggs benedict complete with lump crab meat and fresh hollandaise sauce. My husband usually doesn't have much time or energy to cook, but when he does - man alive - he is amazing!