Alden is Bee-sy

This is being posted for two reasons.
1) Alden is cute in a bee suit.
2) I miss spring. This gives hope of spring having been here before. Perhaps it'll come back?

It's Apparent That You're a Parent

'Nuf said. Mama has a boo-boo? Cover it up with the only band aids in the house. Thomas, James, and Percy will get me through. Chooooooo-Choooooooo!

My Dad's Side: Family Reunion

My sisters and I were born and raised in Grants Pass and yet, I've never been to a family reunion on my dad's side until now. Apparently, we all like to craft things and create. It's a genius idea that everyone who can donates items to be silently auctioned off to other family members to raise money for the next reunion. A sort of cannibalistic craft cycle. Call it: craftabalism.





It was a pleasure to meet some of these people. But not all of them. Sheesh. What a wind bag that old lady was. Kidding. Everyone was sweet and pleasant and very interested in where Alden got his red hair. Certainly not from them. Them with their dark eyes, tanned skin, and dark hair.

Aunt Sally and Opa Ray are in the front with their backs to me but the rest of the folks are bewildering strangers. Then Alden ran through the crowd. Folks were interested in who I was after that.


It's endearing to know that most of these folks live here in town and that I might see them again someday. I have second and third cousins and aunts and uncles that are helpful, courteous and kind. Forget how the red hair genes travel, how do you explain my dad being in that mix?
Again with the kidding.

Alden's Third Birthday

Alden has been very aware of his birthday this year and not so much for the cake and gifts. He is really into progress and aging is progress, right? He's been telling folks that he'll be "three in July" for months now. And since I'm posting this three months and five days after the fact, he is now telling folks that he'll be four in July. See? Progress.

Great Opa Ray, Grumpa Eric, and Papa Dan pooling near the outskirts of the party.

Alden was admiring baby Camille seconds before I got this picture. He wants a baby sister and will dub her Ms. Kathy in honor of his pre-school teacher. Fitting. We'll consider it.

Birthday suits are to be worn but once a year. Alden did greet his guests in clothing but add the heat, the wetness from the inflatable pool and the sticky drips from the shaved ice drinks, we were all bound to be nay-nay.

Jackson was a bit later to arrive and seemed hesitant to join the party. Alden gave him formal greetings and said, "Please may you join my party?" That did it.

Giant bubble making doodad that I made didn't work. But the kids were pumped to move on to the coconut toss any how. Hawaiian themed parties roll like that.

I lost count of how many shaved ice drinks Alden had but they were excellent. Hard to deny them to the birthday boy in costume change number three.


This kid was showered with fun gifts! Books, monster trucks, Hot Wheels, scooter bikes, tool sets! The toys seemed to have a lulling effect on the children and everyone was relaxed until we brought out the redone and customized, motorized, John Deere green and yellow jeep. Our yard will never be the same!

Cousins out for a spin.


Everyone sang really gleefully and Alden bared through it. He seems to get a bit shy when the stage lights are all on him but he new the reward was sweet, sweet cake.

After looking at two other stores and trying to decide with nuclear colored flavor explosion we would get, Alden opted for this very mature chocolate and caramel rectangular cake. He picked the wording color and he was done.


Happy much?

About a week later, we met up with the family in Portland to celebrate our two July 24th birthdays kin. Great Grandma Shirley (Shoo-lee) and Alden make a fun pair.

Dustin's Accuracies

Dustin has a outstanding ability to nail a description of a feeling, theme, person, outfit, or idea so accurately. I have lists of things that he has described over the years that are dead-on. Example: "That chick sorta looks like a deep sea fish that's been pulled up too fast/wino/no-neck" which has me snort laughing and digging for a pen and paper to jot it down. But then there are the toooooo accurate times when he is asking me to hand "the square paper thing that unfolds" known to the rest of us as a newspaper.

Father's Day

Why not take all the dad's you have to Pottsville man expo? This was awesome. So many vendors to visit with. So much olde tyme odds and ends to wonder over amidst country music, sno cones, and quilting displays. It sounds random but there is a heavy theme going on. Tractors and the men who love them. Oh, and gold panning and horse shoeing. We could have stayed all day long but the broiling sun was way to much to endure. Next year, fellas!

Frog O Faire is a Fun Affair

The Frog O Faire has been going on for nearly 30 years now and, while I'm not sure what the frog has to say about anything, the Riverside Park is a sprawling fun-derland of kid things to do. Yes, I said fun-derland. Yes, I hate me too.

While we were supposed to be serving Grants Pass in a community wide project, M.I.L. Robbie, Alden, and I played hookie and hung out at the park. Face painting, air cave dwelling, canine petting, balloon popping, soccer ball kicking, thumb print art creating was all terribly more important and fun to do.

Ocean

Grandmas are good for more than free baby sitting, I tell ya. They have great ideas like heading to Brookings for an afternoon with a little boy that has never remembered any trips to the coast before. Alden was so excited that he got sort of angry. Demanding to see the waves. NOW!

He loved the sand being cold and "smack-y" sounding under his feet. He loved the rush of the tide and the shockingly cold bite of the water. He loved running and running and running. We loved watching him do all of it.

Aw. Sort of corny but totally necessary. Foot prints in the sands of time.

Mama's Day

We kept it simple. We kept it real. We wore orange.

It seems that all a mom wants for mother's day is to be left alone and/or taken out for a nice meal. We did a little of both. We went to Jacksonville to mill around the stores and eat at Bella Union. Their wisteria tree is legend and so nice to sit under as you eat lovely meals prepared by someone else.

Alden really is a great reason to be a mom. He makes it easy (most of the time) and I am proud of have a special day that honors that commitment.

BFF Fo' Eva

This little says, "Mmmm, phosphates from Grants Pass Pharmacy are a delicious treat!"

This little says, "I heart Jackson. Like a lot. Forever. I hope he likes me as much as I like him. He's just so cool. And he has fun toys. And his hair is all mohawk-y. And his older brothers are rad. And my parents like his parents. I love this day."

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

To the bone, I am a fall person. I like rain. I like chilly. After this past wet winter, I haven't been so happy to see the sun in ages. The notorious leak that has plagued Alden's room for over 3 years now is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ack. And it has brought a little friend.

This is Dustin getting the syphon going to drain the water from the pool/roof. It is a sad, thankless job. One that causes angry outbursts followed by long moments of silence broken by stifled sobs. From all of us. It's like trying to potty train a dog. Just. Go. Where. I. Am. Telling. You. To. Go. No, not on the roof. No. NO!

Not to be outdone, the leak has now spread to the other side of Alden's room wall into our hallway.

Before you comment about how this post seems oddly timed as we've just experienced a week of 100 plus degrees a day, note that I am trying to catch up after having been drug under the bus of summer.

FEast-er

What used to be just Easter is now Feaster! Look at this spread. Mom-in-law did a great job getting our brunch on.

Alden received a robotic puppy since our cat won't let him touch her. He just wants to snuggle so bad. And so hard. This might help.

Action shot of Alden hunting for eggs. Of course, I tear up as both Grandpa Eric and Papa Dan and Dustin are calling out hints and encouragement to Alden. I loved the team effort. Good hunting practice. But I'm still not letting Alden go camping with them. Ever. There is a newspaper editorial that you can ask them about some other time.



We dyed eggs at a friend's house (Hi, Jules!) where our three little boys experimented with many different dying options. Many, many options. Note Alden's lips in profile. OOOOOOO!