climbers

Real climbers start their days out with a good breakfast.

Bananas and cheerios...

 or pancakes....

 Then the climbing practice begins. 

Climbers practice on stairs...

 And on trees...

Everyday they get better at climbing! 

Mr. Mustachio

"Good morning," says Mr. Mustachio, "and welcome to my new blog layout. My mother finally figured out why that one picture (posted under June from our trip to Uncle Chris's really clean house in California) didn't show up in its entirety and took a cue from my godmother's blog, rearranged the sidebars and in the process discovered that she could increase the column width... Anyway, just to make use of this, here is a picture, not in medium size as usual, but LARGE. Just because we can."

Lane County Fair

We went to the Lane County Fair this year - the first time we had gone. 

We got Isaac all signed up with the lost kids booth. Then we realized we probably would have a hard time losing him in the neon orange shirt he was wearing.

 They got to try out a tractor...

 Isaac got to go on lots of rides. Papa said, "Let's just put Sonia on his lap." I said that would probably not be something they would let us do. 

 There was a fun little kids' area that Isaac and Sonia both thoroughly enjoyed. Sonia might have eaten some of the hay, but she didn't get sick. 

 Sonia was extra grateful for that playtime in the kids' area, because almost the entire rest of the time, this is where she was. 

 It was fun, but I think next time we should definitely go either on the $2 ride day or the bracelet day. Those rides got really spendy without a bracelet option. It was a hot day too. It was funny, because they moved it to July, trying to avoid the heat. Now it looks like it will probably be cooler in August . 

trim

In case you missed it, Isaac got a trim at the end of last month. It is the shortest his hair has ever been in his entire life. I am pretty sure of that. Well, except at some point when he was in utero. Nah, the kid was probably conceived with hair.

 Papa and Isaac went to the barber together to get this done. Now Papa has seen how it is done and feels like he can recreate it at home.

 The only problem with this whole haircutting business is that they look so much older afterwards. My little guy is getting so big. Added to his lankiness, I almost don't know what to do with such an old kid. It is interesting though - I do find myself still interacting a bit differently with Isaac versus the kids I work with - even though now they are all pretty much the same age as him. 

Handsome sweet big brother! 

Happy birthday Nana!

For Nana's 50th birthday (July 15), we tried to surprise her by showing up in Newport for dinner. Unfortunately it is also Papa's birthday and quite possibly the only day of the entire year when he calls her, and he ruined the surprise. It was still kind of a surprise though, since he ruined it only half an hour before it happened. 

We love you so much, Nana!

Seattle and Space Needle

I forgot to mention that the day after Pat and Joanne's wedding, we ended up, on a whim, being tourists in Seattle. I did want to find out where my great aunt and uncle's anniversary celebration was, but my phone was dead and Papa's phone's internet stopped working right as I was trying to load the page with the church's address. Then it never came back. So, happy anniversary fantastic aunt Kathy and fantastic uncle John! We wish we could have made it. What we did figure out was how to get to the Space Needle. Isaac saw it on this Little Einsteins movie we have and said "The Space Needle! I want to go there!" Well, we did, and we actually went on it too. I didn't particularly feel the need to go up, but someone had to go with Isaac, so we figured we might as well send me with Sonia. Then when Sonia gets older, we can say "Oh, look, you have already gone on the Space Needle!" ;)

So here are some pictures of the Space Needle, then the waterfront area afterwards.

A little girl in front of us in line was calling it the "Space Noodle". Pretty cute. 

 We went to this yummy Irish restaurant! So delicious! 

Happy Church Day to You!

Isaac was just singing "Happy Church Day to You" (to the tune of "Happy Birthday"). One of the many little songs he has made up.

Guess what? Archbishop Sample was randomly saying Mass today! Afterwards he said a blessing for the new memorial to the unborn outside the parish hall. That was a nice surprise! Maybe it wasn't really a surprise, but I guess I was not aware he was going to be there. He's a great speaker and gave a good sermon about not worrying so much about accumulating stuff in this life. 

Happy Sunday!