Jeff: "You're right, do you know someone named Mike?"
Seth thinks for a second, "No.. but the guy who put in our carpet's name is Mike."
Blank stare from Jeff and I ... and quick whispers "Did you remember that? No, not until now."
Jeff: "You're right his name was Mike."
Jeff to me: "We didn't even remember his name and we talked to him."
Seth: "Yah, and I was three!"
Seth's memory is remarkable... (we put in our new carpet a year ago). So, yah, I think it's more nature than nurture for why my kids are so smart.
... and this was before he counted to 100 by 10s. ... which I haven't taught him yet... He taught himself with a place mat I bought for a dollar at Wal-mart.
It was pretty adorable... a little girl in a tutu is one thing, a group of girls in tutus with knight helmets... that's .. there's no words.. (precious?). I really think my friend Annie should be an events coordinator... she always does a great job organizing parties, and this one wasn't an exception. We played: Crusades, Rapunzel's Revenge, Hidden Treasure and Jousting.
Top it off with strawberries and angel food cake, and you have yourself a very fun first birthday party.
We saw and did so much over this past week, I feel like I am already forgetting -- it went way too fast.
We were supposed to leave for the westside of the state on Thursday, but Levi had an asthma attack and the doctor gave us a no-go to travel. It worked out better, we left early Friday morning and made a stop to walk across the Deception Pass bridge. We typically travel at night, so our kids have never had a chance to stop and walk on it.
This is the bridge that connects the mainland to Whidbey Island. You can be jealous, this is the scenery I grew up with.
We made great time and were able to go to City Beach before meeting up with Grandma Ritter to attend Peter and the Wolf. The kids loved it! Seth's favorite instrument was the French Horn.
Next day we were surprised to find out that you needed to make a reservation for the ferry, so... ixnay on visiting the Capitol Building, but we compensated with slurpees and going to a favorite beach.
Went on a ferry, and the boys were incredibly excited, they were a spectacle. They had so many questions (and were so loud) that people around us were laughing, the man next to me joked, "I wonder how many question you'll have to answer before they're twenty." We ate dinner at the Melvin's, it was fun visiting with them! -- Traveled to Astoria, OR and spent the night.
We took the scenic route the next day and traveled down the coast of Oregon. It was so lovely! We stopped off at a beach for lunch and just enjoyed the winding roads and watching the waves. Lots of books on CD and Raffi, thank goodness for our library! My boys favorites were Chicken Little, Dr. Desota, Jump frog Jump, Anansi and the Magic Stick, and This is the House that Jack Built.
The rest of our vacation we stayed in Crescent City, Ca. My ideal living arrangement, snugly nestled between ocean and forest. And not just any forest, but an ancient forest! It was awesome being able to stand by something that had been around since the Crusades.
(Merry Christmas from the Ritters!)
Raya did so well in this backpack.
I love this picture, end of a long day and our kids in tears... you think we should probably call a halt?
Nah, one more trail.
The next day we spent a couple of hours at The Trees of Mystery. We met Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox, saw many interesting trees and rode on the Sky Trail.
Along the trail there were carvings done by a chain saw, including the story of Paul Bunyan. The boys really liked this Mamma Bear carving.
I was actually pretty nervous riding on this, it is a lift that takes you to the canopy of the trees. We were so high we couldn't see the ground and it would stop every few minutes, just dangling in mid air.
At the end of the trail there was an interesting Native American museum that we browsed through before our next tourist trap.
After this we ate lunch and went on a scenic drive. We stopped at a vista look out, and we were lucky enough to see a group of whales and an eagle, also a Park Ranger was there with extra binoculars and giving commentary.
The next day was rainy, which was fine with us -- the kids were pretty hiked out so we went to the local Ocean World. I was feeling pretty wussy about the sky trail so I felt I needed to redeem myself and volunteered to lick the sea anemone -- my tongue was numb for almost an hour.
Pet a shark.
Eaten by a shark.
Finished the day by eating at a popular sea food restaurant that was on a dock. We had a great view of the sea lions playing in the rain.
It was still cold and rainy for much of the afternoon so we opted to buy some family games and play them in our little sea side cottage for the remainder of the day.
And there is our lovely little adventure in a nutshell... well except the 12 hour car trip back home.
Jeff and I went in to check on them before we went to bed and found this. Oh boys, you're so funny. They had a sleep over, and tucked in their babies, and had suit cases packed on their bed. I love that they have so much fun together.
Happy Mother's Day .... to me (mwahaha). If you can't tell, I had an excellent Mother's Day, well more like weekend, and I want to recap before the reality that Mother's day isn't everyday sinks in a little too deeply (I've changed 4 poop filled diapers today and mopped the floors, made all three beds by myself, taken care/fed/clothed three kids by myself, pile of dishes, cleaned windows and mirrors in boys room... boys bathroom, etc etc etc (the monotony of everyday motherhood). Anyways, my very nice, much needed, weekend break:
Saturday I took Raya and just had a "girl's day" -- I know she's only 7 months old but it was really nice just having to worry about one child, and having a bit of quiet. So we went out to eat, went to Hastings and bought:
There's something about Spring and poetry that mix so well. I'm excited to revisit some poetry and to read Harold Bloom's insights, I've always enjoyed his criticism. If anyone would like to read this with me I would enjoy some discussion :)
Then we went to Lawson Garden to read and look at the last of the tulips. Then we went to Ace and bought some hardware for my kitchen cabinets. I know, I'm that cool.
So, nice relaxing Saturday without worrying about preparing food or cleaning up after anyone... Jeff took care of everyone, he put up the hardware for the cabinets, I got a nap, and he made dinner, and homemade strawberry ice cream.
Sunday, I wake up to find a stack of presents, flowers, a book my boys "wrote" (Jeff dictated), and strawberry crepes. Life is good. My favorite line from my boys' book is "They really like how she cleans the kitchen," -- ah, so true. My stack of presents ended up being a Wii, wii fit plus, sports resort, and a pink wii controller. Umm.. Jeff definitely surprised me this year!
The rest of the day: a picnic lunch, I took another nap, and Jeff made a delicious homemade vegetable beef soup.
It was such a nice weekend and nice to get an extra big hug at the end of the day from my family saying they love and appreciate me :)
As I have stated before, Levi really wants to be potty trained and I really don't want to do it ... so Levi has taken matters into his own hands and has found a new mentor.
I always dread taking a shower after Jeff leaves -- I always come out to one of the kids crying. Well today I didn't have a choice, Jeff's been attending a conference this weekend and I've been sick; there was no way I was taking a shower at 7:00 am today. Anyways, I shower while Raya's taking a nap leaving my boys to play.. I come out of the shower relieved to hear no one crying, however, relief is quickly diminished at the sight of a buck naked Levi and Seth cheering with their arms above their heads, "Levi pooped! Levi pooped!" Apparently Seth is now potty training Levi. My whole body just wants to scream "UGHHHHH," at the thought of a poop smeared Levi and bathroom... but I'm pretty proud of myself and before going ballistic calmly walk with my thrilled boys to the bathroom. Levi didn't poop (I'm actually really glad) but he did pee... and I watched in amazement as Seth coached Levi back onto the toilet to show me how he did it. Still even more amazement when Levi peed in the toilet (again) and more amazement following as Seth reminds him to close the lid and flush and then wash his hands. Sometimes, (well always) but sometimes, I REALLY love Seth, hopefully he can potty train Raya too.
Right before bed Seth needed to use the bathroom (#2) which made Levi really excited to try and poop. Even though Levi was really successful this morning, and even though Raya was already asleep, I really had no excuse not too, I was still... "Levi, can't you just go in your diaper?" Levi walks quickly to my bathroom, and confidently states, "No, I'm going to make green!" (green poop). Oh man, I have a feeling that this blog will be smeared with bathroom humor for a while.
One more thought, and no it's not about poop, and not really that funny.
Irony. irony, irony, irony. Last night I almost convinced myself that I would have another child, regardless of Jeff's opinion. I revealed how crazy I am and that I already have names picked out... and ok, you need to know that I really like complex poetry, not saying that this is complex -- anyways... for my girl it would be Sage Lauren Ritter. Got the four letter first name down, but the kicker was the initials SLR, Seth Levi Raya, I know genius right? She would be the capstone of our family -- well I left knitting group... ahem.. at 12:00 am (sorry Kelli! I felt bad the next day thinking of you getting up at 6:00am). The next day... or really 5 hours later I am soooo sick. Like I thought I might need to go to the ER sick, and then a flood of pregnancy memories come back to me while I am sick, and then I remember this is what I feel like when I'm pregnant, this is why Jeff doesn't want me to be pregnant, and he was right -- I do forget everything after the baby is born! Anyways, I'm siding with Jeff. I think I'll call if Heavenly inspiration, I'm good with three.
Can I just make another note, so the entire Friday I am extremely nauseous and it pains me to move, and I took like a four hour nap. I am out of commission for the day. GREAT BALLS OF FIRE -- my house falls apart when I am not there to maintain it, all day today I've been trying to put things back in place, just from one day! crazy.
