Saturday, July 18, 2009

And after a long hard day of being Max


What could be better than chillin' with Grandpa (cowboy boots and all) and watching a little Bolt. That is one lucky kid I tell ya.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Ducks

A favorite pastime of ours has always been feeding the ducks. My kids love it. For Max it is a combination of two of his favorite things: throwing things and animals.

Mason is a little more timid and always has to keep his distance at first, but he usually warms up to it in the end.
The ducks and geese don't care at all as long as we've got the goods.
This little family of geese were particularily aggressive, hissing us away from their babies while still wanting us to throw our crumbs. Max thought it was hillarious, and Mason was slightly terrified.
Even the bossy geese though can't detour us from our fun though. I mean how could you resist loving this little guy. And if you get tired of ducks you can always try and catch some seagulls. This is great because even when they fly away before you can within ten feet of them you can still do the victory dance, because you made them fly away.
Max loves the baby animals, and was thrilled when he saw this horde of baby geese. I think we may have stumbled onto the geeses' daycare. To which Max said "baby" over and over again.
So ducks and geese fed, kids enriched, and a new word what a great outing!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A few weeks ago we went to visit my family in Salt Lake. While we were there we went to the children's museum. This is a magical place for little children. My kids absolutely love it. This time I was really struck with how different my kids are. Mason was born an engineer. Anything with a button, or crank, or lever that he can manipulate thrills him, he has to figure out how it all works, and then once he figures it out, he has to change it. So this place is right up his alley.





Max on the other hand is all about the experience and movement. If there is something in the room that is taller than he, he must find a way to climb on top of it, and for him it is not about the achievement of climbing on top of something, its the actual climb that he loves. I know this because, once he gets to the top of something, he always turns right around and does it again. If there is a ball, or a rock, or some sand nearby he has to throw it (yes we've been ejected from many a playground). If there is water nearby he doesn't just splash his hands or his feet in it, he has to get as much of his body in the water as possible. I really had to talk him out of putting his whole self in this water table. His absolute favorite thing at the museum was this fairly simple contraption: a large fan set in a table with small cupcake liners around it that could be used for parachutes.

Another thing about Max is that if their is something to see or do he wants to be right in the middle of it. Even when he is soooo tired.

Memorial Day

This year for memorial day we visited the gravesites of Shane's grandparents and his aunt Lorraine. Mason was really interested in hearing about each of the people we visited. It was rewarding to tell him about some of the people that we loved, and care for them a little bit.

This year Shane's grandpa Goldman passed away, his presence has really been missed.

We also visited Devory's grave, which is always especially sad. Devory chose to leave this life when he felt the consequences of his choices were too hard for him to face. When Mason asked why he died Shane was stumped, and I said, "Because he was sick... his heart was sick." But the tragedy of his death is never more stark than when we are standing at his head stone, the marker to the end of his progression in this life, with our family that is ever changing and growing. He will never see his kids adopt ladybugs, or continually try to catch birds. He misses so much everyday, and we are always sad for him.





We also talked about Aunt Lorraine. Who lived was in a car accident with Shane when he was ten years old, and spent the next twenty years of her life in a wheelchair, with limited use of her arms and no use of her legs. We talked about how she took care of herself. How She went to work everyday, at a job she loved, and lived a full life despite her limitations.

It was a different memorial day than we have had in years past, but very memorable.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

"My dad is FUN!"

If you asked my kids about him that's what they would tell you.



I mean really what more could a kid ask for?