Summer Catch Up.....Again Part 1

 I am, again, trying to update you all on our busy summer, and now, fall! So negligent! I'm gonna attempt to portray the juiciest bites of our wonderful life;)

So, on June 17th, my cousin "Aunt Lori" gave birth to her beautiful twin daughters Quinn(baby A), and Addison(baby b). Van and PK are tickled to be around them, especially PK. He asks if he can pet them, and talks jibberish to them in their ears very quietly. So cute!

Catch Up!

Life is busy! We SURE didn't know how busy we could be! I mean, it's July! Ron and I were just reminiscing this morning, how on any given Saturday, him and I would head to Green Lake for a run, get Starbucks, go to Qdoba, and then a movie, before we had the boys. What a wonderful awakening! That was great! And this is greater!!
Van and PK are so fortunate to spend time with family and so many adoring people all the time. I've never seen my parents and brother act this way! There is mutual exclamations of joy when they see the boys. VPK get to spend time with my Grandpa Ben about once a week(upper right), and my Paca & Bepa(Bepa lower left)about the same.

Mowing with daddy is coveted. The boys got these mowers for their first birthday, and to think I almost returned one of them! Sometimes, I find the boys in the garage just looking @ Rons lawn mower.

Vanny and Paxton have found their wonderland in my parents yard. Sometimes the first words out of their mouth in the morning are "go to grandma's house" or "ride honda with boompa"(what they call my dad).

This is our 3rd Easter together. We went to Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club, where Ron and I were married 10 years ago! It was a rainy day and the boys weren't too sure about the Easter bunny, but boy did they love their eggs and pancakes!

Uncle GoGo cuts the boys hair and does a better job than the barber in town. Both V & P like to do their own hair with this gel I got for them. Van's hair is so thick and voluminous, and goes forward no matter what. PK has finer hair with a little curl, that is so weighted down by products. He's my little surfer boy.

Sitting in Boompa's chair

Chainsaws, yes. Again, WONDERLAND. My dad, brother and Ron all chainsaw and chop the wood with axes in my parents woods. They fill the trailer of my dad's 4-wheeler "honda", and haul it wherever. The boys, of course, have their own chainsaws that sound real. The boys make that ruuummmm ruumm noise along with it too.

About a week ago, Ron suggested I take VPK to the logging show in our neighboring town of Buckley. It was a nice day and the boys loved it. My mom went with us and VPK had roasted corn, scones, and kettle corn. Loggers from all over the Northwest were there competing in logging events. Pure bliss for 2 little boys. These guys were racing climbing trees, running on a tree over water to grab a chainsaw and cut a chunk of the log, and chopping logs that they were standing on, between their legs, to see who could get thru the fastest. It was very entertaining! Next year, all the men want to come too!  Later that night before dinner, VPK were running w/their chainsaws and pretending to race like the loggers-too cute.
PK LOVES the honda! Van can take it or leave it, he "stays w/grandma". Van is my cautious child. Most times when we go to my parents house for dinner, which is often, PK goes to Boompa and asks to ride the honda.

One of our outdoor activities of late, has been racing cars down the driveway. The boys chase them and think it's pretty cool. They have nicknames for all their trucks. One is "jamaica mon"(ron) and there is "cement truck" and "shark truck" etc.

When VPK go to Grandmas, they are outdoors if it's pretty dry. They are really good helpers. They help prune and pick up weeds, whatever you assign them. They just HAVE to get their energy out, and outside there's so much more to explore.

Aunt Lori, my cousin, just had girl twins, Quinn and Addison. They are almost 3 weeks old and so cute! Here are the boys @ a dog park in Mercer Island with Aunt Lori and her dog Indy.

My dad is so fun to watch with VPK. He is a funny guy, but pretty shy unless you know him. Here he is, racing the boys around @ the Supermall, doing brodies and them loving it! I even saw him go down their little slide one day with them, I had to do a double-take!

One of Ron's students, Chanel, generously sent VPK and I BIOLA shirts. She is currently a student there and it's where I graduated from.

My big boys! They often ask to sit @ their big boy table instead of their highchairs. We're almost there.

PK is kind of potty-training himself. One day, I heard him calling me from the toilet room in our master bath. I found the door closed, him standing naked, diaper on the floor, and a big poop in the toilet! I couldn't believe it! They get a chocolate if they use the toilet, and this is a big motivator! I can only dream, of no diapers! Van is kind of onboard, though still reluctant. It's quite a situation when they both have to go @ once!

Happy 2nd Birthday Van & PK!

 So VPK turned two on April 9th. These are all the decent pictures that our camera captured. Hopefully I can get some more from my dad and brother and update the blog. We kept the party small: Boompa & Grandma, Paca & Bepa, Grandpa Ben,  Aunt Lori, Uncle GoGo, and the stars of the show, Van and PK. They loved all the attention from the people that they know best! We had 2 cakes, flavors chosen by the boys. PK chose chocolate-of course, since he loves chocolate! Grandma made that cake and it was topped with "Muck" from Bob the Builder, one of their favorite toys. Vanny wanted raspberry, so he had a raspberry-filled vanilla cake with little sharks on the top. Sharks are still a popular topic in our home.

 

 The boys loved banging the huge balloons together and opening their presents, ripping all the paper. Van and Pax are very physical boys! The boys loved everyone singing "happy birthday" to them and blowing out their candles.

 

Hawaii or Bust! 23 Months

The boys had some adoring women visitors. Five of Ron's team came down to visit and VPK loved them!

So, my mom decided that she'd had enough of this rain, and since the boys were close to the age limit for flying free(2), we decided to take them to Hawaii. The flight there was great. The boys were perfect and people around us complimented them on how well behaved they were!

The weather was less than perfect, though just being outside, barefoot, warm, with lots of water, was enough for the boys!  This day, it was very windy and I got some good shots of the boys. VPK are all about sharks. They have seen one movie-Nemo-since then, they have loved the sharks. We saw baby hammerheads @ a hotel down the beach a couple times. VPK have little squishy plastic sharks and lizards that they tote everywhere! The above right picture is Vanny showing his "shark teeth".

These little gentlemen are SO different, but they are both blessed with a great sense of humor. We had so much fun @ the pool. The boys are very outgoing and friendly. PK really like the girls in particular-older ones. We stayed @ Ko'olina, which is a strip of hotels and condos that are situated on 3 lagoons. This was perfect for little ones, since there were no waves. PK didn't like the tide of water coming in and out in the ocean. He was more a pool-man. Van like both, and swam with my mom in the ocean.

 

VPK got to feed the Koi fish, and thoroughly enjoyed all the fish. All of them were one of the Finding Nemo characters. In fact, when Van woke up in the morning, he would start chattering about Dory in his bed. PK's favorite, I think, is the hammerhead sharks.

 These two were so confident in the water-they absolutely love it! I was talking to another mom in the pool, me and PK on the side, and she was holding her toddler girl. All of the sudden, PK jumps into this ladies arms! She loved it-luckily;)

 

Our condo had one huge door window onto the patio, which when open, the whole wall was open. VPK thought they were pretty cool because they could come and go as they pleased! PK took his smoothie from grandma out on the patio to enjoy by himself. 

 

 I used this picture for their 2nd birthday invite.

 I love this picture of VPK and I. It really shows the difference in their personalities!  PK is a private soul. If he sees a camera or video camera he will not look in their direction. Pax has a sweet voice and the demeanor to match. His movements are gentle-though he is pure boy when it's time to be rough. He is a good audience for his brother. Van is rough almost all the time. You don't want him to comb your hair;) Van is a total ham. If he turns and sees a camera, he flashes his best smile and keeps his eye on it for another opportunity. He is great with his expressions, it's like he knows when a laugh is needed.

The airplanes were another bonus during the trip. The last couple of nights, Van was sick. He felt better on the plane ride home. He didn't really want to stay in that seat. We had horrible turbulance as well, which kept even the flight attendants down for about 90 minutes. PK got sick and Van got ornery. All in all, they were really good, considering they were on our laps.

We were fortunate to see and spend some time with Ron's grandma D from Iowa. We had a very nice brunch @ his aunt and uncles where she was staying.

As per usual, PK is flirting, and Van is entertaining. VPK are pretty social and adaptable kids. They love company, and make themselves @ home wherever we go.