Saturday, September 04, 2010

Kalaloch Lodge Family Vacation

This last Wednesday and Thursday nights we stayed at Kalaloch Lodge on the Washington coast up on the north end of the state. Kalaloch is about 40 miles south of Forks for you Twilight fans. Some of the cabins had kichenettes (ours did) and they all have wood burning stoves as well. They supply the wood for you too, which was nice! There are no TV's, no phones, and no cell phone coverage (we discovered), so it was a refreshing technology FREE kind of vacation. On the way there, Daddy told Josiah, "And there will be no TV in our room!" He looked at me and said, "Is that true, Momma?" Stay tuned for what he says about that later! We spent some time on the beach as well as hiking in the woods. Above is a shot of Josiah playing in the water at the beach with the seagulls in the background. I don't have the best camera in the world, but I know a good shot when I see it! On the first morning, we had breakfast in the lodge restaurant and Josiah pointed at the ocean and said, "Look the ocean is waving!" So, we all "waved" back!


There was a little gazebo near the beach trail where the rangers would come and give little talks about the area. I managed to get the boys to pose for a picture for a brief moment before heading down the trail. Daddy was resting in the cabin with a sleeping Naomi girl.

It is hard to catch the twins in action most of the time, but I think this is a decent one of them to show how active they are and how much they like to climb over things. Our trip was not without twin mischief, which is no surprise of course! Upon arriving at the cabin, a curious Caleb was trying to open a drawer in one of the rooms and he didn't know his own strength apparently as the side table rocked forward onto him and the lamp fell and broke. An interesting way to start our adventure and hopefully the cost of replacing it won't set us back too far, but such is life when you have adventurous twin boys I guess!

We went hiking on the beach and the boys were having a blast climbing on all the driftwood. At one point, Josiah said, "I found something icky, Momma...it's right there!" I looked at it and said, "Oh, it is probably just bird poop, you can go wash your hand in the water." After he made this face at me, I started laughing and he got a little embarrassed. I told him it was OK and he went and washed his hand off in the little river that was going out to the ocean.

On the way to the cabin, Caleb made up his own little song, "Going cabin, going cabin, going CA-BIN!" At first, we couldn't tell what he was saying as it wasn't perfectly pronounced, but we figured it out after a while when he kept doing it! He was very excited to go to the cabin! Everywhere we went, he had to be sure and collect a few sticks to carry with him as he walked in true Caleb style!

Prior to leaving the house, I was dressing Caleb in his overalls and Daniel took one look at him and said, "I want farm!" This translates to, "I want overalls too!" Needless to say, as you see pictured here, he did get his "farm" clothes on! On the way to the cabin, Daniel was getting a little antsy in the car and we tried to distract him when we got to the road by the ocean by telling him to look out the window and try to find the ocean. At first he kept repeating, "I can't see it," and then he added, "Go 'way trees!!" Finally, a break in the trees came and he exclaimed, "I SEE OCEAN.....I win!!!" At breakfast the next morning, Daddy was making a "guitar" with a rubber band and two crayons and Caleb was strumming it as we were waiting for our food. Daniel interrupted and hollered, "STOP, STOP!!" with his hands palms out in the "stop" sign. Daddy said, "What?" and turned to look at him and he sheepishly responded, "'Cause," and then covered his face with his hands and smiled.
While the twins were taking their nap on the second day, Daddy and Josiah got to spend some time alone together going to a nearby beach to play in the surf and have quality Daddy and son time. They passed by this sign for the July Creek picnic area and Josiah very excitedly pointed out to Daddy, "No triangle hats allowed over there!!" And it was a good thing, 'cause we didn't bring any triangle hats along with us!!

The first night at the cabin was rough for getting everyone to sleep, or more specifically getting Caleb to sleep. This meant that Mommy was REALLY tired the next day as I was the one who got up with him each time he woke up. Because of that, Mommy needed a nap and so Daddy took the boys on a nearby hike while I had a LONG nap and a shower and hung out with baby girl in the cabin (one of the highlights of the trip for me actually). David took the boys on this hike up to a big cedar tree. There was a lady that saw them along the way who remarked that even some people her age (middle-aged gal) wouldn't trek up this trail, so she marveled that the little ones were making it up the trail. There were some pretty steep steps David said and Daniel did his usually huffing and puffing to indicate how "hard" it was for him to do! Josiah was a good leader though and Daddy was at the tail end to bring up the stragglers. They collected some ferns and sticks too (we have a picture of their feet and their little collection which is cute also).

It took some convincing to get Daniel to get this close to the water, but with Daddy nearby both twins were a little braver to face the cold ocean water. We have video though of the twins getting near to the waves and then running frantically away as they got closer to them. Caleb was a little braver than Daniel, but he also feigned being a scaredy cat from time to time as well to get some attention and to mimic his brother.

Here they all are being brave. Josiah on the far left, Caleb next, Daniel bringing up the rear and Daddy on the far right. Josiah had a BLAST jumping over the waves and couldn't get enough of the ocean! At one point, Daniel got even braver and went closer to the water, but he wasn't paying too close attention to the incoming waves. Then a bigger one came and he noticed too late and started running away and it washed over him (he wasn't deep at all and Daddy was nearby) and he fell over flat into the sand. This was NOT popular!! He was soaked all the way through and got sand on his face. Caleb promptly then flopped down in the water as well (though he clearly did not fall) to soak himself so he too could get some Mommy comfort and a towel.

Daniel had the biggest, saddest pouty bottom lip here as he was shivering from getting his pride washed over by the waves. Caleb wasn't too heartbroken, but was enjoying the warm towel anyway. After this, Daniel stayed close to Mommy on the beach to try and warm up.

Naomi got to feel the sand between her toes as well and she seemed to enjoy it. She tried to grab the sand and wanted to taste the rocks Daniel was playing with also. It was a nice warm day to be on the beach and we wished we had our shorts and flip flops, but we weren't sure it was going to be so nice, so we made do with what we had! Guess it is better to have warmer clothes than the other way around!

Josiah loves to be around his baby sister. Almost TOO much sometimes! He gets this funny voice and does this, "Baby daby, baby daby," chant that drives me crazy after a while and then gets this high pitched squeal and this kissy face sound which is supposed to get her to want to take her pacifier. He gets WAY to excited at times and scares Miss Naomi, but it is clear he loves his little sister.

A rare moment to get a picture with all the kiddos!! Gotta love it! The set-up in the cabin was perfect for our family. They had two futon fold out chairs that became the twin's beds (see below) and the futon couch was where we all sat together (see above). Josiah had his own room with a queen bed and we had our own room with a queen bed. It worked out really nicely!! Everyone slept better the 2nd night though once they all got used to their new surroundings.
The first night, Daddy tried to make a fire in the stove and it wasn't working right. He had the kindling going and all, but the logs just would not light for some reason. So the first night, we just gave up and we heated up our marshmallows in the microwave for some Smores. Daniel didn't want to eat his because it was too sticky and he hates to have his hands dirty. Josiah and Caleb ate theirs with no problems! The second night, we came prepared with a Duralog to get the fire going and this time we got a fire. Josiah quipped, "We have a fire now....Daddy did it right this time!" I would like to point out here that I never criticized Daddy for "not getting it right" the first time, so this was Josiah's own observation. Daddy just laughed!

Josiah and Daddy made this for me when they went to the beach together. It was very sweet! Overall, it was a really fun time as a family and we plan to go back there someday for sure! When the kids are older we can do more hiking and other things as well. On the way home, out of the blue Josiah said, "I am looking forward to watching TV at home!" We went back the non-scenic way on the way home and thankfully I did not have a headache like I did on the way there (that was a doozey). A "highlight" for me on the way back or a non-highlight really was changing 4 bad poopy diapers within about an hour of time. One at a gas station (that was THE WORST ONE), one in the car at McDonalds (still a change of clothes here), another one from the first poopy child AT McDonalds and ANOTHER one at McDonalds from the last child that hadn't pooped yet. ACK!! I thought I had enough wipes for the journey, but didn't realize we would blow through all of them on the tail end of our adventure, or wait maybe we do always use them on tail ends!! (That was my facebook post for those of you who missed that one). So on that poopy note, I will close this saga of our journey to the cabin!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Pool Time!

We had so much fun the first time we went to Stewart Heights Park Pool at Colin & Taylor's birthday party, that on a whim I decided to make a trip back there this afternoon after the twins' nap, since it was so warm and nice. My Dad wanted to come in and be with the kiddos anyway, so it worked perfectly to have him join us for fun in the "big water" as Daniel likes to call it.

Grandpa is monitoring all threee boys here. I had the idea to have him bring the life jackets they have for them for the boat, so that they would be just a little safer with all the other people in the water. The rule is that an adult has to be at arm's length of any children seven and under, and so our three fit the bill for sure!

Josiah was doing pretty well on his own though and with the life jacket, I think it made him more confident to try certain things, like floating for instance. He had his googles, but only truly used them once underwater when Grandpa dunked him. Needless to say, he didn't like being dunked, so the googles were just for looks apparently! I really think it was good for Josiah to have a positive experience with a pool though and that bodes well for the day when we will get him some swimming lessons I am sure!

This shot typifies the twins' glee about being in the water. Caleb would wade out as far as his little feet would take him and then he would get scared and gasp for air (though he wasn't sinking) and freak out a bit until he was "rescued." I would hold the twins by the front of their jackets and pull them along in the water together and they really enjoyed that. As a side note, baby girl was asleep most of the time in her carseat, which was in the stroller. I found some shade and parked her there and Grandpa and I took turns going in the water with the boys.

A nice close-up of sweet Caleb-ee!

A nice close-up of Daniel-ee!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Milton Event & First Pool Experience

Almost every year, we attend the Milton annual summer picnic in the park complete with a parade, bouncy houses, free food, & other fun activities. The boys are looking off into the distance at the parade that is coming down the road. It is a small parade, but the kids enjoy it. Mostly political party candidates walking with signs, councilmen and leaders of the town in cars, and the police and fire trucks.

The local Boy Scouts troup set up this suspension bridge near the parade route and Josiah went over it by himself, not once, but TWICE! First, he went over with Daddy watching and then Mommy insisted we get some pictures and convinced him to go on it again. He is giving his shy, "I'm proud of myself, but don't want to admit it," smile here.

And as always, our sweet Caleb-ee was very quick to find a stick and is saying, "A STICK," here to let me know!

Naomi slept through most of the festivities, but her eyes popped out from sleepy land for a bit when the loud trucks honked their horns or blared their sirens. She took inventory and looked like she might cry, but Mommy comforted her and all was well.



There is this rather steep hill at the park that the kids all slide down on cardboard scraps. Daniel would lose his cardboard piece and then proceed to do as pictured and scoot down the hill on his bottom. Can we say grass stains? Umm...yeah! Caleb actually figured it out by the end and was going up by himself and coming down on the cardboard. He couldn't be more proud of himself! In this picture, the twins are in the front and Josiah is at the top of the hill.

To top off a fun day in the park (after our hot dog and chip meal), Daddy got some snow cones to share. The big plus about all this activity was that immediately upon arriving home, we had three tuckered boys who all went down for a nice, long nap!
Later this evening, we went to Colin & Taylor's 4th b-day party (Thanks to my friend Sarah for inviting us) at Stewart Heights Park Pool in Tacoma. I wish I would have taken some pictures, but I was busy swimming with the boys. Daddy stayed dry and watched the baby, but he also took some video of us all in the water, and we have that posted on FB (it is too big to post here). The boys absolutely LOVED going in the water though! And afterward Daniel kept saying, "I wan(t) BIG WATER!" Caleb was shivering he was so cold, as it was in the evening afterall, but as long as we stayed about chest high in the water, he was OK. Josiah was walking around the wading pool telling me, "Look Momma, I'm swimming," and we informed him that indeed that was not swimming! The one thing I couldn't get them all to do was to dunk their heads in the water. I plan to take them back a few more times if I can this summer though and get them more experience playing in the "big water." Here is a link to the video on youtube.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Gabe & Stacy's Wedding

This past weekend I went to my cousin Gabe's wedding. The wedding was outdoors at Stacy's parent's home in Battle Ground, WA and I went down with my parents and Naomi. It was nice visiting with some of my cousins on the Walker side and it was fun to see Gabe marry his sweetheart as well!

Here is an unusually good picture of me, so I thought I would include it! :) Naomi was a big hit with many of the people at the reception too. No one can resist the cuteness! My Grandma Margaret was there and she was very happy to see the baby again and play with her. She also got to feed her some cereal at one point too.

Miss Cutie-Pie is here with Grandpa trying to beat the heat with her cute little hat in the shade. We didn't really get to hear the ceremony because I thought it best to sit in the shade for the sake of the baby and the shade was too far away to hear anything. We got to see it all from our vantage point though!

I laid Miss Naomi in the cool grass and she enjoyed that for a bit too. It made for some lovely pictures of our sweet baby girl.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Our 7th Anniversary

August 9th marks the date of David and my 7th anniversary. We decided to celebrate the Saturday before though as Monday night isn't exactly the best day for us to go out. My parents came to watch the boys and they took them to the Pt. Defiance Zoo (see pics below). We went out to Wild Ginger (Asian fusion type restaurant) in Seattle for lunch, then to see the movie "Inception,"and then to the Cheesecake Factory afterward for dessert. Naomi tagged along for the ride and was a real trooper! Quiet as a mouse during the whole date! The movie was OK, but it made me thankful to know what reality REALLY is and thankful that I don't have to hide or escape real life to look for happiness. (I know....super deep thoughts by me, but whatev.) And I found it ironic that when we went to the Cheesecake Factory, we were greeted with, "Welcome to the Cheesecake Factory...the happiest place on earth!" I was thinking...umm...not so much!!

Happy anniversary to the best husband for me and thanks be to God for directing me to him! What a blessed gift my husband has been to me. I have grown and changed a great deal (for the better of course) over the past seven years and a good part of that is due to his leadership, encouragement, love, and prayers for me. Thank you honey for all you do for me and for our family! I love you!!


When we got a picture with Miss Naomi, two of our boys were dying to have their pictures taken too, so Caleb and Josiah got their shy smiles on to pose with Daddy.

Here is a nice picture of my Dad with his oldest and youngest grandchildren. He likes to call Naomi his "little sweetums."


Josiah had fun climbing on the jungle gym at the zoo.

I love this sweet little look Caleb is giving Grandma here.

Daniel is obviously enjoying himself as well!

The twins had fun going down the slide together too it appears!

Naomi Update & Fun Park Day

Last Wednesday, I gave Naomi her first bit of solid food, some very watered down baby oatmeal. She had fun tasting it, trying to reach for the spoon, and sticking her tongue out. At the end when she had had enough, she started to do the raspberry and tried to spray the oatmeal all over the place. I have some cute video of her too as I was feeding her with her brothers giving plenty of commentary in the background.

Naomi is our first baby that really doesn't seem to mind tummy time too much. She in fact rolls over often and hangs out there for long periods of time kicking her feet and trying to reach objects in front of her. She does get mad eventually and can sometimes roll herself back to her back, but most of the time I still have to help her get to her back at this point. She is already in 6-9 month clothes now! We get many comments from people about how calm and content she seems. Thankfully, I am glad she lives up to the meaning of her name (pleasant...though it also means beautiful and she is both). I was making the observation the other day that it made sense why the Naomi of the Bible changed her name to Mara....because people would associate the meaning of the name as they heard it and so the fact that Naomi was "pleasant" when she wasn't feeling so pleasant was probably salt in the wound for her, hence her desire for a name change to reflect her state of being (Mara means bitter).

We went to Bradley Lake park yesterday and met up with friends to hang out for a bit. Josiah's friend Hannah and Elijah came as well as Elijah's siblings and his mom and our babysitter Laura (Hannah's sister) and her mom. It was quite a crew and between all of us we had 9 children to look after. This picture was funny to me because Josiah has this satisfied look on his face holding Hannah's hand and Elijah appears to be upset about that, but the saying on his shirt says it all as if he is thinking, "Well it doesn't matter because 'I'm out of your league' anyway!" Later Josiah held his hand too and the three were very cute trekking along the trail together.

Daniel was showing his muscles pushing my friend Jasmine's twins in their stroller! He didn't go too far, but he actually was able to push them by his lonesome! Go mighty Daniel!

Adriel is in the back and he would holler at me everytime I stopped the stroller, but Mathias in the front was really tired and was falling asleep on our walk around the lake.

Daniel and Caleb were in their usual form exploring and having a grand old time. Caleb of course found a stick to carry around on the journey. I didn't include the picture, but there is a funny shot of Josiah and Hannah walking hand in hand where Josiah saw some poop on the ground and yelled, "Don't step in the poop," and guided Hannah away from it. Too cute! It was fun to be out with friends and all the kids seemed to have a great time!

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Leif's Birthday Party

Today we made a short jaunt out to Dash Point Park near our home for Josiah's friend Leif's birthday party. He was turning four today and it was fun to celebrate with him and his family. Rebecca (his mom) is a friend of mine that I met through the Tacoma Parents of Multiples group (TPOM). She has fraternal boy twins that just recently turned one! There were lots of pictures I took of Leif today, but I love this expression on his face as he is opening the card to see some stickers!


Josiah enjoyed collecting various broken seashells and other beach stuffage and of course had to take them home. Now we have a wide variety of many broken shells, crab legs and other such things that he cleaned and wanted to keep.

Caleb is making a face at the piece of driftwood that he found.

Daniel was telling me here, "I'm climbing," when I asked him what he was doing.


Daddy got a lot of Naomi time in today as I was chasing the boys around the beach. She was very pleased to spend some time with her Daddy! I have many more pictures from this event that I put on Snapfish if you want to see more of them. Just send me an email and I will send you the link if you are interested.

Summer Fun with Family

My friend Mara made this LOVELY dress and hat for Miss Naomi and I just HAD to document the occasion of her first wearing of it! I recently moved her into her 6-9 month clothes as the 3-6 month clothes were getting to short for her long, little body. I have to roll up the pants and sleeves of some of the new outfits, but I like them to fit a litte looser anyway. You may not be able to tell too readily from the picture, but the hat is a little small for her. Our kiddos tend to have big heads (compliments of their Daddy), so the hat didn't stay on too long, though it was so cute! Thanks again Mara for the beautiful dress! When you hold her up in it the layers of the dress look like little pedals of a flower. So cute!


Josiah is being silly here. While we were gone one evening our babysitter Laura took these outside pictures of the boys. She taught Josiah to do the peace sign pose and of course he also had to have this other arm like a monkey, just to be unique!

Caleb is sporting his serious face here that he gets most any time he is really enjoying himself. We get smiles from him too of course, but this is his standard face when he is really concentrating on something.

Apparently, the apple fell from the tree and now he wants to put it back!

I did say I wanted to potty train the boys this summer, but this is ridiculous! Not what I had in mind Daniel-ee!

"Mom....please, no more potty training references on the blog....I may have a girlfriend someday that will read this!"

"I WANNA PLAY WEAPSTER!!"


We accidentally left the kitchen gate open and heard some shuffling around and came to find the twins playing in Naomi's playpen.


And here is our very under-pictured, loyal Autralian Shepherd/Border Collie dog, Echo. She loves to herd the boys around the yard, chew up any toys or paraphenalia left out in the yard, chase the ball with the master, lick and jump on any visitor that should come through the door, bark and whine at piano music (my personal "favorite"), and chase all the giraffes, shadows, or other creatures out of our yard. She is a very good family dog and we are blessed to have her!