Just a few highlights

You may all be feeling the warmth of a million beaming smiles as the weather in Seattle has been amazing - sunny, warm, breezy at just the right moments. Owen has been getting out quite a bit in his new bike trailer, hanging at the beach, and generally being a happy almost two year old (which means mostly happy with a lot of crumpling to the floor, pounding fists, and shouting no.) Here are a few highlights...

Mr. Sporty

Hiking and Snacking on the Licorice Fern Trail

Mother's Day at the Arboreteum

Demolishing all of John's attempts to build a castle

Getting Ready for Beach Day at School

What you will learn at The Owen Joseph Finishing School

Special Dedication

to some special ladies in Owen's life...

&*$#(#@!!!

I was trying to post an adorable video of Owen after telling my sister all about it, but for some reason it won't load. So frustrating! Here is a pic of Owen on his "first and last" time on a trampoline, according to John. I'll keep trying with the video!!

Smoothies!

A quick post  while I have John's computer, which has some space on the hard drive for pictures. I made Owen a smoothie the other day and after one sip, he set his cup down and ran over to give me a hug. When he reached the bottom, he turned his cup upside down and cried. Now, nearly every time he gets up from his nap, he points to the kitchen and demands "me-me." Not sure how it translates, but I do love the hugs. 

My Very Own Mother...

has taken to threatening me for not posting anything recently. We have maxed our hard drive with pictures of the sweet boy, so I can't download new pics (but there are 258 waiting on the camera!) In the meantime, she will just have to relish this picture of her two favorite people.

Full Body Experience

The other day I saw popcorn kernels for 99 cents at the grocery store, so I bought a big bag thinking I could do something fun with them for Owen. I poured them in a big tub today and threw in some spoons and pots, thinking he would enjoy all the mixing and stirring and pouring. I turned my head for a second and Owen climbed right in, so happy to feel the kernels between his toes. He stayed in there for 45 minutes and got out only because it was time for lunch.



Given his love of small spaces, I should have predicted he would feel nice and cozy in his popcorn box.

Buds

On another sunny and warm Seattle day, Owen and I met Koen and Shelley for a little walk near Lake Washington. The loop is only a mile long and with lots of ponds and mulch pits, we figured we would have lots to entice the boys onward to complete our trek. The sunshine must have filled the boys with love of nature and each other because they kept stopping to hug each other and roll around in the grass. Forty five minutes later, we were only a quarter of the way around and Owen fell into an irresistable pit of mud and gunk and other unidentifiable wet, slimy stuff. I carried my soggy boy back to the car and Shelley promised Koen a visit to the fountain in the parking lot to make up for the shortened trip. Ring, ring went my phone as Owen and I were speeding home to get him into dry clothes, "Koen fell in the fountain and is soaking wet!" Good thing for all of us it was a sunny day.

Oldies but Goodies

I took these during the snow storm that hit Seattle right before the holidays. This was the storm prior to the snowmaggedon you may have heard about on the news. John and I felt a bit sad to have missed such a historical Seattle episode, but hearing friends' tales of being snowbound for days with toddlers gave us an even greater appreciation for the Houston humidity we were enjoying.

PS The pink beauty is our neighbor, Lili, who christened Owen, "The O's" which has stuck. Her family graciously left their christmas lights up in one window for Owen, he adored them so much and still demands that John pull back the curtains at dinner so he can admire them.

California Dreamin' on Such a Winter's Day

It has been so embarrassingly long since I have posted that I won't even insult you with lame excuses...we are experiencing a winter heat wave in Seattle, meaning no rain and temps in the 40s and 50s. Owen and I have been spending a lot of time at the beach lately as if we lived in warm sunny California, but when you are as deprived of Vitamin D as we are, you take what you can get. Yesterday we had a lovely morning in Edmonds at the ferry terminal (who would have thought lovely morning and ferry terminal could go together) with our dearest friends Shelley and Koen. It was truly a toddler fantasy land - we saw ferries docking, fire engines boarding the ferry, cranes and bulldozers working on the terminal, and perhaps the best sight ever - a TRAIN carrying PLANES! The boys were near hysteria.