Talking up a Storm

Today, Annabel climbed up on the kid picnic table and said, "Papa, sit next me."

I am amazed at how quickly she's learning to express herself with words.

Milestones

This is a slightly sad one. Actually, many of Annabel's milestones are slightly sad for me because we don't plan on having any more children, so when she learns something new and gives up her babyish ways of doing things, those beautiful babyish ways are gone for good.

Of course, there are videos and pictures and memories, but there is not that sudden delight in the moment.

Annabel has learned to say, "here," when she hands you something, whereas she used to say, "me, me, me, me."

It took us forever to figure out why she always said, "me, me, me, me." I mean, we hadn't been showing her episodes of Beaker in the Muppet Show.

Finally, Michiel realized that she said it because we are always asking her to "please give that to me," or "can you hand that to me?" And she, being the lovely parrot that she is, tends to repeat the last word of the sentence said to her. Hence, "me, me, me, me," when she wants to give you something.

We had about a week to enjoy it with full understanding before she learned how to say, "here."

But, she still repeats the last word of sentences.

"Are you a good girl?"

"Girl."

"Do you want to go outside?"

"Side."

"Would you rather have a cookie or cantaloupe?"

"ca-lope."

I wonder how long I'll be able to get away with that one.

First Week of School

Alexander and Michiel have both started school again. Oh, where did the summer go? We could have used a few more weeks of it.

Alexander has happily slid right back into the school routine. Here, he is busy at one of his favorite activities: juicing oranges. He's not one of the youngest kids anymore, and it will be fun to watch him help the younger kids. It will probably go more smoothly than it does with his sister.

For Michiel, the transition is not so simple, but he is valiantly plugging away at his studies. In addition to working full-time, he has class 3-4 nights a week and most Saturdays. There will be some stretches where the kids won't see him for three days, since he goes to class directly from work. We have to remind ourselves that this too shall pass.

And Annabel? She tries to sneak (or barge) into Alexander's classroom every time I drop him off or pick him up.

Camping Beach Trip

We've just returned from what was probably our big family vacation for the year. Michiel starts school again next week, and his schedule is much busier than last year. I don't think he has a free weekend until Thanksgiving.

But our beach trip was awesome, except for the first night and following morning of rain that almost sent us packing...but let's skip past that. We rode bikes to the bay and saw a bald eagle. I stopped to pee and found myself peeing on a snake that was frantically wriggling away from me. Good thing I was already peeing....

On the way up the coast we stopped in Garabaldi for a ride on steam train.Alexander made a few friends on the playground and participated in the junior ranger programs. He got to use a compass on day and the next learned about horns and antlers.

When the sun finally came out, we had a lovely day at the beach. Alexander and Michiel built a castle that withstood many incoming waves. Annabel had fun running around in the sand and falling down and lying in it. That girl had sand everywhere!

On the way home we stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory. Alexander could have stayed there all day looking down at the factory floor, watching the blocks of cheese move along the conveyor belts, into the octopus machine, etc. Annabel kept pointing to every image of a cow she saw, loudly proclaiming, "Moo! Moo!"

Ice cream. Cheese samples. It was a good vacation.

Alexander Rides

When Uncle Eric was last in town he brought out this little pocket bike for Alexander to try. It has an electric motor, and he quickly learned how to use it. Before long he was zipping up and down the street. I started having all those motherly flashes that I thought weren't supposed to come until your kid is 15 and getting his permit.

At least I can content myself that he is not a wanton thrill-seeker and has inherited from me a healthy dose of caution, as evidenced by his frequent need to "stop and rest" between runs.

First Sting

Annabel got her first bee sting today, and she weathered it like a champ. I had to scrape the stinger off. But it must not have been a bad sting because her finger didn't swell up much, and a few hours later I had to examine closely to tell which finger had been stung.

That'll teach her not to grab a bee.

Camping at Silver Falls

The weather finally cooperated, and we took our first camping trip of the summer. Up to Silver Falls. Not far, but oh-so-beautiful!

Mom and Dad came with us, and Alexander and Annabel slept in the camper with them, so Michiel and I got the tent to ourselves! And we got to sleep in (one morning at least).

Other highlights:

Huckleberry pancakes! Annabel loved picking huckleberries and devouring them immediately, but we managed to save some for the pancakes.

The orange ones in there are salmon berries.

Other friends came up to visit us for the day: Miranda came with Sage and Willow. Together we made ice cream! Yes, ice cream. (Fun and easy recipe to follow in another post.)

Sheldon and Jude brought Gwyn and Karis up for the evening. And, having just returned from a trip to Belgium, he also brought belgian beer and s'mores fixings (including belgian chocolate). Yum!

The kids claimed all the flashlights and ran around aiming their beams of light at everything. I had forgotten what fun that is when you're a kid.

Annabel had a healthy respect for the fire and gave it a wide (sometimes ridiculously wide) berth. We brought our bikes, and Alexander couldn't stay off of his for more than half an hour. He just wanted to ride and ride, experimenting with how sharp of a turn he can make without falling over.

Oh, and Alexander drank directly from the milk jug. He was quite pleased with himself.