Blackberries
For as long as I can remember, picking blackberries and the end of summer seem to go hand in hand. And luckily there are blackberry bushes within walking distance, so we made many trips to pick blackberries over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, I think they're about done for this year, but I think we got our fill!
Henry looovved picking blackberries too! He didn't seem to care if he got scratched from the thorns as long as he could participate and pick a few of his own. We would bring a container to collect some to bring home, and he always wanted to have his own little container to put his blackberry treasures in.
Henry helping to pick some hard to reach ones - and despite how it looks, I have an excellent hold on him and he is not going to plummet into the thorny bushes!
He was too funny when it was just the 2 of us picking one evening. We were trying to hurry so that we would be home in time for dinner, but still be able to pick a bunch to bring to the Silver Falls picnic the next day (see my previous post). He grabbed a nice ripe blackberry and showed it to me.
Me: Wow, that looks like a good one! Let's put it in our container!
Henry (popping the blackberry quickly into his mouth): No. This is a sample.
Thankfully Owen wasn't too interested in the prickly bushes. He was more interested in stealing things from the stroller and running around. And of course he was an excellent blackberry taste tester - he approved of our picks!
Another day, more blackberries to pick!
Some more blackberries blooming
A blackberry picking casualty - sometimes you just end up with berries on you! - but totally worth the stain for the memories! & on the right is a pictures of Henry stopping to smell some flowers on the way back to the house - I love this kid!
Not sure what these are, but they felt a bit like fall fruit to me
And another sign that fall is on it's way (or here): the changing leaves
Poor Tilly. As we walked by the open green space, Henry asked if we remembered when we used to throw the ball for Tilly there. Yes, yes I do. Poor Tilly doesn't make it out on many of our walks - one too many runaways to keep track of - some day soon, I hope to make it up to her!
A Family Potluck
In August, my mom was finally able to get most of her family together for our summer potluck! There were leis for everyone (and boy were they excited), margaritas (sans alcohol for the under 21 crowd) and lots of catching up and playing. Henry & Owen were completely enamored with their older cousins who did a wonderful job of keeping the boys entertained and giving Nate and I some time to relax.
Cousin Shane playing under the stairs with the boys
Owen stealing bites of snow cone from Aunt Molly
Henry snuggling with Riley & Owen trying out Logan's shades
Shane did a wonderful job teaching Henry how to play football. And Henry loved running the ball between cousin Shane, Uncle Wade & Daddy.
Summer Concert In The Park
When I heard that Johnny Limbo & The Lugnuts was performing a free concert in the park, I was set on going. I love oldies music, Henry loves to dance and everyone loves being outside on a nice evening! And despite the fact that we had to leave early since it was a late-ish concert for the boys, we all had a great time!
Subway picnic in the park
Henry showing off his moves - Love it!!
The side we saw most of Owen - his back as he was running away
Brothers sharing snacks
And shots of the amazing moon over the evening - I need to learn more tricks to shoot it, because I feel like my pictures don't do it justice!
Playdates
And between weekend & evening adventures, we've been on lots of playdates. Unfortunately it's a full time job to just keep up with the boys (often running in opposite directions), so not many pictures are taken. But here are a few that I have managed to snap (and upon review, I've noticed that all the pictures are of the little siblings - they don't run fast enough yet to get away from the camera!) . . .
Owen checking out sweet baby Olivia - he was fascinated with her and so gentle
Owen & Abby
Snacks at the park
Owen's friends Abby & Olivia!
And while I failed to take any playdate pictures this day, I did manage to snap some pictures of these gorgeous flowers on the way home - again, I'd love to learn some tricks to shooting flowers, because I don't think these pictures show how awesome these flowers were. . .
Enchanted Forest
Ever since we visited last summer, I've been wanting to go back this year. So, yesterday morning we headed out on our Enchanted Forest adventure and had a wonderful time! (To see their adventures at Enchanted Forest last summer, just click HERE.
Owen & Henry loved running around and checking everything out! It was quite interesting, because between last summer and this summer, Henry seems to have developed more fears. Whereas last year he ran right up to the exhibits, this year, he needed much more hand-holding and coaxing. I guess the moving figures inside the windows were a bit scary to him. He did get more daring with each exhibit and was running to check things out on his own in no time. Owen, however, needed no warming up period! He was thrilled to run up to each window to check out what was inside. I was surprised he didn't try and break in!
There were lots of fun tunnels and mazes to crawl through - fun for kids, that is. This mama could have stood for the tunnels to be a bit bigger to get through when trying to keep up with a 3 year old and keep the 1 year old from running back out. But fear not, we did make it through! We did lose Henry briefly in a dark cave maze (nearly giving me a heart attack and a panic attack at the same time), but luckily we found him quickly. (I thought he'd gone out the tunnel to Daddy when I turned around to head back out the way I came, but he decided to follow me. I didn't know he'd gone back in until I saw Nate outside - so scary! Nothing like racing through a dark cave, frantically searching for Henry and trying not to knock other kids down while Nate covers the exits!) I think it goes without saying that there are no pictures for this particular part of our day.
And one of the top spots of the day was the big slide (like last year). Henry didn't want to go down on his own, so Nate and I took turns with Owen & Henry (we even raced a few times to the bottom!), and snapped a few pictures.
And then we headed to the rides! Henry loved them all (of course), and Owen burst into tears when his train ride was over, obviously not ready to end his turn! However sitting on the bench like a big kid seemed to make him quite happy again.
I was pulling for Owen to try out the ferris wheel, but Nate thought he was too young. Probably best that Nate won this argument. I can just imagine him wiggling out of the seatbelt or screaming at the top. Maybe next year.
Believe it or not, Owen is super happy in this picture. And when he's happy, he's really talkative (if only we could understand it!). He's so proud that he can sit up there like a big kid!
And Henry's favorite part of the day? The roller coaster!! (I've asked him many times over the last 24 hours and that is always his answer, so it must be true!) He took a turn with Mommy and then Daddy (unfortunately Owen was too little to ride, but I'm sure he'll be ready for it next year!) and hasn't stopped talking about it since then. "It went really fast and then slow and then around and it was bumpy and it went like this and then this" (complete with his whole body tilting from side to side and hand movements). He told our neighbor about it and Grandma, and I'm sure many others will get to hear about the super fun roller coaster!
And what I thought would be his favorite part (and I think was a very close 2nd, or 3rd - too many fun things to choose between), was the water and light show. I mean, Henry LOVES water, so this was his thing! We had a pizza lunch and sat inside watching the lightshow. It took quite a bit of convincing to get him to leave the show. Nate and I discussed it on the way home, and think he very well would have stayed there all day if we'd let him.
Around the House
Also this weekend, we watched the Ducks game and had a BBQ with friends. I thought Henry might be disappointed that there weren't any kids his age coming over, but I think he was even more excited to have 2 adults that could give him lots of attention! He really hammed it up for Geoffrey & Ashley telling them all his stories, showing off all his toys and
Must have been a bad call. Or they're sick of me taking pictures. Hard to tell.
**
And in other news around the house, Owen is into EVERYTHING.
Henry was much less adventurous (and mobile, really, which probably explains it) at this age. And so we were able to do without much official childproofing. With 2 active kids, including a very curious tot, we decided it would be much easier to just do some simple childproofing. I mean, there's only so many times you can tell him to get out of the trash cupboard or try to get to him before he finds some breakable baking dishes. And so Daddy & Henry got out their tools and went to work. Seriously, Nate has it so easy! I mean, how easy is it to get stuff done with 2 helpers? Some people have to do this stuff on their own!
And Owen, obviously annoyed that someone denied him access to his favorite baking and trash cupboards (separate cupboards far away from each other, of course, in case you were concerned) found something else to do. So, not exactly sure how to childproof Henry's step stools now . . .
And with his newfound trick, he decided to help me bake some treats for my book club later that weekend. However, we have different interpretations of the recipe!
Growing Boys!
Recently, I dragged out all of our baby stuff to sell in a consignment sale. Shortly after getting everything out, I decided that I did not have the patience, nor the energy to price, clean and tag all the equipment and clothes. So we have now lugged all of it into the guest bedroom in hopes that I can find a better, less time-consuming option. But before we got everything put away, the boys were quite excited to check it all out. They took turns in the swing (and I think lasted much longer than they ever did as babies!) and Owen even tried out his new lounge chair (previously known as the bouncy seat).
And as a comparison, here are some itty bitty pictures of Owen & Henry using the baby equipment as it was meant for. . .
Henry at just over 1 month old
Owen a few days old in the swing
Owen at 3 weeks old in the bouncy seat
And with that, I think this blog post is done! If you made it this far, congrats! Until next time . . .
