Tough Guy

Tyler is a 'dude' most of the time...rough and tumble.  Which makes his spiky helmet a perfect fit for him...until he insists on riding the purple and pink Dora hot wheels bike.

He's his own individual and we love him for it.

We tackling pottty training this week with a vengeance so think 'dry undies' for us.

A day at the Zoo

We took the opportunity to go to the zoo when Grandma was here.  Us adults all said we saw more animals on this visit to the zoo than on any other zoo visit.  The highlights were the giraffes, the lion, the hard-to-find elephants, we saw monkeys swinging branch to branch and howling at each other which was amazingly entertaining.

Not a lot of pictures taken...prioritized being 'present'. 

"hmm, who are you?"

"I cannot quite hear you."

"Fine, if you're not going to talk to me, I'm going to ignore you, too."

token (live) animal photo

Picking Blueberries

A fond summer memory I have from the last couple of years is picking blueberries at a local farm.  I assumed this year would be no different and was glad that JoMum was here at the time that blueberries would be ripe.  Well, it was about 10 minutes of fun and then Tyler was super whiny and asking to go home.  Our parenting style is not to give in too easily and we figured he would just start eating blueberries which would cheer him up. Not so...so we all put up with the whining long enough and headed home.  Maybe it will be fun again next year.

Wait up, Grandma!

Park day with Grandma

Grandma was here for her annual summer visit in July and we all had a great time.  Here are just a few pictures from a fun afternoon at Waverly Beach Park.

Julia is any grandma's dream right now.  She wants to color, do puzzles, try on grandma's coconut lotion, listen to stories. 

Tyler, while having none of Julia's desire for quiet moments found his way into Grandma's heart just the same.  Even though his favorite thing to do is play pirates, which looks as if he is winding up to slug you, he also is incredibly affectionate...his favorite part of Grandma was to stroke her arms and was a clear sign he was getting tired.

Camp Wibbly Island

Our annual camping trip on Whidbey Island (or as Julia says, "wibbly island").  Camp Walsh started with a trip to see the local alpacas and then back to Maro/Charlie's to set up the tents and play in the newly created treehouse.  Maro's brother, Richard was still building it as the kids were climbing up.

The weekend was so much fun...11 kids, 17 adults, 3 generations represented, 2 dogs, many alpacas, not enough smores.

Scones on a stick...a walsh camping breakfast tradition. 

Sydney (lindsay  mcdonald's daughter) and Julia are great friends.

Charlie and Bob...young friends and old friends alike made memories

All the kids LOVED Oli...he was an amazing big kid for all the little ones to look up to.  He played with them, had patience (even when they all woke him up by throwing pine cones on him), and didn't even  mind with two of them literally would barely leave his side.

My first trip to Disneyland

As soon as school ended, we took the opportunity to go to CA and visit my parents. And why not take Julia to Disneyland?  She loved it...but warning for all your parents out there - don't surprise a child with going to Disneyland as you get in the car to drive there.  We did and instead of the squeals we were expecting, we were met with 45 minutes of trepidation, fear and requests to go home.

But of course, once there, she was thrilled and equally as fun was having Daddy and Mommy all to herself.

Not many photos...we consciously made the decision to focus on 'being present' and taking mental snapshots. 

That cotton candy was as big as her head!

Julia dancing her way through Disneyland - she was in 7th heaven!

Dance Me Daddy

I'm never disappointed by how much fun the Kirkland Concert Series is - what a perfect way to spend a summer evening! We always see people we know, the kids dance and make friends and an easy picnic dinner is always nice.

I adore dancing with the kids and watching them dance and there is something so special catching other concert go'ers watching our children with a smile on their face. 

Next week I'll get a video of Tyler's dancing which is either turn, turn, turn or jump jump jump, fall down and grab his feet.  He's perfected those two moves.