Ryan finally convinced me that Nathan really is a big boy and that he needs a big boy hair cut to match. I had originally promised that Nathan would get his hair cut before nursery started, and since we only have 4 weeks left (hooray!!!) I figured we might as well go for it.
We took him to Sport Clips and he loved watching football on all the TV’s. I was nervous about how he would do since he hates being touched by people he doesn’t know. He sat on my lap and got really mad when she tried to put the cape on him but then she offered him his first sucker and he pretty much forgot about it. He was such a sticky mess but he sat quietly the whole time. I think he learned the word “sucker” after about 30 seconds and he’s not going to forget it. The only problem was at the end when he got a little tired and he started rubbing his face. This rubbed sticky sucker drool all over, which started collecting little hairs. Consequently, he got a nice, warm steam towel on his face to finish off the haircut. Anyway, we have a handsome big boy now!
After his haircut, we decided to take Nathan to The Science Factory here in Springfield. I had been once for a playgroup when Nathan was 6 months and he liked it then.
He loved the Tot Spot with the little ball pit and blocks but it was pretty crowded so we moved on.
Then he found the race track with the big wooden cars and he was stuck. He would have stayed there all day if we had let him! We did manage to get him to look at a few more exhibits but he was always right back to the cars. At least we know we know it was worth the trip.
Playing is serious business!
This weekend Ryan and I went on a fun date together. We went putt putt golfing! It was a lot of fun and something we had never done together before. Ryan won, of course, but I didn’t do too bad either. At least no one else was on the course so we didn’t embarrass ourselves too much.
What an interesting man I married.
Ryan made sure to get a picture of my poor putt putt skills.
Afterward, we went next door to The Roaring Rapids Pizza Company for lunch. The fun thing about Roaring Rapids is that it’s right next to the Willamette River. We tried sitting outside but it turns out the bees love their pizza too, so we had to move back inside. Still, it was a fun, fun date!
You many not have noticed, but I have been on a major blogging hiatus the last month or so. We have just been so busy this summer. The good news is, I have tons to blog about. The bad news is, I haven’t had the time to blog!
The biggest reason I have been busy is because (surprise, surprise) we moved at the end of July. This time our move was only a few minutes away instead of out of state. I thought this would be easier, but I think it only made the process longer and slower. Instead of packing and cleaning in one day, we did it in a week and it got old!
We love our new place. Especially the dishwasher (hooray!), the third bedroom, and the little fenced backyard for Nathan. I was worried he would have a hard time adjusting and not sleep well but he has been sleeping great! Actually, he may be sleeping a little too well.
I feel bad though because he has had to entertain himself a lot lately since I have been so busy packing and unpacking. The poor kid is forced to pick out his own outfits and watch movies by himself. (Whenever he sees those orange boots, he insists I put them on him so he can wear them all day.)
Right after we moved, we headed to the coast with my family for a few days. We all stayed in a nice little house in Lincoln City and had a great time relaxing. This was Ryan’s first view of the Pacific Ocean and Nathan’s first view of any ocean at all. I tried to warn him, but I think Ryan was still surprised it wasn’t blue and warm like the Atlantic. Nathan loved the sand but wasn’t too sure about all the water swarming at him.
We spent our time playing on the beach together (even though it was chilly).
Nathan with Leslie and Papa
With Uncle Ryan and Uncle Jesse (we missed Uncle Kevin!)
Nana trying to keep Nathan warm
Playing in the “World’s Shortest River”. Nathan preferred this warmer, slower water to the ocean.
We also visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory while we were in town. Of course!
The viewing rooms were closed, which was disappointing, but I’m not going to deny that I was just there for the ice cream! Ryan rode his bike the 40 miles there while the rest of us drove. I think he’s the only one who earned the calories! Still, no one was going to keep me from my Chocolate Peanut butter ice cream. No one.
Nathan loved the cheese samples and all the pictures of cows. He spent his time says “oo oo” (moo moo) and eating extra sharp cheddar (too sharp for me!)
We couldn’t help it.
We also had some fun in the gift shop.
We also spent a day in Newport where we toured Ripley’s Believe it or Not (it was a little too dark and scary for Nathan) and watched a bunch of sea lions lounge.
We came home to a messy house full of boxes but we had so much fun, it was worth it!
My Grandma Betty was in Washington visiting my family so we headed up there for a few days in the middle of August.
We went to a concert in the park. Nathan loved dancing and running around.
We also went to the zoo and the Farmer’s Market and played at home.
We head back up to Washington next weekend to go to the Puyallup Fair!
I was looking at Nathan in his diaper this morning and I can’t believe my eyes! He’s looking thin. I know you may not believe it either, but it’s true. His chunky little pot belly is going away. This could have something to do with the fact that he is incapable of walking and has to run everywhere he goes. Ultimately though, I know he is just growing up and becoming a little boy. Sigh. I took some really cute pictures of him today, but we are in the middle of movies and all my USB cords are at the other house. I’ll post them later.
Also, Congrats to my dear friend, Alex and her husband Devan on their new baby boy, Benjamin! And congrats to big sister Hannah too!
Yep, you guessed it! It’s time for our annual move! Only this time, we are staying the in state, we are staying in the city, we are even staying in the ward!! We are moving a few minutes away to a new duplex and we are pretty darn excited. Let me just give you a glimpse into our excitement—Dishwasher. Brand. New. Maytag. Dishwasher. Amongst other brand new things. So, no more greasy fingerprints stained into our kitchen cupboards. No more cigarette burns in our carpet. No more holes in the doors. AND no more loudly bathing neighbors!! And all for a really great price. We’re pretty darn excited. We’ll be moving in over the next few weeks and I don’t even want to bother with boxes because it all seems so easy. We signed the lease and got the keys this afternoon! Hooray!
On a completely different note- I need some advice. My sewing machine died. It’s roughly 15 years old and it’s a Singer. My Mom bought it for $100 dollars and it’s never been serviced or anything. So, the question is: do I buy a new inexpensive sewing machine? OR Do I spend $70 (plus potential new parts) on maintenance in hopes of reviving this one? Help me! I have about 12.2 million projects that need to be finished! Thanks!
You may not have noticed, but we’ve been out of town for a while. We were gone for almost two weeks, visited 4 different states, and saw LOTS of friends and family! So, here goes a long post to tell you all about it:
We left on the Fourth of July and drove up to Washington to spend the holiday with my family. We had a nice BBQ and watched the fireworks show from the front yard (my parents live a few blocks from the fairgrounds). Nathan was pretty wary of the fireworks. He didn’t cry, he just got really nervous and wanted to stay snuggled close to me the whole time (which I loved). He fell asleep pretty quickly in my arms. And apparently I didn’t manage to get a single picture of the day. We were even wearing matching T-shirts! Dang!
On Monday we went with my Mom to the Point Defiance Zoo. I was so excited to take Nathan since this is the zoo I grew up going to. Nathan wasn’t too thrilled with most of the animals and, quite frankly, neither was I. I think everybody was napping while we were there.
You always have to get a picture inside the shark’s mouth!
We did have a ton of fun in the new Kids Zone. Nathan loved running around and playing.
He also had a blast with the goats. First he got to help “groom” some goats, then he got to feed them. He loved it! He would take one little pellet of food between his fingers at a time and a goat would come and eat it up. We definitely washed his hands well after this!
We didn’t get to stay in Washington long and we took off the next morning for Idaho. We decided to hang on to our sanity and make the 13 hour trip in two days. We stopped for the night in Missoula, Montana. We stayed at a nice hotel and enjoyed our evening. I wanted to find a place with a pool, but it turns out Nathan isn’t a big fan of water (surprise, surprise!) so we didn’t really swim much.
On the second half of our journey, we made a quick stop in Shoup, Idaho to see my grandparents. This was Nathan’s first visit to Shoup and I was so glad we got to go, even though it was brief. It was a good chance for Nathan to run around.
Unfortunately, even though we took things slow, we still managed to wipe ourselves out so much that by the time we arrived in Rigby, Ryan and I were both sick. So the first few days we were there we spent napping. Hooray!
On Friday, we made a trip up to Rexburg to drive around campus and our old apartments, and to visit our favorite pizza place, Craigo’s! They have a yummy buffet there and we always make sure to go when we are in town. I think Nathan really enjoyed it too! On our way back to Rigby, I realized that I had to pee (not unusual) so we decided to stop by the Hinckley Building on campus so I could use the bathroom. I was about to enter the building when I realized I was wearing flip flops! I felt like such a sinner and hustled as fast as I could to the bathroom so no one could judge me. When I got back to the car I was telling Ryan all about it and he said, “Um, Heather, you’re wearing shorts too.” I completely forgot you can’t even wear capri’s at BYU-Idaho! We lived a totally different life when we were there! It actually made me a little sad to drive passed our old apartments. When we lived in Rexburg, I got to do so many things just for me, and I miss that!
On Saturday, we got to go with Ryan’s parents to Yellowstone Bear World. It was fun! We got to drive through and look at all the animals, including bears, of course!
They also had a petting zoo and some fun rides for kids.
Ryan and I really liked the train ride.
On Sunday, we still weren’t feeling real great but my brother Ryan came down from Rexburg for dinner. It was so nice to be able to see him while we were in town. we hadn’t seen him since Christmas.
Later that night, Nathan was running around outside and he fell and smashed his face in the gravel. I knew this was bound to happen someday. My poor baby!
Monday morning we finally felt good enough to travel down to Salt Lake to see some of our friends. We stayed with Devan and Alex and their little girl, Hannah (baby boy will be born in a few weeks!). Alex and I have been friends since elementary school! Our friends Lisa and Nick, and their little girl Maddie came up for dinner that night too. I’ve known Lisa since elementary school too (she’s having another girl in September).
Alex made us a yummy dinner and we ate it outside. Nathan found a bunch of other stuff to eat outside that night too. Gross!
I tried to get a picture of all three kids looking at once. Yeah, right!
Nathan just wanted to play in the sand.
The dads enjoyed the playground too.
Friends!
We were lucky enough to get to see all of Ryan’s family while we were in town, including his sister Janelle and her five kids. They drove up from Arizona on Tuesday night. Janelle is a brave woman! These kids are Nathan’s only cousins so are always really excited to see them. Nathan especially enjoyed playing with Avery, who is only 10 months older than him.
The boys
Cousins
Ryan and his sisters
We had to get home in time for Ryan to grade a final exam so we took off on Thursday. We stopped in Shoshone Falls, near Twin Falls, Idaho. Nathan once again was a little wary of all the water. We’re going to have to do something about this! It was a really beautiful place. They call it the Niagara of the West for a reason!
We also stopped near Boise to see my grandma and have dinner with her. I’m so glad we got to stop by!
We were lucky to be able to see so many people that we love and I know that there are so many more people in Idaho Utah that we could have visited. I wish we had time! We even drove down our old street in Bountiful and there are so many doors I would have loved to knock on!
I know this post is excessively long and possibly a little boring, so here’s a video of Nathan to make up for it!
