We made it outside with the sleds- Arlo hates his snow boots, snow coat and warm mittens and no amount of cajoling on my part could make him change his mind.  So yes, it took longer to get ready to go outside than we were actually outside, but we still had fun.

I knew the snow storm was coming, so I had been to the library and stocked up on art project books and the kids and I had fun picking out projects.  Today we melted old crayons and picked out a cardboard box that (ahem, Joe) will help them make into a castle.

Zach, ever the social creature, was not happy with the mellow day at home.  He wrote this letter to his friends asking when he could go to their house and had me text a photo of it to their mother.  Little does he know, the factor limiting his outings is that his mother is too chicken s**t to drive down to parkway.

Zach has changed so much since I wrote the last post about starting Kindergarten.  He is thriving at school and home.  He has a new calmness, confidence and maturity that surprises us at times.    He lost his first tooth a few months ago when he calmly pulled it out during his bath.  And yes, I cried.  His second tooth came out when I tried to brush some food off his face at the Farmer’s Market on Christmas Eve.  We never found the tooth… but the drawing of the tooth he made for the Tooth Fairy was priceless.  On black paper, he painted a white tooth and then (with help) wrote “My Mom smacked me in the mouth.  Zach”.

Arlo, sweet Arlo, hit the terrible twos right before Christmas, only he is 3 1/2 and weighs 40lbs, making tantrums much more interesting to manage!  Luckily, he seems to have gotten some of it out of his system, and has been better the last week or so.  He is in preschool this year and so happy there, it is difficult to get him to come home at night.  He doesn’t like kisses (which makes him all the more kissable), wants to be a fighter (Mama, if you stop kissing me, then I will stop hitting and spitting!), desperately wants to be a big brother (not happening!), and  skip 4 so he can turn 5 and go to Kindergarten.  In his sweet moments, he calls me his “love of heartness”.

I planned to write more than this.  I wanted to tell you about Zach’s broken arm and how well Joe’s eye has healed from surgery.  About our trip to Portland for New Year’s, Sprinklefest and the other fun things that we have done.  But it will have to wait for another post, I am tired, like I am most nights after a busy, but wonderful day with my family.

at Marymere Falls

He looked nervous for all of 2 seconds when he first saw the chaos of the playground.  Then he saw a friend, dropped his backpack and took off running and laughing.  When the bell rang, all the kids ran toward the school and Zach grabbed his backpack and followed the stream of kids just like he knew where to go.  We walked him to his classroom, and without any drama and just like he had been doing it for years, he hung up his backpack

and then sat in the chair where his nametag was.  He didn’t even say good-bye.  After an awkward moment, with all the kids in their chairs and all the parents standing there, the teacher shooed us out of the door.  We left, Arlo holding onto our hands, and me holding back tears.

I picked Zach up a few hours later.  They released each kid, one at a time to their parents.  When Zach saw me, his entire face lit up and he raced into my arms for a big hug.  ”How was is Zach? Did you have a great day?”

“Yeah Mom!  I had a gingerbread bear cookie!”

Because it is, in the end, all about the treats…

Zach’s first K art project

Arlo walked the entire way except for three very brief “uppies” and he was very proud of himself.

We arrived at the waterfall just in time for a spectacular rainbow and to capture my new favorite family photo.

After we got back to our campsite, we had dinner and then s’mores.  Both boys were plastered with marshmellow goop and Arlo especially was quite pleased with himself.

Then we went to a Ranger program about Salmon.  The boys were so attentive, especially Zachary.  At one point the Ranger was asking questions of the audience and said “What are the dangers to salmon as they migrate back up the river?”  Several people gave answers and then Zachary yelled out “They might be buried!”.    The Ranger didn’t even miss a beat and said “Yes!  They could be buried my landslides! “

The boys were too tired to complain about going to bed and fell asleep easily.  In the middle of the night, it started raining, which would have been fine except the rain fly was under the tent being used as a ground cover.  Luckily, I married the kind of man who crawls out of a tent in the middle of the night, yanks the tent fly out from under his sleeping wife and children and then covers them.

It was still raining when we woke up, and the kids were sleep deprived and not so happy.  So we quickly packed up camp and headed to the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort for breakfast.  By the time we finished breakfast, the hot spring pools were open and it had stopped raining.  Everyone enjoyed the pools for a few hours and then it was time to head back home.  Both boys were so tired they napped in the car, transferred to their beds once home (a rare nap feat in this household) and each slept for a total of four hours!

Guess what the last thing Zach said to me before he went to bed tonight?  ”Mom!  When can we go camping again?!”

Once we got home, Joe took the boys down to the dock with their new fishing poles.  The photos look a lot more docile than the actual experience (which involved both lines completely tangled, half of one pole taken apart and both kids briefly brought back to the house so my husband could curse and untangle by himself)

I will feel the sun and warmth and fun of this day long after I go to bed tonight.  A rare sunny warm day having fun with my family.  How wonderful is that.

Arlo waiting for his friends to arrive to his Birthday Party

How best to describe Arlo at 3?  Chubby cheeks still with a hint of baby, but a vocabulary and bearing of an older child.  He adores his trains and can’t bear to part with them at meal or bedtimes.  His imagination is impressive (and probably benefits from an older sibling).  ”Mama!  Pretend I am a saber-tooth T-rex swimming dinosaur and I am your baby but I died so you are sad.  Now I came back to life and you are so happy!  Do you want a kiss?  This is how a T-rex swimming dinosaur kisses…  sslurp-HISS!  

His babyhood is disappearing (or has it disappeared?) “Mama!  I am NOT a BABY.  You do NOT have any more babies!  You only have big guys”

The big guys in Seattle in May 2011

He got a rock in his ear yesterday at daycare and I had to pick him up early and bring him to my office to have it removed.  He was incredible… no drama, no tears.  Just sat completely still while she removed the rock.  Amazing.

And that sums it up, I suppose.  That is what you are Arlo, amazing.  Simply amazing.  I love you.  Happy Birthday!

We had a great trip planned for this weekend- we were going to take our bikes and the kids and ride the ferries to Salt Spring Island and stay at a cute little villa.  So we were super disappointed to miss out on our trip.  The kids are finally big enough for real adventures, and then suddenly here we are, grounded again.

We got a canoe this week and Joe felt well enough to take it out for the first time today, and while we may have only spent thirty minutes on the lake, the kids loved it and we got a little “adventure” into our day.

There will be other summers and other trips to look forward to.  For right now, I am just thankful for a peaceful day at the Lake and that Joe’s eye will be just fine.

Today was the kids marathon in downtown Port Angeles, part of the North Olympic Disovery Marathon.  The older kids can log miles and then run the last mile at the event so that they run a true “marathon”.  The little kids can just run the one mile at the event.  We took the boys down there today and just had an amazing experience.

There must have been 200 kids there.  Each kid got a race bid, t-shirt and medal.  Zach was convinced he was going to win.  He took off like a shot at the beginning and was weaving crazily around the bigger older kids to keep in front; I had to sprint to keep up with him.  Arlo had it cushy in the stroller.

About halfway, Zach totally ran out of steam and then mostly walked to the finish.  He didn’t seem super enthused about the experience until we got home and he was laying in bed with his medal and I asked him how he felt about himself from running so far and he said “I feel super proud of myself.  Can we do that again next year?”

I am so inspired by all the kids and families out running today!  And I am so proud to have such a cool event here in our hometown of Port Angeles.  We’ll be back next year!

YOU are a GREAT MOM