The Sea Lion

Because Rowan is talking in his fast/high excited voice, I transcribed the conversation to help you follow along:

Rowan: Well, this is my sea lion and...

Me: Now wait a minute. What are you telling me about here?

Rowan: This is my sea lion made of your jewelry. And this is its nose, and it's holding a ball on its nose. See?

Me: That's cool. So did you make this?

Rowan: Yeah. Out of your jewelry. [If Rowan thinks that this is my jewelry, Kyle better buy me some nicer stuff! HA!]

Me: That's cool. Why did you decide that it's a sea lion?

Rowan: Because LOOK. See that? A ball on his nose? A tail like that! That's a sea lion. Except...it's not like a normal sea lion. It has a spot where water comes out.

Me: Oh, it has a spot where water comes out, so it's not like a normal sea lion?

Rowan: Nope, it's just like a fake sea lion. See that?

Me: Cool. K, give us a smile!

First Camping Trip

We took Rowan on his first tent camping trip recently. We all had a GREAT time! The weather was on the cool side, but we stayed toasty warm in our tent. And it was even warm enough in the afternoon for Rowan to do a little swimming.


On the way to the camp site, we stopped to have lunch in a park. We feasted on turkey sandwiches, home-popped popcorn, salmon salad and sliced apples.

When we arrived at the state park, we immediately set up camp. Rowan loved playing inside of the tent!

We had a hard time convincing him to come out of the tent to go exploring!

But we finally coaxed him out. And I made him pose for at least one picture with his mom. I always seem to be the one behind the camera, but I want to make sure that Rowan knows that I was present during his childhood!

After I got my picture, we did a little hiking.

Rowan liked to stay in front, confidently declaring, "I'm the leader!"

We watched many boats go by on Lake Andrew.

By late afternoon, it was warm enough for a dip in the lake! I can't believe how old Rowan looks in this picture. My little man is growing so fast!

I think Rowan enjoyed the water much more than Kyle! Why is it that cold water never seems to phase little kids?

After swimming, Kyle started a fire, and I made dinner. We ate hot dogs and hobo packs filled with potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions and mushrooms. And of course we toasted marshmallows and made s'mores for dessert!

When it got dark, Kyle took out the telescope and showed Rowan the moon!

We slept really well in our tent. When we woke up, Kyle started another fire, and I made breakfast. We had apple cinnamon muffins, hard-boiled eggs, turkey sausages (cooked in foil in the fire), yogurt and strawberries.

Rowan asked why we couldn't stay for a whole week! Um...I'm not sure that I could handle a full week of tent camping. Maybe a long weekend!

Kyle agrees! In fact, although he was a trouper (and the most experienced camper among us), he often could be heard spouting "Kylisms" about camping. Examples: "Why do fires have to create so much smoke?!" or "Next time, we're camping in a cabin!" or "Sleeping on the ground feels about like you'd expect."

He made such comments often enough that it became a running joke for me to sing a little jingle after each one. Rowan quickly picked up in it and joined in (leaving all of us laughing). Here are Rowan's renditions:

Starting Preschool

Starting in August, Rowan will be going to a preschool/daycare three days a week. He seems excited, but he has lots (and lots and lots) of questions. Here was our conversation this morning:

Rowan: Am I going to sit on a wooden chair with a desk at school?
Me: Uh...no, Rowan, it's just play school. You don't have to sit all day.
Rowan: [appalled] But aren't they going to teach me anything?!?!
Me: Yes, you'll learn things, but you don't need to sit at a desk to learn.

**long pause**

Rowan: Do you think they'll bring in a block of ice and have us do a science investigation?
Me: [laughing] I have no idea. Where did you even hear that?
Rowan: I saw it on Sid the Science Kid on PBS Kids dot org. He draws pictures in a journal of everything he learns.
Me: We can get you a journal, if you want one.
Rowan: REALLY?!?! I do want one!

We meet with his new teacher on Friday. I'll warn her to expect lots (and lots and lots) of questions. ;-)

-Angie

Snapshots From the Cabin

Watching the boats go by.

Splashing in the cool water.

Contemplating a sand castle project.

Hauling buckets of water to wet the sand.

Practicing his casting.

How far did it go?

Fishing off the dock.

Waiting...

Being patient is hard!

Any tips, Grandpa?

Gramps offers some casting instruction.

Success!

Feeding the sunnies with Grandma...

...and Grandpa.

Silly boy!

Walking to the boat, fishing gear in tow.

First catch of the evening!

Say cheese!

"Can we keep it?"

"Hooray!"

"Just don't put it too close to me, Grandma!"

Mini golfer.

Prisoner!

Sisters.

Family.

Sweethearts.

Cousins.

New Nephews!

I must interrupt additional San Francisco posts to announce some big news! Courtney and Joel's twins were born on Friday! Charlie Marvin and Breck Thomas both weighed over 6 pounds and are doing great!

We stopped by the hospital to visit them today.

Kyle got a big kick out of the statue near the front entrance. He even came up with a catchy slogan based on this piece of art:

Children's Hospital ~ Where We Treat Children Who Are Treated Like This.

No offense to the hospital or the artist, of course. It was just too funny not to post!

Anyhoo, the main event: TWIN BOYS! Charlie Marvin is on the left, and Breck Thomas is on the right. They were soooooooo sweet and snuggly!

Kyle with little Breck Thomas.

Me with little Charlie Marvin (who weighed only a few ounces less than Rowan when he was born - CRAZY!)

Rowan couldn't see the babies this time, because they're still in the NICU for monitoring (routine for any babies born before 36 weeks). Rowan looks forward to meeting them when they come home!

Congrats Courtney and Joel! You have a beautiful family!

San Francisco ~ Part I

Kyle and I had a great time in California earlier this month! A newsletter that I write won a Gold Quill from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). I attended the IABC World Conference in San Francisco and accepted the award at the Gold Quill Gala.

Kyle and I extended the trip to have a little second honeymoon. It was the first time we've been away from Rowan for more than two nights!

Here are a few highlights:

After we settled into the hotel the first day, we ventured out to explore the city. Our hotel was just a couple of blocks from the cable car turnaround. The line to board a car was outrageously long, but we thought we needed the full San Francisco experience. (We soon learned to take the bus or walk.)

Nearly an hour later, we were off! (Do I look a bit dazed? Let's just say that a wee bit of Xanax works great for nervous flyers. Thank you, sweet family practice doc!) Anyway, up the hills we went....

...and then we stopped (often) to let riders take pictures of the city. We did not stop, however, to let any new riders board the car. If you don't board downtown or at the wharf, you're out of luck. This ride is for tourists only!

We eventually made it to Fisherman's Wharf. Kyle took this picture of me in front of Alcatraz. A sweet older lady who walked by felt that this was a bit sad...

...so she offered to take a picture of Kyle and I together. (Thank you, sweet older lady!)

We also saw the famous sea lions. They were quite adorable!


After dinner, we decided to skip the cable car and walk home. We happened upon Lombard Street, the "crookedest street" in the city.

And we got some nice pictures from the top of the hills. Kyle updated his Monster account to include San Francisco as soon as we got home. (Good luck, sweet hubby!)

More to come...