Camping at Lake Roosevelt

We went for a four day camping trip to Lake Roosevelt. It was Rylan's first camping trip and he did great! Despite playing all day without naps and going to bed about 11 every night, the kids did great! Rylan was a little better at sleeping in until 8 while big brother was up at 6:30 every morning. It was a great four days, but it was exhausting!

Playing at the campsite.

My camping boys

This was an early morning swim. We took the boys down to the lake because most of our neighbors were still sleeping (I think it was about 7 am). We couldn't get Rylan to keep his clothes on. They had so much fun!

The boys loved sitting in the back of their dump trucks and rolling down a little hill at our camp site.

Rylan finally caved in and took a nap thanks to our friend Kevin who managed to put him to sleep.

Brennen went for a tube ride with mommy and daddy. We actually got to go fairly fast!

Rylan thought his bucket made a pretty good seat.

Brennen was so excited to go see the Grand Coulee Dam up close. We toured the dam on the way out of town. It was 104 out that day. He also really liked the laser light show. We took him to see it twice.

Rylan was less impressed with the dam tour.

Brennen looking out the elevator on the tour.

Brennen walking on top of the dam.

The car ride home. Brennen finally zonked out...

...and Rylan played with Rescue Heroes.

A Day at the Zoo

On July 27, Phil played hooky and we all went to the zoo. It was a really fun day since this is the first time Rylan was old enough to really enjoy it.

My cave boys

Hanging with Mommy

You never know what might hatch from a dinosaur egg!

"If you are my sons then you must communicate with the animals!"

My butterfly emerges from his cocoon.

Brennen thought it was so cool that he got to feed a parakeet.

4th of July

Birthday Boy!

On the 4th of July we barbecued with our neighbors and had a little yogurt pie to celebrate Rylan's birthday. He loved it!

On Friday, we celebrated with a birthday party just for Rylan. Curious George, one of Rylan's favorites, was the theme. He was a little overwhelmed by the whole process.

Rylan wanted to play with his buddies instead of open presents. However, after everyone went home he happily tried all his new toys. He loved them!

Happy Birthday Rylan!

Rylan turned 2 on the 4th of July. He has grown so much! He is now 37" tall and 29 lbs. He is a running, jumping, happy boy. He likes to tackle his brother and pull him to the ground. He also likes trucks, tractors, dogs, cats, and friends. His vocabulary is currently growing by leaps and bounds. Every day we hear new words from him. Last night he told his friend Logan, "My chair!" and told the doctor "no me!" when his brother was being examined. However, with "age" comes new adventures. Rylan gets to visit the allergist for the first time. The poor guy has such bad eczema on the back of his legs and arms that we are currently using a prescription medicine. He often gets a splotchy rash on his face so we are going to examine some possible food allergies as well as environmental (I think our cat is a little nervous!). Hopefully, we will learn that he simply has sensitive skin, but given the family history we need to look at it more seriously.

Pool Boy

Daddy's Helper

Phil received some help while assembling our new grill. As you can imagine, Rylan's expertise added a bit of time to the whole process.

A Beautiful Day and a New Slip-N-Slide

Brennen received his first slip-n-slide on his birthday. He loves it! He has been on it constantly. Our neighbor friend, Naomi, came over one afternoon to try it too. Rylan loved it too, although I didn't manage to get any pictures of him. It makes my back and knees hurt just watching them.

Random Scenes from June

Here are some random June pictures to enjoy.



I took this picture of Rylan after he fell asleep in the middle of lunch. I guess that is what happens when you get up at 5 am and refuse to go back to sleep.
Daddy took the training wheels off! However, we only had one day of practice and Brennen wasn't that into it. It could be because he was getting sick. He ended the day with a temp of 104. We'll try again another day.


This was daddy trying to teach Rylan about camping. He does not do well unless he is in his own crib in his own house. He was still running around the tent at 11pm. He is a tough nut to crack!

Brennen turns 5!

On June 11 , Brennen turned 5! We had a small celebration at home with mommy, daddy, and Rylan. Brennen asked for pizza and chocolate cake. It was a fun night playing, opening presents and thinking back over the last 5 years. Time sure flies and kids sure grow fast! I am so thankful for these 5 years at home with my son. I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on any of his moments for anything. It is a sacrifice to stay home, but so worth it!

On June 15, Brennen had a birthday party with all his friends (I think we had 16 in all!) at Fairhaven Park. We were hoping for nice, sunny weather to enjoy the playground and splash park, but we got rain. However, that didn't stop my son and some of his friends from running through the rain and the splash park fully clothed. They had a lot of fun! Brennen picked a Lego theme for his party and a lot of the kids stayed in the dry building and used their imaginations to build all kinds of wonderful Lego creations.

The Lego cupcakes made by mommy.
Building a spaceship with Legos.
Blowing out the candles.
These are yummy cupcakes!
Wow! My very own Air Hog!