Mt. Rainier Part 2

Friday was our big day out last week. I got done unspeakably early with work, and as we sat around debating about a movie, Jon proposed we go back to Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful day. We packed a lunch and drove. What an amazing difference compared to a month ago! There was still snow, but so much had melted and flowers were growing. The only obstacle we had to contend with was a bit of road construction in the park. It was nice and cool up there. We drove along with the windows down. We had lunch in a nice little picnic area and stopped at Paradise to see the view, which is very close to the mountain. We also bought a panoramic puzzle of Mt. Rainier, a tradition we started way back as a somewhat useful souvenir of our trips. We figure we won't stash it in a drawer and never look at it again. Below, Ben's not sure what to think of snowballs.

What Does He Know?

As I observed Ben this morning in his innocently destructive behavior, I had another wondering of what goes on in his little baby mind. He sat here shredding a section of newspaper, as he often has. He also will rip pages out of a magazine and tear them to little pieces. He's even ripped the covers off our logic book and crosswords. But earlier he found one of daddy's books and just sat calmly paging through. He does not rip pages out of books. He just flips through. Does he somehow know he'd be in huge trouble if he ripped daddy's books? What keeps him from doing it?

Now if he'd only stop going for the power button on the computer...

Holy Cow, Are You Here Again?

I have lately found my mind wandering back home to a magnet on my fridge. I received this magnet from a lady when I worked as a CNA in college. She made these for a lot of people, mind you, not just me. This magnet is a little red cow with the words Holy Cow, Are You Here Again? (I also received a rooster, but that's irrelevant to the story.) This magnet, of course, is made for you to put on your fridge and look at it every time you want to open the door. It has really only deterred me once or twice. Being pregnant, I feel like I am either eating or hungry all the time. I have noticed this more lately because a certain little boy will stand against my legs and beg or reach for what I have. He definitely has an eye for food. I wonder if he's picking up bad habits right now, even at 10 months of age? He seems content when there is not food around and will come after me when he's hungry. I suppose that's why we buy healthy food, right? I guess we can't have that baseball team or my kids will think I never stop eating:)

Who Needs Toys?

Yet another week and I really have nothing to write about, but I thought I would at least let you know since I'm sure everyone is on the edge of their seat just waiting to see what great adventure we've had this week. Sorry to disappoint. But I would like to show you Ben's fascination with the dishwasher. The first picture I'm unloading and he's going in and out with the rack and clapping. The second one I'm not positive what he's trying to accomplish. I always have a hard time getting the door closed when he's around. He also likes to pull out the silverware. Unfortunately, we won't have this "toy" back in Michigan.

We went to a little market on Saturday and got some fruit, including a little bucket of yummy strawberries. We also got some corn on the cob, so we'll have to try that this week. We were told it's very good. One thing I've missed is going out every summer and picking corn out of the field and having it that very night for supper. We broke down and bought some last summer from the grocery store, but it's just not the same.

I will spare you more reminiscing. Have a good week and I'll try to think of more exciting things to write about.

Another Weekend Past

Here we are on another Monday with another eventful weekend past. This time we headed back to Minnesota for my brother's wedding. We drove up to Seattle Wednesday evening and flew out at 12:40 to arrive in Minneapolis around 6:00 a.m. We spent Thursday and most of Friday preparing for the wedding, which was Friday evening outside. It was a beautiful day and a very nice wedding. Ben got lots of attention from both sides of the family. He also learned to clap. We got to spend time with friends and family and didn't get a lot of sleep all weekend. We flew out Saturday evening, arriving back in Seattle around 7:00 and finally getting home about 10:30. This was Ben's first airplane ride and he did well overall. The planes were packed so there was little wiggle room for him. This is the second summer in a row where I've flown pregnant, and I hope to not make that a tradition.

We went Sunday to worship with the Sea to Sea cyclists in a nice shady park. Ben got to try out his clapping in a real-world situation. It was a good service and we actually met a rider originally from our home church. What a Dutch world we live in! The first week has been a lot of work for them in the mountains, so hopefully the next few are a little less straining.

We are now trying to catch up on sleep, which I've heard is actually impossible to do.

I meant to post more pictures of our Columbia River trip, but I was having troubles last week. If you don't see any in the next couple of days, they aren't coming.