Family Band

Give Owen a few more weeks and he'll be ready for The Big Time....

Thank You Grama Margie!

We LOVE the hat. He would have slept in it if we let him.
Thank you...... we miss you!

My, What a Busy Month!

Hello Friends and Family!
Yes - we know... it's been a long time since our last post. Ever since we returned from our trip to Colorado we've been a tad bit preoccupied. Papa was given a "permanent vacation" from his job, and thus, our thoughts have been on other things.
That being said, we've been keeping our heads on straight by doing some fun things with our Little Dude! He is so much fun to be around right now, and we have been dishing out the experiences as fast as he can take them... and he's been a Super Trooper!

Here is a little photo montage for you of the last few weeks...

We've been building some epic train villages!




We've been playing at the park!





We fed the Lorikeets at the Zoo!



We turned The Dude into a Mer-Man at the beach!



Then we bought him some shades and went camping out in Eastern Oregon!



Having Papa around has been a real treat... and thanks to Owen, we are keeping our sense of humor intact.

The Dude abides.

Two months shy of Two

The Dude is getting bigger before our eyes. He's progressing... growing. His vocabulary seems to double each day, and his memory is pretty incredible.

We realized as the 10th day of August blew past us, that it won't be that long now before Owen is two years old. Some days it's hard for us to remember that he is not yet two.... and other days, it's hard to believe that he's no longer a little baby, and is going to be TWO.

We're bracing ourselves. In little bits we've started to see the "problem areas" that could bite us if the Terrible Two's do in fact show up. He has his Papa's intention, and (unfortunately) his Mama's temper. He is beginning to express himself and understands that he has a voice. Thankfully, his sweetness and his lovingness has grown more profound. He's a lover - not a fighter. And we're holding our breath that it stays this way.



We're just along for the ride.

Beach Bum

We've had record heat here in P-Town the last week or so... and we mean RECORD heat. We're talking 100 degrees PLUS. Yikes. We decided to ditch our non-air conditioned abode and head for cooler temperatures. Luckily, we live close to the ocean where the fog socks in the coast and, for a while at least, you can beat the heat.

Unfortunately, everybody and their brother had the same idea.... fortunately, we are equipped with a mobile hotel...complete with cooking apparatus - we call her "Goldie".

We packed her to the gills with everything we could imagine we would need for an overnight trip (you'd be surprised...), including the dog, and hit the road. We ended up at a campground that had only a few spots left, and we took one close to the beach. It wasn't ideal, but then again, sleeping in our oven-like house was not an option. For only one night, it did the trick. Besides, The Dude was more excited about the beach than the camp spot anyways... so it didn't really matter.

Keep in mind that Owen has really only had one other "beach experience" and that was when he was a non-walker... so this trip was really the maiden voyage for him.



He wasn't too sure at first... but after a couple of minutes of some hands-on sand time, he was hooked.



Really, the whole trip was a big experience for him.... we introduced him to the ocean, organized camping (at a State campground, that is), and campfires!



And, like most things, he took in everything with "dude-like" style. He was calm, collected, and absolutely stoked to sleep in "Poppy's Bus". It was fun to watch.

The next day, we packed things up and headed north. We had a feeling that the sun would be a little bit more likely to break thru the thick fog up there, so we headed to one of Momma & Pappa's favorite spots. It was unusually crowded for a Monday, probably since the temperatures in town were so high, but that didn't matter. Owen was just excited to have some sand, open space and a space to "ice skate" (what he called playing in the waves - not sure what that was all about).











Big floppy hat? Check.

Goofy swim shorts? Check.

Sand in every orifice? Check.

The Happiest Kid in the World? Priceless.

"Auntie Crickett had a Farm...."

This video tells you multiple things.

#1: The Dude has been singing a lot of "Old MacDonald"... but in his case, it's either "Uncle Donald had a farm..." or "Auntie Crickett had a farm...E-E-E-E-O!"

#2: He has figured out on our new video camera that if we rotate the lens towards him, he can see himself in the LCD screen. (It's hard for Mama to keep the lens on him though... so pardon the moving around)

#3: You witness, at the end, his "mad face". When The Dude is not liking something he will pout his lips out and express his upset-ness. We've been seeing this a lot more lately, as he is starting discover that he can express himself when he doesn't like something. Or if things aren't going his way. Or if he is mad. (We try to respect his feelings, but can't help from smirking because it's so darn CUTE!)

A Fish Called Blue

On Saturday we walked down the street to our neighbors garage sale. Mama had a couple dollar bills burning a hole in her pocket, and the sale was mostly kid stuff ("Sophie's Stuff" to be exact - one of the little girls on our street that The Dude has a big crush on) so we knew we would walk away with something good.

After perusing the Hello Kitty selection and the My Little Ponies, Owen headed up the steps into the "grown up" section where we found plates, various kitchen knick-knacks and picture frames. He headed right for a crusty, old fish bowl (years empty, we're sure) with neon turquoise rocks. Of course, The Dude new exactly what it was for...

"FISH!" he exclaimed loudly (which he does often these days...). He tried to pick it up, but Mama stopped him and got down on his level.

(M)"Do you want to take this home Owen?"
(O)"Yes."
(M)"We'll have to go to the fish store and get you a fish to put in it..."
(O)"OK!!"

And down the stairs to the sidewalk he went, running towards our house.
It had been decided.

As Mama was searching her pockets for the two bucks that they were asking for the thing, a woman approached us and told us that she had a free fish for us. She just lived on the next block, and we could come over that moment and get it. Really? A free fish? To put in our new fish bowl? It must have been fate....

About fifteen minutes later, we carefully walked down the block - being careful not to spill the fresh water and our new, beautiful fish onto the sidewalk - back to our house to introduce our newest pet to our home.

His name is Blue. He's a beta fish. And he fits in quite nicely.
And Owen LOVES him.



*Parent's note: We don't normally let Owen climb onto the table. This was a one time thing so that we were able to capture the moment of his excitement. The fish now lives in his room, safely out of reach - but definitely within view for short people...