Consequences

Occasionally, at long intervals, I actually do something RIGHT.

This morning I was on my way out the back door with a load of laundry when I heard the boys in the playroom having a somewhat heated conversation about their toys.

I try to balance letting them work things out on their own (!) with training them to to be patient, polite, kind etc. so I went on out and hung the laundry before I went in to check on them. The frustration level was still pretty high, and the floor was covered with building projects. I reminded them that if they couldn’t work it out and play nicely, the K’NEX would have ‘go away’.

A moment of silence… pondering that.

I started to walk away and heard Wyatt say, “Yeah, guys, remember the Lego-Fast?!”


YEESSSSSSSS!!!

Last year, when I got tired of hearing them bicker about whose LEGOs were whose, and who built what, ad nauseam, the LEGOS had to ‘go away’ for awhile. Weeks. We called it the Lego-Fast.

They remembered! That actually sobered them up a bit. It worked!

As I headed upstairs for another load of laundry I heard Gunnar say, very politely,

“Could somebody please help me? Like, Wyatt for instance?”

WALL-E

We don't go to actual movies in a theater very often, for three reasons:

1. I'm kind of just a wee bit picky about what I want to pay for (you know, you vote with your money...)
2. It costs an arm and a leg.
3. With Tate's hearing loss, he misses a lot of the dialog. If he's already familiar with the plot , (like Prince Caspian, which we had read), he does fine. But if the plot is complex and unfamiliar, and especially if the dialog goes fast or there is an accent involved... we might as well wait for the DVD, which we can PAUSE, and REWIND so he can 'hear' it better.

Which made WALL-E just about perfect!

3. There really wasn't much dialog!
2. We went to the bargain matinee.
and,
1. WALL-E had some surprisingly good themes, worth talking over with the kids.

PluggedInOnline has a great review, but here's my $.02...

The background to the story seems a bit familiar...

WALL-E is alone on Earth, and lonely. EVE appears, and he falls in love... robot love. Sweet, innocent, nothing that would make your grandmother blush.

All the humans are away, on the ark-like "Axiom", because Earth is uninhabitable. EVE is sent to look for plant-life, as an indicator that Earth is ready to be recolonized. (See any parallels yet?)

But that's just the background for a great "love" story - not the mushy kind. Even the boys loved it, and here's the really good stuff:

* WALL-E is alone (but for a cockroach-friend), lonely, faced with an enormous and overwhelming task, and every day he goes out and works at it. Even with no one watching over him, and with no reward.

* Once WALL-E and EVE become friends, they loyally rescue and protect each other.

* And here's my favorite... When WALL-E gives EVE a living plant, it triggers something in her wiring. She signals the transport ship and becomes "dormant". WALL-E faithfully and sweetly cares for her, seemingly for weeks (?), even though she is completely unresponsive.

Pretty cool for a little G-rated Pixar flick!

NorthWest Trek

When we were down in Ashford we decided to spend a day at NW Trek... we picked Wednesday, July 2nd.

If you're not familiar with it, NW Trek is a 700+ acre wildlife park with animals that are native to the Pacific Northwest, exhibited in forests, wetlands, and meadows. It's not a cheap day (though if I'd been smart I would've packed a lunch - they allow you to bring in food and drink), but well worth it. We all enjoyed the park, and would recommend it. :0)

I don't recommend going on a day with temps in the mid to upper 80's and oppressive humidity. Many of the animals, with their 'fur coats', were basically just laying (lying?) around, panting! I didn't get many good pics. Kerry snapped this one of the Grizzly Bear scratching his back, much to the boys' delight.

And I love this one. It looks like the Pacific Giant Salamander was waving at us. He didn't mind the heat, (being underwater).

The boys also loved being at the right place at the right time to see the keeper feeding a snake - a Rubber Boa - some kind of hairless baby mouse. Gross. But watching the snake swallow it was kind of cool.

For boys.

Tahoma Creek

Hmmmm. Apparently Kerry didn't get any close-ups of Wyatt while we were hiking. Probably due to the fact that Wyatt is in perpetual motion, and often ranging ahead or above the rest of us... not far, not making me worried, just seeing where he can get.

He loved crossing the snow fields, and would climb up to the top and "ski" down on his shoes.

He's the blue spot in this picture. :0)








Gunnar was much happier to stay right next to me. (See the earlier post called Taking Care of Mom?)

He enjoyed the hike, and liked climbing over all these boulders that were washed down Tahoma Creek in previous cycles of flooding.












Tate, being Tate, caught this frog along the trail. He's always catching something... animals, fortunately, and not diseases.

I think he must've caught about 30 frogs during the four days we were down by Rainier. He just likes to hold them for awhile, and then he lets them go.

Mountain Goats

No, not the white hairy kind... we saw those at NW Trek. I mean this kind! We were getting ready to launch down the trail on a hike, but these boys would rather go UP. They would've charged right up to that waterfall without batting an eye. And believe me, it's a lot steeper than it looks in the picture!














The smaller mountain goat wasn't quite as sure of himself... but he was being very brave, and making a second attempt to get up where his brothers were.

The Creek

Last week, we all went down to Ashford to visit Grandpa Burke (Kerry's dad) and Granny Mary. Thankfully the weather was good and the kids were able to be outside the vast majority of the time. Give them open spaces, water, and animals to watch or possibly even catch, and they are in hog heaven.

They spent a LOT of time playing in the creek, but - being boys - they don't just play in the creek.

I mean, water is fun, but mud... well, even better! When I saw Gunnar covered with mud, I knew Tate had to be involved. (Thankfully, he had remembered to leave his HA in the house!)



Sure enough.

I'm sure he pioneered this activity!

I'm just glad we don't have leeches.

And they managed to stay out of all the stinging nettles!







Of course, Wyatt wasn't content just to walk through the water either...

I think he was trying to make a bark 'skim board'.

I'm guessing, from the wet marks up his backside, that he was having rather limited success making the thing go.











And, of course, what self-respecting boy would be content playing in the SAFE areas of the creek, when he could climb up and down the slippery, moss-covered stones of the waterfall over and over and over again!

Boys just have to conquer. And there were no major falls, no broken bones or anything.

Ready to take on the world... or at least the summer

I can hardly believe my "baby" is seven! Gunnar is compassionate and tender-hearted. Everyone he meets is his "new buddy". He is all smiles and sparkly blue eyes. He tells me I'm his favorite mom :0)














And here's my nine-and-a-half year old. Sometimes we get a picture of Tate, and I think I can see what he'll look like as an adult... one handsome guy with a big grin and Grandpa's green/blue/gray eyes.














And Wyatt, who will be 12 in just four days... look at all those muscles! He's a sharp looking brown eyed bundle of intensity and enthusiasm.

Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrr! Shiver me timbers!

The last weekend of June, Kerry went over to Victoria, BC, for the Tall Ship Festival. Four days of old sailing ships... very cool.

He'll have to get on and write a description of the ships, because I can't identify them all.

Taking care of Mom?

We were on a family hike a couple days ago, and the boys - being boys - all immediately searched for "walking sticks". The trail crossed patches of snow, two or three creeks, and boulder fields at times, as we walked along a river bed that has had devastating flooding over the last few years. Lots to see, lots to hear, and lots of rocks to throw!

Gunnar and I walked together most of the time, as his short little legs can't always keep up, and he's not as sure of his balance sometimes. But - being a boy - he'd never want to let THAT be known!

So, as he was going down a short but steep section of loose rock, he reached out and grabbed my hand. In a sturdy little voice he said, "It's a good thing I have this walking stick, mom, so I can stabilize myself... and YOU!"



Wouldn't you love to hold these hands?!

Where to find the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion?

Saw this on vacation, and had to admire the creative thought here.

When you make your living this way, I'm sure it helps to have a sense of humor!