Thursday Night

The cold weather and rain seem to be coming around again and again this winter, which is great for me because I'm really getting a lot of mileage out of all those pairs of boots I've collected over the years. The only bummer is that we're expecting family from Oregon tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure rainy weather is not what they'd hoped for from this trip. It reminds me of when I've looked forward to cool, rainy Oregon summers, and for the past couple years they've been warm and sunshiney. Not such a terrible thing...what's important is that we'll all be hanging out together.

Well, we made it to the best time of the entire week. We've really seemed to find our groove with this whole school/work thing. It doesn't seem like a tremendous effort or an exhausting endeavor anymore. I don't worry about Graham's long day at daycare or rushing anyone off too early in the morning anymore. It just is what it is, and I finally feel like we've adapted to it. I'm sure we'll run into plenty more rough mornings and evenings on these days, but for the most part, we've got our act together. It has certainly helped that Dylan's been around and can pick the boys up a little earlier than normal. Also, Graham moved up into Room 2 a couple weeks ago, and Dylan has shown up to find him playing outside a few times. Of course, without shoes or a jacket...but who cares?! G2 loves the outdoors, and we're so glad he has finally broken free of Room 1 and has some room to explore. I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to move up until he was walking, but the daycare girls were probably thinking: This kid is so big and so old that we're moving him even though he's still on all fours. My children...not real quick to the walking game. But it's okay, they can still hang!

Our days off were pretty standard. Dylan's schedule is usually jam packed, but the boys and I have had plenty of time to explore. We even took a field trip to the train park on Monday. I kept Graham in the baby carrier while taking Gavin to ride the train and carousel. It really made me realize what a long way we've come with Gavin. He stood still and waited patiently in the train line for about 20 minutes. If I hadn't been fully confident that he would cooperate, I would have never gotten in line with him and 25 pounds of baby strapped to my front. Things went south after our ice cream break, but I'd say it was a successful outing in general.

Pit stop at the gym to eat some snacks before carrying on with our day

All aboard

Lookout tower

Oh, the Superman ice cream

I witnessed this kid transform into a miniature psycho...

...right before my eyes before he had even taken his final bite.

We checked out the model trains for a minute...

...and then it was time to convince this guy to get in the car because we were DONE. 

I can't recall anything too memorable from our Wednesday, so I'll allow the pictures to do the talking.

When your kid invites you to hunt for bugs when the sun is barely up and it's 40 degrees outside...

...you just do it. And you wear a smile, too.

The best part of swim class this week was watching these little knuckleheads cause trouble. Gavin's friend from school named Gavin was also in his class this week, and the pool monitor had to tell them to keep their hands to themselves. Haha.

G2 is exploring a ton and becoming more independent every day. I could listen to his babbles all day long. He makes the funniest sounds. He is just too dang sweet.

Miles of smiles!

As I was taking pictures of Graham, Gavin rolled up and smiled because he wanted me to take his picture. He can't bear to share the attention.

Testing out the suspension on this thing.

Today, my friend at work pointed out that Gavin has a dirty face in every picture. And then I came across the Boomerang below with his chin covered in chocolate. What a mess.

If I had anything more interesting to share, I promise you I'd share it. But things are oh-so-boring...which is not a bad thing at all. You know I'm really reaching when I start off a blog post with an update on the weather. Yawn.