More Vacation Fun

A few more shots from our family vacation on the Oregon Coast: 

"Makin' a cake!" with daddy.

Sandy boys.

Beach bum. 

Never a dull moment with this kid!

Proposal Rock

Rolin wasn't much up for standing in the giant shark mouth. Can't say I blame him!

Breakfast at The Cafe on Hawk Creek. 

Sea stars at the aquarium. 

Magnet fishing at the aquarium.

Hurricane simulator at the aquarium. Rolin was...well...confused:

We had packed a picnic lunch, but, in true Oregon-Coast style, it was pouring rain during lunch time. We made the best of it in the car!

On our way back to Washington at the end of the week, we stopped at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Ore. It's a HUGE complex, made up of several buildings. The Spruce Goose is there, along with quite a bit of air and space exploration paraphernalia. It took us about three hours to get through what we could before they were closing up shop, but it would be easy to spend an entire day or two there, if you're really in to aviation and space (like any wife and mom of two boys should be, I (now) understand). 

Rolin got to ride solo -- meaning by himself and as the only one on the ride -- in this neat airplane ride. They had the area roped off as there was a field trip happening, but upon seeing little Rolly, the older gentleman in charge of guarding the area offered to let Rolin in for a little fun. He was all smiles the whole time!

We ended our week at Justin's grandma's house for an early Mother's Day celebration. It was fun to finally see everyone all in one place!

Out of Africa Adventures

When Justin's parents visited in April, we headed north to the Grand Canyon (you can read about that here). On the way home, we stopped at a wildlife park called Out of Africa. It is not similar to a zoo at all, except for the fact there are wild animals for your viewing enjoyment.

It's much more spread out and all animals are in an open space. Here are a few pics from our trip:

Rolin got to feed a giraffe!

Then the giraffe came on our bus!

"Yo, what's up?"

Rolin wanted to see this rhino up close, so I took him over there and lifted him swiftly up to pose for a pic on the rhino's nose (bridge?). That's when Rolin flipped out...it hadn't occurred to me he might think this statue was a real rhino. Oops! I felt like such a schmuck after I figured out why he was so upset. After some reassuring, he was ok with the rhino. Whew!

A highlight of the park is the tiger play area. Park workers get inside a huge cage with two live tigers to, you know, just play around with them as if they were house cats. 

Tug-of-war with TIGERS.

Tigers in the pool:

A pretty white tiger enjoying some sun. 

Grandpa was again a champ for carting Rolin around all day. 

In summer...

Me: Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer, and the sun, and all things hot! 

Any Phoenician: Really? I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat? 

Me: Nope! But sometimes, I like to close my eyes and imagine what it'd be like when summer does come...a drink in my hand...my snow (-colored skin) up against the burning sand, probably getting gorgeously tan in summer.

You may recognize this dialogue from the particularly popular children's movie Frozen.

It's the convo between a Christof, a Nordic ice gatherer, and Olaf the snowman. It's the snowman who hasn't ever experienced real heat.

Guys, I'm like the snowman! I thought growing up in eastern Washington, where temps would reach the low 100s on occasion, had prepared me. I thought spending some time in Australia, where summer had started to settle in by the time it was for me to leave, had prepared me even more.

Friends of mine will even tell you I've said, "I like it hot. I like to know my bones are warm!"

It's true. I prefer heat to cold.

However.

It's hot here. Like, really hot. All. The. Time. At 1 a.m. it's 90F. At 5 p.m. it's 109F. It's been this way for more than a month and it's only going to get hotter.

You know when you're outside and it's hot, but then you feel a breeze start up and you think, "Oh, good! A breeze!" You'll think the same here, but then you'll start crying when you realize the breeze is blowing hotter air.

I'm so grateful we live in a home with AC. There are also pools (aka luke warm community baths) in our neighborhood, which have helped to un-swell my feet a couple times.

Don't get me wrong, I really do like it here in Arizona, I'm just done telling myself it's not too hot. It's hot. And being pregnant makes me feel even hotter. We're also in monsoon season, which makes for significant and state-wide thunderstorms. These storms cause humidity, as well as dust storms, called haboobs. They're pretty intense!

Like I said, I'm glad we've found a few ways to (sorta) beat the heat!

This video is from more than a month ago, when I filled up an inflatable baby bathtub so Rolin could splash around outside:

Sharing the tub this time, and enjoying popsicles. 

Washington trip

I forgot to mention previously we met up with some buddies the first day we landed in Spokane. We grabbed some lunch and ice cream at one of our favorite old haunts on the South Hill, The Scoop, then hit up Cannon Hill Park to let the boys run around a bit before we strapped Rolin in the car for the trip to Grandview. Baby Jack and baby Rolin used to spend a lot of time at Cannon Hill Park, but they were never able to walk on their own, for they were just babes at the time. Jill and I did quite a few walks around that park, so it was especially fun to see Rolin and Jack running around, chasing each other and looking for ducks in the pond. 

The boys talking about good ol' days at the park.

Jack, Jill, Rolin and me looking for ducks near the pond.

Jack and Rolin at the park:

We spent a few days in Grandview before and after our beach trip. Rolin loved running free at Grandpa and Gigi's the week we stayed with them in Washington. I think his favorite part was he could get someone to take him outside any time he made the request. It wasn't too hot to go outside and there was always a grandparent willing to open the door and follow him outside. I can't believe it's almost been two months since we were there!

We got to see quite a few relatives while in town. He relished all the attention from grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins (second cousins, but cousins all the same). 

Playing catch with the ladies.

Posing for a pic with Aunt Brianna and Uncle Joe (after a rousing game of wrestling on the couch pillows with Uncle Joe). 

Riding the rocking horse that we used to ride as kids! He kept saying, "Cowboy! Yeeeeeeeha!"

Helping Gigi at the flower nursery.

If you hang around long enough at Gigi and Grandpa's, you'll want to join in on the yard work. 

Checking out Grandpa's tractor.

"Cowboy!"

Rolin has been pretending a lot more these days. The following video was one of the first few times he did some pretending with one his stuffed friends. Here are Rolin and tiger, sharing a little peanut butter toast with berries:

Rolin pretends to feed his tiger:

Grandpa and Rolin also had several pool noodle fights. We have some noodles at our house now too, so if you hear his war cry coming from behind you, be sure to prepare to defend yourself!

Rolin vs. Grandpa, Round I