Saturday, September 26, 2009

My big baby

Miles had his nine month check-up earlier this week (a month late). He was 23 pounds and 29" long which put him in the 75th percentile for each. Supposedly his head circumference was off the charts, but I don't think that's right--his head doesn't look super big to anyone.

Dinosaur Museum

We went to the Arizona Museum of Natural History with MOMS Club. I had heard about the museum before, but we had never gone. Will was super excited because they have dinosaur skeletons on display! There was also an alligator, and the kids got to pan for gold.

Triceratops, Will's favorite dinosaur:


Will and his friend Jayden panning for gold:


Will and his friend Josh in a Western:

Pump It Up

Recently my friend Jen and I were trying to come up with something active we could take the kids to since it was still (and still is) too hot for the kids to play outside. Our boys are going stir crazy being cooped up inside. I did some searching and found Pump It Up has open play times, so we took the kids to that. They had so much fun!

Will and Miles:


Will and his best friend Connor:

Our Newest Addition

Recently my MOMS Club went on a tour of our local Petco store. Each kid was given a coupon for 75% off a Betta fish. Will has been asking for a pet ever since we had to find a new home for Cindy Lou, so I caved. Plus the total investment of pet, food, and bowl was roughly $10. I figured if the fish didn't make it, I wasn't out a whole lot of money. Will decided to name him Fishy. So now Fishy resides on the little wall between our living room and family room. I swear he gets excited when he sees Will...it's very strange.



Friday, September 11, 2009

Seattle Trip

We just got back from our annual pilgrimage to Seattle. Actually John hadn't been since December 2007; Will and I were there last year early in the summer. We went to see my brother, start my mom's 60th birthday celebration, and go to the LSU vs. UW football game. We, of course, had a great time! My mom rented a house for the long weekend in West Seattle, we stayed there last summer, too.

We got in Thursday night and had Chinese take-out from one of the best Chinese restaurants I've ever had. I think I had thirds, it was so good. John and I went to see my friend John's improv show (see post below), which was hilarious, and then we went for drinks with him after the show.

Several years ago, John and I went to the EMP Museum, and John loved it. He actually went back by himself when we were up there for wedding stuff before we were married, but he hadn't been since. he wasn't sure if Will would like it, but then we decided he would. Friday morning we dropped them off there, and my mom, Miles, and I went and ran some errands. We met Ryan at his apartment after he worked a half day and then went and met John and Will at an Irish pub near Pike Place Market. It used to be one of my favorite bars, but I hadn't been there in forever. We had a quick, light lunch and then walked around the market. My friend Sarah met up with us, and she, John, Ryan, and I went to another favorite bar, The Taphouse Grill. They have a ton of beers on tap, including one of my favorites from college--Boundary Bay Scotch Ale. I was in heaven!! It was fun to catch up with Sarah and get to spend some time with her. After happy hour we high-tailed it back to the house to meet up with my friend Joanne, her husband Jason, and their new baby Catalina for dinner. Catalina is one of the cutest baby girls I have EVER seen! She was always cute in pics I saw, but in person--oh my gosh! She and Miles eyed each other up quite a bit, and Will played Star Wars with Jason. It was so fun! Made me wish they had decided to move to AZ instead of back to WA after they left San Diego a few years ago. :( I was ready to call it a night, but John figured we needed to go out and hit the town, so we met up with Ryan at a bar near his house, the Zoo Tavern. It was a way cool bar--I'm glad we ended up going!

Saturday was the big football day! We had wanted to tailgate at Husky Stadium, but after doing some research we weren't sure how it was going to work out. So instead, we "tailgated" at Ryan's with a bunch of his friends and my friend Jess, then Jess, John, and I took the bus over to the game. We had quite the feast! I made chicken and sausage gumbo, muffuletta sandwich, and a shrimp/crab dip. Ryan's friend Siri grilled salmon and made an awesome salad with mixed greens, blue cheese, heirloom tomatoes, chives, and a homemade dressing that was kind of like green goddess. Oh, and Ryan had gone out and bought three dozen raw oysters. Man...it was tasty!! Will had a great time playing with Ryan's friends, and Miles loved all the attention he got. The game was fun, too. Not quite the blow out I expected, but LSU won, and that's all that matters! Husky Stadium was a great venue for a game--right on the lake with a beautiful view.

By Sunday we were all getting pretty worn out. We went to our usual Sunday brunch at Ivar's Salmon House which was, of course, super tasty. The weather was kind of questionable, so we didn't really know what to do after brunch. We tried unsuccessfully to get the kids to nap, and after that didn't work, John, Will, and I went to Alki Beach so Will could throw rocks into the "ocean." It was party raining and partly sunny, so there ended up being a huge rainbow over Seattle while we were out there. Sunday night we had a fire in the fire place at the house. It was such a treat since 1) we don't have a fire place, and 2) it's rarely cold enough in AZ to have a fire even if we had a fire place. We also roasted marshmallows. Will liked regular marshmallows better, but I had quite a few. he liked the process of roasting them and sat with Ryan and me to roast them.

Our flight Monday didn't leave until almost 5:00, so we had a good chunk of the day. We went to the Museum of Flight, which we hadn't been to since Will was a baby. There are so many cool airplanes on display and even a few you can sit inside. We also walked through Eisenhauer's Air Force One. After the museum we went to one of our favorite pizza places, Piecora's. My friend Teri met us there, and we consumed more Boundary Bay Scotch Ale. Hey, I have to get my fix! John realized while we were there that our flight left in 2.5 hours, so we had to boogie.

All in all, it was a great trip, but I was so sad to come home. So was Will--he keeps telling me he wants to live in Seattle and that he's sad for Doo.

Seattle Sept09

Staycation

My mom had a timeshare week at a resort in North Scottsdale recently, and we went up to spend the weekend there. Will spent Thursday night there with Gaga, and John, Miles, and I headed up Friday. Unfortunately on our way there we witnessed a horrible car accident, so it got off to a bit of a hairy start. It did get a little better--we were able to leave the kids with Gaga and go to happy hour which was a nice treat. The resort had a Dive-In Movie Friday night, but Will was more interested in swimming than watching the movie. Saturday we hung out at the pool, and then John and I met up with our friend Steve at The Yardhouse. Unfortunately after we got back, Will got his first bee sting while swimming with John. :( John was pretty tired of having to use his first aid training at this point. The resort was really great about it--an employee ran to get the first aid kit, and then later they delivered a goody bag to Will with a stuffed frog, some hot cocoa, and bottled water. Sunday we had to check out, and we had breakfast before heading back home. This is definitely one of the benefits of living in AZ--great resorts with cheap rates in the summer! It was fun to get away in our own city for a weekend!











Will after his bee sting, trying to look pathetic and in pain:


Miles was worn out by the time we were eating breakfast on Sunday!

Musical Miles

Will has a keyboard, and he had it out playing with it recently. Apparently Miles loves playing with it too. He loved to bang on the keys and was so pleased with himself when it would play.



Wednesday, September 9, 2009

John and Claire: A Parody

One of my good friends from college is in an improv comedy group in Seattle. He invited us to come see their current show, Dirty Laundry, while we were in town. I was more than happy to go see it as he is one funny guy (and so is his wife, who is also in the show). The premise of the show is couple's therapy, and they use a couple in the audience to portray. Surprise, surprise, John (my friend) chose John and me to parody! It was extra funny because the last time I went to one of his shows, I was portrayed then too. Now I expect it every time I go. ;)

John B. (my friend) came out and interviewed us, then our answers were fed to the cast backstage. He asked us what we do, do we have kids, and then a grievance we have with the other. I jokingly said, "He's the most perfect husband ever" and John said, "She could be better about keeping toilet paper in all the bathrooms." So that was the basis for the show. It ended up being hilarious!! It came out that I was an assassin and then John became one too. I was dying laughing during the whole time! I didn't have our camera with us, but luckily there were some pics posted on the improv group's website!

"Us" getting therapy from Dr. John Boyle:


Our "kids" (that's John's wife on the right):