Foolin' Around at the Fair

Miri puts the squeeze on Daddy.


At the Linn County fair, Aleaha really wanted to ride the "Dragon Wagon" rollercoaster. Miri thought she wanted to also. But it was not really something she ended up liking....

Miri had to be pursuaded by Daddy the whole time that she would survive.

Aleaha liked the hot rods. At least, at first. By the end of the ride, she and most of her cohorts looked bored. They each had horns to toot, but they quickly realized they weren't really driving and weren't really in control of the cars.

The carousel is a family fave, for sure.

They both checked out the mechanics.

Here's Miri, halfway through her ice cream cone. It took a long time, but she ate the whole thing. Then she ran around, chasing Aleaha for a few minutes in the grass. Then she complained of a "bummy ache". Gee, hun, ya think??

Phase Change

A wicked-smart mother-mentor of mine once remarked how "Everything is a phase."

This has been more than a platitude for us, as we try to be conscious and present about how our life is right this moment with our two children. Things change so quickly. We get it. If we're in a tough phase where things are hard because someone's teething or frustrated or has certain fixations or needs, we remind each other that it will pass. If we're in an easy phase -- made recognizable by comparing to those rough patches, of course -- then we pay attention to the harmony and simplicity that comes with finally sleeping through two night in a row or going without the binky for a spell or happily eating everything on their plate, or something marvelous like that.

We just had a phase change the other day that I want to recognize: We took down the baby gates.

We all now have much more freedom of movement through the house, and there's less clutter in the house. The gates were left open 24/7 lately, and closing them caused more problems than it prevented. Our two-year old is mobile and adept and doesn't want or need to be left in one space without access to the rest of the people (it's not about access to stuff, it's about where her family members are). Sure, it was sometimes convenient to corral her in one room, but it was awful if she was left in that room alone while everyone else had made it to the other side.

The gates have been up in our house for almost 4.5 years, with a brief break in between children. After a few days now, the carpet is recovering from the dents, the children have finally stopped talking about where the gates went, and we parents are starting to realize we don't have to maneuver around something in the dark that isn't really there anymore.

And we are taking note of the phase change with relief and maybe just a little wistfulness.

Next up: All those plastic sippy cups -- with valves to be removed before cleaning and reassembled before use -- and diapers. Hooha!

Birthday at the Beach

In honor of our youngest's second birthday, we took a day off work and headed to the coast for some family time.


Aleaha is ready to rumble. Miri is not so sure.

Aleaha gets right into the sand and surf. Miri keeps a tight grip on Daddy.


Miss A kicks it up, with the lighthouse in the background.

A rare shot of them both facing forward. Aleaha is paying attention.

Miri did crack a smile, fortunately.

We lured them away from the beach with a reward of the Candy Shop. These lollipops looked to the kids like just the perfect treat (and Aleaha had been daydreaming about it all week). But they soon realized giant lollipops are somewhat of a liability in real life - hard to eat, messy, and not easy to take with you in the car. We later opted for the easier-to-eat, portable, rattle-making Jelly Bellys.



The official song and candle moments. Notice how ready she is to "eat cake!!!!"


Wwe downed homemade cake and homemade ice cream (mommy was still feeling very guilty for last year's store-bought birthday cake!). Miri devoured it all.


Later that evening (since she had taken a long, late nap), we hit the Philomath Frolic to see the sights and take in some rides. She really wanted to ride the pony, and she loved it. She just didn't love that momma wasn't right there, holding her hand, for the photo.


One of the favored "rides" (aka ticket-wasters) was an inflatable obstacle course. We didn't think it would be something she would really like, but Aleaha went through it over and over again. Here she is, scaling up the rope.


After shimmying down the slide side, she heads into the giant rollers. Her trick is to dive into through bottom...


....her body disappears....


... and she reappears on the other side, only slightly flattened.


M gets a great view from Dad's shoulders.


Another one of those good shots of Aleaha hamming for the camera, with Miri's attention going elsewhere.


We went back later in the weekend for the chicken dinner (yummy!) and some Shave Ice.

SummerTime FunTime

Finally, a day of real, warm, glowing sunshine. Time to play beach babes!


You can guess what the shot following this looked like - that was COLD water. (Camera and its operator didn't catch it, darnit.)


Girls play a made-up game of hopping onto each other's towels.


Catching rays. (Hopefully not cancer, eh?)


As parents, we fully expect to see a lot of this pose and expression over the next umpteen years.


Miri has begun to show the desire to order her universe (even amongst that chaos that is our house!). These are horses, put into order of smallest to largest, with Boss Mare at the very back.


We made homemade chocolate ice cream. Miri thought it was pretty OK.

She was actually speechless for a moment. Just smiling!

Aleaha is a great help in the kitchen. We made potato salad, and she did most of the work. (Of course, it didn't mean she actually wanted to eat it afterwards. "I still don't like 'salad', Mom.")

On the way home from running errands, Miri fell asleep right on cue (her body just knows when it's naptime). She was still holding her cracker.

This is Juice, the silly cat who likes to do uncat-like things. Here he is, working on the girls' art easel. (OK, come to think of it, shredding paper is a cat-like thing.) He gets more use of it than they do.