Mostly Owen

Sunday, September 4, 2011

June in Pictures

In June, we got to go camping on a long beautiful weekend with our dear friends, the Andersons. We also spent time on the boat, going fishing... here are the pictures to prove it!

Around the campfire

camping arts and crafts

boy on the beach

chubby cheeks

camping dog

Woodruff family

fresh from the dryer

trio of campers

fishermen

wildflowers

hooray for the boat!

passed-out after a long weekend camping

drumming

my solution to keeping rocks out of Annabelle's mouth

pretty girl

beach swimming in undies

boat buddies

Owen with his dear friends, Gabie and Samson

xtra tuffs

Now that the rain has returned, I'm slowly catching up on all those things I've neglected... cleaning the bathroom, putting away laundry, oh, and the blog! So, here are a few of the highlights from May...

beach crocheting -

trying to make a "quick" sunhat for the monkey on my back

Happy Birthday dear Luke!

front yard swimming

giddy-up!

herring slaughter

it's a keeper!

kids in a tree

poor man's pool

skinny dipper

stroller baby

Monday, May 9, 2011

Summertime in the air

Sarah's Thoughts: Saturday was ALMOST the perfect day. With the exception of Luke somewhat unexpectedly working for a few hours, it was pretty great. After sending hubby off to work, I remembered that it was our annual neighborhood garage sale day. We loaded up with breakfast to go and a pocket full of quarters, and walked around the neighborhood hunting for treasures. Owen scored with new movies, books, puzzle and a "Simba" towel. If that isn't enough, the clouds disappeared, the sun came out and viola! Summer! Luke got off work early and we spent the afternoon on the boat. A little king salmon fishing, a little crabbing, a little time on the beach. The sun blazed and the water was glass. Although we didn't bring anything home, it was really lovely.

Luke Update: This is the first spring that Luke has been working full-time in 13 years. He's use to having free time here and there to go bear and grouse hunting, steelhead and king salmon fishing. All of a sudden, these extra-curricular activities require more of an effort. Weekends fly by and time off is a precious commodity. He has plans of a bear hunt this weekend with a few after work fishing trips sprinkled in. We did manage to get out in the boat twice this week. Luke turns 35 tomorrow! Steaks on the grill and yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Happy Birthday, sweet husband!

Owen Update: Last week, Owen wanted to build our house out of blocks, so we set up the couch, coffee table, T.V. in the livingroom, the kitchen, bedrooms, etc. We picked out blocks for each member of the family. Next Owen wanted to pretend that it was christmas, so we used some green blocks to make a christmas tree. We put all the people blocks to bed and then santa came and delivered presents (more blocks) under the tree. The next morning when the block family woke up, they "ooohed" and "awwwed" over the tree and presents. I told Owen to be the daddy block and pass out the presents. A minute or so later, I checked out the scene. Daddy block had a present as well as Mommy block and Annabelle block. Owen block, however, had about 25 presents. When I asked him what was in his presents the answer was, "Dinos".

Annabelle Update: She likes to move it move it! In a combination of rolling, catipiller scooting and old fashioned stretching, our girl is getting around. I've caught her up on her hands and knees a few times, but no crawling yet. Up until now, she's been sleeping in a cradle in the guest room. She was sleeping through the night, so I decided to set up the crib and move her into Owen's room. Owen was very excited to have a roommate. We've had a bit of a rocky first week, but I'm optimistic that we'll fall into a routine. She went on her very first boat ride this week. I think she likes the boat, but not a big lifejacket fan.

walking on water

storing up for winter

up from the depths

at the beach

SO cute!

beach combing

NOT loving the lifejacket

checking out Annabelle's new crib

summer at last!

good luck kiss

watching the big screen

could this be heaven?

fun at DIPAC

just doing some fishin'

cross dressing in big brother's clothes

climbing trees with dad

looking lovely on the boat

just part of the reason we love Juneau

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

WARNING! Sunshine = Naked Kids

Sarah's Thoughts: The amount of sunshine streaming through my window prompts me to dress in short sleeves today. Might be a bit optimistic, yesterday was in the low 50's, but glorious spring sunshine makes us Alaskans act seasonably pre-mature. As I was driving home yesterday, someone was walking their dog in a tank top. I would give my blessings to flip flops, but its not time for sleevelessness just yet although that day may be close at hand. I did kill two mosquitos over the weekend.

Luke Update: With the completion of his Math class, Luke is diving head first into spring and summer. After much pricing, shopping, and debating, he purchased a crab and shrimp pot puller for our boat. This is something we've dreamed about for the past 7 years, so we are excited. He had big plans getting off work (at 3:30) and heading out on the boat for the late afternoon/early evening hours. This week, however, he was unexpectedly transfered to a new electrical shop and is now working 10 hour days, so we'll see what that means for extra-curricular activities. He did squeeze in a fishing trip to Yakutat last week. Despite torrential rain, he caught the biggest steelhead of his life. If you know about fly fishing, that's kind of a big deal.

Owen Update: In Owen's mind, sun = squirt gun and swimming pool. Even on the frigid yet sunny winter days, he was begging to play with his beloved water toys. Somehow, the presence of snow didn't clue him in that swimming might not be the most appropriate choice of activities. As May approaches, the water play might not be too far off. On Sunday, Owen's beloved Gabie came over and they played in the water in our neighbor's muddy ditch, Easter clothes and all. That's about as close to paradise as it gets for an almost-4-year-old! I just might condone some squirt gun action this afternoon... I am wearing short sleeves, after all!

Annabelle Update: Little Annabelle is a rolley-polley giggling bundle of smile and drool. She's trying so hard to be mobile. She strains and grunts to grab objects out of reach. Frustrated, she tries to scoot forward and ends up moving backwards. She's just starting to push up onto all fours for brief periods, so I think crawling is still a little ways off. Poor girl has a lot of heft to support! Although we haven't seen any new teeth, I wouldn't be surprised if she sprouts a whole mouth full at any moment. Her newest accomplishment has been waving. Not sure when or how she learned this skill, but every now and then, she'll just bust out a Miss America wave. Our own Little Miss Sunshine.

And now get ready for 3 weeks worth of pictures:

foreshadowing of things to come?

Owen and Mathias eating lunch in the tent.

Annabelle's first experience in a swing. "Hi Mom!"

Last glimpse of Owen before he disappeared into the tunnel slide at Project Playground. Last year, he refused to try these slides! What a difference a year makes!