KidsQuest Museum

My friend and colleague with whom I job share and I decided to kick off summer break with a playdate for our boys at the KidsQuest Museum. Magnus and her little boy, Kian, are almost two months apart, and very much two busy boys who keep their moms on their toes! KidsQuest was full of interactive, hands-on activities suitable even for our little dudes.

One of Magnus' favorite activities was opening and closing the shutters in this little house.These little houses/forts/tiny rooms had all kinds of things all over the walls for kids to play with, move, push, pull and test out.Like two peas in a pod.Althea and I have had a lot of fun this last year sharing both a classroom together and tidbits on motherhood and the joys of being a parent!

Magnus' Birthday Party/Father's Day

In honor of Magnus' birthday we decided to have a backyard BBQ with our family. We've had beautiful weather for nearly a month, without a cloud in the sky, but Mother Nature decided to complicate things with impending showers in the forecast, so we opted last minute for appetizers and cake and ice-cream indoors. Having altered our plans for the forecasted rain, we were then blessed with a beautiful afternoon, and ended up with a backyard BBQ minus the BBQ! In any event, it was wonderful to get the family together (we missed you Aunty Shannon) and celebrate Magnus' arrival one year ago. As it was Father's Day as well, we also paid tribute to Dee for his part in allowing us to celebrate both of these happy occassions today!

Magnus warms up the festivities with a little badminton.Magnus and Cousin Jackson play in the mini couch from PumPum and Mamu.Dee holds Magnus back from extinguishing the candle....with his hands, while we sing Happy Birthday to our big one year old!The cupcake eating begins! I wasn't so sure what Magnus would think of cake and frosting, as this was his first sweet. While he was quite serious as he devoured his birthday treat, despite the roars of laughter from everyone watching, I think it's safe to say the sweet tooth gene carried forwarth!Good to the last drop!I think he liked it.
Present time!There was no shortage of gifts for this one year old. Magnus received many new books, a wooden train and xylophone, clothes, his very own watering can for the garden, a firefighter raincoat (thank you Rickard family--Dee was pleased:), and money towards his college fund!
Baby no more--Happy Birthday Magnus!Later that evening, Dee and Magnus look through the book that Magnus gave Dee for his first Father's Day.

One YEAR!!!

A year has never gone by so fast as this one. The last few days leading up to Magnus' first birthday had me in a constant state of deja vu of the events proceeding this monumental day that changed Dee and my lives forever. It's hilarious to think back upon how prepared we were until THAT day when school had just let out the day before, the house had been neglected in my race to finish up report cards, Dee had broke our new bed the night before jumping on it, and in our minds we had a week to ride out before we'd be welcoming a son into our lives. Every single day Magnus has discovered something new and interesting about the world around him, and through his eyes, so too have Dee and I. It has been a wonderful journey thus far and while I've already caught myself thinking that Magnus is growing too fast, I am eager to see what's around the corner for him.

Birthday Boy!

Magnus' birthday weekend was full of family, fun and festivities. The morning of his birthday was celebrated at our favorite breakfast restaurant, Portage Bay, where Magnus ordered up some REAL eggs with cheese. What a hoot to order our little man something off of the menu!

YaYa arrived in the afternoon and we were off to the Woodland Park Zoo! Magnus' first birthday present was a zoo membership from YaYa, so we will be seeing a lot of this place in the coming year! We took in the penguins, a peacock that seemingly wanted to attack picture happy zoo goers (including myself, see below), the guerillas, elephants and more. Magnus's favorite animal appeared to have been the Emu, whereupon he pointed and giggled at the strange bird with delight. True to his father who milks a good week out of his own birthday with various parties and activities, this was only the beginning of our big one year old!

Magnus checked out the penguins.Magnus checking out the animals at the zoo.

Wallace Falls

Last week we were determined to get out in the woods and take advantage of this early summer weather we're having. We enjoyed a leisurely hike in the North Cascades (well, leisurely for me as Dee had the boy and I merely had Sherman in tow.)

Magnus stayed awake long enough for me to take this picture and then he pretty much snoozed the entire hike!

I know, it looks painful.
Wallace Falls

Toilet Paper fun

There are a lot of small details to remember when you have a child, like always keep the bathroom door closed. Magnus has discovered that unrolling a toilet paper roll is a lot of fun, in addition to flushing the toilet over and over and over...Who needs toys right?

Sherman's First Hair Cut

With Magnus on the move, he has become a human Swifter, picking up and collecting Sherman's golden locks on every outfit we put him in, despite our daily sweeping and vaccuming. We decided that enough was enough and with a warm spell heading our way and summer on the horizon, we broke down and shaved Sherman's beautiful mane. I barely recognized him when I picked him up from "Pet Daddy Hair Salon," and could do little more than giggle over his big, fuzzy, square head compared to how small his body suddenly appeared. It took a few days to get used to this "new" dog of ours, and within a week his haircut had grown out just enough to no longer make him look quite as goofy. Sheman seems to be rather happy with his new lab length hairdo, especially with the heat we've been having, and Dee and I are definitely enjoying a hair free house--I've only vaccumed once! Check him out: