Where the wild things are

Weekend before last was my company's annual picnic and this year it was at the zoo!! Due to the heat and limited parking at the zoo we decided to take the Max train. Wow, that was a very different type of zoo (I'll save that for the non-family friendly blog!). Here we are waiting:

G had a great time petting the goats:

Here is a shot of us taking it all in:

It was a very hot and very long day but I think a good time was had by all! The Dippin Dots made it all worth it to me.

Ch-ch-changes

The biggest reason for the delay in posting lately is that we are in the midst of a very rough transition into a "big boy bed" for Gunnar.

A couple weeks ago Nick was rudely awakened by his toddler son breathing in his face on the edge of the bed. He had managed to slip out of bed without a sound to wake up papa for the day. After that crib ninja episode he seemed to have forgotten his escapades and we had no more escape attempts.

Until last week. I would put him in bed and he would promptly jump out of the crib, open the door and tear through the house. OH NO! I was really hoping he would sleep in his crib until he was, I don't know, 16.? Thankfully he gave in eventually and did sleep in his crib that night but that was it.

We couldn't risk him hurting himself so papa took the front off his crib the next day. And then the fun really began. I will spare you all the gory details but there was much middle of the night adventures, not a lot of sleep and much crying (mostly on my part).

 I am pleased to say that we seem to have hit rock bottom on Friday night with only 4 hours of non consecutive sleep being had by all. And of course I had to work the next day! We have stuck by our very tired guns and he has been going to bed with less fighting each night and sleeping a little more soundly each night.

He has a brand new puppy puppet waiting in the wings from Grammy for that first night he sleeps all the way through! I also have a sleep trainer on its way plus a ton of "my big boy bed" books from Amazon. Hey, I will try anything!!

 Here he is with his doggie in his bed. He does love it, just not so much to sleep in! Such a cutie, which is why we have not let the gypsies have him just yet.

Update! Last night G earned his doggy puppet. So proud!

Porch update

The London men have been continuing to plug away on the porch and it is looking amazing!

Idle Hands

You may have noticed a theme when London Sr and London Jr get together, we get some projects DONE! This visit Nick and his dad are working on rebuilding our back porch portico. Here are the closest I have to "before" pictures:

The porch was framed out in 2X4s with plastic sheeting on top.  The wood was weakened and sagged each snowstorm while the plastic was punctured in so many places it was like a sprinkler obstacle course as you tried to get to the garage.

This is the beam that was broken last winter by a limb from the fir:

All removed and ready to start on the new footings:

All poured:

New boards on house to begin new construction.

We are using metal roofing this time which Nick will be picking up on Thursday.  Should be amazing!

Of course with all this renovating I had to move my lillies just as they had bloomed.  Hopefully they will thrive next year in their new spot. 

Tried to capture G's hand prints in the footings:

A big thank you to all the family who have pitched in to make this possible!! You are welcome to come enjoy any time!  More to come.

Growing, with a few weeds

In addition to Gunnar, the gardens have been growing (with weeds) very well this year. I definitely have to give tons of credit to Nick and his green thumbs!

Here is our tomato harvest thus far.  My fingers are so crossed for some red tomatoes this year!  I call this Gunnar''s buffet.  He has eaten every one so far.

The plant stand in all its glory.  Some very yummy basil and gorgeous Columbines.

Figs on the fig tree:

More tomatoes:

Nick's pride and joy, the Brussels sprouts:

We are also working on some larger planting and Nick adopted three apple trees for the front yard.  They are hanging in there and we hope they all make it to next spring.

My Hydrangea in the front has bloomed beautifully:

Berry row!  Gunnar's early pillage patch of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries:

Kale!  My favorite leafy green:

Peppers and beans:

The grapes have finally made it a whole season and not been moved.  They are growing very nicely this year!

The cherry harvest was one fruit this year and it was wonderful.  Or so G tells us!  These are going to be going into training in the fall.

Squash making their appearance:

Blueberries:

SUNflowers:

Our old man adopted grape that came with the house and is flourishing despite its lack of attention:

I'll keep you all posted on those red tomatoes.  Send us your ripen vibes!

Summer Fun

Summer has officially hit here in the PNW. Of course now we complain that it is TOO hot (in the 90s). Luckily we have had a nice mix of hot and no so hot so the house has a chance to cool off at night. The London grandparents are here for the month and helping us take full advantage! It has even been warm enough for us to take a couple dips in the neighbor's pool:

Gunnar has mastered his tractor so that too is getting a good workout. His favorite way to ride is of course splayed across the hood with his foot on the pedal. Modified superman?!

Gigi brought a turtle sleeping bag her mom made for Nick and Josh when they were little boys. It has been a big hit although she is still working on coaxing him into a nap with it.

With all the heat I have had to rush out and buy a few more light weight sleepers for G as well. He is loving his new dino ones of course! These plus a monkey version and rockin' croc' version from the Pruitt grandparents have him fully stocked.

Of course we don't need the heat to bring out the silly at our house. Here is G showing off his napkin style:

Back and Better Than Ever

Finally a post!! I am ashamed to say but we have been MIA after our faithful Canon finally gave up the ghost. Without pics I just couldn't seem to motivate. Well, with new camera in hand we are back!! And we brought family! Last week we were blessed by a visit from the Williams sisters - my mom, Gail and Wendy. The ladies beat the midwest heat wit some northwest chill and loved every minute of it. It was so wonderful having them out. I am pretty sure Truck is still in mourning that they left! We were able to coordinate one "girls day out" and had a bargain shopping spree in Gresham. Here you can see everyone with their new shoes:

G loved having more people to read to:

Of course no visit is complete without a trip to Wildwood. Here we are setting out on our hike:

G had two bouts of illness during the visit but luckily buonced back each time. Here we are passing the day learning how to grin and properly share balls with the doogie:

Me and G grinning it up:

Summer is finally here so you got to have the shades!

Again, much love to the Williams sisters! Maybe we can do it again next year.