Grandparent reinforcement, stage 2

(A little behind with this, but here goes.) Grandma G came to stay with us the 2nd week that Drew was gone. She took Silas up to school and even got to work in his classroom one day.

Look, they're even color coordinated!

Playing outside of the school house...

We are very grateful to both sets of grandparents for traveling 2000 miles in order to help us get through those two weeks. Thank you!

Grandparent reinforcement, stage 1

As some of you know, Drew is away for two weeks for yoga teacher training.  The grandparents on both sides have stepped in to assist while he's away.  My parents came for the first week.

He has no idea how funny he is:

We went to the harvest fair.  Silas sort of disliked the big slide this year, and was a bit afraid of the hay jump.  But ride a horse?  There was no way he was going to miss out on that!

We go to the harvest fest every year, and it was wonderful to have Grandma and Papa along this time.

Grandma made Silas a Lego bass.  Fun!

Their visit was all too brief.  Silas and I have been spending the past three days on our own.  I worked in Si's classroom on Thursday, and we hung out at the cafe with Patrick (a typical Drew activity) on Friday.  Today we went to the farmers' market, an activity that Silas and I engage in almost every Saturday.

Tomorrow, Grandma G arrives!

Grandma and Papa at the zoo

This may be the longest stretch I've gone without blogging since Silas was a wee baby. Well, I needed the break apparently. To begin the game of catch-up, here are a few pictures from the zoo, which we visited while Grandma and Papa were in town.

Grandma bought Silas a pair of sun glasses, so he could be "just the same as everyone else" (his words, not mine, the little conformist):
The zoo has a great play area, complete with a cool slide. We could have spent all day right in that area and I think he would have been content.
The zoo's awesome view of Mt. Rainier:
One of my favorite things about this zoo is it's Red Wolf program. Red Wolves were driven to the point of extinction over the past several hundred years and only existed in captivity by 1980. This zoo's breeding program helped save the species. They are now on the way to recovery and have been reintroduced to the wild. We got to see several while we were there(a rare treat as they are not active during the day and like to keep their distance). There are less than 300 red wolves alive today, but at least their numbers are going up rather than down.

I've got some pictures to share from Silas' school field trip, and I promise not to go another month before posting them :)

a few more

A few more picture's from Grandma G's visit...

At the Poulsbo waterfront.
And here's one for the blooper reel: My silly little bear.
We have something exciting happening this week. I will keep you in suspense for now and will post about it later in the week.

Grandma G's visit

Aren't they a photogenic pair?

Grandma G and Merlin came for a visit last week.
Merlin enjoyed playing with Silas:
It looks like Silas thoroughly enjoyed himself!
Two different pic, two different cafes:


Outside of the Suquamish Museum:
It was a whirlwind visit and Grandma G was gone way too fast. We hope she makes it out to the West coast again soon!

Bloedel Reserve

While my parents were here, we went to Bloedel Reserve, a beautiful 150 acre preserve and garden that we hadn't visited in about 5 years.

Silas enjoyed:

Walking with his grandparents.
Sitting in front of the big house, looking out over Sound, and watching the birds soar.
And exploring the forest.
We saw a big banana slug.
and many other beautiful things.

The rock garden adjacent to the Japanese garden is one of Drew's favorite areas.
and the moss garden is mine.
If you'd like to see more pictures from Bloedel, and from the rest of my parents' visit, you can see some on their blog (scroll down for the pictures).

It ends with balloons

I think this set might just be the last to post from my parents' visit. Silas loved the balloons that Patrick gave to him...
He asked me to hold all of them down on my lap with him so that "they would be like eggs." He likes to pretend he is a baby bird in a nest and will then call me Mommy Bird.
A sun-shiny day (yes, we had a few!)
That wraps up their visit. It was wonderful to have them visit, spend time playing, and give D and I a chance to do some work around the house, as well as relax a bit. We'll look forward to them returning in August!

At play

Si's grandparents enjoyed taking him to the playground...

And for walks around the neighborhood.
Back at home, there were plenty of opportunities for entertainment.
This hat, by the way, was mine. I got it on a family road trip when I was 7 or 8 and, nerd that I was, I LOVED it. It's now being enjoyed by a new generation. :)

Outside, front yard

In my ongoing effort to organize all of the pictures from my parents' camera, here are a bunch that we took outside in the front yard.

Facebook peeps, you've already seen this one:
Solo shots of the cutie:

Kicking the ball around with Papa:
Playtime:

More pictures later...

To start with

I have so many pictures from my parents' visit that I don't quite know where to begin. Posting a few a day may be the way to go.

Above, the rhododendron at the elementary school a block over from our house is in full bloom.

Below: Papa and Grandma made music this morning using glasses of water. Fun times!