4th of July 2009

Hope everyone had a relaxing 4th of July this year. We kicked it at our friends, Scott and Angela's house along with another couple and their two little boys.

The boys all had a great time running around the yard, playing in the water and consuming a lot of goodies. Scott was cooking up a 4th of July smorgasbord of food that included pork roast slow cooked in the smoker all day, crab legs and corn on the cob along with sides of coleslaw, pasta salad and a fruit tray from the ladies.

Just before Jayden had to go down to bed, dad was able to sneak a few fireworks in this year. Nothing too crazy even though those are DEFINITELY available up here, crazy place up north called BoomCity that has 100 stands of craziness. Even though he was a fan of the few that dad set off he was still won over by what I think is the #1 firework ever made for kids - PopIts.

We're going to the Beach, Beach, Beach......

The Friday before the 4th was supposed to be a beautiful day so we decided we needed to get out and enjoy it. We have not done too much exploring up north here since we moved to Everett and figured this was as good a time as any. A friend of ours suggested we try Whidbey Island and Deception Pass state park.

We looked up Deception Pass and it was only an hour drive up north. It had hundreds of camping sites, day use camping areas, salt and fresh water beaches as well as swimming areas. Sounded perfect!!

Since Jayden still will not nap anywhere other than the car and his bed, we headed out early to try and make the most of the day. Jayden was excited.

When we arrived at the beach area it was awesome. There were ton's of shore line to play on with BBQ's and picnic tables. Even though it was typical Washington shoreline, some sand and a lot of rocks, Jayden did not mind. He spent the better part of an hour throwing rocks into the water and wading out a bit to get his feet wet.

After the rock throwing we walked to the swimming area close by. It was nice and sandy there with a nice roped off area that was pretty shallow. Jayden had a blast splashing around and walking out to the deeper areas with mom and dad. A small puddle of water, which he called his "bath", provided the perfect spot for him to plop down and play in the mud/sand while mom and dad set up a picnic blanket and relaxed a little.

Soon after we enjoyed our picnic, we packed up and headed to the car, stopping along the way for a snow-cone. We had a great time and will definitely be back!!

Happy B-day little man....

A few weeks back the little man made it to 3 years old. It seems like a pretty decent milestone in ones life. While he still has a fair bit of growth to go before he can jump behind the wheel of a car, fight for his country, vote for his leaders, put a Benjamin down on the Lakers to win the title or develop any other bad “grown up” habits, he still gets a pretty sweet step up in daily life at 3.

For one, his toy possibilities grow by about 200%. Whether it’s that he can easily now have toys listed as 3+ (which seems to be a boat load) or that we are more likely to let him have one that is 4+ or 5+ now, there are definitely more options. He’s been talking for a while now but his imagination has definitely been taken up a notch or two in the last month or so. He love’s to play freeze tag and hide and seek, even though he does not fully get the concept of “hiding”. When he hides, he usually just goes and stands next to a wall and giggles while we try and pretend that we don’t hear or see him. When we say “Jayden, where are you?” he giggles and replies “I don’t know, hehehe”. He also is a big fan of playing “grocery store” with his new cash register (the “money pinger”). At the moment he likes being the “shopping man” and dad or mom being the “grocery man” that scans all the items and takes his money. He also may start going to some sort of pre-school some time this year. There are several places around us that provide part time schooling for a few hours a day, a couple days a week at a reasonable price. Of course there is also potty training. We’ve been half heartedly working with him the last few months but will soon be going at it full force.

Better toys, new games, school and the loo! That’s quite a bit!!

Ok, well onto the festivities. His actual birthday fell on a Tuesday this year so dad took the day off of work and we headed to Chuck E. Cheese (a favorite of his, of course). Turns out Tuesday mornings at opening time is the perfect time to go because no one is really there yet!! (Yeah for mom and dad!!). We brought a few presents for him to open and much fun was had. He got to meet Chuck E. and had plenty of coins to plop into whatever machines he wished. We had amassed quite a number of tickets from previous outings and we added a bunch more this time (1300 total!). When it came time to leave we showed him all the cool toys he could pick from. He decided he just had to have this certain item and he would not be convinced otherwise no matter how hard mom and dad tried. What did he want? A mini Tootsie-pop, orange flavor, for 10 tickets. Oh to be 3… :)

After we left the mouse house, we went home and all took a nap. After nap time we decided to take him out to a birthday dinner at the mall. We went to Claim Jumper and had a yummy dinner. He got a special birthday cupcake that he enjoyed very much.

The next day, he had his two best buds come over for cake and ice cream!!

The next day, Thursday, we headed for Portland to see family for a long birthday/fathers day weekend. We started by going to grandma Smith’s house in McMinnville. Jayden had a blast playing out in the yard. He helped grandma water her plants, played hide-and-seek, and rode his little scooter around the grass. On the second day we went to this great big park next to were they live (sorry, no pics, forgot our camera). He had a blast playing on all the jungle gym stuff, in the sand, in the water jets and on his little scooter. Of course he loved playing with the dogs at the house and in his little room that grandma has set up for him.

On Saturday we all went over to grandma Shervey’s house for his big Transformers themed birthday party. Uncle Jon and Aunt Heather came over too and an unhealthy amount of spoiling ensued. :) The following day was Fathers Day but we ended up just relaxing and not doing too much, the week had worn out mom and dad. We did go to a cool little park when we had a break in the weather where Jayden got to play with one of his favorite playground toys, the scooper!!

We headed back the following Monday. We stopped at our friends, Chris and Tiffany, to see their little one, Sydney, and introduce her to Jayden (is there a future marriage in the works?? We shall see). Unfortunately, the little man was worn out and just wanted to go home (he was asleep 10 minutes after we left), so the visit was a short one :)

The following week Jayden had his 3 year check up appointment. We found out he was a perfect square, 39x39!! 39 pounds (90th percentile) and 39 inches tall (95th percentile). A big growth spurt in the last year!!