twas the days before Christmas

Grandpa barely made it out of the snowy East to visit us for Christmas. We did some final shopping and took a trip up to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. He was here just as Ben was transitioning to walking. Now walking is his preferred mode of transportation. He crawls only if he has to go fast to keep up with Owen.
Grandpa got to go to Owen's swim lesson. Owen can now swim across the length of the small pool. They were playing Policemen while waiting for the lesson.

We had a yummy Christmas Eve dinner at Susie's house before the Christmas service. Ben was being very cute and photogenic.

We donned our 2009 edition Christmas jammies, and Grandpa read the boys Twas the Night Before Christmas. Owen was beyond excited about Santa coming- he and Richard tracked Santa on NORAD all evening and Owen went to bed once Santa hit North America.

holiday greetings!

2009 is winding down, and we will be enjoying its last two weeks at home together. Ben is on the verge of turning one. He is taking a few unassisted steps, and is definitely saying "ball" now, along with Mama, Dada, hi and bye. He gets me up at 5 each morning, and around 7 the two of us go in and wake up Owen- that is Ben's favorite part of the day- jumping on his brother and getting to play with him. Owen in turn loves his little brother and talks about how they are best friends. He does a great job sharing toys and has been very patient with Ben. Owen is enjoying pre-k, loves his teacher Richard and the activities they do each day, including yoga and gardening. He's working on his reading and writing, and still obsessed with airplanes. Ben will start at Owen's old school- the Monroe Center- in January. It is hard to believe that he is old enough to go there now, but Owen was the same age when he started. I think Ben will be happy there. Richard and I are keeping busy with the boys and with work. We enjoyed NOT renovating our house this year- it was time to reap the benefits of last year's chaos.

We are looking forward to Christmas at home with my dad, assuming he can snowplow his way to the Richmond airport tomorrow. We will miss everyone in Vermont this year, but wish you love and will see you this summer after the melt.

holiday picture: the process

A few of the 43 takes...

hi Jackson!

Not only is our friend Jackson Rice an avid reader, he's an avid reader of the blog. Hi, Jackson! Jackson, his brother Henry, and his chauffeurs Kristi and Joe came down to Corvallis for 48 hours of Thanksgiving fun. Grandpa is also in town for the week, and brought his own airplane for airport. Richard cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner which we shared with the Rice's, the Muhly's and my dad. My sister brought 3 amazing pies. My dad is on Ben's schedule when he comes out West, so he was able to catch the amazing sunrise yesterday morning. Kristi and I did some downtown shopping this morning while the boys and men went to Avery Park to burn off energy and turkey calories before they headed back to Washington. Next time we'll be seeing them is at Kristi and Joe's wedding, the day after Christmas.

new rides

Owen and I are now cruising in new rides- his larger bike, and my larger car. We are both quite pleased.

trick or treat, smell my feet

We had our first tear free Halloween this year- Owen was actually excited to wear his tiger costume and go out trick-or-treating. We met Heather, Pete and Sylvie downtown on Friday night for round 1. Saturday night, after Richard and Todd returned from cheering the Beavers on to victory, we took the kids out around our neighborhood- hitting both our cul-de-sacs and a few houses in between. Laurel and Owen were very brave- running up to each door and ringing the bell. Richard carried baby tiger Ben around both evenings. Ben was so happy to be a tiger with Owen. Saturday evening we had surprise trick-or-treaters: the Delos-Reyes paid us a visit and the kids had a blast playing together on their sugar highs.

pumpkin time!

Our 4th annual trip to the pumpkin patch- one of my favorite things about living in Oregon. Not that the parking lot turned pumpkin patch at Pacific Beach didn't have it's own character. Let's just say, if one were to be waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Heavenly Harvest would be a better choice.

The rain paused long enough for us to enjoy the tractor ride to the field, pick out our pumpkins- green ones for Owen and Ben, orange for Richard and I- plus do the hay maze, duck races and sip hot cider.

Links to 2008 and 2007's trips.

milestones

Richard and I met an important milestone towards becoming Oregonians (besides counting a red light as "traffic" during our "commute")- we now have ornamental plants in our yard surrounded by deer fencing. We used to make fun of such things.

Owen has graduated to a new bike. He was a little slow to warm up to the idea, but now loves his new ride- green like his room, and a 20" frame instead of 12"- a much better fit. He's taken it for a spin up and down the river path Sunday and Monday after school. He is learning freestyle in swim class, can float on his front and back, and loves going underwater to touch the bottom of the pool.

Ben now has 3 words- Mom, Dad, and boob. He may also be saying baba for brother. He is so enamored of Owen and Owen knows how to make him laugh. They are a great little pair. Ben's been spending more time in the older baby room at day care and loving it- the other babies are more interactive and its a whole new set of toys. 9 month stats: 31 inches, 25 lbs.

portland day

Friday night and Richard and I realize we have nothing planned for the weekend, and I for one can't bear the thought of 48 hours of playing airport. So we plan a 4 year old fantasy Saturday. Or at least, our particular 4 year old's fantasy. We head up to the Portland Zoo, put Ben in the front pack, and wander around with the animals for a few hours. Then a ride on the Max to the airport, where we've found that you can watch the runway if you go to the top of the parking lot. Dinner at Rose City Cafe inside (and we get a funny look from our waitress when she realizes we are airport tourists). Back to our car on the Max, and 2 tired boys sleep all the way home. Sunday: Richard and Owen play airport.