Home, Home on the Range

Here comes the ice cream man! Grant can hear the music of "Home on the Range" from miles away. He then starts jumping up and down and asking if he can get an ice cream from the ice cream man. Of course I cave every time- I think it is because I love the novelty of it all too. Growing up in the sticks, there was never a cute little Jeep that drove by an had a selection of frozen treats! Here is Grant posing with our local ice cream man (Grant is his only client on our street).Last night Grant picked out a cotton candy flavored Popsicle- after I talked him out of the creepy Dora the Explorer one with the black gumdrop eyeballs.

Here is proof of his excitement!

Grant savoring the Popsicle on an almost 100 degree night! YUM!

Enjoying the Sunshine

We had a Super Fun Friday! It started off with a trip to the Club Sport Outdoor Pool....the second time Grant has played there this year! He has so much fun tossing and diving down to get his dive rings. It was great to see him already feeling so comfortable in the water this summer. I would like to get him in swim lessons again soon because I think he is getting close to taking off on his own. He would get about 4 feet away from me and swim to me underwater- he just needs to get down the kicking and reaching motions to propel himself.

After the pool, we came home and Grant actually took a nap...the pool must have tired him out. He woke up refreshed and ready to meet his friend Merrick Yates at Cook Park.
Anna and I got a chance to sit in the shade and catch up while the boys played. Grant made a new friend at the park. A grandpa who had a soccer ball! He played soccer with this nice older man for about 20 minutes....he will take up a soccer game with anyone who is willing. This man may not have realized that he became Grant's new best friend....so after soccer was over, he got his water bottle and went to sit next to him. Don't worry- I was only a few feet away the whole time :-) Here is Grant sitting with Grandpa Soccer!I can hardly ever get Grant to pose for the camera, but today he was rather willing. He always has to preview the picture afterwards and his comment for this one was "that is really cute." I had to agree.

After the park, we met Josh for dinner at Manzana in Lake Oswego. We ran into the Carnese Family out on the patio, which was a nice surprise. After dinner Grant wanted to check out the fountain. That ended with one wet kiddo and a car ride home in his underwear. Oh to be a carefree kid again :-)

A Visit to Eugene

On Friday, Grant and I made the drive to Eugene to visit friends. Our first stop was at Diana's house for a play date! It was so great to see my Eugene friends and their growing kiddos. I swear that Spring has made them all blossom and grow like weeds! Grant had fun playing and tossing rocks in the park with Xander.

After spending the morning over at Diana's we met Tanya and Mikey at the mall so the kids could play in the play area. They played tag until they were tired and sweaty! I think they had the most fun at a store we went into where they found come cool glasses! Both Grant and Mikey chose the ring pop over the glasses though when it came time to check out.

After a fun day in Eugene Grant got to come home and try out his new shaving kit (for kids). Lately he has been wanting to be like Daddy in the shower and shave...so we found a cute shaving kit complete with blue shaving cream, a brush, plastic razor, and a mirror. Grant was determined to get a close shave!

A Day at the Beach

Grant and I decided to make the most out of our Saturday (a couple weekends ago) when Josh had an all day class and head to the Beach! My parents were staying in Gearhart for a golf tournament so we headed that way for the afternoon. We had so much fun!

First we rode the carousel at Seaside.

Then it was on to the bumper cars! Mimi (my mom) rode those with Grant....

Right as it started to rain we headed to the beach. We brought a kite, but the string had somehow disappeared.

Grant was happy to chase the birds and Mimi...

Then it was off to the little train, which might have been the highlight of the day for Grant!

It was a busy day with one exciting thing after another....we were off to the Seaside Aquarium where Grant fed the seals and poked some helpless sea enenamies.

I thought the sting rays were pretty cool.....especially this one that looks like it is right on top of Grant's head!

After a long, fun day for the boy we headed back to Portland. Grant fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car and slept the whole way home! When we got home, Josh was babysitting cousin Brook & Jack so there was even more fun to be had. The kids ate dinner together, played and even got clean.

Grant went to bed and I got a little snuggle time in with my sweet niece and nephew! What a fantastic day.

Sunny Day Fun!

The last two days have been sunny and bright in Oregon...we took full advantage of them too!

On Monday we went to The fountain in Lake Oswego and then to Foothills Park with Taylor and Leanne Forseth.

On Tuesday we met up with Ethan & April Baker as well as Emma, Sophia and Kirsten Carnese at Commonwealth Park in Beaverton. It was a cute park that I had never been to before...there was a big pond and the kids had a blast feeding the ducks. I had to convince Grant that the ducks didn't need to eat a whole bagel at a time and that the fun would last longer if he gave them smaller bites.

We could get use to this sunny weather!

Fruit Blossom Train Excursion

For the last couple weeks, Grant could not stop talking about the ride we were going to take on the Fruit Blossom Train out of Hood River. Saturday was the day of the big ride and Grant said that it was a "Very Special Day and the air was fresh." We met my parents in Troutdale and headed to meet the 3:30 train out of Hood River to Parkdale, OR where there was to be an art and jazz festival.

Once on board the train, we were in for an hour and a half ride there and the same on the return trip. Grant did not tire of the ride for a minute. The train whistle was a little loud for him so he spent a lot of the time with his hands over his ears!

But for the most part he just rested his head on the window sill of the train and watched everything go by.......We were surprised to find that the art & jazz festival was two guys with guitars and 4 small booths selling tie-die shirts and dream catchers. Not really the "festival" I had envisioned, but after seeing the size of Parkdale, it was in scale. At the stop over in Parkdale, Grant needed to check out the engine to make sure everything was ok and was invited by the engineer into the main engine. A little boys dream!!!

On the ride home, Grant spent lots of time in the open air caboose...we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for a train ride.

"Rest Time"

Grant's naps are a thing of the past...however he is still very good at taking a "rest" in his room. I never know how I will find him when I open the door and today this is the scene! He told me he was just reading his bible for Vacation Bible School. Must be more comfortable to study the bible sans pants and underwear!

The Worm Farm

Grant is lucky to have two cousins, Brooklyn and Jack, who live close by! Brook is 1 year older than Grant and Jack is two years younger than him. Last night they came over for dinner and we spent some time outside enjoying the sunshine! Brook and her Dad (Ryan, my brother) made a worm farm with some left over worms he had from fishing. She was so excited to show Grant.

Brook and Grant dug right into the dirt and each grabbed a worm...they were swinging them around and I was trying not to show how grossed out I was! Brook had named all her worms too.

I think this ones name was Cash a.k.a Cash Money! Grant looks a little grossed out by his worm....

While Grant and Brook flung their worms around, Jack was content to play big boy basket ball.

As always it was a fun night with the kids, Ryan and Wendi! Lets hope that Grant got enough of Brook's worm farm because Mommy won't be making one for him anytime soon :-) Ewww....

a Little Boy's Dream- Mass Transit!

We have always known that Grant LOVES trains and all things that go, but a recent trip with Josh to his school downtown got him really interested in the ariel tram as well as the MAX train. I guess they stood on the sidewalk downtown and watched it pass many times before they were able to go home. On Saturday, we decided to make all his little boy fantasies come true and take him on the ariel tram up to OHSU and on the Portland Streetcar. He was a little afraid to ride the tram at first because he thought we might hit the trees, but once we go there he was the first one to run on and loved the ride to the top and back down. (This picture doesn't show his excitement though)

After we took our ride on the tram, we jumped on the Portland Street Car and rode that up towards PSU. Grant was all smile and thought that the streetcar was just about the coolest thing ever. We stopped downtown and had Hot Lips Pizza (one of Josh's old PSU Grad school spots) for lunch. Grant had a hard time saying good-bye the streetcar and we had to make promises to ride it again soon. I think our next play date should be riding mass-transit around town...anyone in?

Just A Day At The Park!

Grant had a super fun Friday. The day started out with a trip to the Children's Museum with his "buddy" Brady. They had fun at the grocery store, the dig pit, making music in the theater, and at the water table!

They managed to put on a two man show with the drums and the tambourine~

After "rest time" (which is more for mommies benefit) we walked to Florence Park where Grant played in the pond, kicked the soccer ball a lot and got tons of under doggies on the swings.