Sprinkler Fun

Last Friday it was actually warm enough for the kids to use Ty's new Sprinkler in the backyard. 

Some dear friends of ours gave it to to Ty for his Birthday and he calls it his "really fun toy" every morning he asks me, "Mom, if the sun is awake and it's hot outside can we play with my really fun toy?" Too bad we live in Vancouver WA instead of AZ, he'd be out there all day if he could. They also gave him his new favorite towel, a Lightning McQueen Cars 2 towel. 

 Matt came home from work to find the kids playing.

 It shoots water out the sides and the top. Ty and Maylee drop the balls down around and they come shooting up the middle. Ty likes to hit the balls with his bat.

 Maylee knows not to get too close or else she'll get a ball or bat to the head.

I didn't get it on video... but Ty knows not to hit to her. Of course accidents happen, it was only a ball and it didn't hurt her, just surprised her.

 Ty loves it!

Ty kept trying catch or stop the water coming out the middle.

While Ty finished up playing May got some cuddle time in on Daddy's lap. 

Oh, and of course I just had to add a cute picture of the little miss, just because :) 

Special Edition Matt Post: Best Father's weekend ever!

Best Father's Day weekend ever!   It started as soon as I got home Friday.  The family went to JC Penneys and I got a new tie, work shoes and tie clip.  The tie came with the tie clip which was a bonus and I knew I needed shoes, because that day I found a rock the size of a nickel inside the bottom sole of my shoe. That’s usually when I can tell I need new shoes, otherwise, I’m still breaking them in.  Off to Lowe's we went for the air compressor and nail gun.  I’m super excited about all the gifts.

Saturday, I decided to run in what’s called the Spartan race, hosted in Washougal, just up the road.  I didn’t have anyone I knew racing in it, and we didn’t know what the spectator pass ($15) was really going to offer, so I went alone and left the Mick and the kids home.  I really wish I had someone to talk to when I was there.  Once I have a talking point I can generally carry a conversation with just about anyone, but I hate getting a conversation started.  So I didn’t talk to anyone while I was there, I just watched and waited for my heat to start.  I still didn’t know what to expect through the race.  I knew it was about 4 miles with 15 mild to intense obstacles throughout the race. The first ¾ miles were straight up hill. They had things like wall climbs, cinder block pulls, sand bag carries, bigger wall climbs, barbed wire moguls (most the race was on a moto-cross track), rope climb, rope ladder climb, uphill barbwire crawl, 10 stump jumps (6 inch diameter), wall scaling, jump through a fire, and finish by getting past 3 “Spartan warriors” with padded gladiator weapons.  It was probably the best race I ever participated in.  Soooo much fun!  I can’t wait to do it again.

Sunday was great! Mickie made me and the kids’ waffles, fruit, yogurt, and eggs while we watched Rio, again. We went to church where they actually handed out a treat for the Fathers, like they do on Mother's Day then we finished off the weekend with Sunday naps and having our friends the Walkers over for dinner. 

The best part is, if I didn’t do any of this stuff over the weekend, I would still know that my family loves me and appreciates me as a father, because they show me every day.  Maylee loves to play with me and is literally there with open arms when I get home from work every day. Ty is one of my best friends.  We laugh together, play together, and I love how he calls me at work and tells me about his day and ends the day with a kiss and “I love you daddy.”  Mickie is of course the rock in the family.  She is so patient with me and works so hard to keep an organized home, in all its capacities. I know Father's Day is a day to celebrate a Father’s hard work and sacrifice for the family, but for me, it is very easy to do when you have a family a great as mine.    

Random catch up pictures and videos

Maylee is in a copycat stage right now. She tries to mimic the words that you say, she copies your movements and even how you watch t.v.!

 Early summers here in WA are always interesting, one day sunny and 86 the next day high of 56 and rainy. This day still wanted to go outside so Matt go his coat on for him and gave him an unbrella. He sat there like that for a good long while talking with himself.

One Saturday afternoon these too looked like this... now imagine at night these two sleeping like this with me trying to sleep in between. Not comfortable, believe me any way I roll I get an elbow to the face.

Ty likes the movie Rio, for some reason he gets really wound up during this Bird vs. Monkey fight scene.

Literally moments after my mom drove up to help us move an Ice Cream truck pulled into the neighborhood. Ty always ran outside to listen and hear the music, he didn't know they actually sold Ice Cream. Of course my mother decided to introduce him and Maylee to it... now they know... hmmm

Naps came few and far between during the move, which usually meant the kids would crash where they could find an open spot.

Maylee usually wandered around the house during the move looking for her blankets or a pacifier. This day her crib and blankets were still in the usual spot. She always tries to pull her blankets out of her crib and sleep with them standing up, that's when I really know its nap time.

A few weeks ago I tried to show Maylee how to do a somersault she wouldn't do it, she would just scream and stiffen up. Then when Matt got home from work he tried it with her, unknowing that I all ready tried that very morning and look at that, she'll do it for Dad!

Of course we can't just stick to normal somersaults, Dad always has to take things one step farther, Flips!

Lastly, sometimes Ty decides that wearing underwear isn't important. I make sure it is but sometimes Dad lets him get away with it. In this case Ty was eating something on the deck and he crumbled it all up so Matt told him to go throw it over the fence. Matt thought it was hilarious so he got it on video. Eesh, funny. He'll love that video in oh, 20 years.

Ty turned 3!

On Sunday Ty turned 3!

Originally we weren't going to be anywhere special, so when my mom came up to help us move (again more on that soon) she brought up Ty's present.

We still have yet to put it together, we have been BUSY! But he loves playing with just the Thomas and Percy pieces and the crane with the train car for now.

Matt and I had been planning on buying Ty a bike for his birthday and kept checking Wal-Mart for the specific bike that we wanted for him. We looked about 4 times finding nothing, then I found it the Thursday before his birthday. Of course he was with me, so it was hard to hold him back from not using it that day. I bought him a 3+ size helmet to wear too, but silly me, I forgot my son has an X-large head so it didn't fit at all!

We went back the next day and got him a 5+ size Toy Story helmet that he was really excited about and wears every time he rides now, which is everywhere.

As we were moving my mom was telling us her list of things to get done before my brothers wedding at the end of this month. Of course it was a fairly long list and Matt offered our services the following weekend, Ty's birthday weekend. So we went down to my parents house to paint the fence all day Saturday. My mom was excited to have us on Ty's Birthday and took it upon herself to build Ty a Thomas Rice Krispy Treat er, Cake...

As you can see he LOVED it! The fence looks pretty good too eh?

Ty also made sure he didn't have to part with his bike for the weekend and had us bring it down to Grandma and Grandpa's house so he could ride there too, which he did.

He was a little shaky at first on his bike but he is getting the hang of it and cruising right along. Matt says this week the lessons will be on braking properly rather than bailing when he wants to stop haha.

He also got a book, a new Color Magic Color book and some new shorts. Exciting stuff for a 3 year old :) It was a Happy Birthday for Ty! 

Special Visit

So if you haven’t heard, or hadn’t noticed the lack of posts due to the event… we moved. Only about 4 miles down the road. However, it cuts down on Matt’s commute time considerably and so far it’s been a fantastic move. My mom came up and helped us with her little Toyota pick-up. Boy is that thing a champ and even more my Mom proved once again to be Super Woman. More on the move later when I have finished pictures of the house put together. We are still figuring out where things go, we’re close but not done, so I’ll wait on that.

What I did want to post about was a special visit from some of our friends, the Smith’s! Lisa ran a Marathon last Saturday in Newport and they called and asked if they could come out for a day and a half to visit. Sure thing! The house was a bit unorganized but I don’t think they minded.

We watched some movies, chatted and played with their little man Dylan. That little guy LOVES to smile, especially at Maylee. We tease that they have an arranged marriage… although Smith boys like them younger so he should probably wait for Spence #3 to come along haha.

We also took the chance to hike up the Multnoma Falls trail. Matt and I hadn’t done it yet, since last time we were ill equipped. We didn’t know what to expect really but Ryan and Lisa said they were up fir it so we headed out. I had Maylee in the Baby Bjorn and Ryan had Dylan in our hiking pack. Ty walked and wow, I was impressed. For a pregnant lady with a baby strapped to my front that was QUITE the hike! It’s only a mile up and back but it is straight up with switch backs. I felt the most badly for Lisa… what were we thinking! She just ran a MARATHON!

 Had to make that big... Ty's cheese face cracks me up

The falls were beautiful. We got to the top and found out that the last little stretch had been taken out by a landslide so we didn’t make it to the top view but we did get so see some other little falls and relax for a while near some pooling water in the river. It was REALLY beautiful up there, the pictures don’t do it justice.

On our way back Lisa discovered it was MUCH harder to walk down than it was to walk up since her knees and legs kept giving out. (Seriously, I felt so bad I was about to piggy back her myself…) So she started walking backwards down the trail to alleviate some of the pain with Ryan’s help.  

We got to the bottom and I think everyone had a bit of a rough time carrying children and dealing with soreness, but it was all in all a nice outing.

We were so glad we got to see them since we never really seem to be in their neck of the woods (Sacramento) and we still hadn’t met Dylan. We, of course, ate WAY TOO MUCH junk food since Ryan is a sugar-a-holic but we’re recovering and craving more of those fantastic cookies that he bought (okay maybe just me) They drove home Sunday night and hopefully Lisa’s legs have recovered since she has another race this weekend, talk about impressive, especially since Dylan is only 6 and a half months old. 

Memorial Day Weekend Extravaganza (The Novel)

We went down to Medford for Memorial Day weekend. Well, I went a few days early to help my mom with 330 wedding invitations for my Brother’s wedding. It took two straight days and a lot of neglect in the care of my children but my mom and I cranked them out and got them done. Friday, Matt flew down from Portland and Preston and Suzanne rolled into town.

We were so glad to see them! The weather wasn’t fantastic on Friday so we didn’t end up Mini-Golfing like we had planned. We just went out to NoHo’s Hawaiian Restaurant then went home to watch the first MIB movie to gear up for seeing MIB3 the next evening.

Saturday, my mom and I surprised Suzanne a bit by throwing her a Medford Baby Shower. Well, we told her Friday evening that we had one planned for her. It was a busy weekend so we were surprised ourselves to see so many friendly faces stop by. It was a morning shower so we had mini donuts, fruit and my mom, of course, made a cute cookie bouquet. A big thanks to Michaela for making the darling invitations for me too.

Suzanne made out like a bandit with some of the most adorable little lady outfits I have ever seen. She was spoiled and I am glad my mom and I could help. One of our dear family friends even gave her a cute white changing table!

While we were having the party my Dad, Preston, Ty and Matt hit the golf course. Ty was thrilled to find many GYNORMOUS worms on the green to stuff in his pockets and carry around. (Gross right?) The guys said they golfed okay too.

After the shower, golfing and some lunch we headed out to the shooting range. My Dad brought his whole gun collection which consisted of 3 .22’s (one borrowed with 3, 25 round banana clips that were fantastic) his .44 revolver, his 300 Winchester and his 2 shotguns. My Dad made sure we had plenty of ammo to make an afternoon out of it. It was great! We set up targets and I started shooting the .22 right away. 


Wouldn't you know it before unloading my first clip I shot straight through the wood AND through the skinny little inch dowel that was holding up the board at about 150 yards. HAHA I was aiming for the target and hit right in between the two. I just said I meant to do that.

 Suzanne told me to avoid taking pictures of her, while I completely understand how she feels, I just had to sneak this one in. Ty just LOVES his Aunt Zan. 

I thought this was super cute too May double checking who exactly it is holding her :) 

Ty wanted to shoot too so Matt helped him with the .22. He loved it and was really REALLY sad when he left with Grandma for nap time (sorry again about the fit he threw Mom).

The guys started shooting the 300 Winchester… let’s just start out by saying it’s a big gun. Matt was sighting in his target and not realizing he was squeezing the trigger. His face was close to the scope, he triggered a shot and got what’s endearingly called a scope bite. Poor guy, it was so bloody and disgusting. Head wounds always bleed a ton. Luckily it has healed up nicely since. He had to wear a band aide on it to keep it together for about 3 days.

The .44 revolver is also a pretty macho gun, Suzanne, my mom and I just stuck with the .22’s.

 One arm shot by my Dad (aka The Hulk) 

The guys polished off the time with the shotguns and I think Preston fell in love with my Dad’s Benelli. (Who wouldn’t fall in love with a Benelli seriously, those guns are slick.)

After shooting we came home, showered up, left the kids home with our favorite Babysitter and headed out to dinner at Tim’s Backyard BBQ. Some good stuff I tell ya, this time Matt and I got the Patio plate with a “hot link” it was so good!  Then we went and saw MIB3 in 3D. It was a good movie.

Sunday, we mostly relaxed. We went to church then came home for some more BBQ. This time the grilling was by my mom, Pork Baby Back ribs. Nate, Kelly and the kids came over and played for a while and later that evening, while Preston was taking a test on-line for his EMT class, we set up the fire pit. My parents have had it for years but only seem to bust it out when we’re in town. We made some delectable S’mores and chatted the night away.

 My mom didn't know I had the camera out, so she had on a grumpy face while grilling... 

 Then she decided to try again for a better picture.

 Then she decided one with a rack of ribs was even more appropriate. Funny Mom. 

 Ty loved his Uncle Preston time. 

Monday morning the guys, including Nate, snuck in another round of gold while Suzanne and I vegged out. Boy that was a lot of stuff to cram in for some pregnant ladies. They finished golfing and then the Reading’s took off for Utah. We loved seeing them and wish we still lived close.

We picked some sandwiches up at Togo’s for lunch then headed out to the park. The weather wasn’t supposed to be really warm but sitting out the for a while it got kind of toasty. The park we chose has a little water park and the boys loved running in there, albeit pretty cold at times. The rest of us just relaxed in the shade on the grass and watched.

 Funny park face... the sun was shining and Maylee had no idea I was taking her picture haha. 

 That's Tanner running towards the bucket. 

 Dad's Nap Time

What is Tanner doing? haha 

It was a busy, busy but REALLY FUN weekend!