Trip to the zoo

Since Taylor is a year now, we thought he would be ready for a trip to the zoo. I had high hopes that it would be a great experience. Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite as great as I hoped.

We originally planned to go Friday since we were both off work. But after a week of hard labor, Jason was exhausted and wanted to put it off till Saturday. So Saturday Taylor and Jason went to Little Gym while I went for a bike ride. Taylor had gotten up earlier than normal that day so he fell asleep on the drive to pick me up. We decided to just let him sleep in the car so Jason could stop by the chiropractor. Of course, he only slept for 1 1/2 hrs. By the time we got him home and fed, and me showered and ready, it was 2pm. We arrived at the zoo at 3pm and it was very busy. At first we tried to just keep him in the stroller, but there were just too many people that he couldn't see the animals through the crowd. So we took him out, and Jason held him up so he could see the hippos out of the water and eating. Perfect picture moment. Except, I FORGOT TO PUT THE BATTERY IN THE CAMERA!! I was so mad! I told myself so many times not to forget it on the charger, and I did exactly that. By this point my stomach was started to churn. (I'm lactose intolerant, and I presumed that my coffee from that morning had been made with milk instead of soy). We tried to make the most of it, but it was just a rough time, with me feeling sick and Taylor fighting every time we tried to stick him back in the stroller. A lot of the animals were sleeping, as well, so even if he could have spotted them off in the distance, when they are not moving it is hard to stay interested. At one point we just let him walk around picking up pine cones as that was the only thing that would make him happy. Lessons learned: go to the zoo in the morning, only go on a weekday, double check that the camera has the battery before leaving home, and ALWAYS make sure that my coffee was actually made with soy milk.

The day wasn't a total bust, however. We drove around a bit trying to get Taylor to fall asleep, but of course he didn't. So we grabbed some burritos and headed to Kerry Park. For those not from the Seattle area, it is a park that overlooks the Puget Sound and downtown Seattle. The Space needle is so close it feels like you can reach out and touch it. Taylor behaved as we ate dinner and enjoyed the nice view . We found another park down the road that overlooked all of Puget Sound, so we got Taylor out and let him walk around and watch the ferries coming in and out. If we could have stay another hour, we probably would have seen an amazing sunset, but it was time to get Taylor home.

On the drive home, we passed the back end of the Seafair Torchlight parade. People were hanging out on the floats waiting to hit the parade route. In all my years growing up in Seattle, that was the closest I've ever gotten to going to the parade. It was kind of fun to drive by all the floats and marching bands. We went home and watched it on TV instead. It brought back memories from the day I got my appendix removed. Everyone was sitting in my hospital room watching the parade as I drifted in and out of consciousness, catching a glimpse here and there.

So, that was our afternoon at the zoo. Hopefully next time will be better, and I will remember the battery to the camera so I have some picts to share.

Birthday Weekend in Review

What a whirlwind of a weekend, but we had a great time celebrating Taylor's birthday. This might require a day by day rundown.

Thursday, July 10th (his birthday!): started the day with his favorite breakfast. Blueberry pancakes! I put a candle in it, but didn't even get a chance to light it before he had taken it out and started eating his pancake. I had to dig out the middle because the candle had melted into the pancake. oops! Took an early nap, which unfortunately was only an hour and a half instead of his normal 3 hour. Had lunch, then headed to Aubrey and Will's house for a play date. The kids were all playing in the pool and sprinkler mat. Taylor does this sucking in air loudly thing when he is excited, and did it every time we walked over to the pool. He loves water! He and Will played a round of golf, with the kiddie set of course. Then it was back home to meet up with the rest of the family. Thankfully he got a bit of a nap in before the festivities started. My parents and my younger sister Mary and her husband Rob (in town from San Diego), came over and we BBQ'd, helped Taylor open lots of presents, and watched him eat cake for the first time. He was so excited about it that he started licking the frosting off before the candle was even blown out. At one point he had picked up the whole cake and was trying to get it in his mouth. We all got pictures with the birthday boy, then it was time for bed. We sang Happy Birthday to my Dad later in the evening, and he was kind enough to share his cake with us, unlike Mr. Taylor.

Birthday Breakfast

Devouring of the blueberry pancake

Mr. Blueberry lips

Showing Auntie Mary his new toy

Opening his big present

Not what he wanted, I guess

Playing basketball with daddy and Uncle Rob

Eating frosting with the candle still lit

Sharing a bite with mommy

Easier than with a fork

Birthday boy with Nana and Grandpa...

...and with Uncle Rob and Aunt Mary

"Don't even think about touching my cupcake!"

Friday, July 11th: woke up a little earlier than normal to go for a boat ride on our friend Allen's boat. Rob was the first to jump in and initiate the wakeboarding, but he hadn't even been up for 30 seconds when the back of the boat started smoking. 10 minutes later and some elbow grease on Allen and Jason, the broken belt was replaced, and we were all thankful that a spare was kept in the boat so we didn't have to jump in and push the boat back to the house. Jason took his turn, then Mary jumped in and showed the boys how it is done. :) It was a beautiful morning, especially since we were the only boat on a perfectly glassy lake. Afterward we headed to a great breakfast place that Jason and I discovered in Bellevue. It is a little family owned pancake house that has been there for 50 years, and despite their huge popularity have never expanded. Thankfully we came on a day that the wait was only 15 minutes. Then it was home to take naps and clean up after the previous evening's festivities. Later we enjoyed some Thai food and Crockett at my parent's house.


Saturday, July 12th (the big party day): thankfully we had already brought a bunch of stuff to Allen and Sandy's for the big party, because our car was still packed to the roof. I had a check off list with all the things we had to remember: Pack N' Play for Tay's nap, baby monitor, sleep sack, CD player with bedtime CD, scissors, tape, decorations, sand castle stuff, food for Taylor, his cake, etc. Yes, the list was much longer. We headed out early and I dropped Taylor and Jason off at The Little Gym for their class. In the mean time I made quick stops at Target, the grocery store, and the party store to pick up balloons. My intention was to get it done fast enough so I could drop it all off at the Sander's first, but I was running late, so Taylor was nearly suffocated by all the balloons in the back seat of the car, and I snuggled with the huge volleyball set in the front seat. I'm sure we were getting crazy stares from other drivers but I wasn't able to turn my head enough to look. Once to the Sanders, I got Taylor down for his nap, then it was decorate and prep food like mad people. My parents, Mary, and Rob came early to help with the last minute stuff which was a huge help! Taylor of course decided to sleep only 1 1/2 hours, so he had some lunch before everyone got there.


Then it was time for the party! I think there was about 40 people there: church friends, family, friends from high school. The BBQ was going, and people just enjoyed the nice sunny day on the lake. Unfortunately I had a dyslexic moment when I was making the invitations and mixed up two numbers in the address. Two people found it by following the balloons, but my poor aunt and uncle were driving around for a while. My mom finally checked her phone and saw they had called quite a few times. They arrived just in time to get some food, then watch Taylor eat his cake. Well, let me back up. I had tried to tone down the frosting (he got a bad stomach ache from the cupcake) by adding half whipping cream. Well, when I tried to frost it (30 minutes before the party), it just ran down the sides of the cake and looked like a mess. Thinking quickly, I scraped it all off, then used the cream cheese/whipped cream/marshmallow dip I had for strawberries instead. Much thicker and worked like a charm. So when we presented him the cake, first of all there were 40 people staring at him. Second, the frosting tasted much different than the first time because of the cream cheese. Third it was cold because I had put it in the fridge so I wouldn't have the melting problem again. To sum it up, he could have cared less about this huge cake sitting in front of him. He got a bite of the frosting and his whole body shuttered. He ate a bit more when we gave him a spoon to use, but pretty much it went untouched. Ah well, what can you expect from at 1 year old.

Confused by the candle

Finally eating his cake (with a utensil of course)

Mommy with the birthday boy

San Diego friends Eli and Holly with baby Ethan

Katie with smiley baby Greyson

Grandpa and Taylor playing Foosball

Taking a sip of Aunt Luellen's water

The boat crew

Lucy and Andrew in their "boats"

Taking a nap in Miss Sandy's arms

Rousing game of volleyball

Tay's favorite thing: walking in & out of the water

Discovering sand, on hands & in mouth

Taylor's Sports Illustrated pose

The rest of the party was full of sand castle making, volleyball, pool, boat rides, and just hanging out and talking. It was great to have Taylor surrounded by family and friends on his big day. He even took a nap in Sandy's arms as she sat on the porch swing. We decided since he had gotten a bit on the crabby side that we would skip the big present opening and just take them home. I'm sure there were some disappointed people who wanted to see the big show, but it made for a much happier Taylor. By the time we cleaned up, got home, and got Taylor settled in bed, it was almost 9pm, way passed his bedtime. Big day for a big boy.

Sunday, July 13th: Taylor was dedicated at church along with his little buddy Andrew. We missed the last dedication by a few weeks, so we asked our pastor if we could do it that weekend while my sister was in town. It was such a special moment, as our pastor challenged us and the congregation as well to be teachers and examples of Jesus to Taylor. He reminded us that this did not mean that his salvation was secured by doing this, because that is something he has to choose for himself when he is older. But it is more like we are presenting him to the Lord and making a promise to raise him to know of Jesus and His unconditional love. Taylor did start to get a bit antsy as pastor Barry was praying, but for the most part it went well. It would have been much easier when he was just a baby, though.

After church we hurried home to get tired Taylor to bed, then as my parent's babysat, Mary, Rob, Jason and I went out together. We hit up the bowling alley which was completely empty (probably because everyone else was enjoying the beautiful day outside). It was great just to talk and hangout without the distraction of Taylor. I'm proud to say I won the first game, but then Rob stepped up his game the second round and blew us all out of the water, bringing the Honer team to victory. There was a Dairy Queen next door, so after we grabbed some ice cream (medium cookie dough blizzard with extra cookie dough for me!) and enjoyed the nice warm afternoon. Then it was back to the house to say our goodbyes as we would not be seeing them again before they returned to San Diego. It didn't hit me till a bit after they left that it would be another few months before we would see them again, then I got sad. I wish we were all still close together like we used to be, and we could hang out whenever, and Taylor would actually know who they are. Hopefully some day we will all be back together again. Whether that will be in Seattle or San Diego remains to be seen.

So that was the weekend. We just barely survived all the activities, but had so much fun being with family and friends and celebrating Taylor's first year. It really has gone so fast. I still consider him a baby, but really he is a little boy now. More on all his tricks later with the 1 year Dr appointment review. I'll add weekend pictures when I get a chance as well.

Happy Birthday Tay Tay!

Our little guy is 1 today! Taylor, you are the greatest blessing in your dad's and my life. It has been a great year, and we are excited about the many more to come.

Happy Birthday Dad & Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Dad! This time last year we were picnicing at Lake Sammamish for his birthday. I was five days post-due with Taylor, and causing a scene at the park as I jumped around after a frisbee. Everyone kept throwing it out of my reach. I think I did about 100 squats that night picking up the frisbee off the ground. Well, it worked! Taylor was born the next day! Sorry you have to share your birthday every year now, dad.

Little Gym

We thought we'd give Kindermusic a rest for a little bit and try a different class with Taylor. Jason thought a gym class would be fun, so we signed him and Taylor up for a Little Gym class on Saturday mornings. It will be great because I usually work Friday nights, so it will give them something to do together in the morning when I'm sleeping.

The first week Taylor had a great time, rolling on the mats, catching bubbles, and hanging from the bars. What he enjoyed the most was shooting balls into the little hoop, laughing when Jason would dunk them in. He loved it so much we decided to get him one for his birthday. (shhh, it's a secret). This last weekend I got to go since I'm on vacation (and lovin' every minute of it), so I took some pictures of the two of them.

Hanging out with the boys

Bouncing a ball with daddy

Mr. Mohawk

Laughing at daddy's shooting

Slam dunk for Taylor

Our little monkey

Mesmerized by bubbles

Mighty Duke of York

Stamp "tattoo" at the end of class