Gavin

Mild Mannered Alter Ego

The package that had Saedi’s birthday present from Grandma, also had some little goodies for everyone else. Gavin’s goody was a new accessory – he loves it, he wears it nearly everywhere.

“Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”
 

 It’s actually double-sided with Batman on the other side (which he switches to in the afternoon “because it’s dark at night so I have to wear the black side at night”).

Occasionally he lets Solvei or Nels play with it too; they get so excited.  When Solvei is allowed to wear it she attempts to run by stomping around the house as fast as she can and says “Ly! Ly! Mommy lying!” (Ly=Fly in Solvei speak).

Categories: Gavin, running, Solvei, Superman | Leave a comment

It’s So Nice…

…….when they all get along.

If only it happened more often than it does.

Categories: Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Gebäck und Kekse

A few weeks ago, someone from Nate’s work recommended a German bakery/deli to us that is very near our new house. We went today to find it so I could have some pastries for breakfast. It’s a fun little shop but I feel like a bit of an idiot going to because I don’t speak German – maybe one day.

The pastries were definitely worth seeking out, and we will be going back. I also got some cookies for the kids (since they had already eaten breakfast). Delicious!

Categories: cookies, Gavin, Nels, Solvei | Leave a comment

Entertainment in the Car

These days, because Saedi is staying in her old school until the end of the school year, we spend an average of 3 hours in the car on week days. It gets really boring. The kids have come up with some games that they play to keep themselves entertained. The other day Gavin found the safety manual for his car seat, pretended that it was a story book and was reading (making up) stories that were in it. All the kids took turns telling a story, even Solvei and Nels (as best they could). The stories from Saedi and Gavin were all pretty similar, there was a princess/queen named Saedi, and knight named Gavin, and princess named Solvei, and a prince named Nels.  A few of the stories also included a MEAN, but kind-of-good Witch. If the kids said that Daddy was not in the stories because he was not in the car, what character does that make me?

I haven’t decided if I should be proud (of the creativity), or offended.

Categories: Gavin, Saedi | Leave a comment

It was not cloudy today

When we dropped Saedi off at school this morning it was not cloudy. From the school’s field you can just see the top of Mt Rainier (the part that is most often covered in clouds) and it was visible today. So instead of going home we stopped and picked up my camera and went back to the beach.

You can see the whole mountain today, it’s just really hazy. I’m still not completely satisfied, but it will do for now.

It was fun for Gavin to go to the beach again today because there was a super low tide, so there was twice as much beach as usual and lots more to find. There was a kid wading out in the water that found a starfish and he brought it over and let Gavin touch it. Solvei and Nels were also a lot more sure footed this time and were running all over. We didn’t stay long today because the UV index was a lot higher and I still haven’t unpacked the sunscreen.

On the way home I stopped at a place I found to take a picture of the Narrows bridge.

Can you imagine waking up with a view of this from your back porch everyday? Beautiful!

Categories: beach, Gavin, Mt Rainier | Leave a comment

Mother’s Day & Mountain Hunting part 2

First thing the kids told me this morning was “Happy Mother’s Day!” as they each gave me the silly band they had picked out for me to wear today.

Nate was working so I thought we’d go back to the beach to try and find that mountain since it was another nice day. Before we left I even checked the webcams I could find with Rainier in them to see if it was still hiding – from the Seattle webcam it looked clear and the Rainier Park webcams showed blue skies.

When we got to the beach:

You can see it better today but the top is still covered! The Seattle webcam was still clear, it was just where we were. Grrrrr!

But the kids were still glad to be there. It was A LOT more crowded today! Not very surprising though because it was a nice holiday in a place that is often wet, so ALL the people in the area tend to come to the water when it’s warm.

After we came home the kids wanted me to open my Mother’s Day gifts.

Saedi made hers at school. It came wrapped in tissue paper with a tag that said “do not open until mother’s day”

She made a card:

and a picture frame:

There was also an extra picture her teacher sent home with it.

Gavin made me a book:

Cover with a picture of me and him
{3 little “pictures”} MOM IS =) {a “leaf clover”} MOM I LOV U
I LOV U MOM {a sun}
Lft Pg: MOM I LOV U I LOV U,  Rght Pg: I ZOOPR (super) LOOV U I LOV U I LOV U I LOV U

Not bad for trying to spell everything himself.

Both Saedi and Gavin picked me flowers while we were at the beach too, so I pressed them and will put them into a frame.

I love my kids! And I know they love me.

Categories: beach, Gavin, Mother's Day, Mt Rainier, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

We’re Going on a Hunt, We’re Going on a Hunt…

We’re Looking for a Mountain, We’re Going on a Hunt!

I got the idea of getting pictures of Mt Rainier from a few different places, so it’s the same mountain that doesn’t really look the same, and putting them in a collage frame to show-off/remember the views from living here. Today was supposed to be completely clear skies, so this morning we went mountain hunting.

One place I want a picture from is Pt Defiance Beach, so I loaded the kids, and the jogging stroller, into the car and headed to the beach. The skies were beautifully blue, water nice, not too many people…..a great day for going to the beach.

This beach is not really sand (parts of it are) but mostly small rocks which makes it my favorite kind of beach because you don’t end up with sand in everything when climbing back into the car.

(I love finding lady bugs at the beach!)

The kids really like this kind of beach too because they can throw rocks into the water.

I LOVE this one!
When we first got there Solvei and Nels were afraid to take any steps because the ground was so uneven and “mushy” so they just stood still unless I would hold their hand while they walked. Solvei stopped right at the tide line (where the sand/rock kind of steps down) and tried to take steps by herself. She fell forehead first into the sand and couldn’t get up! I jumped over and picked her up and she had a mouth full of sand, blech! She tried to wipe it out but her hands were also covered in sand. I had to wipe out her mouth and try and get her to spit (which didn’t really do anything), I’m sure she swallowed some. She was so sad and hilarious at the same time, I couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t mind pretty quickly though.
It was a very nice day and the kids had a really good time.
Oh, and that mountain? We found it…….hiding behind clouds.
We made the most of the afternoon and I showed the kids some of my other favorite places in that part of town. We had lunch at the Antique Sandwich Company. I have been wanting to go there since we moved back here, but it’s never been a good time to go with Nate and I was not about to take the kids there by myself when Solvei and Nels were smaller. Lunch was just as good as I wanted it to be so I’m glad we went today.
The kids were being very good while we waited for food.
You can kind of see Solvei’s  sand scraped face in this one.
After lunch we drove the “5-Mile Drive” at Pt Defiance (which was beautiful) before we went home.
Even without the mountain, the trip was worth it!
Categories: beach, Gavin, Mt Rainier, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Fast Food

We’ve been eating mostly fast food during the move. Not just because the kitchen was either still set up at the other house, or packed at the new house, but mostly, because of the move, I have not had time to go grocery shopping or time to make meals. It’s amazing how quickly fast food gets really old. You can only have the same thing so many times. I was really glad to find there is a Carl’s Jr by the new house, because it is one place we hadn’t seen since we moved to Washington (and so have not eaten at yet during the move).

We don’t normally do very much fast food, so this is the first time I have ever ordered anything for Solvei and Nels that I could just give them packages and let them feed themselves.

I think the big kids are tired of fast food too.
Categories: eating, Gavin, moving, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Feather makes good fun

There’s not much for a four-year-old to do when all the toys are packed. Gavin doesn’t have any of his usual distractions, but I kind of like it because it brings out his imagination. This morning at the now-“old”-house, while I was packing another load, Gavin found a feather and spent 15min hyperventilating so he could keep it in the air.

Categories: Gavin, moving, playing | Leave a comment

Gavin’s Wishes and Noses

Walking home from the bus stop this afternoon Saedi told me that Gavin calls the white dandelions…..

Wish Flowers.
 I have to say I like that name much better.
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I found a gigantic tub of animal crackers at Costco and bought them on a whim, because I thought they were cute and the kids would like them. They are Winnie-the-Pooh shaped.

In case you are not as intimately familiar as we are with Winnie-the-Pooh (having seen many movies/cartoons HUNDREDS of times) they are Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, Roo, Eeyore and Lumpy. Solvei and Nels LOVE them. They are quite tasty, but the reason I mention this is actually because of Gavin. He has a peculiar way of eating them.

With every cracker he eats everything but the noses and saves them for last.
Categories: cookies, eating, flowers, Gavin | 1 Comment

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