Maple Valley Days!

It's that time of the year again, Maple Valley Days is upon us.  This morning was the parade.  It still amazes me how many participants are in the parade considering how small MV really is.  We walked down early with  friends, then met more when we got there.  This year was much different than last year - the weather was warmer, Eli was a little more into it, and he didn't have stitches!  Remember last year?  (This is my first ever link, I hope it works!)

We met Sandy, Reid, and Drew at the parade.  So fun!

It's a poodle llama!  HAHA  This is the funniest/cutest llama (alpaca?) ever! 

One of the Mexican restaurants out here had a mariachi band and dancing horses.  They were fabulous (and passed out coupons for a free meal!  YES!)

Eric and Eli watching the firetruck intently.

Me and my boy!  See, I really was there.  It's not often I am in the pictures, I usually take them. :) 

Thanks babe!

This afternoon calls for a trip to the festivities down at the lake.  There are vendors, games, rides, food. etc.  FUN!

The Incredible Sticker Boy

Every year about this time we get a Disney Yearbook in the mail.  As I was opening the box it came in today, Eli saw the red background and part of a yellow lightning bolt.  He started jumping up and down saying "Yightning!  Yightning!"  (those L's sure can be tricky sometimes) 

As soon as I had the book out of the box, he had it and was running to the couch for further investigation.  He sat there for nearly 30 minutes flipping through the book (devoted entirely to Disney's Cars) telling me who every character is, which cars he has, and those his friends Colby and Jack have. 

Then I noticed there was also a package of stickers in the box.  Stickers always have the same result, however the location varies.  We usually end with a stack of stickers on Eli's forehead.  Today however, his creativity got the better of him.  He pulled up his pant leg and all 14 stickers ended up on his leg.  Of course, by the time I ran upstairs to get the card for the camera, he was already pulling stickers off.  I did end up with a couple pictures despite his speed at removing them.

I told him there was no smiling alowed.  This is his "no smile" face.

Our own little Derek Jeter

Coyote's number 2, GO ELI!

 

"I got it!"  He was ready for this one

 Tball was so much fun yesterday!  There were a number of kids who missed last night's game, however, everyone who was there did wonderfully, the game sped by, and then we had a team barbecue at the park.  The kids were more interested in playing on the toys than eating their dinner, however, many hot dogs and hamburgers were scarfed down by the Coyote kids.  The weather held out, there was no rain and it was actually relatively warm.  We ended up with some great tball shots from the evening too.  It's sad that there is only one more game left in his first season playing!  He sure has come a long way and boy does he love it!

It wouldn't be the same if they weren't
goofing around.  Silly Coyotes.

Eli's First Mariners Game

This weekend Eli went to his first Mariners game at Safeco Field.  It wasn't his first Major League Baseball game as we went to a Houston Astros game last summer when we visited my brother in Texas.  On Saturday, after helping load my parents first load of belongings to take to their new house, we ventured downtown and wandered the streets of Seattle with Jess's dad and Cheryle (UniGrampa and UniGramma - haha  Cheryle was cold and had the hood on her sweatshirt on as well as her sunglasses, looking like the unibomber pictures.  HAHA  It was hilarious!). 

At Saturday's game, we were thankful Safeco has can have a roof. It had just started raining when we got to the stadium, and it continued to pour throughout the game. It was Griffey t-shirt night (which he didn't even play during) so we all left with free t-shirts. It was a fun game. We even ran into a good friend from college and had the chance to catch up with Joel.

Daddy, Eli, Gramma Cheryle, Grandpa Glenn

I know the white balance is off on this,

but I LOVE his big brown eyes.

Showing off his Griffey t-shirt where the
Mariner Moose was supposed
to be, but wasn't.

Playing in the kid area before the game

We finally found the Mariner Moose,
he was on the field!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Today was another game day for us.  It was exceptionally nice as Eli had quite the crowd cheering him on (as well as all the other gut-wrenchingly hysterical three and four year olds.  Grandma and Papa, Gordon, Dusti and Liam, and Richard and Carol all came!  It was great.  Of course, I had to zip home because I forgot the camera battery at home in its charger - go figure.

After a quick trip home, I made it back to the field just as the game started.  Because of the recent rain, and few dribbles during the game, the dirt (we were on Patrick Field again) was pretty wet and wasn't conducive to glove digging and kicking up clouds of dust.  The kids were more engaged, although a couple times they'd try to make balls out of dirt.  If you haven't been to a t-ball game, you seriously have got to find one and just watch.  It has got to be the funniest thing around.

Mr. Cool began the game in his Transformers sunglasses.  He can do anything in these!

You might think he's pointing at me, however "Coach Daddy" had just asked him where he was running next. He was pointing to third base and saying "Over there!"

 Giving Coach a high five after making it around the bases.

Great game!  Way to go Coyotes!

Giving Papa a celebratory hug.

After the game, we took mom out to a birthday lunch at Mizu's Japanese Steakhouse.  Eli LOVED the fire and watching our chef work in front of us.  He didn't do the flaming volcano with the onion slices, so we asked if he'd do it for the little man, and he did.  Eli's excitement was absolutely priceless and we had delicious food.  Happy Birthday Momma/Grandma!  We love you!

What A Spring Break!

For the end of Spring Break we decided to get away for a couple days.  We found a great deal on a "cabin" in Leavenworth and decided to go on a mini vacation from Thursday through Saturday.  Neither Jess or I had ever been to Leavenworth so we thought it would make for a great spring trip.  Being April, we thought we would have a nice trip, blue skies, maybe a little rain, after all, this IS Washington.  Instead, our short jaunt over the mountains took us nearly 4 hours to go from good ol Maple Valley to Leavenworth.  After begin stopped on Snoqualmie Pass for 30-45 minutes, we finally got to continue our trip.  The speed limit had been reduced to 45 because of slushy conditions.  Once on the east side of the summit, things were much better.  

We got to Blewitt Pass and oh my gosh!  It was snowing like crazy, the roads were slushy and continuing to get worse.  We past two cars being pulled out of ditches, but figured, what the heck, we'll keep going.  It really wasn't that bad, just people thinking they can drive like they do on dry roads.  Dumb-dumbs!  This is what most of Blewitt looked like.

Once we got to Leavenworth, it was still snowing, but it wasn't sticking to anything.  There was blue skies and it was in the upper 40s.  It was actually a pretty nice day.  We made it through Leavenworth to Plain where our cabin was.  Talk about a gorgeous place!  I would like to trade our house in for the cabin we stayed in the past two nights.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  The weather was great too.  We played out on the deck and enjoyed the sunshine.

I took this picture of Jess and had to include it.  I think it's one of the best pictures I've taken of him.  Isn't he just a cutie?!

Friday morning came along and my how things had changed!  We woke up to over an inch of snow (although nothing stuck to the roads or most of the ground, it was all on the deck, trees, and bushes).  We put on jackets and headed out to play.  Eli really enjoyed throwing snowballs at both me and Daddy. Can't blame him, we held our own and got him a few times as well.  

The cabin had a hot tub too, so we were sure to make adequate use of this.  Eli LOVED it.  On Friday after we sat in the hot tub for a while (clearly AFTER playing in the snow) we were heading in to Leavenworth to meet some friends for the afternoon.  Eli was not keen on the idea of getting out of the hot tub, he could have stayed there all day.

Our trip ended early this morning as we loaded the cars to make it to Eli and Eric's t-ball game at noon.  The drive home was smooth sailing (LOL  we were listening to the Priates of the Caribbean soundtrack, so it's a fitting remark) and we made it home in plenty of time.  Eli was not too fond of the tball idea at first this morning, then we realized he still hadn't gone potty today!  I drug him to the bathrooms, and all was better!  He had fun batting, running bases, and fielding.  It was hilarious watching the 3 and 4 year olds field.  Their attention span is not quite at a baseball game level yet, so it wasn't long into it that they were digging in the dirt with their gloves, spinning in circles, and kicking at the dirt/rocks.  Our team was pretty lucky, there is only one dirt field (the actual baseball diamond) and WE got it for our game as opposed to playing in the grass.  

This is prior to Eli's trip to the restroom.  He was not thrilled to be playing yet.  I think he must have been in a little pain at this point - hence the crying.  He just couldn't articulate what was going on. 

After our potty intermission.  Much happier - actually watching the batter.

Checking out the glove.  You never know - it might have changed since he put it on.  :)

A much happier boy.  He was watching the other kids and daddy out on the field.

Woo Hoo!  Go Eli, Go!  He just hit the ball and is running to first.

He was excited, threw off the helmet, and kept on going.

Running the bases with Daddy.

I was helping the kiddos get into the batting helmet when it was their turn to bat.  Melissa was awesome enough take a picture of me and Eli while I was out there helping.

There must have been something interesting happening out in the field.  He was playing 3rd base here.

The game is over and all the kids are "Good Gaming" here.  They were so stinking cute!

It's been over a month....yikes!

I have been absolutely horrible at updating our blog.  I was going to say there hasn't been anything to report, but there's a slew to bring up to date on.  In time.  For now, I am in the middle of finishing report cards, they go home on Thursday, I have 9 more to write comments for.  Grades, fine.  I can handle those, but I always feel inadequate when I go to type comments.  It's me.  It's my nemesis.  Thankfully I'm nearly done!

As for tonight's post, I had to share pictures of our little man and the solution to our problem.



BATH TIME.

Bath time has been a nightmare at our house for quite some time now.  For whatever reason, Eli has to toss everything out of the tub onto the floor because he's afraid it will go down the drain.  As far as I know, we have lost nothing down the drain, but he thinks anything and everything will go down the drain.  Yes, this include the juice pitcher we keep in the bathroom for rinsing his hair with.  Out it came today.  I guess that really hasn't been our problem that's just the latest challenge with taking a bath.  You can't have a toy in the bathtub if it doesn't float.

Our true bath time problem has to do with washing his hair.  He hates, Hates, HATES getting water on his face.  Yes, we wash his face - but that has to be with a washcloth.  Yes, he puts his face in the bath water when he plays.  Yes, he puts it in the water at the pool.  No, water can not, let me reiterate that really quick, it CAN NOT go in his face washing his hair.  It's not the most enjoyable time washing your child's hair when he is literally screaming and crying because he doesn't want to get his face wet.  We found the answer.  The other day we were wandering around the store, when Jess spotted a pair of swim goggles.  Not the kind you or I would wear at the pool, the kind that just cover your eyes, these are more like snorkeling goggles.  The kind that cover your eyes AND nose - where you can't breath at all through your nose.  With a little cutting so he can breath through his nose, we had him squish them to his face (no, no no - there can be no straps around his head either.  How traumatic!  YIKES)  and lo and behold, we've had two weeks of scream-less bath times!  The best part you may be asking?  He gets the funniest expressions when we're ready to get his hair wet.  They crack me up.  I finally ran to get the camera tonight so I could capture the moment.

Looking at the pictures now, I still laugh.  He is the funniest little guy around, even when he's not trying to be funny.  HA HA HA

Are they on tight enough?  

There can be no water leakage!

Squish, Squish.  

Yep, they're on and I'm ready!

That's it?  I'm all done!