Snow 2012 (part deux)

I guess that we (or should I say Matthew?) missed the white stuff a little bit, because we took a trip last week to Mt. Rainier for a little play time in the snow. Matthew loves, loves, loves the snow. That's all he could talk about the whole way there (Is it snowing yet?, How much snow is there going to be?, When are we going to be there?). Fortunately, Mt. Rainier was able to deliver and boy did they!! We could only get as far as Longmire because the road to Paradise was closed due to high snowfalls and avalanche danger. So we went snowshoeing on some of the trails at Longmire and just played around for a while. Matthew's favorite thing to do was to race mommy while pushing her and getting pushed into the snowbanks (I know the video clip makes it look very one-sided, but believe me it was 50-50).
We stayed in a cabin just at the entrance of the park in Ashford. It was a little rustic and Scott had to brush up on his fire starting skills. He managed to figure it out quite well and by the time we were ready for bed, we all had to go to bed in our underware because we were roasting. Matthew also found a game checkers while we were there and throughly loved beating his mommy (with the help of daddy) and now wants to play all of the time at home. He also learned how to play "Chinese chickens" (a.k.a Chinese checkers). However, by his rules he gets to make 8-10 moves at a time.
Here's the pics....

First time snowshoeing

We thought about storming the gate, but decided against it.

Not sure what that look is about.

The pictures really don't do the scenery justice. I'm so amazed at the beauty of this part of the country. We are very lucky to be living here and look forward to many more adventures to come.

February 2012

I thought I post a few pics and some news of the Taylor Feb 2012 happenings. One of the biggest events in our house the past few weeks was the arrival of the plague with Superbowl Sunday. Matthew started vomiting and had diarrhea on Sunday and kept on going until Friday. It was very impressive. He made one trip to the ER and was possibly working on a second when he finally turned the corner. I have never seen him so sick. He and I both lost 5 pounds each. Me, mostly because I couldn't stomach the thought of eating after cleaning the mess up. This pic pretty much sums up our week...

We were worried he was going to miss hockey the week after he recovered. It was going to be a big day because he finally got to play with the mites in between periods of the Bremerton Warriors game. He was soooo excited and I was petrified that I was going to have to tell him that he couldn't play. Thank God he rallied. He was so happy to be back on the ice and playing in front of a crowd.

Pics from practice before...

Pics from the big game...

The other highlight of the past few weeks was the superhero birthday party that Matthew was invited to by his dear friend Jonas. We debated for a while whether or not to come up with a costume and we compromised and I made him a Batman cape. I was pleased with how it turned out, but thought it was really cool to see it flapping in the breeze and Matthew rode the rope swing at the party. He loves it and I almost have him convinced to be Batman for Halloween (yippee- over half of the costume done already).

Well that's all for now from Casa de la Taylor. More updates to follow....

Snowmageddon 2012

Here's a few pics from the big snowstorm a few weeks ago. We don't get the white stuff too often here and it shows. Schools were closed most of the week and pretty much everything came to a stand still. Then to add insult to injury we had an ice storm the next day. And high winds the day after that. When all was said and done, we survived and are none the worse for the wear.


Before.... (ok, maybe a year or two before, but it is a "before" shot).


After....

Matthew was out in the snow for about three or four hours the first day. Loved it!!

Trying to get Granddad.

Nana and Granddad were here for the big event. Although I think that they could have done without the snow and yucky weather, we all had a great time.

Christmas 2011

Christmas preparations....

Lights on the tree out front

Matthew's Charlie Brown Christmas Tree


"Now this is a big one!"

Daddy and son Santas

Zoolights

A little chilly for Zoolights

More Zoolights

Unpacking the electric train

Asleep with "Chrismoose" on Christmas Eve

Legos, Legos and more Legos

Ready to race daddy at the boat pond

Decorating a gingerbread house with Grammie

More Santa 2011

Skate with Santa 2011

The Great Pumpkin and Other Fall Fun

Halloween has come and gone which makes me a little sad. Mostly because that means fall is almost over and we're about to start the long, dark, wet winter. Although I do miss the great colors of Michigan, fall has been pretty spectacular out here. The sunrises can't be beat. When Matthew was a baby and we would all get up at 6am and go down to the harbor and watch the sun rise. Then we would go and have green eggs and ham at Kelly's Restaurant. It seems like so long ago, but it is amazing how fast Matthew has grown.

Things are a little different now (most notably, we get more sleep) and I love the fall with a crazy preschool boy around.

We started out the month with a trip to Schilter's pumpkin patch with our friends The Guys. They have a lot for the kids to do at Halloween and we also get our Christmas tree from them. The boys (big and small) loved shooting the corn and pumpkin guns. Ok, and maybe I got in on the action too : ) They also had a petting farm, hay jump, tractor rides and all kinds of games and activities for the kids. What a great way to get into the Halloween spirit.

This fall we decided to do a few home improvements. The biggest project has been the yard. We figured that it was about time to do something about the lawn since we really didn't have much of one. So we had a week of all kinds of dump trucks, cement trucks, tractors and other equipment in the yard. It was like Christmas in October for Matthew. He never knew what was going to show up that day. He also got to make his mark on the new concrete next to the driveway. I joked with one of my friends that I should have thought to have all of Matthew's buddies over for a "construction party" so they could all watch the fun.

Last weekend we took a little trip to the San Juan Islands to visit our previous pastor, Fr. Hung. He currently covers three parishes between Friday Harbor, Shaw Island and Orcas Island. He's pretty busy during the weekends "island hopping" to say Mass. It was a great little get-away. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures until our last day on Orcas Island.

We started out Halloween weekend with a sleepover with Matthew's friend, Jonas. The boys loved hanging out and playing Legos and cars and going for a hike in the woods. However, bedtime was a little challenging with two chatty boys. The next day, despite staying up late, they made their own potato head pumpkins and we made treats to take to a party later in the evening.

Halloween was a little less crazy this year because we decided to go Trick or Treating at Uptown rather than joining all of Gig Harbor downtown. It was a little less of a score for candy for Matthew, but I think he's still too young to figure that out yet : ) He decided very early this past September that he wanted to be a dinosaur for Halloween so he was thrilled to finally wear his costume after having it for so long. We also had several (like 20) applications of green face paint leftover from his frog costume last year, so he wanted a green-faced T Rex this year. We found it very funny when we asked him what a T Rex ate, Matthew responded, of course, with "candy".

Let the sugar buzz begin....

Now that it's gotten a little colder here, Matthew is really enjoying his "footie jammies" again. Here's a shot of him playing in them the other morning. I had to chuckle because he kind of reminds me of one of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan. He thinks he's a pirate : )