You know you're a mother ... when

You know you're the mother of a toddler boy when you stop in the middle of the parking lot at work to watch a noisy jet take off and barely resist the urge to shout "Airplane!" while clapping your hands.

Big Truck Show

T is such a boy! The Scoot took him to the Big Truck Show in Beaverton, August 11, 2012.

The highlight of the show - watching the life flight helicopter take off from the adjacent field. It was here on display, so no emergency flight.

T fell asleep on the way to the show while playing his doggie guitar. He had already had a fun filled morning of baby circus by this time.

More Gabage Hchruck!

T explores his size in relationship to his toys. He CAN lift the Rody Horse, but he will never be able to climb into the garbage truck no matter how hard he tries. August 10, 2012.

Boo (too) Big!

Still boo big to ride in the garbage truck

Heavy! ... and Mom, please buy me some pants that fit

Hard Work!

A Bug in a Rug

August 9, 2012

Sugar Fly

I finished this wrap a couple of weeks ago, but didn't have time to post it. The Pattern is Summer Flies by Donna Griffin and it's made from two shades of Araucania Ruca (100% sugar cane). The free pattern and project details are available on Ravelry

I really enjoyed working with the Ruca yarn. It has some weight to it and drapes beautifully, much like other plant fiber based yarns (bamboo, rayon) and silk. The drape worked especially well for this lacy pattern. I don't think I would have liked it as well in a loftier yarn. This was a stash buster project, knit from two different colors of the same fiber because I didn't have enough of one color. I'm so glad I didn't have enough because I love the depth of the two tone finished product.

What's Hotter than Hot?

.... Beveraton in August, apparently. This outing came in the middle of a nearly week long heat wave that left the inside of our non-air conditioned home over 80 degrees AFTER sunset. After a quick dinner in a dining room like a sauna we loaded the kids into our wagon and stroller and took a trip to Magnolia Park. It was nearly 100 degrees outside, but it still felt nicer than the stifling interior of our house with it's windows shut to keep out the extra 15-20 degrees of heat.
We chose Magnolia because it's right by Whole Foods and we planned to play and grab some ice cream. I should have realized that all three kids would go straight for the water feature. We didn't have any towels or extra clothes, but it was so hot, we decided it really didn't matter and it didn't.

T and Cousin S dive right in

Propper Little Miss A circles the water feature before taking the plunge.

T dances through the water as he watches Cousin S divert the spray.

Cousin S thinks T's water dance is silly

Aunt E wants to be like T when she grows up. Look, she's practicing?

Cousin A eats a Yogurt pop. She's still dry, but won't be for long

Splash!
Uncle S and Aunt E stopped at the park to on the way home from their Anniversary dinner to pick up their soaking children. The Scoot and I removed T's sodden clothes and bundled him in the wagon (padding) blanket for the walk home. He was shivering, but he warmed back up in less than 10 minutes.
Photos and Video taken August 16, 2012 on my HTC incredible mobile phone. I think I bought the cheapest smart phone I could get, but after using it as a camera over the last year and not being satisfied with the image quality (especially when the subject is a toddler in motion), I'll be buying my next phone for the camera. I never have THE camera when I need it, so I might as well get a good camera phone since I almost always have it with me (and sometimes it's even charged).

Baking on the Runway

It was SOOOOOOO Hot! Like 96 degrees with no shade to be found and rules against bringing your own that almost every except for us ignored. I did actually have a small collapsible rain umbrella that probably saved my life. Luckily we attended the air show on the cooler day. Saturday was over 100 - ugh! All skin cooking and sweat pouring aside, it was a really fun show and T had a blast. He had so much fun he didn't want to close his eyes even though he was begging for a nap. We finally had to catch one final attraction - a race between a small plane and a rocket car - and then take him home to sleep. He was out before we got to the car, poor kid.

The Hillsboro Air Show, August 5, 2012 ...

T and The Scoot

drivin'

Hececopter

Too cool for this military vehicle

drivin' the desert hummer

One very happy little boy

Hovering Harrier

Gabage Hchruck

The Scoot got this mega cool Bruder Garbage Truck for his birthday, but he hardly got to play with it because T monopolized it until bed time. T pronounces "truck" in a way that I can only approximate as hchruck. The first letter sounds a little like a cat coughing up a hairball. It's awesome!

The boys tore up some tissue and T would have loaded the cans with trash and emptied them into the truck repeatedly all night if we had let him. I can tell when he starts playing with the garbage truck from any room in the house because he always makes cute little "boom boom" sound effects when the cans go upside down and their lids bang open to dump the trash.

The highlight of T's Thursdays is watching the real garbage truck pick up the cans in our cul-du-sac. Someday I hope to catch the expression of wonder and delight on his face when the truck picks up its first can.