MAX (Metropolitan Area Express) Light Rail

Today Nanny Rach and I took the kids on their first MAX ride. Wow, were they excited! You thought I said "Disneyland"! Here they are waiting patiently for their MAX to arrive. Before MAX took off and we were the only ones on the train, I let Ruby try a seat by herself. Would you believe Carson didn't want to venture away from Nanny Rach? He actually hung very close to her for the first 1/2 hour of the ride.

Before we left, I showed the kids the hang-on things. They both wanted to try.

We went from Expo Center to Portland State University, about 30 minutes each way. We got off and walked around till we found a Starbucks so we could warm up and have a snack. The kids were VERY good about using inside voices since there were lots of students trying to study. Luckily there was a table way in the back corner.

What a fun day. Ruby kept repeating what she heard numerous times along the way,

in a deep voice -- "The doors are closing!"

Hair do

Thank you Nanny Rach for taking such good care of the kiddos -- including Ru's hair!

Random Cute-ness

Giving her Daddy a good-bye love in the morning. She SURE LOVES her Daddy! Mr. Bookworm was enjoying one of the library books we picked up. He asked me to read to him, but I was fixing breakfast and told him to go read to himself. That was exactly what he did!

Made Me Laugh

Last night at dinner I took some left-over chicken and put it with pasta and sauce. The kids LOVE pasta! Carson picked out the chicken pieces and munched them right down

and announced to me

"I love elk meat!"

(can you tell he has a grandpa and daddy who hunt!)

Portland Zoo

We were all so glad this morning when we awoke to some sun, and not rain. I'm down visiting the kids and went with Nanny Rachael to the zoo. Our timing was perfect -- it lightly started to sprinkle just as we were leaving! But it was a wonderful day of seeing lots of fun animals. Ruby liked seeing the bears the best (black, brown and polar-bear white!) Carson, although he had a wonderful time, was disappointed that the elephants were not anywhere to be found.

Fish!

Turtles

This cougar was right out for everyone to see. He was intently staring straight across at the black bear who was scratching himself against a tree.

Something weird is happening with my camera, but not all the time --------- anyone know what it is???? Some of the pictures had this pink glow. All of the cute photos I took of the kids on the tractor had the pink glow. This one was the best of them.

There was a pink glow in this one with the cow, but not the other!

"Sammy the Seal" put on quite a show, swimming all around right in front of us.

The penguins were swimming laps, much like Carson runs laps around the kitchen island. He was so enthralled at the very busy penguins.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Tonight at dinner Carson announced

"when I grow up I want to be a mommy!"

No one had said one word about what do you want to be when you grow up. It was completely spontaneous!

He later changed it to "fireman".

Pals for Life

Kristin just sent these cutie photos to me. They sure love each other and are BFF's!

Drama Queen

The other night after putting Ruby to bed, they heard her making a lot of noise in her room. Casey went in to get her quieted down and she was not happy because her mommy didn't sing enough songs with her before turning off the light. "I want to sing more songs", Ruby demanded!

To which her Daddy replied, "not now Ruby. It is time for bed and I want you to stop making such a fuss".

"Oh Daddy, I guess I'm being a drama queen!"

What????

Kristin and Casey questioned each other about Ruby's comment. Neither had used those words with her before and they didn't know how she came up with it.

Aha -- it's the new library book called Celestine, Drama Queen, by Penny Ives.

Kristin had just read it to her once, and already Ruby got the concept.

I think that book was heading back to the library real quick!

It just shows us how rapidly these little ones are picking up on everything. They are sponges for learning at this age.

Whale in my Back Yard -- March 26, 2011

Gray whales migrate 12,000+ miles from California to Alaska. They have the longest migration of any marine mammal. This one made its way into the Puget Sound and into my back yard. It was digging into the bottom sediments looking for shrimp, worms and other bottom dwelling invertebrates. The whale rolled on its side, sucking up great volumes of food and using its powerful tongue to push the water out through the baleen. We could identify the gray whale because they have 2 blowholes. It was the most amazing sight to behold -- and so close. You can see that it was about 30 feet from shore. I took this first photo from my deck.

My neighbor, Maria, took these pictures. She was on the beach for over 2 hours watching and photographing it. She even got the blow hole picture! "Thank you God for the beautiful display of your creation -- right in my back yard!"

Hello Mommy -- Hello Daddy

Carson and Ruby stayed at Grandma Carrie's and Grandpa Ray's this weekend while Kristin and Casey were in California. This sweet photo was taken by Carrie while they were both talking to their parents on the land-line. I love it!

Thank you G.ma C and G.pa R for taking such great care of the kiddos. I know they had a blast at your place. I hope you did too! I heard they got to ride on the tractor with G.pa!

Meet Miss Lydia Marie

My niece, Megan, gave birth to her second daughter, Lydia Marie, born 2/13/11.

Here BIG SISTER, Emma, is meeting her baby sis, along with Nana and Papa.

Emma has her own baby and carrier and is all ready for a walk!

Little Fruit Eater

Little man enjoyed a pear this morning -- the WHOLE thing.

Literally, there was just the stem (in his hand) and 3 seeds left!

Good job Carson!

Jesus's Promise

Nanny Rachael has taught the twins about rainbows and how they are a promise from God. They call them "Jesus's Promise".

We have had really wild weather this week -- sun, rain, hail, thunder/lightning, snow, and more sun! The glorious by-product of wild weather is rainbows. I have seen numerous ones this week. I LOVE looking at God's handiwork. This double rainbow was so close to my house that I couldn't get far enough back to photograph it all in one shot. The colors were brilliant!

Conversation Overheard at the Breakfast Table

RUBY -- "Carson, you happy today?" "I need you to be happy today!"

CARSON -- "Nope!"

RUBY -- "Carson, you be my best friend today?"

CARSON -- "Nope!"

First Art Class

Today Nanny Rach took the kids to their first art class at the Portland Children's Museum. Doesn't this look like fun? They are so attached at the hip that they needed to work on the same piece of paper! Kind of a joint art effort! They were also able to enjoy the new Curious George exhibit at the museum and that was a barrel of fun, too. Thank you Nanny Rach for giving the kids so many fun experiences. They are growing with leaps and bounds under your tutelage.

Ahh, Ruby!

The process of giving up the binkies has begun! Nanny Rach told me yesterday before she put them down for naps she had a conversation with the twins about what big kids they are now and they are not babies. Binkies are for babies, so they don't need them anymore.

"Yeah! We are not babies anymore! We don't need binkies!"

(spoken with complete confidence)

So the binkies were left downstairs with the baby dolls (who needed them).

Rachael snuck upstairs to listen after she put them down for naps. As Rachael said "the binkies sort of worked like a mute button", so without them there was a lot of chatter going on. Rachael listened at Ruby's door and heard this conversation (or maybe it was a prayer).....

"Jesus, I need my binky. I know I'm not a baby, but I need my binky. Those babies downstairs don't need a binky. I do!"