The Apartment House

We're still getting settled in to our apartment...almost every day I find something new that we don't have anymore that we need. But we are enjoying the lack of responsibility that comes with apartment living...

Our townhouse is the second to the last on the right...the arched doorway. It faces a courtyard that has a little playground near the parking lot...perfect. Except when you have to carry a sleeping 40lb kid from the parking lot all the way to the apartment.

This is what might greet you at our door. The mail slot is one of the exciting features of the apartment... Tavish loves to check out what's going on outside.

Here's one of Tavish's favorite indoor activities...pantless dishwashing.

There are lots of fun things to do outside...chasing the resident black squirrel, jumping in puddles when it rains, and balancing on the curb.

Playing with the fire hydrant in the parking lot.

Hunting for treasures in the yard...today we found lots of pretty colored berries,we threw them in the bushes for the birds.

And at the back of the complex, right around the corner from our courtyard, is the most exciting thing...koparkas!

Today was exciting because one of the drivers came over and offered to give Tavish a ride sometime on the weekend.

Gutted

Pretty much sums it up...

Happy Not Crappy

This post was supposed to be about my trip to Seattle to visit the family...our motto for the week was "happy not crappy"...followed by a post about our little family vacay for Labor Day Weekend at our fave Rehoboth Beach. However the night I had set aside after I got home from work to hunker down and actually post them, the little creek in front of our house became a raging river that ran right through our house, literally. I never made it home because there was 3 feet of water in it. So ever since last Thursday, our days have been filled with "saving" things and ripping the house apart, literally. And finding a place to live, and dealing with the insurance company who is flooded (hah) with claims and doesn't necessarily think ours is as important as we think it is. But I guess this is what comes from wanting to get a new couch but not wanting to pay for it...one happy thing in the midst of a lot of crappy.

Tie One On

Our big boy is wearing his first tie!
I was afraid he wouldn't like it around his neck but he was so proud to wear a tie like daddy. Our friend from church Jill, who is very crafty, not only helped us out of a babysitting bind at the last minute one day but made Tavish a tie too...I love it, and love that it was made by someone so thoughtful.

Frying Pan Park

This weekend Tavish and I went to Frying Pan Park which is a funny name for a replica 1920's era farm park. Maybe because eventually that's where all the animals will end up? Sick, I know. I'm sure there's a story to the name, I'm just not privy to it. Anyhow, they were having a little carnival too so we got the best of two worlds...animals and rides.

A trip to the farm would not be complete without a tractor ride.

Tavish thought the chickens were pretty funny, he wanted to go inside the chicken house and for some reason here he is yelling "baaa" at one. Makes me want to show him the movie Chicken Run.

Feeding the sheep was a big hit too. Of course, in all the animal pens he noticed the poop and had to point it out. He is a boy.

This was hilarious...this very gentle horse was hanging his head over the stall and letting every single kid pet him. Tavish had already pet him and was standing on this stool just watching when all of a sudden the horse turns his head towards Tavish like he wants him to pet him again. Tavish did his little back away thing he does sometimes...

...but the horse kept leaning over towards him and he freaked out! The compassionate mother that I am I sure took a picture of it before I rescued him!

But he recovered and we headed over to the carnival for some rides...he loves them as much as I do!

Our last ride was the carousel where Tavish rode the Stars and Stripes horse in honor of daddy who was off being a soldier this weekend.

Auntie Sarah's 2nd Annual Retirement...

This year Auntie Sarah's second annual retirement conveniently took place right when we needed a favor...we didn't have a babysitter for a whole week so Auntie Sarah and Macy packed up and flew out to give us a hand...

Tavish and Macy had so much fun together...it was like they had just seen each other yesterday. But this time she was talking so much! She liked to call Tavish "boy" as in "boy, come here" (said in a very commanding tone).
This was while I was at work which explains the crazy outfit...too big shirt and too small flipflops. And it would be so much cuter if there wasn't a trash can in the background.




Being two and almost two, Tavish and Macy had lots of "owies" to compare...Macy is getting kisses from Rafal for a very old owie she just remembered about.



It wasn't all work for Auntie Sarah, we got to have some fun on my days off....


We finally got to take them to the park we tried to take them to last year four different times, every time it was closed. Tavish liked to go down the slide first and wait at the bottom for Macy to slide down and "bonk" him.



Auntie Sarah had fun spinning...






We went to the pool a couple of times because it was hot!!!





And to the beach because it was really hot!!!
Of course Macy "no likey the water" until just before it was time to go...
then she "likey the water" and didn't want to leave.




This was our goal every day :)
And Tavish's lips are blue because Auntie Sarah thought blue suckers would be fun.
I disagree.




Our last day was busy!



First we went to the farmer's market and snacked our way through and picked out some flowers.

We took them to our favorite airplane park where the airplanes take off/land right over your head. Tavish and Macy are getting ready for a takeoff, little man looks like a gangsta with his shorts riding low.

Then we took them to our favorite burger place to have Obama burgers...seriously the best burger. I want one right now just thinking about it!





One last pic of the cute cousins...

Changes...

Three major changes occurred while Auntie Sarah was visiting last week:

Tavish's big boy bed arrived, he helped us take apart his crib and he moved right into the new bed. The downfall...now he can jump out of bed when I try to put him down for a nap and say "I don't want to lay down!"

Macy put a little peer pressure on Tavish to start feeding himself (he still wants us to do it for him, lazybones)...apparently you must be naked to feed yourself.




And the biggest news of all...Tavish is off the binky! Mean Auntie Sarah took it away while she was here. Tavish wore a special shirt to celebrate, it says "I don't have a mute button"...his beloved binky said "mute button" on it because that's what it really was. He still asks for it once in a while and I tell him "mean Auntie Sarah took it".