The Best Bowling Party Ever!

I was so excited for Padon's birthday and his birthday party! Padon became enamored with bowling when we went to Acme Bowl in South Center, in January for Patrick's going away party, and he learned to crawl down stairs so he could get his hands on those glorious orbs. This admiration of the sport didn't go away. About three months later we found ourselves at Acme Bowl again for a birthday party and again Padon was squealing with excitment and carrying (yes carrying, with my help) his own 6 lb bowling ball down the entire length of the very large bowling alley to where all the kids were playing. It became very apparent that the ultimate way to celebrate Padon and his life was by celebrating it with his current favorite love, bowling!

I used a picture of Padon after getting his first haircut and made up his Birthday card, logo, and theme. It came out so well and I so badly wished that the other kids invited to the party, and able to bowl, could have Padon themed bowling shirts too that I designed two more and they came out so awesome!

Super Padon

Super Greg!

Super Mia!Twin City Bowl in Stanwood was awesome and had a great package deal including two lanes, shoes and balls for up to 8 people, 1 large pizza, soda, and plates, napkins, cups, flatware, and a great attitude about hosting toddlers. We brought in a cake and got extra pizza and soda, shoes and balls, and one more lane and had a blast all around.

I had a parental moment as Padon, Greg, and Mia all tried to pick up the bowling balls, and as Padon and Greg walked away with their 6 lb ball high on their shoulders. Can a toddler throw their back out?

After helping them a few times Padon and Greg were also able to put the bowling balls on the rack themselves, to shove them, and watch them roll down the lane. There was a lot of chasing and catching as all three of the tots all wanted so badly to chase the ball and see where it had fallen.

Padon gasped and squealed the minute he entered the bowling alley and I couldn't relay fast enough to Walter's Dad, Leo, the need to get Padon a 6 lb ball before he really hurt himself trying to get the 10 and 12 lb balls off the shelf. Greg and Mia hesitated like "what the..." but after being shown the power of a good bowl were also laughing, squealing and screaming at the awesomeness of it.

And best yet, the shirts were a hit! I was so excited to be able to do them and they really did come out great!

2 hours was a perfect limit as the party ran through nap times. We ended with cake and invited everyone back to our house to open presents and stay for a BBQ dinner whenever we had the room in our stomach for it.

Everyone was so thoughtful with their gifts and Padon walked away with his very own bowling set which has turned our hallway into a mini bowling alley.

It turned into a relaxing afternoon for the adults and

A great time for Padon and Greg to take out their 2 year old aggression on each other. Amazingly without any naps they were hysterical to each other and there were no tears. They had a blast and in the end were so dirty we put them in the bathtub.

Which turned out to be almost more fun than playing outside. They were so funny and it was wonderful to see them having such a really great time.

That really topped it off as being a very successful party.

Padon's 2nd Birthday!

Leo asked what Padon wanted for his birthday and I said a day at the Seattle Aquarium. Leo was totally on board and excited to share his favorite lunch spot in Seattle - Ivars, with Padon and was interested to see what Padon would think of the Aquarium. With my week off from work it worked out awesome for Padon, Walter, and I to be able to meet Leo at the aquarium on Padon's birthday.

Leo was excited to share feeding the seagulls on the warf with Padon and at first it was a little hard to get Padon interested not in the pigeons (who you were not supposed to feed) and in the seagulls who you could feed. But when Leo gave up more than half his fries to Padon and the fun involved in chucking handfuls of greasy goodness down to really large and loud birds Padon was all over it. And I think Leo was pleased.

We made our way to the aquarium and went through all the exhibits but sadly it wasn't as mind blowing an experience as I thought it would be. When we entered there was an extremely large aquarium with a scuba diver in the tank talking to the children seated on the floor in front of it but Padon really didn't care. He was interested in the fish but the sight of them wasn't accompanied by his tiny "Woooowwwww" or a whole lot of gibber jabber like I hoped it would.
Not until we went into where the sea horses and light sensitive fish were and there were tiny aquariums on Padon's level. He then became very animated and told a very nice German gentleman all about what he was seeing. The gentleman was so sweet talked back to Padon in English about the fish and how neat they were.

Padon just kept on going, sharing with their whole family the greatness of this one tiny tank until we had to pull him away so more people could see. It was an oddly shapped room (kind of like a doughnut) and it was becoming a traffic jam of people trying to see the fish, especially the sea horses.

Padon just couldn't see the fur seals as they swam by but could see their picture on the informative plaque and because of this inability to see all the great sea life around him we passed through the aquarium pretty quickly. It was fun but not as impactful as I thought it would be.

We ended our time at the aquarium getting a picture taken in front of the Sixgill Shark where ironically enough Padon was just a little taller than the 2 foot mark on his 2nd birthday. We left the aquarium, went to the Pike Place Market, had some coffee, Padon opened Leo's gift to him, and we said our goodbyes to Leo and made our way back to our bus stop.

We had to stop and get "superstar" pictures taken next to the Maximus Minimus Bus shapped like a pig near the Pike Place Market. It really was a cool truck/ van. It looked like it had been rivited together all over the place but really must have been made out of foam so as to cut down on the weight caused by that much real steal. I wish I could have seen it driving down I-5.

When we did make it to our bus the bus was full to the gills. Two nice gentleman gave us their seat and Walter, Padon and I cramed ourselves in the seat along with Padon's backpack and the SUV stroller which is like a whole other person (typically why we don't take the SUV stroller with us when we go downtown and on the bus). It made for a great picture, and it helped reaffirm Walter's dislike of riding the bus. He says he doesn't mind doing it with me but would not want to get caught in a similar circumstance with Padon alone. He has no sense of adventure - Ha!

Boars Hunt 2009

Ok, so Walter convinced me that camping another SCA event with Padon this session would be ok and for the most part he was right. With his help watching and carring for Padon was much easier, not to mention the putting up and taking down of our tent. Walter had made Padon some boffers and they were a big hit. It was pretty much a non-stop attack of poor bi-standers SCA and Mundane and for the most part they were all very cool about it.

Including Sir Aldric (?) who in passing by commented to Padon on his boffer and played like he was on the attach and died a death that included a 30lb (?) toddler falling on his face.

This was just one of the many times that weekend that I got to see what the SCA meant to Padon. Other than many boffers and eye gouging tackles to the other allowing kids in our camp Padon walked up to a complete stranger that was crouched down watching the Rapier fighting and snuggled into his chest, leaning against him. Much like he would have done to Walter only this guy was wearing a white shirt and was completely bald and beardless. The guy was like, "uh, hi! How are you?!" The gal next to him laughed and said "Can I hold him?" outstretching her arms to Padon, who in turn happily plunked himself down on her lap. I suddenly realized that we had lead Padon to believe that all people in garb and in the SCA (cause where else do we see people in Medievel garb) are our friends. This gave me mixed emotions cause, why not, but at the same time you don't know these people's backgrounds and whether they even like kids.

How can you not like this kid?! He even got a free Beanie Baby Lion out of a vendor. I so need to donate something back to her!

We couldn't help but show off the incredibly cute new "trick" that we have Padon do which is raise his arms like Mary Margarete Gallagher and say "Super Star!" in his oh so cute 2 year old voice.

I'm still not sure that eventing with Padon this season is good. I still woke at 6am on Saturday. But Walter and I did have a light bulb go off on Sunday after he slept until 9 when we realized bundling Padon in too many clothes made him sleep longer. Hummm.....

Folk Life 2009

Walter got to come with Padon and I to the Folk Life Festival this year and we had a great time hanging with our friend Nick, his boyfriend , and Jane, Jason and Katherine. Nick sadly had to leave early because his very adorable Puggle puppy wouldn't allow him to move 5 ft without someone stopping him to ask about the puppy, the puppy kept him from going to the beer garden which was Nick's main goal, and his boyfriend wasn't feeling very well.
When Walter and Nick went to go get a beer Padon and I went to the fountain. I was interested in what he would think this year since it was such a lovely hot day and he was older than last year when it made him cry to get wet.

It took a little warming up to it but in the end he was running around in the spray of the water, laughing, screaming, and chasing kids who didn't know they were being chased. This was Padon's interpretation of what they were doing after watching kids scream to the fountain and away.
He ran all around the fountain and had a lot of fun climbing up the steep sides and sliding (yeah that killed his diaper) back down the cement. Thanks again to the dude that caught my summersaulting child because I couldn't get to him fast enough.
It was a really great time. I got to wear and break in my super sweet hot pink Converse that Walter got me, got a new and very cool hippe purse, got to see friends I hadn't seen in a long time, including Mihn Cow from AA Party Rentals, and snapped a very adorable picture of Padon and Walter. I love that they love each other so much!

Hummm...Maybe Daytripping Would Be A Good Idea

Padon and I camped our first SCA event this season alone and it didn't quite end up the weekend I hoped it would be. I think I thought it would be a special weekend because Padon and I don't get whole days together very often and the romantic notion that he would really enjoy hanging out with me for roughly 48 hours totally over ruled my knowledge that he is steadily and confidently moving into a stage where he talks back, enjoys playing the games of reverse child psychology, and whines a lot.
He had me up at 5:50am on Saturday and at 7:20am on Sunday. After the "Oh, ma gawd! Really?!" wake up on Saturday I piled every blanket and sleeping bag we had (except for the thick tapestry blanket which I horded for myself) on top and underneath of Padon, in his pack'n'play, Saturday night; which I greatly attribute to the extra hour of sleep I got on Sunday. Through this fatigue for both of us (Padon's a guy who likes to sleep in til 9 or 10) the play ground was barely interesting and playing with his new ball, eating all meals, and being in our tent was accompanied with mind altering whining. His only interests were going in other people's tents including the back sides of vendor's tents, and doing the opposite of everything I said until, and finally, Saturday afternoon he was introduced to Boffers.

In the SCA Boffers are weapons created out of PVC pipe and foam. Mock battles are created for kids ages 6 to 17(?) who also have to wear protective armor and have to follow rules. I believe it was our group that introduced the Boffer Wars to our surrounding Baronies and so someone in our group always has a ready supply at hand. There was a large field behind where we were camped and just about all day kids were playing with the boffers. Hunter, 16, was acting as mediator for the kids playing and he totally took Padon under his wing with help from Aiden, 5. It was so awesome that with a little introduction to being the smacker and being smacked Padon was soon growling, charging, laughing hysterically, and smacking away with what was supposed to be a dagger, but because of Padon's size looked like sword.

Thanks to Hunter and Aiden I was given a lovely reprieve from toddler chasing for a while.

But after a weekend of toddler chasing, being self conscious of the noise we were making in a sea of sleeping tents, and having little sleep I'm not sure that camping at SCA events this season, even with Walter, maybe such a good idea. Walter, I think, wants to give it another try, but I see a lot of day tripping in our future.

Good Time With Friends

We got the awesome opportunity to go back to Leavenworth with Erin, Evan, Eliott, and Ivor over the weekend. We had such a great time and felt so tickled to be able to go since we often talk about places we would like to go with Erin and Evan but don't often get the chance.

Eliott was excited to be able to help Padon with his harness and make sure he didn't wander too far away from us and surprisingly Padon loved it! Loved it so much he couldn't stop laughing, as if it was the greatest game ever. I wish he felt that way when I have hold of him.

They moved in and out of the crowd in such a way that made me realize they had yet to see the world from my height and totally took for granted the solid view of hips and waistbands. They were oblivious to the people coming in the crowd and moved as if there was a force around their bodies that would propel people around them. Instead people were scrambling last second trying not to trip over them and Padon and Eliot just kept on moving. They were so cute.
We made a second trip to see the horse in town and this time Padon didn't have a problem petting her. The first time he looked at her he was overwelmed by her size and didn't care to talk about her eyes, nose, ears, and feet.

The weather was so awesome and Walter and I were so excited to be able to share good beer, brautwurst, and memories with our very good friends.

2nd Annual Warren Holiday

For our second Annual Warren Holiday (April 4th) Walter and I thought it might be nice to go to Anacortes, WA thinking how nice it would be to go to a sea side town not too far away, have a nice seafood lunch, walk through the quaint shops and then mozzy home for a fab steak dinner with a baguette and brie and a bottle of wine.

We made our hour excursion to Anacortes and found that it was quaintly boring. It wasn't on the water, well the shops weren't, and the shops that were to be found weren't very interesting. The restaurants were slightly over priced and because we had Padon with us we couldn't go into the two pub-ish restaurants that peaked our interests because they didn't have family seating. After walking up and down the street 4 times and finally deciding on a place to have lunch we opted to go home. The place was a bust and we were disappointed.

Until Walter said in our pity us conversation on the way home "It's too bad we didn't go somewhere like Leavenworth..." We both looked at each other and instantly agreed, well why not?! Let's go tomorrow!

Sunday we packed Padon and Roadie in the car and made our way to Leavenworth, a smallish trip of just 2 hours and what a great idea!
Aside from being limited again to where we could go because we had the dog with us the weather was gorgeous and we had a really great time. It was practically a mirror image of Rotenberg, a small town we stayed in in Northern Germany on our honey moon, and it brought back such nice and homely feelings.
We ended up having lunch at a pub that had outside seating and mulled over their scarce selection of sausages but good selection of beer.

Padon picked out rocks from behind where we were sitting examining them with Walter. Each of the rocks had writing on them (notes from visiting people) and there were hundreds of rocks to choose from.

After lunch we walked all over Leavenworth, window shopping, wishing we had thought to go here in advance because we would have totally stayed the night. It was a lot of fun, Padon really liked the new sights, and Roadie was so well behaved.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter All!

This year I contrived to give Padon a traditional Easter, as he will probably grow up with and become used to Easter and Easter Egg Hunts, and I think I did a pretty good job. More than once I felt a similar feeling to the panic attack I usually get around Halloween when attending costume parties and handing out candy, but I marched on, got the two pictures I really wanted, and let everything else take its course as can only happen when following an almost two year old around.

I bought Greg and Billy the most adorable little lambs for Easter and from the larger of the two made a pattern from the seam measurements. I then made Padon a little Easter rabbit from the fabric I already had and really felt excited about it. To me it looked like it was made of Easter basket grass and little green eggs, not to mention the tail of the bunny was made out of ribbon and so formed one of Padon's most favorite things, a tag. I did tell my self, as any smart Mother should, that there was a chance that this bunny would not inflict squeals of happiness and excitement and to be happy with the thought of making and giving this Easter bunny to Padon.

Thank goodness for this foresight because the site of the box of jelly beans sitting in the basket, between the bunny's legs, was far too wonderful to note the bunny behind it and a week later Padon still takes no notice of the rabbit. It's sitting on my dresser now where I like looking at it and will later try giving it to Padon again when it is completely forgotten. I was really just as pleased to see him so excited about the jelly beans and he horked them by the fistful.
When Jane and Jason arrived Jane started working on the most adorable cupcakes ever. Little chicks with black licorice eyes, Good & Plenty crest and toes, almond beak, and icing covered with coconut feathers. It was really wonderful, and when Padon finally got to eat his at home he really liked it. It seemed to bother him at first that it had a face, like he didn't understand why I gave him a toy in a bowl. But when I showed him that he could dig into it with his spoon and pick at the crest and toes he really went at it and ate everything in the bowl.

It was wonderful to see Billy again since I hadn't seen him since a few weeks after he was born and he had already grown a lot and developed more of his face. Very adorable it was hard to hold back while others held him, impatient to get in Auntie time. Padon had trouble with me holding Billy so we spent about 10 minutes, both of us holding him, until Padon got bored. He was so good about holding Billy although needed to be held back a little as he checked out his eyes and ears; there was a lot of head petting.
We had our (and I mean our) first Easter Egg hunt. My Mom had put together two baskets, each with 6 eggs, and Sarah and I went out in the rain (heck we live in Seattle, when is ever going to stop raining) and dropped the eggs into the green grass where Greg and Padon would be able to see them but still have to twirl around to see them all. I think Padon and Greg were mostly interested in the egg until we started opening some and Greg found a sweet little truck inside. Padon still loved the slippery egg and this distraction was perfect for Walter who kept plucking the found eggs out of the Padon's basket and laying them (yes laying, as he was walking around like a chicken, clucking) again somewhere else in the grass. This made the egg finding last three times longer which was awesome because Padon and Greg were having a good time being outside.

~Thank you to Jane for taking pictures during the hunt.~

One of Sarah's co-workers had given her a dozen real Easter Eggs filled with confetti. I had pictured the act of smashing them above each other's heads, like you were supposed to, would be a group thing, kind of like when we did the poppers at Christmas or celebrated midnight on New Years Eve but after Walter did one down my shirt and my Mom did one to my Dad at the table the game was on! I believe I got one down Walter's shirt too.
The Easter dinner and dessert was really good, the boys had a really great time, and it was nice to see family again.

In case you were thinking, Chloe, what the heck kind of pants-suit is it that Padon is wearing?! Jane gave Padon the outfit last year for his 1st birthday, the jacket size 12 mns and the pants 18mns. The jacket he had worn quite a few times and now that they fit the pants seemed perfect for Easter. Just on the spur I tried the jacket and what do-ya-know the jacket still fit too! So what if he looks like a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman!

"I don't want to look like a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman!!!!"