E's day at the beach

We had the perfect Friday! Picnic packed, homemade hummis and veggies, greek wraps (tortilla, tzatziki sauce, tomato, turkey, cucumber), apples, lots of water. Fishing cart fully loaded. Shovels and buckets. Sunbrella. Towels and blanket. Sunscreen (well everywhere except Clay's back!)

We left the house around 10am, with one stop at the bait shop and then were at the beach! Elliot surprised me by clinging on to me and not wanting down- well that lasted 30 seconds! He is turning into a beach bum!
he is a great help at fishing, tugs on the poles, gets into the gear, pours sand in the bait bucket!
Elliot couldn't decide if he was scared of the water (here) or if he wanted to play in it. He mostly liked it.
His favorite thing to do, run down the beach and make you run after him!
Dancing at the beach IS allowed!
Finally so wore out from playing, he fell asleep. It was 2 hours late and only lasted 40 minutes While he did this I lay next to him, my stark white legs in the sun, starring up at the blue sky watching birds and jets, listening to the waves of the Atlantic, Clay fished undisturbed and Gabby played in the sand and told me stories!
Only one short nap yesterday led to a very early nap today, which led to someone falling asleep in my arms at 6pm..... I was afraid it was a nap, yes it was 45 minutes. Being so tuckered out he is back asleep by 8pm. Notice his boo-boo, scraped his nose a few days ago going down the one step from the back deck to yard. He of course fell the one place there is cement, tough boy he is tho! I NEED to video his dancing and his sweet sweet laugh!

full

My heart is FULL, full of love and happiness. Today started out to be a bit on the cranky side for the 3 of us, Clay was already at work when we woke up. Nothing was getting done, whining, messes, etc! Elliot went down for a nap, and slept GREAT in his crib for over 2 hours! While he was sleeping I did laundry, showered, cleaned mirrors and windows, read stories with Gabrielle and played her "granny maid" which I lost! While I was showering Gabby was keeping me company, as usual. She was telling me she wasn't special because she didn't have a birthmark. Apparently her friend Quincy has a birthmark on his arm that she learned about yesterday (I missed this conversation, will have to find out the details of it from Clay). Gabby said "Quincy's birthmark makes him special, I don't have one- I'm not special!" We started talking about all the ways she is special, she pretended to jot them down on her list she was making. After a bit she turned it to me, and she made a list of the reasons why I am special! All on her own she came up with ideas. Some wonderful some goofy: "you are special because you have nipples and feed my brother milk. you are special because your buns are bigger than mine. scratch that last one off, it's not a good one!" So silly! Elliot woke up happy, wanting to stay in his crib a few minutes and play around (really, you want to be in there?) We had on Pandora radio, Beyonce's remake of At Last came on. I was singing and Elliot joined me, he totally sounded like he was singing "AT LASST!"

A good day. now to get out of the house. my legs are ssssoooorrreeee from running almost 4 miles yesterday, pushing 60 lbs of kid and a stroller. last night I woke up to hear thunder, and rain- meaning outside is soaked- but the sun is now out!

CSA 2

What a wonderful Friday we had yesterday! No work for the Mr. and for the 3rd day in a row we were out of the house by 9am. Where to? Only our favorite place to go, you often hear Gabby and Clay discussing trips... to the "hardware store" aka Lowe's. We bought a BBQ, and other things for projects to be (sanding and painting dressers soon I hope). We have been without a BBQ since we sold ours when we left Japan. No way did we want to have that dirty grill packed and shippe half way around the world. Our apartments didn't allow them on the balcony (plus would there have been room?) and so it has brought us to now. Clayton feels we are now whole again, being able to BBQ. I am happy we don't have to use the oven on hot days. Last night we used the new grill for homemade turkey burgers, grilled corn, a little red onion and then we had baked beans too!

While Clay was slaving away in the HOT sun putting the BBQ together I took the kids to pick up week 2 of our CSA. The girl working said that last week's bag was spinach and not swiss chard. It sure was meaty for spinach, but then again I am used to store bought baby spinach. This week our basket had: spinach, 4 squash (yellow ones that look like zucchini) a basket of strawberries (already gone!), a bundle of green onions and a cabbage.

I had to use the spinach from last week up since we now have another bag. I put together a frittata, sauteed spinach, mushrooms and a little of the green onion all together. Didn't notice I had bought southwestern egg beaters, heck I didn't know they came in flavors! Add a little flour and a dash of cream (on hand for the chocolate ganache we are making for my molten chocolate birthday cupcakes) and then bake it! I like it, Clay won't touch it b/c well it has spinach and mushrooms and eggs!

Elliot just woke up, from what has turned into his once a day nap. We no longer do 2 naps, although he still gets a little too tired to not have 2. He naps later, for almost 2 hrs and then he goes to bed anytime between 6:30p and 7:30pm. What a big boy he is growing to be! Smart too! I sometimes don't realize how brilliant he is because he isn't quite as articulate as Gabby always has been (who is?). We sing songs and he follows along, yesterday throwing his hands up and saying what sounded like "hooray!" When asked he will point to his; eyes, ears, nose (well he sticks his finger up it), mouth (sticks out his tongue), fingers and toes. Plus he has known his belly and head for a few months!

Gabby is really into watching cooking shows. Whenever she likes what you cook she says "can I have your recipe?" Once I get a few minutes I will have to write the ongoing conversation we have about when she grows up and where she will live!

Allegiance

My heart and mind tell me I am a Bellingham Girl. My body, well it is telling me that 65* is COLD and that we need to change out of capri pants and a t-shirt into, well something that includes socks and long sleeves. Gabby and I just got a blanket to snuggle with on the couch while Elliot napped. Oh and it is 70* in the house. Clay mentioned too that it was cold, although he had just come home from fishing, which means he was waist deep in the Atlantic Ocean. After working his 5th day of night shift, he got off work at 7:30am had his fishing cart in his car, his gear packed and bait in the work freezer. No fish, but in his words "a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work!"

I guess after living in warm weather locations; San Diego, Japan, Virginia Beach since graduating from Western in 2004 I have adjusted to warmer weather.... although I am still not comfortable above 85*

baskets, buckets, cupboards and more!

Gabby loves to paint. We got new paints and a table cloth that we can put on the floor, sometimes it is just easier than up at the table. Pants are not required for painting, less clothing to get dirty.

Our new bucket, it has been used to hid under, to drum on, pull the kids down the hallway, toy basket, and to roll Gabby around in! Notice E's new hat, I am trying to get him to wear one to protect his head from the sun and he actually keeps it on- backwards only tho!

What have we been up to the past week? Well last week we tried to think of things to do when it gets 94* outside, you can't spend all day inside because it is too nice outside- and your a/c isn't working! We have been thinking up new ways to have fun, and truthfully we have been having a blast. I bought fans when I realized our air conditioning was causing the house to go up a degree when you turned it on- one night we slept at a sticky 85* ugggg. Called the property managers, they sent out a guy and he fixed it pronto!

The biggest news of the week is that we signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture. We picked up our very first basket of produce on Friday and were a little iffy on the contents but am still optimistic on what the next 21 weeks will have in their baskets. We should get things like melons, beans, apples, pumpkins, apple cider, okra, beets. This week we got: carrots (old, the core is very large and hard), strawberries (used for pancakes and then today's experimental orange strawberry bars- a take on lemon squares), asparagus (roasted for dinner tonight) and a bag of what I first thought was maybe spinach but after talking with my mother think it may be swiss chard (still need to use it).

This is the kids watching Clayton mow the lawn! Exciting day, the garbage truck came too!

Elliot has become a climber, he climbs everything! The couch he mastered and now hops up on it and back off of it like it is no big deal. The ottoman is another thing, we use it to block the tv cabinet that he has figured out how to open- so now he climbs both (there is a TINY ledge on the cabinet door, or he uses a box of diaper wipes for a boost), I found him in the computer chair today with a smug grin, and the stool Gabby uses to help bake is a new obstacle for him to conquer!

The only cupboard without a child lock in the kitchen is the one we throw tupperware and sippy cups in. It's a double edged sword to me, Elliot pulls out everything in it a minimum of 6 times a day- however if he is happy playing with it I can cook or clean up the kitchen. He does drag cups all over the house, and I have found a few lids to the tupperware in the play room lately. Clayton wants to put a lock on it b/c we are both tired of picking up the contents of it so many times a day, I am hanging on to the fact that it keeps him occupied!

This was our dance party tonight, we were dancing to Tracy Chapman!

Easter!

all the cousins, pretty impossible to get everyone to look- especially when eggs are falling!
Someone, a child we think, yelled "GO!" to start the egg hunt!
walking back from the beach.
Gabrielle and Aunt Kayali!
Gabby found her Easter basket, we saw the Easter Bunny as we were leaving for church.

Easter this year was the best in recent memory! Not only were we home in WA, we were with ALL of the Lenssen siblings and their families- minus Uncle 'Mas who was off trying to help the World. It took lots of planning, and quite a few issues to get there- but we all made it and it was WONDERFUL! It was soo good to see everyone and the cousins love each other, even though they rarely all get together. It made my heart full of love to see us all together and having a good time. We had lots of good food, great walks to the beach and playground and a really exciting egg hunt! Hope that one year soon we are all able to meet up in the same place again!

Big Bird

While we were home we tried to do as many things as possible, although that always ends up being not everything you want. We did have a wonderful trip home, and it was filled mostly with family- lots of wonderful and fun family time! One day we drove down to meet up with the Ross family at the Woodland Park Zoo. Somehow we managed to get out of the house EARLY, and had extra time. It was the perfect time to stop and visit with Great Grandpa Clayton, better than on our way home when we would all be tired. His memory may not be sharp, but he was still so kind and happy to have us there. He got out his guitar and stummed along while Gabby sang some of her made up songs and even allowed the kids to play on it too!