Charge!

Poor Willie - Kailyn's latest "game" is charging him with her cart. It is absolutely hilarious, though I do feel bad for poor Willie, who has learned to listen for the "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeg, heeeeeee" that means Kailyn is coming. I'm not sure if you can really tell in the picture, but he is getting ready to run hard left to get out of her way, but he has to wait till the last possible second or she turns, too. She thinks this to be sooo funny & squeals her excitement when he darts out of her way. And me, supposedly the mom and protector of all in the family, can do nothing but belly laugh every time she does it. Oh, poor Willie and the torture to come for him!

Kailyn recently decided that she doesn't like broccoli. After Dad took too long to take each piece from her, she made a little pile on the side to be sure that it didn't accidentally touch the yummy chicken fettucine. I am kind of wondering if it's a color thing now, though. Tonight, she kept all of her peas (I was so scared she would decide she didn't like those either, and I'd never get to make them since Brian doesn't like them either) until last, and ate all the yellow corn first, then the orange carrots, then all the peas.... does she not care for green?

The big girls helping out in the yard picking up Willie poo - I made them a deal - $1 a pile (thinking I might have $15 piles, so $7 or $8 a piece, that was worth it to me. Well, 5 minutes later, Tori came in with the totals: Mikayla 30 piles, Katie 26 piles. I almost fainted. $56!!!! So.... we renegotiated - $5 each and an ice cream cone - they were happy, and of course, so was I. I haven't been taking Kailyn out in the rain when Willie goes, figuring I'd get it on the next sunny day.... who knew a little guy like Willie could make so much poo!

Of course, you know Brian thinks this is great - Kailyn slams her milk, and then throws the cup down when she's done with an "aaaaaahhh." Some of the guys want to teach her to crush the milk cup on her head, but I've drawn the line. Mean Mom is no fun!

Sometimes I like to sleep like my cousin Kate - check out her website at

http://web.mac.com/gravitino/iWeb/Larsons@mac.com/Home.html

Party Central

A little different than our college days - now most of our invitees are under the age of 10! Funny enough, these times are more fun than those (Brian might argue the point, but he's lying!).


Today was a great day - Kailyn and Willie are in HEAVEN! I started watching Katie, Tori, & Mikayla yesterday, and can tell it's going to be a fun year for all of us. Today wasn't quite sunny, but it wasn't raining, so we went for a walk and then over to the park. Each girl took turns pushing Kailyn or walking Willie while I kicked back and did pretty much nothing! It is so funny to think that Kailyn will be like this one day. They remind me of the slumber parties that I would have and all of us girls would giggle and talk a mile a minute until mom, and finally dad, would tell us to "GO TO BED!!" I can hardly keep up with their conversations!


In case Kailyn didn't have enough fun partying with the big girls, we had a little get-together for Brayden's first birthday. He is such a stud - we put on some eighties rap, and these two were throwing their hands in the air breaking it down to LL Cool J! After dinner and dancing, we let the kids have some cake - Brayden really liked it, even if he had to wear a pink bib!

Congrats to Alisa - who has her third interview for Deal or No Deal tomorrow! I'll keep you posted if (when) she is going to be on!

A Day of Sunshine (finally....)

Well, I had just about given up on this blog thing... I have checked every day to see if my pictures would post, and everyday have been deeeeenied. I had several pictures to post with the last entry, but none would show up, making me so frustrated. Now that it has allowed me to bring some up, watch out! There are quite a few to make up for the lapse in time; maybe I can start posting regularly again. It's not nearly as fun with no pictures!

I'm not sure what I want to write about first, but I guess I'll start with my shorts. Mom saved these from when I was a baby, and it was really neat to put them on my daughter knowing that my hiney was the last one in them! I can't believe they actually fit her - they have always looked so big to me! Mom says they were my favorite pair, and I believe it! They are pretty well worn (loved), and they look SO CUTE on Kailyn!

What is most exciting about fact that she wore my shorts is that SHE WORE SHORTS! It was hot enough to wear shorts! While the rest of the States have enjoyed a hotter than normal summer, we have not enjoyed a wetter than normal one. It's been tough on us - Kailyn and I are both suffering from cabin fever. One of the greatest things about living in Valdez is the great scenery and all of the stuff to do outside, but we have been robbed of that most of the summer. I did get Kailyn a raincoat, so that helps when it's just drizzling, but when it's really raining and a little chilly, I don't want to go outside, let alone bring my 1-year-old out. So when the sun peeked out from the clouds yesterday, we JUMPED on the opportunity to get outside. I told my friend Katey that it reminded me of the Rapture, where one second we are all here going about our business, then the next , we are whisked away to meet our Maker. Well, most of us =) are taken to Him. I was right in the middle of taking the laundry out when I heard Kailyn's squeak, indicating she was up from her nap. Even I didn't know that I could run up the stairs, get her changed, coat & helmet on, and in the bicycle that fast. We were off!

Our first stop was the boring post office, but then we went over to Ruth Pond and fed the ducks. Kailyn loved watching them swim and chase each other, racing to the bread I would throw. When it was her turn to throw, she would hold the bread high as if she were going to zing it over to the ducks, then stuff it in her face as fast as she could and laugh. I love these little games, when she tries to "trick" me, and thinks she's hilarious (she is). After the pond, we rode over to the docks and watched Pat Olsen gut some fish. Gross, you would think. My daughter thought it was great. So did I, really, since hopefully this means she'll be taking on that job when we go fishing!

No story to tell about this picture - just thought that it was funny. I actually thought that Kailyn was starting to like Cheerios - she normally gives them to Willie. I guess her new trick is sticking them in her high chair when I'm not looking since we are working on not throwing food on the ground. She is such a little stinker! When I first saw her tights, I thought to myself, "how cute! I didn't even realize those were polka-dotted." Then, it seemed the polka-dots were 3-dimensional, and I laughed! What a goofball!

Boat Rides & Anchorage

So much has happened since our last post. As we were packing to head to town on Thursday, the 28th, Katey Connell called to ask if we'd like to go out on the boat. It was one of those gorgeous days that make all of the yucky, rainy days in Valdez worthwhile - perfect blue sky, bright, white clouds, birds singing.... it seemed like paradise. On days like those, you can hear the waterfalls in the mountains and it always makes me feel oddly insignificant. These things have been here for people to enjoy so long before I was born, and my children and their children will have them to enjoy long after I am gone. I have no part in them, only get to be amazed by them for a few years until my time here is over. Hmmm.... Anyways! Kailyn LOVED the boat! It was a little chilly that day, but she wanted to stay up top with Bill and watch everything - the boats, the water, daddy's work. I grew up on boats all the time, and I am so happy to see that she enjoys being on the water like I do... maybe one day we'll be able to buy a boat and spend lots of time out on the ocean together. We only went out for a short trip to pull up shrimp pots, and it was really cool to see the Connell clan work together as a family - each member had an important and specific job to do to make everything run smoothly. Once we got close to the harbor, Kailyn had a chance to check out the shrimp and crabs that came up. We had to throw the crabs back since they still haven't recovered from the oil spill in '88, but the shrimp were HUGE and jumping around like popcorn. I let Kailyn touch each of the creatures, so scared that I was going to be cleaning crab guts off of us when she squeezed them to death, but, thankfully, she was very gentle. I love to watch her little brain processing everything - so intently absorbing the smoothness of their little backs and the ridges on the little (BIG) shrimps. I hope that we get other opportunities to join them; we had a lot of fun!

Once back on shore, we had to rush home, finish packing, and hit the road to Eureka to see Daddy, who absolutely walks on water in this house. Jared and Brian are standing walls already, trying to get as much of my Dad's cabin built before the snow flies. It's looking really good, but going a little slower than we all hoped with our lousy weather this year. After spending a night with Brian, we went the rest of the way to Anchorage to start looking for a dining table, office furniture, and a guest bed, and amazingly, found all three in one trip. We couldn't believe it! It was a quick trip, but quite productive. My favorite purchase was definitely my new dishwasher!! I am so happy - it's great!!! The top shelf drops down so you can put plates on the top when you have a lot of pots.... I am so pleased! We really like our table, and it's nice to be able to sit together like a family. I think Brian feels like the king sitting in his armchair at the head of the table - makes us feel like a real live family, with us as the grown-ups.

While in Anchorage, Mike and Erin (Brian's brother and his wife) celebrated their anniversary and let Tyler spend the night with Tom & Peggy. The kids took a bath together and had so much fun splashing and sharing their toys. Both of them are so funny - Peg and I couldn't stop laughing at how they interact together; Tyler wondering what the heck those things are coming out of her head, Kailyn amazed at how cool her big cousin is, already going to college and all!