End of Summer Randomness

Here are some random photos I snapped recently around our house, out and about, etc. Lauren is pretty obsessed with Sean, and perhaps even more obsessed with "helping." So she was happy as a clam in the photo below to help Sean put together a dining room table we snagged on Craigslist (Burke, circa 1960, if you're wondering).


Sean celebrated his 40th (!) birthday in August, and Lauren was the happiest of anyone about it, for obvious reasons (below). Happy Day cakes for everyone! Or just Lauren, whatever.

Below, witness Lauren and Jack's first fight. Jack mostly sits in the stroller like a normal kid now (instead of using the bar you see to snap in his carseat and ride backwards). Which we thought would be great, because it gives Laur a little more room to ride on the front (not a sanctioned seat, by the way, but it works, so we roll with it). Unfortunately for Laur, however, Jack has long legs, and little control over them, and so he just sits there and kicks her. If Lauren's screams are any indication, constantly. Below, she pretends to ignore him.

And finally, below, Lauren and her umbrella. Or "uhn-a-brella" as she calls it. These are the days when Lauren looks like a child genius: umbrella and rain boots, on a rainy day. But don't be fooled, she still wears the rain boots every day, and if it was up to her she'd carry her umbrella every day, too. Her school, however, does not enjoy our permissiveness and prefers that she not bring this "weapon" with her to school anymore. They didn't say that, it was implied.

There you have it, some end of summer randomness. Some of our favorite things that she's saying lately:

(To a housefly near her cereal bowl): "Walk away, dragonfly!"

(When the sun shade on Jack's car window fell off): "Don't worry mommy, daddy will fix it."

(Negotiating her breakfast menu): "How about candy?" Me: "no, cereal." Laur: "no, candy."

(In an attempt to visit the doctor, where she remembers there being Buzz Lightyear stickers): "My stomach hurts. Need to go to the doctor. My head hurts, too. Need to go to the doctor. Buzz Lightyear sticker."

Portland

I'm making up for not posting enough lately by posting a ridiculous amount of photos. We just got back from a nice little trip to Portland. Sean was out on the West Coast working for the week, so Lauren and I hopped on a plane on Friday and joined him in Portland for a long weekend. Our last family trip before we are officially a family of four. I'd never been to Portland, but Sean had been telling me for a long time that I would love it, and I did. Great city, amazing food, cool neighborhoods...I highly recommend. Most of the trip revolved around eating (I'm pregnant, y'all), but we also managed to hit the Portland Zoo, Multnomah Falls (Lauren BAWLED when we finally pulled her away) and do lots of shopping.

Lauren's favorite part, besides the waterfalls, was the goldfish they put in our room (the real kind, not the crackers) and pushing the elevator buttons. Oh, and it was a dog friendly hotel, so every trip to the lobby was an adventure. We learned that not everyone appreciates a toddler running up to their dog squealing. Who knew?

I was told we had to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, this little hole in the wall doughnut shop downtown. It was pretty funny, and of course I had to get the voodoo doughnut (see below). I should have named it "Lauren" after the temper tantrum she threw outside the store because she wanted to eat the doughnut immediately. Trust me, a throw yourself down on the sidewalk and pound it with fists and feet screaming tantrum is not pretty on a downtown city sidewalk when it's raining.

Above, a serene Lauren at breakfast at Bijou Cafe before the meltdown at Voodoo Doughnuts. She'd just had pancakes for Pete's sake!

Above and below is Bridal Veil Falls...there was this scenic highway that took you right by six or more waterfalls...absolutely gorgeous. Lauren had a great time waterfall spotting from her carseat.

The next three photos are from Multnomah Falls, the big one. Absolutely gorgeous. My favorite part of Portland might have been the moss. Not kidding. I had no idea, but I love moss.

Lauren sees my baby bump as less of a being that will rock her world, and more of a comfortable resting spot. Comfortable for her, mind you. Not for me. And not for her brother or sister, who lets me know that s/he doesn't care for the sitting, kicking and punching that Lauren often inflicts.

So this was a great lunch. Below, the menu from Pok Pok, an award-winning Thai restaurant in Portland (Ike's wings changed my life), and then after, just walk across the street to a parking lot full of food trucks (Portland is crawling with food trucks, in the best possible way) for some dessert. We ate like kings.

The rest of the photos are from the Portland Zoo. Lauren loved the monkeys, as usual, and the penguins (which we don't have in Kansas City).

All in all a really fantastic trip. Lauren even did great on the four hour plane rides to and from Portland. Not without some advance planning on our parts; turns out, much like her father, Lauren needs only snacks to be happy. She entertained the plane every time we went to the bathroom (did I mention that I'm pregnant? So that was about eight trips or so), smiling and waving as we went up and down the aisle.

She slept great in the hotel room, we had a bedroom that could be closed off so she slept in there in a pack 'n play with her noise machine, blankie and lovey and was perfectly happy. Oh, and we napped together on the big bed every afternoon. Every afternoon. For at least two hours a pop. Bless that child. That might have been my favorite part of the vacation. Scratch that, that WAS my favorite part of the vacation.

As of yesterday I'm six weeks out from my due date. I'm already bigger than I was with Lauren at the end of the pregnancy, and I'm starting to waddle. We are feeling the time crunch and now making lots of lists of things that we need to do before s/he arrives. Some priorities: pick out names (four of them, first and middle for both boy and girl) and buy bed for baby (Lauren is still in her crib, so we're going to try to buy some time with a bassinet). We'll probably make it. But in order to do so this baby needs to stay put for awhile. Wish us luck!

Lauren Bikes the Katy Trail!

Okay, so Lauren didn't bike it, Sean did. But we followed by car. And Lauren was wheeled along the trail a couple of times in her stroller, so I'm counting it. The Katy Trail is the largest rails to trails project in the United States (according to Sean, I haven't fact-checked this one) and stretches from Clinton, Missouri to St. Charles, Missouri (around 250 miles). Sean wasn't able to bike the whole trail because of time constraints and the fact that he wanted to spend some time with his family (which we appreciated), but he did a good portion of it, including an 80 mile first day, which is approximately 75 more miles than I would enjoy doing in a single day.

A lot of interesting things happened on the trip. Perhaps most importantly, Lauren developed an aversion to her car seat. I can't blame her. We were in the car for several hours every day. In the picture below, Lauren relaxes in the front seat on the first day when we cared that she had a car seat aversion and felt sorry for her.

We got over that pretty quickly, as it required multiple and lengthy stops. She eventually realized that we weren't going to stop every time she screamed, so she only screamed for about 20 minutes until she passed out. Awesome.

Lauren also learned how to put her feet in her mouth and suck on her big toe. This kid likes options.

In Clinton, Missouri, I went against my better judgment and visited that store I swore years ago I would never visit again. Wal-Mart. I had no choice, people. I was in Clinton, Missouri and needed an ipod charger, and Wal-Mart was the only provider in town. I think this look from Lauren pretty much sums up how I felt waiting in the self-check line for 42 minutes (it was shorter than the other lines by at least half an hour) while a woman in front of me self-checked goldfish. Not the crackers, the live animals. In a bag with water. IN. THE. SELF. CHECK. LINE. It took hours to get that glazed expression off of her face.

Lauren and I made many stops along the way while Sean biked the trail in 90+ degree heat. Here, Lauren relaxes at a coffee shop/antiques store in the Clinton Town Square (rumored to be one of the largest in the US. Haven't checked that fact, either).

Here's Sean at the end of Day One, 80 miles, from Clinton to Boonville, Missouri. I'm told we almost didn't see him again, after a 24 mile stretch where he saw not one other person, no other towns, and thus nowhere to get more water. Ouch.

The second day Sean biked from Rocheport to Jefferson City. Here he is at the end of Day Two, looking a lot less dazed than after Day One. Each town along the trail had one of these little depots with benches and shade, and sometimes bathrooms (and thus water).

We stayed at a little bed and breakfast in Jeff City, where Sean discovered the best bicycle mechanic in the Midwest. In Jeff City. Who knew? To celebrate, I bought a bike at his shop. Luckily we were the only patrons of the B&B because in addition to developing an aversion to car seats and discovering her big toe, Lauren also learned how to have meltdowns. And I mean meltdowns. It was here where Lauren had her first 60 minute straight screaming fit. I'll always remember you, Jeff City. Here, after the screaming fit, everyone was much happier.

Our next stop was Hermann, Missouri. Confession: I don't think it's that cute. Everyone else does. That's my dirty little secret. Our bed and breakfast, however, was amazing.

We had our own separate house (a necessity after the Jeff City Meltdown of '09), called "Das Landhaus," or the farm house.

One of the owners made the most amazing breakfast, so the Alpenhorn Gasthouse excused Hermann's general unimpressiveness in my book. Lauren even blew some spit bubbles in approval.

The breakfast wore Lauren out. Blowing spit bubbles is hard work.

Sean took off from Augusta on the last day of his Tour de Missouri. All in all a wonderful vacation, even considering the fact that we stayed in a different hotel every night and had to unpack and repack the car about ten times throughout the trip. We have plans to do it together sometime soon. And by "it" I mean about 20 miles of the Katy Trail. I'm not stupid.