Fun in the Boat!

This last weekend my Mom came to visit and Noah and Jack were SO excited to have their Nana here. I told her that she can come any time because first of all, we love her, of course! And also because she cooks, cleans, and takes care of Noah and Jack, it's a great break for me! The first thing she does when she gets here is puts comet in the sink. I only use natural cleaning products and they don't bleach things clean the way comet does. Josh even will ask sometimes when she's coming because the sink could use some comet! I explain to him that the sink is very clean, but just not bleached...I've given up...I just let her comet away!

We did get out in the boat on Sunday. Josh has really been wanting to go for a while and we thought it might be our last chance for the year. We found a sandy spot on the River and stopped to let Jack play frisbee and for Noah to walk around. Right when we got out of the boat Noah was walking just in the water and got going way too fast. We were all making sure that Jack didn't go to far and then we heard Noah crying. We look down and he is face down floating in the water, with his life jacket on, thank goodness! He just cried for a few seconds and felt a lot better when he got warmed up, I guess the swim lessons are paying off! His clothes were so wet that he had to wear Nana's jacket the whole way back and it looked a lot more like a dress on him than a jacket.

Our trip to Stehekin

We had been hearing how great this place is called Stehekin. It's on the far end of Lake Chelan about fifty miles away from the town of Chelan. You can only get to it by boat or small plane. Josh looked into it and decided that he really wanted to go. We called everywhere there to see if you could have dogs and not one cabin would let you bring them. We love bringing Jack and because we've been away from home so much this summer he has had to stay home with housesitters most of the time. We found out that our only alternative was camping...permit camping...not Park type camping. Right there I was a little nervous, but they said that there was a bathroom, so we decided to try it out. We are really not campers, by the way. We'll go for a couple of nights in a camp ground, but we (or I!) like showers and not staying too long.
Well, so we get to 25 mile creek park where we launch the boat. From there its about a thirty mile boat ride which would take a little over an hour. We load Jack, Noah, and all of our camping things into the boat and go to take off and the boat won't start. Come to find out, Noah had pushed buttons last time we went for a ride and the battery is dead. I joked to Josh that maybe it was Jesus giving us a subtle hint to go home! He didn't agree so we jumped the battery and off we went. Josh then decided that he was going to tell me how to drive the whole way. I told him that he was more than welcome to drive, but he just wanted to tell me how to do it. If you know him at all this was very out of character for him to be so snappy. It usually takes a while for him to get that way, but it was immediate and I couldn't seem to do anything right the whole way. I usually have far less patience then him, so I think I got a taste of my own medicine!
We then get to Stehekin and go talk to the park ranger about getting the boat docking and camping permits. She then proceeds to tell me all about how you need to put all of your food and anything else away with a scent in bear proof boxes. I of course ask her about bears and she tells us that half of people staying there see them! I am NOT comfortable with bears, especially with a baby and a wuss of a dog. She tells me how harmless they are, but I was not buying it.
Things just get better from there! The camp site is on a rocky hill looking over a road. There isn't any grass, just dirt and rocks. So, while Josh is getting the boat unloaded Noah, in a matter of five minutes is covered in dirt from head to toe. Also, there are bugs (ants and mosquitoes) everywhere. Like crawling up your legs bad. We noticed a restaurant when we pulled in and so Josh told us to go have lunch and that he would set everything up. We go have lunch and come back and Josh is just sitting there because the tent had a broken pole. I asked why he didn't come to join us...he later told me that he needed a break (I'm assuming that meant from me!)
At this point I was ready to head home, but I could tell that Josh wanted to try a little longer, so we agreed to stay one night and to head home the next day. We put Jack and Noah to bed that night (on that uneven, rocky ground,) they both had cushions and Josh and I slept on the ground as there wasn't anyway our air mattress would work there. Every time we would wake up Noah would be sleeping on Jack's bed spooning him or laying on top of him. We have the best dog EVER, which we knew before, but this trip confirms it. Jack didn't sleep well at all, but Noah sure did with his brother!
The next morning we woke up and walked the two miles to the bakery. This bakery was a big reason why I agreed to go in the first place. It was in Martha Stewart and it looked so cute. On the way I was bit by about 30 mosquitoes and Josh and Noah didn't get one! It was worth it though, they had the best cinnamon rolls, Jack even had some, he deserved it after his rough night. We then walked another two miles to Rainbow Falls, looked at that and caught the shuttle home. We were so thankful that they let you bring dogs on, there was no way that ours was going to make it back another four miles! We got back and left right away with out any more problems.
Stehekin was a really cute place and I would love to go back, in a cabin. We were SO glad to get home! The highlight for both boys was when we got back to our car and Noah had an ice cream bar and Jack got a popsicle!

Trip to the Orondo Cider Works

Today we went to the Orondo Cider Works with the kids from school. It was so much fun for Noah! He got to have cider, watch them make donuts (and then eat them, of course!) and go on a tractor ride through the orchards. (I was a little nervous about him being up close and personal with the pesticides, but I knew that Josh would think I was nuts if I said anything, as would everyone else, so I kept it to myself!) He just loves all of the kids and they pay constant attention to him, so he has had a great time being a working baby. He also loves riding on the school bus, I think its because he doesn't have to be in a car seat....who wouldn't love that! We only have three more days of work, yea! It has been a really good experience for all of us, especially Noah. He is the most flexible child EVER now and he has made a lot of good friends. But still, it will be nice to be finished! Josh starts school again on the 25 and he will be very busy throughout this year. I'm going to substitute teach a little, but hopefully I won't get many calls at the very beginning of the year!
This last picture is of Noah eating yogurt. I call it yogurt heaven because it's whole milk and vanilla and it tastes a lot more like ice cream than yogurt. But, he loves it and he especially loves feeding it to himself, which is messy as you can tell!

Our trip to Mexico and everything else that has been going on

I have been a terrible blogger lately...I knew this would happen! We went to Mazatlan, Mexico for eight days at the beginning of the month. My Dad, his wife, my sister Sue Ann, my brother Sam, and the three of us all went. We had so much fun! Noah loved swimming in the pool with his Uncle, the two of them kept Josh busy, but they had a lot of fun. We couldn't believe that Sam went para-sailing, I think he wanted to because Josh did, but we were very proud of him!
We found this great place for dinner. My Dad heard about it from one of his friends and so we thought we would try it. It was VERY local (a little too local for my taste...right away anyway!) It ended up being great food a lot of fun for the kids, so we went twice and ended up there on our last night. It was one of our favorite places.
I would have to say though that Senor Frog's was Noah's favorite. He loves music and shaking his booty and that is a great place for it! There was a lot of loud music and a lot of girls, so he had a great time. Sam also had a ton of fun there dancing with all of the kids. There is a mantel there that I took this picture of Sam and Noah on. When we were young and my cousins and I went there, we have a picture of all of us on the mantel, so that was fun to get one of them.
I think that Noah's favorite part of Mexico was the girls. He just loves them! Anytime we would go into a restaurant, elevator, bus, etc. Noah was immediately scoping out the girls and waving and blowing kisses to them. He made such good friends with someone who worked in the restaurant at the hotel that she would just come over and grab him and continue working with him on her hip. He LOVED all of the attention. Here is a picture of one of his many new girlfriends at Senor Frog's. We were really hoping that he wouldn't have as many girl problems as his Dad, but I think that we are in trouble!












The other big exciting thing for us is our zucchini! We started a small garden in our back yard, not having a clue what we were doing. I don't think that we really planned on it working out, but so far it is! Before we left for Mexico there were a few green tomatoes on our plant and nothing else. But, when we came back we had a bunch of huge zucchini's! We were so excited (this just shows you how exciting life is in East Wenatchee!) We had to take a picture with Noah and I am sharing it with all of you...oh and I made bread!
Other than that we have been working a little bit at a summer program through the school district. Noah gets to come with Josh and I, so its nice for all of us to be together. We do this three days a week and then we get two days off before Josh heads over to Tacoma for school. He is getting most of the classes finished and after this month he only has three more to go! I think that we will all be very glad when he's finished...especially him!

The past few days

A few days ago when we were at home I went in to check on Noah during his nap and he was hugging his blabla. That is his little friends brand name and so we just went with it. He loves him now and it is so cute how they cuddle!

Also today, Josh had to go into work to do some internship stuff. I took a shower and came back out to the family room and Jack is cozy on the couch. He knows he is not suppose to be up there and he would NEVER even try it if his Daddy were home (which is irritating!) He was so cute and comfy that I took some pictures and cuddled him and then Noah played with him when he woke up. Josh just shakes his head at me about all of this. I figure that Jack being an indoor dog could get in a lot of trouble, but he doesn't do anything bad, the worst thing he does is that he lays on the couch. I can live with that!

Yesterday we took Noah to a petting zoo in Peshastin. He was very excited to see the animals and had a lot of fun watching them. We took his picture in this apple and it turned out to be SO funny, his big cheeks! Things were going well until he stuck his fingers in the mouth of a pony and the pony took a bite. He was not happy and there was a little blood, but he just cried for a minute and was back to animal watching. We are so glad that we have a big dog, as Noah is very use to getting stepped on, chewed on, and knocked over!

Noah's first boat ride!

Today, we took Noah out for his first boat ride. He loved it! We (or I) was worried that it wouldn't go so well, but we all had a great time. Josh has really been looking forward to going out on the Columbia River in the boat, so he is very excited that school is
out and he has more time to play.

Noah has been cruising around and has a great time as long as he has things to hold on to, so the boat was perfect for him. He walked around from seat to seat and loved when we went fast.

Oh...we also discovered that he really likes Sour Skittles. While I am not thrilled about this, I was secretly happy as they're my favorite! It was a fun day for us and I think that we are going to try again tomorrow in a different spot and we're also going to try to bring Jack. He hates being left out, so we are really hoping that he is a boat dog (I doubt it though, he is such a big baby!)

The nothing that we've been doing lately!

Well, nothing too exciting is going on with us lately, we've just been hanging out around our house. It is really nice living somewhere where there is more sunshine! We are outside a lot more and Josh has even (almost!) convinced me that I should ride my bike! He and Noah go out, so I might just have to try. I'm more of a walking kind of girl, not the falling off of your bike kind and I KNOW that would happen to me and only me. Noah looked so cute in his helmet and I couldn't believe that he left it on.

Noah's new thing is saying Uh-Oh. Everything is Uh-Oh and he seems to have forgotten how to say much else, but we are hoping that it will come back to him!