Cousins

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On my last post about my US trip, I ended with arriving at my cousins' in Portland the last Friday in May.

My cousins the 7 Cs are worthy of their own blog, but we'll try to get them all in one post. So it's gonna be a long one with lots of pictures. (And C doesn't stand for cousin - they all have the same initials.)

We got there late Friday evening, but they were all still awake and ready to play!  They had lots of kiddy toys for me to play with, like a xylaphone and this foam puzzle C#6 is helping me with.

And we played pat-a-cake.

They finally had to go to bed, but I didn't want to go - playing was way too much fun. So I cried instead. Daddy was worried about me waking up the house, so I went on my first car ride just to get me to sleep - Mommy & Daddy have never resorted to that before.

It was finally time to get up again - yeah! Here I am with C#4, deciphering the treasure hunt clue left by C#6. The treasure was a unicorn!

And posing with C#7

And here I am hanging out with C#s 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Then we went to Sabbath School. It was lots of fun! Mommy was drooling over all the props and stuff - we don't have that in Mozambique. Though maybe we're working on it. Here I am riding a donkey with my very important sippy cup - never go on a trip without it!

And now waving palm branches with Auntie B.

And with C#1 making sure I don't get into mischief or something like that.

Eating my animal crackers. I am eyeing the girl's next to me - as soon as I finish mine, I'm gonna try some of hers. Mommy doesn't let me, though. So I get some of my cousins' cookies instead.

Then we had lunch there at the church, followed by a story hour.

Here I am trying on C#1's shoes.

And demonstrating them for C#2.

Then I left early to take a nap. But I didn't nap too long - I had to get up and play some more!

Here I am back at the cousins' house, reading with C#3.

And cooking ambulances with C#4.

And they taught me how to play the piano.

They've got boxes of clothes my size, so we went through them and took a bunch to take back to Mozambique.

Before we left, we did some boarding down the driveway. It was a bit steep, so I decided not to do the whole thing.

And then we had to go and leave all the fun behind . . . and take a much needed nap on the drive back to Roseburg.

Safety First

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As I mentioned, we are back home. It’s nice to play with all my stuff again, and I remember everybody! I tripped up over all the mini-steps in our house at first (just in the bedroom, there is a step down from the hall, a step up into the closet walkway, and a step down into the bathroom), but now I’ve got those all remembered, too.

There is so much to tell, but I’ll try to go in chronological order. The last I wrote was about us staying at Eagle Crest in Redmond, Oregon, the week before Memorial Day, so I’ll start with that.

It was nice and relaxing there – it was basically child-proof so Mommy didn’t have to follow me around all the time making sure I stayed out of trouble. They even gave us a stair gate.

Here’s the view out of front of the condo.
Now out of the back. We were right on the edge of a canyon, so I didn’t get to go play outside by myself.
This is the living room of the condo:
Here are the geese we walked by just about every day.
And here are some deer we saw on a walk.
This is one of those “Can you find the hidden bunny in the photo?” photos.
Here we are at Taco Bell. Mommy says we didn’t accomplish our goal of getting so sick of Taco Bell we wouldn’t miss it for a year, but we sure tried. I’m working on a straw – I got those things so figured out on this trip.
Here’s Mommy in a warped-face photo.
Here are Mommy and I drinking together.
This is Daddy’s idea of an artistic photo. He also took a bunch of photos of the underside of the table, but we won’t show those.
This is my favorite part of Taco Bell: paper napkins for dessert. A meal just isn’t complete without a little paper in it.
Our friends Uncle K. and Auntie C. came to visit on Thursday for a couple of days, and here we are on a walk with them.
We went by a tiger show, but these tigers don’t look like any I know.
I was boardin’ down a hill on the walk, and some guy, instead of clapping for me as I expected, had the audacity to say I should have a helmet on. They don’t make them my size! Daddy’s been checkin’ out every sports store in the state with no success! I don’t get it. Is there no market for boardin’ helmets for 1-year-olds in this civilized country???

Mommy finally got me a bike helmet for 3+ years from WalMart just before we left the US, so now Daddy will let me do a few more tricks on my own.

Anyway, here I am boardin’ with protective gear, sans helmet.
We finally left Eagle Crest and drove back to the rain, er, Roseburg, on Saturday. Here I am at Stewart Park in Roseburg.
Auntie Audra’s wedding was on Sunday – I’ll write about that in my next post.

Wordless Wednesday

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Skateboardin'!

Home Sweet Home

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On Sunday, Mommy got her hair done and then to A’s bridle (or bridal) shower, while I stayed with Daddy. We went to Dairy Queen. I'm clapping - guess what I'm gonna eat!
Then I got to do some remodeling work with Uncle J. I am very good!
Mommy & Daddy spent lots of time looking at papers, on the computer, and on the phone this week. They are “refinancing” their house, and that is really complicated, it sounds like. So I read books and played with garbage and unpacked suitcases.

I had fun playing with my kitty, Flame, and Auntie D’s dog, Butterscotch. Auntie D rents our house since we aren’t there most of the time. I love Flame, but he doesn’t like my attention too much and swipes at me sometimes. And Thursday was very sad – Butterscotch got killed by a car in front of the house. Here's a old photo of Flamey & Butterscotch.
BTW, my ninth tooth – a BIG molar, is coming in now. Soon I will be able to eat absolutely everything! I have been working on wood, but I like eating paper better, especially napkins.

Oh, and the weather got really hot this week – up to the 100s. This is the prettiest time of year in Roseburg, when all the hills and trees are green and there are bright splashes of color from azaleas, rhodies, dogwoods, tulips, scotch brush, and more.

On Thursday I went to town with Mommy and saw lots of people at Sunrise Enterprises, where she used to work. They all remember me from when I was really little. I wasn’t shy at all. Then we had lunch with A at Stewart Park and went for a walk. Here’s a blue-eyed photo at the park, the train I saw on my walk, and a photo with A. We did some shopping later.

On Friday Daddy & I checked out Big 5. Here I am trying to decide which golf clubs to buy.
Then we went to a BBQ at E & G’s house. I played in G’s wading pool and then fell asleep in my stroller while Daddy took a little jog with me.

Here people are getting ready for a group photo. Mommy didn’t get the actual group photo on her camera, though.
I had a fun time at TurningPoint Church on Sabbath. I starting spinning in circles for the first time – it made me dizzy so I could hardly stand up straight!

Here I am after church working with G. on some of the finer points of skateboarding, with Uncle J.’s help.
After lunch a bunch of us went to River Forks Park. Here I am climbing trees.
And pinching Daddy.
And riding Uncle J’s bike.

The Luxurious Life

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My Uncle J picked us up in Eugene and drove us to Roseburg, where we spent Monday night. On Tuesday we got our car and drove to Redmond, OR, where we stayed at Eagle Crest Resort. It was snowing when we drove over the pass – my very first snow – but I was sleeping during it. So does it count?

The resort is in the Oregon High Desert. Right now it is very green and pretty. There was a huge deer on the front lawn when we arrived, and there are lots of geese and goslings. Here’s a photo of the canyon outside our condo.
What a luxurious life – here I am on my big bed and then in a bubble bath.
We went shopping one day – Mommy went to Victoria Secret to get Audra’s wedding present while Daddy and I ate a hot dog. Then we bought me a pair of Ray Bans!
The next day Uncle J came with G and G's mommy Auntie E. Here I am swinging with G. This was my first time alone on a swing – it was fun!
We rode on my skateboard together, too.
On Friday, Daddy and Uncle J played golf. They don’t let kids like me on the course here for liability reasons. That’s dumb. Do they think I’m going to hurt somebody?

Then Mommy went with E to the resort spa to get a massage, facial, and herbal body wrap. They didn’t take me to that either. I did get to go swimming, though.

Then on Sabbath we went to Smith Rock, a world-renown rock climb spot.
Here’s Daddy on the rock:
Everybody got to climb except me. Here I am in my harness climbing the steps, though.
Then we drove back to Roseburg. I was awake this drive and got to see snow, even though it wasn’t snowing.