Silverwood 2008

The trip started out very early for us. John loaded the Pilot up late the night before, and by 4:30 am on Wednesday morning we loaded the last of our stuff up, hustled the boys out of their beds and sped away by 5 am. In leaving early we hoped to avoid traffic issues in Seattle with morning commute, hoped that both boys would continue to sleep away some of the 7 hours we planned to be on the road, and hoped to limit the stops we had to make to keep the boys happy for the majority of our car time. It worked brilliantly. Cooper traveled like a champ, sleeping the majority of the trip (he's been fighting a nasty cold and needed some catch up, I guess) and watching DVD's and playing the short amount of time he was awake. Thomas did not go back to sleep, worrying us a bit. For the most part he was content to watch his tractor shows and Indiana Jones Cuke (his version of the Veggie Tales episode), then busied himself with the scenery, watching for dust devils and other items of interest John would throw out to him. We checked in with Mom and Company, and they were just getting up and around by the time we hit the pass. I knew then we wouldn't be meeting up with them to add some entertainment to our ride, but that was just as well as we were somewhat concerned about sharing the nasty colds that had traveled through our house. I needed some sleep as well. Our night was short as it was with 5 hours. Cooper had gotten up twice, though, making it even shorter for me. Thankfully, I was able to catch short naps here and there, which I knew would help for the long day ahead.
By the time we arrived, we were all more than happy to get out of the car and hit Triple Play. We were very excited to find out our rooms were perfectly assigned as we wanted. Without waiting for the others to make it into town, we headed into the pools and slides of Triple Play. For the rest of the day, we played, played and played some more. John was determined to pack as much activity and fun into this trip, no matter what. Late into the evening the kids swam and played. It was after 9 pm and they were racing around the track on go carts. These were no leisure trips around the track, either. This was "game on" and the rules about bumping did not apply to the Whipples and Vankemsekes. John and Billy made friends with the track attendants, who then allowed Drew to race his own car even though he isn't quite old enough, as well as extended our track time. Two young boys decided to challenge John one evening, and John took them to task, spinning them out twice. Needless to say, the boys were less than pleased with the old guys playing dirty back!
On Thursday we enjoyed breakfast as a whole family, then headed out for the grand adventure---Silverwood! We loaded the boys into our rig, jammed out to Cotton Eye Joe, Jock Jams and Who Let the Dogs out, and cheered all the way. At one point, Jake was yelling over and over, and Thomas leaned over to him and said, "Jake, you need to calm down!" We were so excited to finally be back. After a year of talking about it, reliving all our memories, and eager to see and do it all again, we were finally back! We could not keep the boys from Boulder Beach and we quickly headed to the private cabana we had rented for the day. It was a great decision to get this added luxury, as we had a home base for the day, a place to rest and store all our stuff while we went out and about. There were no lines while we played at the park, and barely anyone around at all. Dad took Jake over to Polliwog Park, Andrea took Grace down to the rides, and the boys headed into the wave pools. Cooper, Mom and I held down the fort, content to play with rocks and explore. By afternoon, we all headed back down to the main park to hit the rides down there. The biggest moment for me came when Thomas decided that he wanted to ride the big coasters. Although just tall enough to meet the height requirement, he's still only 4, still my little boy, still so small. Inside I was a bit sick. Outside I bit down my fear and smiled, encouraging him and telling him I would watch and cheer him on. Watching him head off down to the gate was difficult, yet thrilling at the same time. How was it that my little guy was big enough to ride with the big boys already? I don't even want to ride these roller coasters anymore, and Drew was still hesitant about it even at his age. He did it and loved it. He was so proud of himself. His first roller coaster at 4 years old and it was named Timber Terror. Next he wanted to ride Tremors. I almost drew the line here. As his mother, I have an obligation to protect him, right? Again, I looked to John, pressed down my worry, and watched them head off to the gates. Drew and Dad will not ride this ride. It's too much. I refuse to ride this one again. I just figured Thomas would cry and that would be it. Silly me! He made it through it like it was nothing, and came off it with the biggest smile on his face. We even bought the silly photo they take, just to have this memory forever! The look of terror on his face could not be recreated, though! We finished up with rides and headed back to enjoy the water park again. With closing time, we packed up, headed back to the hotel, then jumped back into the hot tubs and slides to play some more. It was hard to even stop to eat. Again, the boys were riding go carts late into the night!
The second day we started off staking our claim in an area out by Toddler Springs and took off for Avalanche Mountain-our favorite water ride ever! The crowds were more robust today, but we managed to pull mom into the tube and off we went. The weather was perfect, the kids had a blast and we pulled another long day out at the park. John was still determined to pack as much fun in as possible, so we were up until late that night riding go carts and riding the waves of Triple Play. What a blast we had!

A Mother's Heart gets slightly cracked..early...

Tonight Thomas doesn't like me very much. You see, I didn't know that he wanted to ride the car down from the driveway. And when he was throwing a fit in the trees, yelling and carrying on, I told him that if he treated me better when I came home from work tomorrow, then I'd give him a ride. Today, however, I would not be giving him a ride because he was talking so mean to me and throwing a tantrum about it. Of course, later he was still mad at me that I made him chicken nuggets and wouldn't feed him chocolate chips for supper. Not letting him go upstairs to see Grandma and Grandpa (they were leaving for a meeting) sent him over the edge. Knowing exhaustion was playing the largest role in this production, I carried him crying and kicking to bed, complete with his stuff animals and bottomless juice cup. He refused to cuddle with me, he refused to let me read him a story. "Go away," he cried.
"I love you, Thomas," I said, tucking him in.
He pushed me away. "Well, I don't love you!" he replied.
I kissed his forehead.
"Don't kiss me, not now, and not in the morning!" he huffed at me.
I kissed him anyway, trying not to smile just a bit at the dirt-streaked tears edging down his face. "I love you, Thomas," I said again, bending down one more time.
"Well, I SAID I don't love you," he repeated, trying to avoid my dead on kiss.
"Good thing I love you enough for the both of us then," I said, and headed out the door.
I didn't know the cracks begin at 4 years old.....

Father's Day @ The Deming Log Show

Today we headed out to the Deming Log Show despite the heat. It was a lot of fun to see some of the events. As usual, though, the boys enjoyed the playground equipment far more than they did the shows themselves. That's just how it works out sometimes.

Big Crashes, Falling out of trees and Cuts

Thomas refuses to get into the water, bathtub or otherwise when he has an "owie". Maybe when he has one, but not when he has multiple owies going on. Usually we luck out and he can manage. The last two weeks he's been nursing a flap cut on one of his fingers. I can't begin to count the number of bandages he's had on it. The other day he cut another finger on the other hand, and now decided he couldn't touch water...not his hand, not his body...nothing. You should have heard the screams of agony when I tried to wash the grime from his hands. He'd been out helping grandpa all day, dirt covering his whole body and streaks of dirt running down his face. He'd then decided to play in the fire pit, and his hands were covered with black soot. He also smelled like a dirt pile...

Anyway, although I was able to get some of the dirt off, I had to grimace as he climbed into bed, still filthy dirty. Good thing he wasn't crawling into bed with me!
Yesterday, I came home to find that Thomas had fallen out of the apple tree and taken a chunk of his inner thigh with him as he slid down and out of the tree branches. Let's just call it tree rash....amazingly close to his man-parts! Not road-rash....tree rash! I thought to myself that bathing is probably done for a long time at this point. Oh well! Thankfully he is a boy and they can get away with a bit of grime, right?

Tonight John took the boys for a bike ride and I went to a graduation party at Bob's Burger and Brew. When I returned and walked through the door, Tommy's bike helmet was broken up and he was sporting yet another bandage, this time on his wrist area. John reports that while on their way home, going fast around a corner, Tommy's tire spun out and down he went, thankfully sparing his face but taking out his wrist and helmet in the end.

The summer has not even begun yet and he has both hands, his wrist and his thigh bandaged. The count is on....

While I was away at the relay...Cooper learned...

When I came home this afternoon from our run in Tofino, I found that Cooper has learned to clap his hands and march through the house with high knees. He's also seriously cutting all four of his 1 year molars, and he is cranky to beat all! Poor little guy! He must be in so much pain.

Thomas spent his weekend riding his bike all over, Geneva school, The Firs, the playground behind the fire station and around the neighborhood. John has fixed up the bike trailer and was able to tag along in that while Thomas rode. John seems tired but made it through the weekend, and I'm so thankful that I can leave the boys with him and not worry that they'll be sad, crying and miserable. I can only imagine how hard it was, but they made it and hopefully this is the last time for a while that I have to be gone!

As Cooper grows....

It is amazing how much you forget as they get older. Cooper has been chattering away for some time now, and has his own little ways of communicating with us. When he wants to go upstairs, he goes to the door and pats it, turning his head as if to say, "are you coming?" If he doesn't get the response he wants, like the door opening, he'll start to pound on the door and his cries get louder. If we don't respond, the door starts to shake, and we must respond for fear the door will come off it's hinges. Not really, but loud none the less. As he heads up the door, he'll say, "Bah?" and then calls louder, "Bahhhhhh???" until he hears either grandpa or grandma respond back down to him. He'll continue with this "bah" calling, and we figure it means multiple things for him at different times, maybe calling to grandpa, getting his attention, or just jabbering. Maybe it's his word for grandpa right now. He's also into saying "dthish" and pointing to things. When he wants a bottle he goes to the dishwasher or the fridge when he wants a snack. It's so much easier to start to communicate better with him. He doesn't have real words yet, but he can understand questions and has his own way of getting what he wants now. Now he likes to climb up onto the computer chairs, climb up onto the table and sit his bum somewhere and play with the computers. Grandpa and Tommy affectionally refer to him as the "computer nerd" as he loves to hang out at the computer, messing with the buttons, the mouse, the keys and anything else he can possible get to.

Of course, we try to block his way up by tipping the chairs over so he can't climb, as the danger factor is quite high, but when we forget, we'll hear him happily chattering away, and with that sound you know he has gotten himself into "position" up on the table pounding away.
He also loves to traipse around outside and now demands his turn on the tractor rides. The other day I found him slumped over in grandpa's arms, fast asleep as grandpa circled the lawns mowing. While landscaping, he has taken to climbing his way up into the seat, turning circles around into various positions and playing with the mower functions. He could sit up there for hours if we let him, but as of yet I can't let him up there without a hand clutched to a body part or piece of clothing, as he is still top-heavy and tends to lose control and fall out and off of everything.

He has a black eye on one side right now due to a headlong tumble into the window casing. He still has the road rash on the other eyebrow from his header into the gravel from flying down the hill without his brakes on. Oh wait...he is still trying to figure out his braking system. He is getting better at using his muscles to slow himself as he ventures down to the lower lawn and down to the beach. He loves to play on the beach, and for a few short days I thought he'd figured out how cold the water was and I wasn't continually chasing after him as he headed for deep water. But I praised him too soon. Apparently the water has warmed up just enough that he now has taken to trying to get into deeper water again, forcing me to repeatedly go in after him or stand in the frigid waters as a barrier for him. Ahhhhhhh!!!
Where Thomas was easily distracted and moved on to other things, Cooper has complete determination when he sets his mind to something, and he does not forget. He may be removed but he will return, and he will return with speed. And when he does not get his way, he is quick to arch his back, twist this way and that, shriek and throw his head back with gusto. And just the other day I witnessed him turning circles with his fists clenched when his brother took something away from him. Today he started stomping his feet at the door when I told him he couldn't go outside. Oh, my is all I can think. And yet, he is still my cuddle bug, loving, sweet, and smiling most of the day. Such a beautiful, glorious smile he has. A smile that lights up his entire face. He loves the friends that visits, and so enjoyed his time at preschool. I suspect he may be a pickier eater than Thomas, though. So far he appears to enjoy meats and cheeses, mac and cheese and spagetti. Try to get him to eat a piece of fruit and he's gagging with just a taste. My friend Rhonda tried to have him try watermelon and she had him gagging. But he loves chocolate and sour candy, and both are bad habits of his mom and dad. We'll see.

A visit from the cousins...

Look Ma, no training wheels...

Tonight, John took Thomas up to Wall Street in the neighborhood to ride his bike. When they returned a short time later they reported that the training wheels were OFF and he was riding down the street on his own! I took him up a short while later and he not only could ride down the street but he was able to start on his own without help and started turning circles without falling. He could also stop on his own when he wanted to without crashing or running into something. To say we were super excited was an understatement. He was clearly in his element, racing down the street and telling me he could go "super fast" without his wheels on his bike. It was amazing that in one evening, two times out, he was riding on that bike without training wheels as if he'd been doing it forever. He makes it looks easy, let me tell you, and it's pretty cool that it didn't take a long while to make it all work for him.

Jesus In My Heart

Three mornings ago, Thomas and I were checking out my toe, which I think is barely hanging on to life right now. Thomas remarked at how "sick" it looks, and he told me Jesus should put a bandaid on it. I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus to help heal my sick toe. He said to me, "But Jesus is not in my heart." What followed was a short chat about how Jesus loves us very much and hears us all the time, not just at bedtime, etc. He told me, "No, he's not in my heart." "Do you want to ask him into your heart, Thomas? He loves you very much," I replied. "No, maybe this summer," he said, smiling up at me so sweetly.

Tonight, he asked me to pray for his owies on his legs. They are numerous today after a long weekend of playing with cousins, so it took more time than usual to detail them all for Jesus. At the end, he quietly said, "and be in my heart, Jesus."
I whispered, "Did you just ask Jesus into your heart?"
I could barely make out his whispered yes, and I could tell he was super shy about it.

I have faith...

Cooper's 1st Birthday Party

What a beautiful day it turned out to be! Last weekend it was snowing and on Tommy's birthday last month it was snowing. Today was beautiful, sunny and actually warm enough for the kids to be outside. The kids took it a bit far with their attempts at swimming in the lake and naked, bubbly slip-n-sliding, but the adults were able to hang out in the sun as well without being too cold. Brad, Erica and girls joined us after a long, traffic-filled drive up. They were staying the night, so hopefully it softened the blow of the long journey up. Robin, Lily and Jack didn't fare as well. Jack threw up and was sick on the drive up, not to mention the long traffic delays in both Everett and Mt Vernon (darn those tulips!). Poor Jack spent the afternoon curled up in the Monkey-room in isolation, as Robin told us she didn't want to share the wealth with everyone. Stephen and Barb came, and Gene and Punkie are finally up and healthy enough to come over for a short visit. The Lawrences came over after a long day for them, so it was short visit but filled with naked tubing, slip-n-sliding, jumping castle, pizza and treats. It was a great day together, balloons out in the yard, treats, presents and good times. Cooper enjoyed all the attention from the family, and was pretty reserved about his first few bites of cake. Eventually, and to our delight, he tried out the feel and texture of the cake itself, instead of just it's taste. Too soon it ended up in his hair, ear and face, which is any photographer's joy. What a sweet boy he was. The kids helped open his gifts, and helped blow out his candles, too. In the afternoon Cooper joined in with the sliding in the yard. It was quite a thrill to watch Cooper's naked bum sliding down the big boy slide into a freezing cold puddle of bubbly water at the end. Thanks Uncle Stephen! Despite his lips turning purple, he hopped in and out of the hot water bucket, throwing fits when we'd take him inside to warm up. He wanted to be with the big kids all day long, doing what they were doing. I can't believe our little boy is ONE today! What an amazing 1st year we've had!

Cooper's Almost 1

Jenny has called me up after two different babysitting gigs with him, telling me what a sweet boy he is. I have to smile. Truly, we are blessed to have this little boy in our lives. One year ago, late in the night and only hours before getting serious with hard labor, I remember wondering what we should name him. We didn't know. I remember laying in bed after a long day trying to get labor to progress, thinking about this little baby, worrying about him, thanking God that we had gotten that far with the pregnancy, wondering how our lives would be changing in a few short hours.

Today, Cooper was toddling about, trying to keep up with Grandpa and Tommy as they mowed the grass. He hollered and cried when he couldn't get what he wanted. He spent a lot of time in the "Hoob-mobile". He hollered and cried when he couldn't get into the lake, over and over again. He climbed up on the entertainment center from the red ottoman, he begged to run the coffee machine and hold the grinder as it was grinding. He wrestled with his brother and dad on the floor bed. He made friends with anyone and everyone who would look his way in Costco, quite pleased with himself as he quickly made his way down the long aisle. Finally he's making gains at sleeping through the night (now I know I've gone and jinxed myself) He still walks around with legos stuck in his mouth, puts rocks in his mouth, and enjoys playing in the toilet bowl. Now he has figured out how great it is to flush the toilet as well, or play in the shower water, or dig around in the dirt of our house plant. The other day he surprised me by plopping himself down beside me when I said I wanted to change his dirty diaper. Most times he's fussing and trying to flip on me when I'm trying desperately to get him changed. He's trying to help when changing his clothes, and loves to fling laundry about. He also appears to have his mother's love of gab. Jenny told me today that even with her on their car ride, he was talking up a storm, jabbering about this and that with the kids. He loves to put things over his head and play peekaboo, and enjoys chasing and being chased around, his hands flapping around as he hurdles himself around. The other day he made his way down 4 stairs. How, I really don't know. He should have ended up in the ER. Somehow he made it down, fully standing, looking up at me as I sprinted around the corner.
With Cooper, our lives are full of laughter and joy. Each day is such a beautiful gift. To see our boys playing, loving on each other, giggling and sparring...it truly has been an eventful, crazy, wonderful year!

Last day of being zero (years old)

Struggling to keep up...

All in a day-John's Day with the boys!

While I was lounging by the pool before hitting the airport, John was busy with the boys, sledding, playing in the snow and building a snowman! After picking me up from the airport, the weather turned nice and he invited the Lawrences over to play on the beach and swim. I was too bitter about the snow to join in much, and was freezing to boot! However, John couldn't help but update his pictures throughout the day to show what extremes they did as the day progressed!

All in a day-Cynthia's Day with the Girls!

These pictures happened while it was snowing in Bellingham. There was no guilt at all! We mostly lounged by the pool sipping on drinks, snacking and listening to music. In between we stalked the neighbor "hottie" for Rhonda (me in the middle of the night sneaking around to get a look) and took Rhonda to get her nose pieced at the most sketchy place I've been in a long time. More details to follow!

The Shag has got to GO!

Although with summer coming on we thought about letting him just keep the shag and run with it, not seeing his ears and eyes was starting to bug us. Not to mention the fact that now he doesn't want to wash it or get it wet. "But I want it long like a girls," he'd cry, when we brought up the fact that he truly needed a haircut. He'd run his hands all over it, enjoying the feel of it and the look of it when he'd wake up with severe bed head. The bigger poof and bed head the prouder he seemed. Today, however, after much prep work throughout this last week, Thomas finally succumbed to the dreaded haircut. Poor Brad had to work like crazy to get it done, and was a pro at dealing with the squirming, the threatened mutiny in the middle of it, and weird head positions when Thomas would be tickled or annoyed or angry that a hair was not just right on his face. After it all, and a shower in which he actually had to wash his head (this produced a near meltdown and many tears) he was rewarded with a Hershey chocolate bar and a trip to pick out a toy of his choice-the bribes that worked this time to get him on the stool.
Thanks Brad! You're one fabulous "uncle" and even better barber!