Earlier in the day, John worked with the Lawrence kids to take head shots for their school pictures. We joke that this is Tommy's school shot this year, complete with the dirtiest face he could possibly get! Since this is how Thomas typically looks after a day on the beach and up in the shop, it really is quite fitting we think!

Best Buddies!

You can just imagine them as old farts!

33 Big Ones

Today is my birthday. On Tuesday of this week, my office mates surprised me with an awesome Thai luncheon. After a meeting with our supervisors, Rhonda said that I needed to wait for her to run out to meet with someone at the garden that we manage. I didn't really want to wait all that long, so I put a Weight Watchers Hot Pocket in the microwave to feed my growling stomach. Jim comes over and tells me he's really hungry and asks for a piece of my hot pocket. Surprised that he would ask, as it was a small pocket and Weight Watchers at that, I quickly cut him the bigger piece, knowing he had to be hungry to ask. Shortly after sharing with me, I walked into the lunch room to find all this Thai food and my co workers set up to eat lunch together. Although I missed Don being there to celebrate, hopefully we can send him a few pictures to let him know we were thinking of him.

Today, I woke up to hit the gym early for the day with my bestest buddy Jenny and off we went. Watching the Hawks lose was no way to spend a birthday morning, but it was a lot of fun to take a birthday nap after waking up early. Once we all woke up from our naps, we loaded up the cars for a trip out to McPhail's to get pumpkins. Cooper is at an age where he is running around with the other kids, and we had a great time feeding the animals, climbing on the farm equipment and riding the tractor out to the field of pumpkins. Taking a family picture proved easier for the Lawrences than us Whipples. It may be a while before the boys will actually cooperate enough to get a good one of us all.

That evening Rhonda joined in on the fun, coming over for dinner of Thai at the Lawrences. There we celebrated with Thai, presents and sprinkle cake. It is So fun to share a birthday with my main man, Isaac! What a treat it is to share this day with him! Jenny totally over did it and surprised me with a beautiful new coat to wear and Rhonda blessed me with a new heating pad (to replaced my nearly destroyed, ancient one I've been dealing with), a massage and the New Kids CD I asked her for. How cool is that! I was thrilled. It was a great day and a fabulous birthday. Lil made brownies and I took advantage of our extra tough workouts to enjoy not only the cake at Jenny's, but the brownies as well!

October 1st Lake Swimming!

Our theme of the summer was jumping, swimming and bbq's. It was a fabulous summer and to celebrate this beautiful weather we're having and our thankfulness for a period of great weather following a less than memorable August, we took up the opportunity to jump into the freezing waters of Lake Whatcom tonight. It was almost dark, but we did it in various stages. Thomas and Isaac went in first, then quickly followed Rhonda and Cynthia into the deep end. While we warmed up in the hot water buckets, Lance and John decided they too had to get in the fun and jumped in as well. After several weeks of chilly temps, the water has cooled off considerably. We will see how long we will continue to jump into the lake!

Words by Cooper at 17 months old

Ma-Ma, Da-Da, moo-rh (more), I--see (Isaac) ba-ba (bottle) and he goes to the dishwasher to pull it out, Bah(Grandpa) Up, Ah-ple (apple) Cheesh (cheese) Off, Jush (juice),

A Day to Remember

The alarm clock didn't have to go off this morning, as I woke up to the sweet smile on the face of Thomas as he attempted to crawl into bed with me shortly before 5 am. I cuddled with him for a few minutes, then pulled myself out of the warm covers to stumble to the coffee pot. As caffeine coursed through my veins to rev me up, I quickly dressed and ran out the door, only to hear the faint cries of Cooper as he stirred back inside. I ran back in, made a bottle, quickly realizing that I didn't have keys and my IPod was dead. I briefly considered heading back to bed in defeat. Instead, I dialed Jenny up as light began to show itself above the mountains. "Jenny," I whispered. "Yeah?" she whispered back. We were both trying desperately to keep our children asleep before we escaped. "I can't find my keys and I'm late to pick you up. I have to get Coop his bottle." "Do you want me to pick you up?" she whispered. "Uh, yeah, I already had my coffee so I can't go back to bed." She showed up minutes later. Already late and pressed for time, we decided to walk the neighborhood hills instead of driving all the way to the gym. Later, as parent helper, I dripped sweat from running around keeping 14 preschoolers in check. They almost completely devoured a whole Costco box of GoGurts and a half pack of Costco string cheese. Cooper did fabulous as a pre-preschooler, playing nicely with the different centers Teacher Kathy has set up throughout the room. It was such a fabulous blessing, though, when Jenny showed up to pick him up, allowing me to focus on just Thomas and the other children for the next two hours of class. Jenny and I debated, but she agreed to go hang out with Cooper to get him an actual nap in his crib as opposed to his car seat, while I would pick up Isaac at 11:30 and keep him with me in class until Tommy let out at 12. I raced home with the boys, after struggling to get the car door open. Thomas helped me load stuff out of class, but tipped the coffee pump pot over while in the hallway, completely jamming up the hall with parents and a billion children trying to leave. Thankfully, Joan grabbed the two garbage bags out of my hand, I put down the two large and overstuffed bags I was heaving out, and Thomas quickly soaked up the old coffee. When I finally got into my driveway, I was exhausted, and the day was only half over. Jenny raced out to pick up Madeline at 12:30 and we agreed that we'd meet up later to enjoy the summer- like weather. For the rest of the afternoon we played outside. Outside in the hot buckets. Outside on the Firs Beach. Outside on our beach swimming and making sand castles. Outside with the Allens. Thomas played most of the afternoon with little Julia, content to roam the shoreline for treasures and the brushes for hidden blackberries to make into "soup". Cooper and I followed them around, wrestling on the grass together and wading in the water. At one point, Tommy told me he had to pee. Not wanting to go inside and break our outside streak, I told him to go over to our beach and pee in the bushes. Of course, he was looking at the Firs port-a-potty while he asked, so I knew what his real intent was. "Tommy, it's stinky and dirty in there. Don't go in." "But mom, I just want to go in, I will be real quick." "No, Thomas, it's so dirty, don't go in." "I'll be real quick." And he was off, pulling open the door and heading in. I just sat on the lawn with Stephanie, a smirk on my face. As fast as he went in, he was racing out, a horrified look of disgust on his face. "That is So gross!" he exclaimed, heading quickly for the girls waiting for him. "That was So, so, so, so stinky!" That was so disgusting!"
"Thomas, do you still have to go pee?" I asked, trying not to remind him yet again that sometimes moms are smarter than little boys.
"No way! That place is SO gross!"
By afternoon, I'd had a chance to chat with both Stephanie and Lil, who had returned from their trip to Wheaton with stories to share. Jenny finally made her way back down after soccer practice, and Isaac joined in on the hot bucket fun. Cooper loved on Jenny, and then Stephanie made her way over with Johanna. Realizing it had been a long while since snack and even longer since lunch, we all hustled our separate ways for the evening. John made his way home with a load of groceries. Perfect! Just perfect! I finally had a chance to hit the shower for the day. I had a chance to think about our day together. Sitting there, I realized that yet again my house was a mess. Looking around me in the bathroom, I could see that Cooper had attacked the cupboards again and had items thrown all about. The toilet paper rolls had been pulled out of the garbage and sunscreen was smeared on the the mirror. There was sand all over the floor, and finally, I looked at the dirty and sandy towels littering the floor. Smack in middle lay a big, fat stick. I had to smile with it all. Boys and their sticks! Messes all around, and yet I could only smile. What an absolutely perfect day with my boys!

Winds of Change with Us Whipps

There is a lot going on internally at our home, a lot of discussion, a lot of emotion, a lot of turmoil over decisions that will need to be made around the first of the year. One month ago I was told that due to budget cuts, my position with either change or be cut entirely. Now it is a matter of setting up for the future. We have it perfect right now. John and I switch around our schedules to be at home with the boys as much as possible, with only a small amount of Tuesday and Thursday overlapping with care from grandparents and a babysitter that comes to the home. This has been a tremendous blessing, being able to keep the boys together with us as much as possible and out of daycare. We refuse to allow Cooper to have any other care different than what Thomas had, but that may prove to be very difficult if not impossible to maintain should I lose this job or need to quit entirely. And should they force me to work full time, then I will certainly need to leave to continue to make the boys our priority. Financially, we will suffer greatly, and we will need to search out affordable healthcare (is there such a thing?). I have to believe, though, that should John and I continue to make our boys the priority, God will continue to provide for us, no matter how scary this situation looks at this point and no matter how out of control it seems. Does this mean a new direction is in line? Does this mean more schooling? At what point will this happen? Do I wait until Cooper starts preschool, or begin the process now? How does it all fit together? How will we make it all work out? And what is God's point in all of this? I remember thinking that we had it so perfect just a short month ago. I was happy with my job, my career. I wasn't looking for grad school, a new career, a new direction. The boys were happy, John and I were happy with the molding of our jobs and our family time. I joke that I am waiting for the divine memo from up above to hit my desk and map it all out for me. I'm good at attacking and making it happen. Right now I'm still waiting for the directions.....

Seahawks lay an egg :(

Tommy's interests..do not confuse him with a baby!

Today he wanted to ride up the hill in the double stroller, but in sight of children up the road, he yanked himself out and started to walk up the hill. As he was heading up the hill, he said to me, "I don't want to look like a baby." " I don't want them to think I'm a baby." Obviously he thinks he looks like a baby in the stroller. He so wants to be the big boy these days. He's jumping off the lifeguard chair, which is pretty incredible to see. I did not imagine a four year old doing such a brave stunt. I myself have yet to jump from the big chair over at The Firs and probably won't in this lifetime. He is swimming in the deep end but we still stay right with him as he's still needing to get stronger. He loves to dive into the water, both in the lake and in the hot water buckets that we have as hot tubs for the kids. Last night he strapped on John's water bottle belt and took off for his "marathon". John thinks he went up and around Punkie's house and then back down, all the while running like his dad. He's really into Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and his face lit up when I told him I would buy him an Indiana Jones shirt to wear. He is quite proud of dressing himself. It is so cute to see him come out with his shorts on backwards with the zipper in back. Yesterday while at the park he insisted on going into the restroom by himself, and I heard him yelp in surprise when he turned on the air dryer and it was super loud. He then laughed and said out loud, "That was SO awesome." I could hear him giggle just a bit as he came out the door. We are just now starting to curtail Tommy's use of his dubbies. I'm wondering if some of his drama and baby behavior goes along with sucking these things. I truly appreciate my dear friends and family for not openly criticizing us for allowing him to use these and more importantly for not making it an issue to him when they see him with them. I know it's not such a great thing, but when I think about it, everyone around us has been so wonderful to us in regards to this. Hopefully we can begin to work on it and wean them away. We'll let Cooper take over the dubbie fixation. After all, Cooper has already discovered the joys of a hand dubbie.

Cooper tantrums

Different personality shining through. Whereas I dealt with one tantrum that I remember from Tommy, (he learned really quickly that throwing yourself down on the ground hurts!) Cooper is learning the art rather quickly. Just tonight he was upset about who knows what, only to begin to beat the toy that was frustrating him, get up on his feet, stomp around, throw his arms up in the air, flail around, pound the toy again, then throw himself to the ground and kick his legs. WOW!

Yesterday, he was pulling at me try to get me to haul him up to the computer. When I told him I was busy, he used both fists to grab at all the paperwork on the desk and sent them flying.

When he didn't get to go up the stairs when he wanted, he raced down the hallway, crying and carrying on all the way, stopping to beat at the wall with his tiny fists, then laid down on the ground and rolled around. He was somewhat comforted when he realized it was fun to scoot around on his belly down the hall.

1st Day of 4 Day Preschool-Teacher Kathy

We spent a little time during the summer talking to Thomas about his eventual return to preschool with all his friends. It was not the thought of school that worried us, but the comments about never going back to school if he couldn't have Teacher Dana. However, Thomas has shown no problem readily moving on to his new classroom, and seemed quite pleased to be back with his friends. He was eager to show Teacher Kathy his Star Wars Lego catalog, with all the legos he plans to ask Santa about, and talks about her when school is mentioned. I have to chuckle each day when I ask him how school went. "Good." What did you do? "Nothing." Hmmmm....

It is quite a joy to know that he goes there four days a week, three hours a day, and seems to enjoy each and every day without fuss or tears. Now it's just figuring out how to adjust to three hours with Cooper as the only child. So much to do, so much free time to just spend with him now!

Leavenworth Vacation with Culbersons and Hutchisons

The Culberson's invited us up to their home to spend the weekend for some quality time in the sun. It was desperately needed as the cold and rain of the week began to get on our nerves. It's unbelievable that the weather is already both a focus and a source of bitterness, so we eagerly hit the road to find the sun and heat.
Fred and Connie Culberson could not have been more welcoming to us, and it was such a beautiful relief to have our own space in their amazing garage apartment/loft. I had been worried about the space issue, having both Thomas and Cooper sick throughout the week. At one point John and I were trying to figure out whether we would be able to go or not, as we had not slept much in 11 straight nights. Both boys continued to be really sick throughout the week and both needed a trip to the doctor, but we agreed that Thursday night would lead to our decision. If Cooper could make it through the night, we would head out. Of course, he pulled it off, the first night in many, many nights that he wasn't up fussing, crying, throwing up and coughing, and we only hoped that the space we would have would work out with sickly children.
It couldn't have worked out better. We had a beautiful place to ourselves, and both Fred and Connie and Scott and Michelle were so wonderful to us. We met up with Erica, Brad and the girls for some time down on the river, and quickly determined that with the potential for weather issues to creep up on Sunday, we should take full advantage of the hot weather for our tubing adventures down the river. I kept Cooper back with me, as we weren't sure that a 15 month old should attempt tubing down a river, and we'd let John scout it out for us. Turns out that we decided to take him on Sunday anyway. Friday night we had a wonderful dinner with the Culbersons and then headed out for the Leavenworth fire station. Erica's sister and husband had arranged for us to tour the fire station. How amazing it was to not only tour the station and clamor all over the fire trucks, but we were all invited on two separate rides through the town. You can imagine how amazing it was for both the kids and us adults to get to ride in the engine through town. Cooper slept okay with only one crying episode to deal with, but John had it rough with Thomas, who cried repeatedly throughout the night, and when not crying he was snoring like mad. John was exhausted Saturday morning but pulled through. He was also suffering from a sore throat, and lost another four pounds on this trip. Today I got to join in on the tubing fun. It was a blast to sit back and cruise along the river. Thomas had his own tube, but spent the majority of the ride snuggled up with me enjoying the hot sun. It was so beautiful to float along the river, so relaxing and refreshing. The kids played so well together, and the giant "hot bucket" (the hot tub) was a huge hit with all the kids after playing in the freezing waters of the Wenatchee River. This evening we had Erica and Brad pick up food and bring it over, and after a bit, the kids went down and the adults were able to enjoy some adult time chatting and enjoying each other's company for the evening. Sunday morning was beautiful and hot again, so we headed out to a farm to ride the cow train and play in the hot sun. By mid afternoon, though, the clouds broke over the mountains and the rain came in. We wanted to stretch it out as long as we could, having the report from up in Bellingham that it had been pouring rain all day. It was with sad hearts and a bit of depression that we packed up the car for home. It truly poured and stormed for the entire ride home. We were so very thankful for the wonderful opportunity to spend time with great friends in a truly spectacular home.

Grandpa's Shop

More ocean photos...

Ocean Shores Vacation and Eric Church 2008

We headed off for Ocean Shores with Rhonda in tow. After playing a bit of Mission Impossible and High Speed Merge onto I-5, the Whipples and Hutchesons were off for the coast of somewhere beautiful. We didn't stop until we got there, and thankfully the kids did a fine job of hanging in there for the ride. Somewhat concerning, though, were the clouds and low fog that hovered overhead. What started out as a fine, beautiful, sunny day dissolved over the depressed towns of Aberdeen and Hoquium. The temps dropped as did our hopes for some serious sun worshipping. Once there we discovered our hotel was less than we were hoping for, but our rooms were big enough and connected, so it allowed for fun family time with the kids. Traveling into the town of Ocean Shores, we found that our options for dining were Subway and McDonalds. We chose both. We hit the pool, played on the beach, hit the pool, tried to dodge the plumes of smoke wafting from the casino, and hit the pool again. That night, Rhonda and I ran away to watch Eric Church play at the Elma Fairgrounds. Talk about Small Town USA. It was a blast hanging out with Rhonda, trying to find her a cowboy to flirt with, trying to find some decent fair food and trying to be nice as we people watched. Rhonda put up a good fight, but I thought more than twice about stopping at some roadside bar for a lookie-see on our way home. Not on my watch, Rhonda! On day two we managed to find a great, greasy fish shack called Sandcastles, raced our cars on a beach (go figure! where are the environmentalists on this one!) played on the beach, and again and again called on the pool for entertainment. Tonight we tried to dodge the smoke again, opting to take our fast food from the bistro into the main lobby. Nothing about this hotel was ideal for a family. After another round of swimming, the kids finally gave in to exhaustion and hit the beds. The guys hit the lounge for wings. I hit the hay, barely able to keep my eyes from crossing. Too much fun!
Day Three we hit the pool, loaded up our considerable gear, then headed out for a grand adventure up the coast. We stopped at the new town of Seabrook, marveled at how lost in time the coast is, traveled to the rainforest to hike through the trees, hugged a giant tree, and dined at the Quinault Lodge. Parting ways, the Whipples and Rhonda headed north through the Olympics and the Hutchisons opted to take the lesser of the long ways home. On and on we traveled, up and over the top of the peninsula. It was one very long drive as we raced the clock to beat the last ferry out of Port Townsend. The boys kept it together for the most part, but we were definitely feeling sorry for them as the hours went. We hit the 10:15 ferry after yet another pit stop at McDonalds. We finally arrived at 12:30 am, completely and thoroughly exhausted from our grand adventure!

Grandpa and Cooper

Tubing with the cousins!

Lake Whatcom Adventures- Round #3

Today, while running around on the lawn above the beach, Isaac stepped on the cup that I had left out after Cooper had his way with my soda. Wouldn't have been such a big deal except that is was GLASS. Thankfully, Isaac is super brave and tough, and limped away tonight with only a long cut on his big toe and a bleeder on his little toe. It could have been so much worse. The glass was broken into big and small shards, and his cuts could have been so much more severe. We dogged a big one this afternoon!

Adventures on Lake Whatcom Round #2

One day after Lake Whatcom Rescue


After our last tubing run of the afternoon, I was pulling the kids in close to our dock. I slowed down, then heard this commotion from behind. Turning around to see what was up, I found Thomas flailing in the water, screaming, thrashing, sobbing. The only part of Sophia visible were her toes, as she clung to the tube but tried desperately to haul Thomas back into the tube. Madeline, the third passenger it the tube, sobbed and sobbed on the side, convinced her Tommy was drowning. With Fir Creek life guards looking on, I tried to calm Thomas enough to get him to reach for the rope, then pulled him in from the water. Sophia climbed on board, our little rescue woman, then Jenny pulled in a still sobbing Madeline. Turns out the kids had moved forward on the tube and the wave somehow caught Thomas and pulled him in.

Again, Jenny and I pulled our kids off the boat, shaking our heads and trying to laugh.

Adventures on Lake Whatcom

So I decided not to let my fears of failing or not meeting a high standard keep me from taking the kids out on the boat this year. You see, the first, only and last time I took the boat out by myself, I hit a submerged log out in the deepest and most remote section of Lake Whatcom, and darn it, it will not be me to ruin Bruce's boat! I think I also had to go under the boat and unhook the line as well, but my memory is foggy other than a big, fat log in my way as I raced across the lake.
This summer is going to be different....

Two weeks ago-
Jenny and I decided to take the kids out for afternoon tubing. We had Thomas, two Allen girls, Isaac, Matthew and Sophia with us, with Cooper sitting happy in Jenny's lap. What a fabulous crew! We had several runs, took turns with all the kids, and were switching out the kids for one last run. Starting up, I heard one of the Allen girls yell, "the rope!" I immediately cut the engine, but the damage was done. With keeping an eye on the numerous boats, supervising the kids in and out switching positions from the boat to the tube and making sure Cooper was okay with Jenny, I didn't think to check to see if the rope was clear. I jumped in to see the damage, but couldn't see the damage. It was too far under the boat for me, but tugging, jerking and silently swearing at the underside of the boat was not doing the trick. I hauled myself up and looked at Jenny, wishing to be anywhere but where we were. With a boat full of kids and just the two of us, I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do now. I knew my skills didn't include diving under the boat without a mask, and we quickly realized that neither of us thought to bring our cell phones to call for help. Across the lake, Jenny's friend was out with a beach full of friends, but turns out they watched us thinking we were just waving at them. The waves were crashing against the boat, and I now was more than worried that we'd end up bashing into the docks if we didn't figure something out soon. Looking up at Jenny, I said, "we've got to get help. I can't do this." With that, we hustled the kids in out of the tube, put them at the front of the boat, and started waving. However, with it being mid afternoon and windy, there was a limited number of boats out. Finally, after waving and yelling, and feeling more than humiliated, a boat across the lake took notice of our yelling and came out to investigate. As they neared our boat, and seeing me in the water at the back, one dude executed a perfect Baywatch dive and swam over to investigate. Without much hesitation, he dove under, surfacing pretty quickly and sputtering very un-Baywatch like. Meanwhile, Jenny was turning this little ordeal into our own little episode of Rescue Heroes, and the kids seemed thrilled. Sputtering hero dude went under again, only to come up under the platform and hit his head. I pulled him out, realizing that I didn't need a second rescue operation one one afternoon. He said to me, "Man, I wish I hadn't just pounded that beer!"
Great, I thought. Just what we needed. Drunk Rescue Hero. I smiled at him, willing him to keep it together enough to go back under, all the while trying to keep us from being pounded into the boat by the increasing waves. He went under, again and again. Finally, he pulled the last of our tow rope out, and we all cheered. What could I do for him? How could I possibly make it up to him? I thanked him again and again, telling him how much we appreciated him helping us out with all the kids in the boat. He was so cool about it, and with the beer comment ringing in my ears, I said to him, "We're the beach next to the Firs. You come look me up and we'll buy you all the beer you can drink." He laughed, we hauled ourselves back into our boats, and he was off. Once up in the boat, I wanted to head back in and never get on the boat again. Jenny and I talked, agreed it was in our best interests to buck up and make it work, then gathered ourselves and put the kids back out. Despite feeling slightly sick to my stomach, we rode back to the dock instead of limping. Jenny and I could only laugh and shake our heads as we hauled kids and gear out of the boat and back to the safety of the beach.

Cousins racing and jumping at Jake's 1st track meet!

Tonight we headed out to get the boys some running at the track meet. Jake was game to try it, so we put him in the lane next to Thomas and he headed out fast. It was so fun to watch them running together, then waiting in line to try the long jump. When it came time to race the 50 yard dash, Thomas hit it hard out of the gate and kept looking over his shoulder encouraging Jake to keep going down the line. They were sharing a lane, so it wasn't hard, and super cute to see the boys encouraging each other as they headed for the finish line.
Tommy and cousin Jake sizing up the competition...


Tommy on his way to his first Blue Ribbon!

1st Place!

Thomas was eager to go out and run more at the Civic Field track meet that is held on Mondays. He specifically wanted to try the hurdles and long jump again, just as he did last week. Tonight he looked hard for the finish line, got a late start at the line checking out his cousin Jake in the lane next to him, then made up for it down the stretch and with a mad dash for the finish. He crossed the finish line in 1st place! The smile on his face was priceless!

Slip-N-Sliding!!!!!!!!!

Tommy in Action

Thomas is such a contrast right now. He is still such a little boy, four years old, emotional, demanding, sweet and loving. On the other hand, he is into big boy stuff, riding adult roller coaster, climbing trees and tree forts, jumping off docks and the swim trampoline, racing through the neighborhood on his bike, and getting more cuts and scrapes than we have bandages for. He begs for his friends then needs multiple referees to keep them from tearing each other apart. He loves to take his tools and gardening supplies out and about, asking me, "mom, am I doing a good job?" over and over as he works, rides the mower all over, works in the shop with grandpa and cooks upstairs with grandpa. Cries and throws big fits if his perfect ritual of saying goodbye doesn't work out the exact way he wishes it to be.
"Dad, do army men wear shorts like this?"
"Does a front end loader look like this?" he'll ask while out on the beach.
"Do worker men look like this?" when he's out working on the property.

Big Boy Cooper

Cooper carried this screw driver around for a long time this day. We have noticed that he is a lot more content and focused than his older brother, easily engaged in whatever he choses, quiet and busy for longer chunks of time than Thomas ever dreamed about. He enjoys walking around the patio playing with the straps of the bike trailer and stroller, in and out of the hot water buckets, kicking the soccer ball, playing chase, wandering around the yard and up to the tree fort, then out and about just exploring. He's trying to ride his tractor and scooter around, and is figuring out a bit how to use his feet to move him around on them. Of course, he's taken a few falls while standing on Tommy's big boy scooter. Now we have over turned chairs all over to try to keep him from climbing up on the computer tables and patio furniture. He also loves to chase after birds that venture into the yard or around the beach, and unlike Thomas, enjoys checking out the various dogs we encounter on our adventures. While Thomas still cowers away, Cooper is quick to go up and check them out, squealing his delight. He's not as adventurous in the water, thankfully, and at this stage in the summer still seems content to go in knee and thigh deep, then quickly turns around to play again. It is so relaxing on the beach right now, not having to chase him into the water or race down the dock to chase him down. His words are limited to "ma-ma, ma- ma", da-da, "up", "out", "aht" for hot, and "bah" for multiple things in his life. He loves to play with the friends and cousins that come over and enjoys being in the thick of things. If it's the toilet, the coffee grinder and machine, the washing, the boat...whatever anyone is doing, he has to be there as well. Now he's trying to hop around, and laughs and giggles as he hops around. He's also pushing and pulling the toy lawn mowers around and took a couple of boat rides this weekend. He's quick to smile, laugh and wakes up happy. He also loves go give open mouth kisses, and I saw him smooching and slobbering all over Jenny this afternoon. The other day he was cuddling up to daddy's chest in bed, and it is quick a sight for me...to see him so loving and sweet with his dad.

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!