Big Boy

Ethan is getting so big. He's 6 1/2 months old already and he's changing everyday.

He started eating baby food and LOVES sweet potatoes. So far we've tried bananas and applesauce as well, but it doesn't compare to his enthusiasm for sweet potatoes!

He also started sitting up on his own. Yes, he's still a little unsteady, but he's strong and can sit upright with a toy in his lap and play with it in aw.

Crabfest 2010

For those of you non-Kodiakans - Crabfest happens here in Kodiak every Memorial Day Weekend. It is something that the town REALLY LOOKS FORWARD TO! It is the talk-of-the-town and a 5day celebration that welcomes the summer.

Yes, it is called "Crabfest" but, there is no crab there. Well...there is one vendor who sells king crab legs for $20...CRAZY EXPENSIVE. Overall there are about 20 vendors who are both local and from the mainland. They sell all your typical "Fair Items;" even a small carni comes to town where they have rides and games for the kids.

Now, being from the "Big City" I can say, firsthand, that Crabfest is pretty lame. Yes, it is the most exciting thing to do in Kodiak. But, compared to the rest of the world...it's LAME.

Emily, Ethan and I went downtown on Friday to check it out and here are some of our pictures. It was sprinkling off-and-on while we were there, but when in Kodiak rain can't scare you---it rains here all the time!

Punishment

I'm taking a quick break from the April vacation...ya, ya, ya....I need to get more pictures of our trip up there...I'll get to it, don't worry.

But, the other day I caught Emily coloring my candle table lantern. Oh...I was SO UPSET! I couldn't believe it! She was so excited to color it and told me...Mommy, I color it. Oh, I was MAD.

But, it was one of those moments where, through the madness, you couldn't help but smile. So, I punished her by making her clean it up. I think she got the point when, after 10 minutes, she realized it wasn't coming off.

Yes, now I have a custom-decorated lantern on my coffee table.

It's faint coloring, but if you look close you can see that it is still there.

California Day 3 - A Nice Day for a Good Cause

Day 3 meant a lot to me. As you may have read in a previous posting (The March), the March of Dimes supported our family during a time when we really needed the support. I had an "Ah-ha Moment" when I realized that after years of supporting The March of Dimes, they were actually supporting me. (I begin to breakdown just thinking about it...those days were probably the toughest of my life.)




Well...I had learned that The March of Dimes would be doing a Walk in Encinitas while we were in town - WE HAD TO GO! I was honored to be a participant in such an event! (As I'm sure everyone else was who walked along with us.)

Our goal was to raise $1000, and we exceeded our goal! In all honesty we would have never made our goal if it weren't for David. David raised more money than anyone else and had his friends, whom I've never met, supporting us in this cause. (David, thank you!)

Dad, Mom, Lisa and David came down to Encinitas to walk for the March of Dimes with our family; our Team Name: Ethan's Many Angels. It was a beautiful morning and a wonderful walk. I know this will be a cause that we will probably support from here-on-out and we are blessed to have Ethan with us.

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So, considering that we were almost to San Diego, we HAD to go to Sea World!

The Walk got over just after lunch, and then we headed down the street to Sea World. Emily enjoyed seeing all the sea animals, but LOVED the Kids' Park at Sea World. Chris and David enjoyed the ever-flowing beer kiosks throughout the Park.


It was a very LONG DAY for all of us and we were all EXTREMELY EXHAUSTED after it was all over. Here are some pictures of our fun time at Sea World:

Disneyland...woop! woop!

On Day 2 we visited The Happiest Place on Earth!

It was nonstop exhaustion...the day prior we visited family all day, and then we set forth for another long day at Disneyland. It was Ethan's first time at Disneyland and I think he was amazed with all of the visual stimulation - there was so much for him to see and do. Nothing comes close to this in Kodiak!

Chris and I hadn't been to Disneyland in a few years, but we were overwhelmed by the amount of people there. Ticket prices had also gone up since our last visit and I think Walt would be turning over in his grave if he knew it was $100 to get into Disneyland! But, the amount of people was INSANE! I think we ended up going on a total of 2 rides, Emily went on a few more than that...but not many more.

It was basically a day of walking around and just enjoying the sunshine, and making sure Emily didn't get lost in the crowd. Ethan did great, yet I was a little worried about him because he had never been exposed to so much heat. But, he did fine.

We had a fun time at Disneyland...but, sadly, I don't know if I would want to go back on a day where there were that many people also visiting. (...and this is a really sad comment to come from me...I'd hate to think my Disneyland-Days are over)

Here are some pics of our travels:

Visiting Grandma Lauri

The kids had a good time at Grandma Lauri's house during our visit, here are some pictures:

There and Back Again

Yes, it's been a while since my last blog post. It's always hard to get back into the swing-of-things once you return from a vacation. Six days of cleaning...and we're almost settled again.

So, for those of you who we may have missed on our trip...our family traveled home to southern California and spent two weeks with family and on a cruise boat. Don't worry, I'll get pictures posted up here as soon as I have the time. I've noticed lately that there isn't enough time in the day - these two kids are pretty demanding. Here it is 10:30pm and I finally got them both to bed, but it's only a matter of a few hours before Ethan wakes up and needs to eat, or before Emily wakes up because she had a nightmare. Gosh it's exhausting being a parent!

So, our travels to California were pretty good. Ethan slept the entire way and we had no issues with him whatsoever. Emily, on the other hand, she slept the first flight and then decided that she wanted to be WIDE AWAKE from midnight till nearly 5am...it was INSANE!

We left Kodiak at 4pm and didn't arrive at LAX until 8am the following morning. What a long and exhausting day! Once we arrived we immediately started visiting friends and family. It was Ethan's first time meeting everyone, and had no problems to adapting. Emily remembered everyone from her visit in December and it was as if no time had passed since then. She really loves you guys.

Here are a couple pictures from that first day. I'll try to get more posts up about our trip as soon as I can (wouldn't you know it...I can hear Ethan fussing...and then fun begins again... :0) )