Haven

Well, this is the finished product on the garden of paradise.  Finished for now, anyway.  There are still a few more things I want to plant.  Tuberoses and Stargazer lilies in the fall, and Lupine and California Poppies in the spring.  Plus we need some sort of shrub in the far corner by the gate, but all those things will have to wait.  Over the last few days, Elliot has been helping me weed by bringing over his dump truck (he pronounces it "domp truck" with the "o" making the long sound) over to the flower bed and letting my fill it with weeds.  Then we go together to the compost bin (I got an Envirocycle for my birthday) with him rolling the truck and me walking behind him, and we both put the weeds into the barrel.  It has been so fun having him help, I am almost sad that there are no weeds left.  But today after I spread out the cocoa shell mulch, which is  fabulous stuff if you have never used it, I realized how much more relaxing that garden is.  And that's good, because Erik will be home in a couple more weeks, and I want it to be beautiful for him.  Well, I am starting to ramble.  Yay for my garden.  I am so happy to have it all finished (for now)!

My Life at 6:00 a.m.

When Elliot wakes up in the morning, he usually comes right in to wake me up ask me for some "hot milk".  Then we go into the kitchen, get his hot milk, and I stumble around and put on a show for him to watch while he sits in his special rocking chair.  He sits there covered in his favorite red blankie and drinks his hot milk, and relaxes for a while before he starts playing. Yesterday morning (which happened to be much earlier than the norm), when we did the usual, he found that his new dragon costume was laid out on the couch with some other laundry that needed to go on hangers.  Of course, the everyday mundane routine wouldn't do.  The dragon had to have hot milk.  The dragon needed to watch a show.  And the dragon had to have it's picture taken.  Somehow I managed to oblige despite my half-asleep state.  I love my little dragon.

Some Things Never Change

In the world of a child, things are constantly changing and the parents are left struggling to cherish each stage of life, and keep up with the new challenges that come up every day.  When Elliot fell asleep on the floor the other day in the exact position he did on the day he turned one month old, I thought it was worth capturing.  This was something to remind me that even though he is a big boy, he's still my baby, and that with everything changing in life, this is one thing that has stayed the same. 

Long Beach, Sweet Long Beach

We went to Long Beach to see Erik last Thursday.  It was one of those rare occasions where everything seemed to go smoothly, and everyone had a great time!  What a wonderful blessing!  We picked Erik up at the dock, and Elliot loved seeing all the containers (freight cars to him), and some trains, along with cranes and giant ships.  He saw one big black train and said, "Hey, is that Diesel?  I think it is Deisel!", and got all happy about it.  That's a character from Thomas the Tank Engine for those of you who don't have toddler aged boys.  He said the cranes were "Cranky the Crane, and Rocky", also from Thomas.  We weren't able to see Erik's ship, but there was one pretty close, so it filled our purposes for showing him where dad worked.  He was of course overjoyed to see his dad, and it was wonderful to see the two of them having so much fun together.  We had a brilliant time at The Yard House for dinner.  Elliot was so good!  Then on Friday we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, as you see below.  It's such a great place for little kids because they have lots of touch pools outside where you can pet bat rays, sting rays, and sharks!  Then they also have a Lorikeet aviary where you can purchase nectar, then bring it in with you, and the birds will eat it out of your hand, and maybe even come land on you.  Pretty neat.  Then we had to sadly walk Erik back to the dock.  Elliot was sad and annoyed that he had to go, but I think he understands now that it has to be done.  The last picture is Elliot running through the tunnel on the way back to the car.  We even got to have a nice little visit with Brooke, Darin, and Mikayla afterward, passing some time at their house while the rush hour traffic was going on.  We might make this a regular routine if Erik ends up staying with this, or a similar shipping route.  He is completely loving his job working as an electrician.  It's much more fun, challenging, and interesting to him.  Plus, he is working as his own boss in a sense.  Between ports, he just takes care of whatever he thinks needs to be done, and people call him if they need something fixed.  Sure beats 12 hour shifts in a 130 degree engine room!  Also, he gets a paid day off every four weeks!  Yay for him!  He has worked really hard to get there, and I am, as always, so proud of him and thankful for him.  :)

Ah, so good to see the father and son having fun together!

Thankfully, he's small enough that he could squeeze 

to the front without really being in anyone's way.  

The light was too bright for him, so he made little tunnels for his eyes.

Our Last Month in a Nutshell

It's been a long time, and I have missed blogging so much! Strange how something becomes a part of you once you get used to it. I never used to be into blogs, but now I feel like I have all these pent-up blog entries inside me that are waiting to get out. There will be many more exciting things happening this summer, so I am going to do one giant catching up blog. I hope y'all have the patience to look at the whole thing. :)

So, here's the garden of paradise, which I weeded, mixed in compost and steer manure, and planted about 35 plants in one day.

Here's the finished product! 

We went camping with Mary and Bill, Erik's parents, at Glass Creek.  

Here's one Bill took of me fishing.

Elliot taking a little bath in the sink in their trailer.

We went to the "Laws" museum, which was really a little tiny old town that was set up so people could look through all the buildings.  They had a real steam engine that kids could climb in and ring the bell, and move all the levers and whatnot.  Of course Elliot was in heaven.

Bill on Gull lake.

So, they came and stocked the lake with trout while we were there.  We started catching lots of fish after that!  Felt a little bit like cheating, but it was really fun!

Elliot in the creek at the campground.  The water was ridiculously cold - melted snow, but he still liked playing in it!

Elliot catching a fish with Grandpa.

Here we all are at "Devil's Postpile", a really neat formation of hexagonal columns of rock.

Elliot on the "big, big bridge" on the hike back from Devil's Postpile.

We took our annual birthday trip to the sand spit with my dad and sister.  We had a great time, and a lovely picnic.  The weather was beautiful, and the tide was just right.

Dad and sister getting grounded.  :)

It's kind of hard to see, but this is my dad rowing back with Elliot on his kayak.  

Elliot fell asleep on the way back to the maria!

Elliot wanted to take a picture with Mommy and Elliot and Auntie, so we did!

Chewie is so funny when he sleeps on his back with his legs up in the air, 

and his jowls hanging down.  We couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Photo credit to my sister on this one.

Elliot fell asleep on the floor after we got home from a birthday party.  

His position is so funny, and I actually have one of him as a little baby in the same position! 

 I might have to frame them side by side.

About 20 tiny little baby snails were found crawling around in my kitchen sink after I washed the lettuce from my garden.  My sis was mesmerized by their intricate little tiny bodies.  They are beautiful and delicate when they're this small (in their own way).

Well, that about sums it up.  Now you can look forward to regular postings and more witty commentary!  I have so much more to share, but you will just have to wait.  :)

Coming Soon ...

I'm bursting with wonderful blogging material, but you will have to wait. When I got home from camping, my iphoto had decided not to work. Now all it does is tell me "loading" for ever and ever (I even tried waiting over night). So, the time has come to upgrade, and I should be installing iLife '08 in the next few days, at which time I will dazzle you with all the camping pictures, as well as the nearly-complete garden of paradise! Yay!