Pancakes!

We had a fun-filled Labor Day weekend this year.  It was a very nice change from last year when I was home alone with Max, almost 8 months pregnant and sick as a dog.  This year, I was at home with the kids Friday and Saturday while Matt went to Bumbershoot in Seattle with his parents and sister.  But Becca came over all day on Saturday to help me out with the kids while I got stuff done around the house.  It was great to hang out with her and she brought her pug CJ, which pleased Max to no end.  He loves little dogs (and Becca), so it was a great day for him. 

Even Evelyn fell for CJ's charm

CJ, Becca and Max

Matt and his parents got back in the wee hours Saturday night and we all spent Sunday at home, playing in the yard and generally enjoying the beautiful weekend weather.  Matt brought out some black tarp and made a "white trash" slip-and-slide.  Max couldn't get enough of it.  Evelyn mostly preferred the safety of the non-slippery grass, but did have plenty of fun in the water.

Perfect form!

Evelyn and Julia checking things out

We discovered over the weekend that our little Evelyn has expensive taste in food.  Julia put out some smoked salmon she brought back from Alaska for us to spread on crackers.  It was some pretty good stuff, so we were all eating it in small doses.  Evelyn, however, decided to go over and help herself and eat it by the handful.  She ate more than the rest of us in about 30 seconds.  We had to take it away from her before she ate all of it!  She definitely doesn't have her brother's finicky eating habits.

Mmmm...smoked salmon

While Max is very particular about what he eats,  there is one  thing he can't get enough of- pancakes.  So we went to his new favorite restaurant, Slappy Cakes, where you make your own pancakes right at the table.  As soon as we told him we were going there, he must have yelled "Pancakes!" about 30 times.  It's so easy to impress a 2-year-old. 

Kocubinski girls

"Pancakes!!!"

Yum!

Cool girl

Matt's family had to leave town that afternoon.  It was a very short trip for them, but we were happy they made it.  Especially since Sue and Julia just got back from an Alaskan cruise for their 60/30 birthdays.  They were exhausted since it was more of an adventure cruise (kayaking and jumping in ice-cold water, among other things) than a playing shuffle board on the lido deck kind of cruise.   So we were that much more appreciative that they came to see us. 

Sue and Julia in Alaska

After his family headed back to Montana, Matt, the kids and I rounded out the holiday weekend with a BBQ with our friend Skip, or "Dip" as Max calls him.  After all, Labor Day just isn't Labor Day until you've busted out the grill.  It was a great end to a great weekend.

More Summer Fun!

Things are still rockin' and rollin' around these parts.  Labor Day weekend is over already and I'm ready for fall to arrive.  Mother Nature, however, didn't get the memo that it is September and has provided Portland with a heat wave (upper 90's all week!) in order to extend our summer a little bit longer.  Matt is pretty excited since he only works two days this week and we haven't had any weather this warm all summer.

The kids continue to have fun every day.  They just adore being outside.  I think I hear Max say "outside!" about 50 times a day.  We've spend seemingly endless hours running in the grass, picking raspberries from our bushes, playing on the slide, blowing bubbles and playing in the sprinklers.  It's been fantastic.

We also got to check out a small amusement park along the river that I somehow never heard of in the entire 3+ years I've lived here.  Max wasn't a huge fan of most of the rides, but LOVED the roller coaster.  Overall, it was a fun day with our play group doing something new and fun.  How often do you get to ride on a carousel that is over 100 years old?

Max trying to decide if he wanted to go on the ride

We're working on sharing

"When do I get to go on the rides?"

Evelyn continues to grow like a weed.  She is standing up by herself without pulling herself up on anything, but not walking just yet.  I know it will happen any day now.  And with standing comes falling down, but our incredibly tough little tomboy rarely cries about getting hurt and just tries again.  She's also becoming a great eater.  Max is so incredibly picky so I was worried she would be too, but she eats just about anything I put in front of her including meat and veggies.  It's great.  Our headstrong lady also weaned herself cold turkey last week.  She literally woke up one morning and decided she was over nursing.  At first I thought maybe she wasn't feeling well or was teething.  But she was healthy and no teeth came in.  I called the pediatrician because I was a little worried, but they said she was expressing her displeasure that I had started the weaning process (I had replaced one nursing a day with a bottle of formula a few days before this happened).  The nurse I talked to said it sounded like Evelyn was a "very independent spirited little girl" and I could try to keep nursing her,  but she may have already made up her mind to quit, which turned out to be the case.  I kept thinking about how my mom used to threaten that I would have a daughter just like me someday.  I guess it just happened sooner than I thought.  You were right Mom! She's just as stubborn as me.  Maybe more...

 

My tough gal with her favorite truck and scraped up nose

Who doesn't love pizza?

Longing to to outside

Max continues to expand his vocabulary and loves being able to narrate his entire day.  His newest favorite thing to do is "help" mommy with chores around the house.  He wants to load/unload the dishwasher, feed the dogs, pick up dog messes outside, sweep, help with laundry, and just about anything else I do wants to help with.  It's very sweet even if he slows down the process.  What are the chances he'll continue to want to do that into his teen years?  Ha! Ha!  We've also begun to potty train him.  He's doing really well so far.  Several times a day he tell me he wants to "pee toilet".  I haven't actually had to do that much- he's doing so much on his own.  And finally, now that is is talking so much, we're working on manners.  Instead of just yelling what he wants, we are making him say please and thank you.  I'm happy to say he's picking up on it really quick.  What a guy.

Happy guy!

Catching up on his celebrity gossip while sitting on the toilet

Diapers and Puma shoes.  It's a good look.

As always, it's such a blast watching the kids grow, explore the world around them and develop their personalities.  I count my blessing every night.  Matt and I are some of the luckiest parents in the world.