Bjorklund Log

Friday, August 24, 2012

Blueberry Picking!

Last weekend we packed into the car and headed over to Bellevue to pick blueberries at Mercer Slough. We had a blast and came home with about 9 pounds of berries...in our buckets. Good thing they don't weigh people before and after! We easily could have gotten more if we'd had an earlier start to the day and weren't running into lunch and nap time. Lars was very methodical in his picking and eating, staying at one bush until the berries he could reach were gone, Odin flitted around from bush to bush picking and eating as he went. We had a great time!

Odin picking...

...then tasting!

Lars picking...

...then showing the results.

Goofy walk

We needed to get in the car so we put the boys in the carriers...but we just couldn't drag ourselves away. We all enjoyed picking them!

Odin snatching a few more while on Papa's back.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Summer Vacation: Sailing with two year olds

Well, there wasn't any sailing. We found that it was easiest to move while the boys were napping and they nap SO well when the engine is on, besides that, we were in South Puget Sound in the middle of the summer...and there just isn't much wind. Travelling with the boys on the boat was sure different than last year's trip to Alaska. Last summer the boys weren't walking yet and didn't need as much exercise so we could spend long days underway, this summer we spent a lot of time ashore playing on the beach. South Sound is a great place to visit, because even though it is close to Seattle, it is quite empty since most people head north to the San Juan Islands. South Sound also has a lot of marine state parks and we took full advantage of them. The weather was fantastic, Lars and Odin adjusted well to being on the boat again, and we had a great trip all in all.

This time, instead of a long written description, we will let the images show that the whole family had a good time and returned well rested and happy to Seattle.

Day one: Lunch underway

Fountain Park in Bremerton, so much fun!

Fountain plus wading, perfect for a hot day!

One of the fountains going off

Father and son looking at boats in Gig Harbor

Happy 12th Anniversary to us!

Mama and her boys underway

Throwing rocks at Penrose Point State Park

Is the bucket empty?

King of the rock!

Climbing into the dinghy to find a seat for lunch!

3 cool dudes in their sunglasses!

This is the only time we got Lars to wear his sunglasses

Odin was a little more interested in his sunglasses

"See?" This was the favorite place to be when below decks

Happy Papa, Happy Lars

Sunglasses belong on top of your head, don't you know that? (Cutts Island in the back ground)

"Hello?" Anyone down there? (Jarrell Cove State Park)

McMicken Island State Park, we were planning on going for a walk in the woods but were scared off by the poison oak infestation

Reading kid books

Reading Mama's books

Reading is fun!

Yes it is!

Hot day in Olympia, perfect for playing in the fountain

Well...the fountain is a little scary, so playing in the perimeter will have to do

The only sand beach we played at on the whole trip, Eagle Island State Park

Yep, we're relaxed!

Mama, you're driving!

"Peek!"

Friday, June 29, 2012

Communication

We had a milestone day in communication this week.

At breakfast I asked the boys what they wanted to do today...not really expecting any response. Odin pointed to the gorilla on my shirt and said "ahaha" (while pounding his chest), then pointed at the door and said "oo." I asked him if he wanted to go the the zoo to see the gorillas and he said "yes!" You better believe we went to the zoo and saw gorillas!

After nap I again asked what they wanted to do and Lars said "wa?," I asked if he wanted to see water and he said "yes!" Of course we went to Golden Gardens and played in the sand and threw rocks in the water!

I think my days of having complete control over the agenda for the day are over!

This is the best shot I got at the zoo...checking out the African Savannah exhibit

It's a good thing Lars had that hat on. When he was trying to see how the funnel worked it nicely protected his eyes from a deluge of sand at Golden Gardens.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

2 x 2

We have two two year olds! How did that happen?!?

Lars and Odin are absolute treasures to be with. Language is exploding and all we seem to hear these days is "wha dat?" from Lars and "ahs tha" from Odin, both of them are trying to soak up vocabulary as quickly as we can give it to them. They then turn around and have long conversations with us with all of those words they've been soaking up...too bad we don't really understand. Yet.

They love running, climbing, digging in the dirt, playing at the playground, trips to the aquarium and zoo and in general being outside and getting out of the house. I've been spending a lot of time and effort reclaiming my vegetable garden and berry patch from 2 years (gee, how come?) of complete neglect and as part of that we made sure to dig a dirt pile for the boys to play in. They LOVE digging in the dirt, filling trucks, buckets, play wheel barrows with dirt and "weeding." The weather has recently been very nice, so we've taken full advantage of it.

A recent outing to the Locks

Running at the Locks!

Looking at the touch tank at the aquarium

More splashing than animal touching happens in the touch tanks!

Lars contemplating the moon jellies

Mama's garden helpers. Getting tomato starts to the car after a local plant sale.

Lars and a baby gorilla (bronze) at the zoo.

Hanging out at the zoo.

Odin insisted on carrying his sweatshirt, even when I offered to carry it for him...do you think this self sufficiency will last?

For their birthday celebrations, they lucked out with 3 different occasions to blow out candles on sweet treats. They had so much fun! On their actual birthday (Friday) we had a small dinner at home with mini ice cream sandwiches and birthday candles for dessert. On Saturday we invited lots of friends over for a birthday party in the dirt pile, what a blast to have 16 little ones, mostly around 2 years old running around digging in the dirt! Sunday we had a Mother's day/ birthday extravaganza brunch with family. It was a full weekend, but we did it right! We celebrated two amazing years with two amazing little boys. We are so lucky.