Mammoth Lakes

On Thursday night we returned from a relaxing 10-day vacation in Mammoth. We stayed in a perfect little rustic cabin near the shores of Twin Lakes and we had a wonderful time! We enjoyed several day hikes, a trip to the fish hatchery, shopping in town (including quite a few stops for $1.99 triple scoops from Rite-Aid), board games in the cabin, and fishing on the lake. The picture above is just one example of the beauty of God's creation that we were surrounded by daily. Thank you again Scanlon Family for letting us use your cabin. We were truly blessed by our time up there.

As always, it was great to spend time with Jacob and Stacy and we were so glad they were able to join us on this trip!

Mommy with her little Monkey

Not only is he excited to "a go a hiking Daddy" but he's also so proud of his new orange hat!

A little pow-wow with sticks, rocks, and pine needles.

We packed a lunch for Jonathan but as you can see he was more interested in eating rocks.

Aden had a blast feeding the fish at the fish hatchery.

Doesn't that backdrop look like a painting? It was real, I promise!

"A go a fishing in a boat Daddy?"

One afternoon Jonathan swiped this plum off the counter and played with it like it was a ball (batting it around, picking it up and throwing it, etc.) for quite some time. After about 30 minutes I noticed that it had gotten really quiet in the cabin and that's when I found Jonathan in the corner eating it! He had finally figured out its intended purpose! Anyway, it was totally mushy from all the playing but he loved it! I moved him to his highchair (to minimize the mess) where he proceeded to eat the entire thing. I even had to fish the pit out of his mouth.

The family who owns the cabin is in the process of painting it, so Daniel and Jacob decided to help out by doing some of the work. They did a great job and they enjoyed themselves too!

Aden thoroughly enjoyed life in the mountains and woke up everyday excited about the adventures that awaited him.

Here is the little mischief maker who made his way INTO our cabin while Daddy and the boys napped on the sofa completely unaware of his presence! I was outside reading and didn't notice him until he was on his way out!! YIKES!

Drawing with Mommy

Until yesterday crayons were not really a part of Aden's daily life. You see, he always ate them and therefore they were pretty much banned from his "acceptable playthings" list. For whatever reason, yesterday we had a huge breakthrough in the crayon department. Aden and I sat and colored for the better part of an hour. He was being so cute while we colored side-by-side so I decided to record some of our conversation with my digital voice recorder. Since the recording is sound only I posted pictures of our artwork. FYI: The recording was edited to only include a few exchanges of conversation so if it seems a bit jumpy, that's why.

I know, I'm no artist but Aden sure was impressed =)

Can you find Aden's house? lake? bird? car? What can you say, he's only 2!

Just Like the Beach

A couple of days ago we accidentally left the lid off the sandbox overnight and it got flooded with sprinkler water. I was so bummed when I went out the next morning to find puddles in the sandbox but as you can tell, the boys LOVED it! These past few days they have had their very own beach (complete with wet sand) to play at. Although they have had a blast I wouldn't go and purposely leave the lid off or anything as this type of post-sandbox clean up is a bit more extensive than the normal "brushing off of the dry sand" routine that we normally do.

Trouble Sometimes Comes in Small Packages

It's NEVER a good thing when the boys are out of sight and I hear, "Mommy, Jon-tin doing?" or "No No Jon-tin!" The first time I heard this I was washing dishes and I thought Jonathan was happily playing in the boys' room with Aden. Well, he was actually splashing around in the hall bathroom toilet dropping one bath toy after another on top of the wad of toilet paper that he had unrolled and stuffed into the toilet. Well, today I was in the bathroom and I heard those two phrases again. I came out to find Jonathan sitting on the pantry floor playing with the pile of Lawry's Seasoned Salt that he had made by shaking the entire contents of the container onto the floor. He must have thought it was delicious because he had it all over his hands and face and proceeded to suck any and all remaining salt off the container and lid once he was removed from the pile. So, indeed trouble sometimes does come in small packages. Whether that be a wiry 11-month old or a 4oz. container of seasoned salt, you decide. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

For Comparison's Sake

Here is that picture of Jonathan from my last post side by side with a baby picture of Jacob (Daniel's brother.) We're not talking spitting image or anything but you can definitely see similarities. If I can find the one of Daniel that I'm thinking of I'll post that one too.

Sweet Seriousness

On Saturday we had a "Pancake" breakfast at our house with friends from Bible Study and Summer managed to sneak in some photos of the boys. My two favorites actually capture them with looks of seriousness on their face. Of course, it is a sweet seriousness =) Daniel and I decided that this picture of Jonathan really resembles some of the baby pictures we have of Daniel and of his brother Jacob. If I can find the pictures I'm thinking of I'll try to post them for comparison sake.

By the way, I say "Pancake" in quotations because we actually enjoyed yummy Belgian waffles, a tasty egg casserole, and some fresh summer fruit (strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe) while the pancakes (although good as well) were more of a filler...something to munch on while waiting for the waffles to come off the iron one at a time.

Jacob and Stacy joined us for the breakfast as well and then spent the afternoon hanging out with us and the boys. We played out back for quite a while (the kiddie pool, sprinklers, etc.) and then while the boys napped we enjoyed a game of "Bohnanza". Daniel won (surprise surprise, I'd say he wins 90% of the games we play!) but at least I managed to give him a run for his money. =) Anyway, later that night when I was putting Aden to bed I asked him what his favorite part of the day was. He got a big smile on his face and his eyes lit up and he said, "Play a sprinklers with Uncle Jakey!" It was so cute! He just loves Jake and Stacy! What a blessing it is to have them so close to us.

Spaghetti Anyone?

Although this picture doesn't come close to capturing the mess that he made of himself last night at the dinner table you can click on the picture for an enlarged, more detailed image. He is such an exuberant eater!