This is Mike and Kim's Blog! We love to hike, read, spend time together as a family, and otherwise enjoy the great outdoors. We have 3 kids. Bradley, Noah, and Rinna.
It starts off innocently enough...Noah sitting on Aunt Megan's shoulders...
The sly grin found on Noah's face is your first clue...
Next thing you know, you are trapped and well on your way to being bald.
*Special thanks to Megan for being our demonstration model
Speaking of Megan, Noah loves her to death. Now, Megan is great, and what's not to love, but Noah is seriously obsessed with her. (for example, she came to my house this week, but had a cold so wasn't going to hold him. He just stared at her for like, a half an hour with these sad, 'please hold me' eyes. Every once in awhile, he would lunge at her. He would not be distracted. Finally, I either had to let her hold him, or fork out lots of money for counseling) Needless to say, he just is nuts about his Aunt Megan. I finally figured out why...
Here is a video of Bradley showing off some of the words he knows. Not only does he not do this very often, but it is rarely on demand, and NEVER in front of a camera. It's sort of long, but I'm posting it anyway.
This is a short lesson for all the parents or soon to be parents out there: be careful what you teach your children, because they will want to do it again...
and again...
and again...
and again...
and again...
...you get the idea.
I had this idea a little over a week ago, to build a road or track out of blocks, and if you're wondering, Bradley had asked to do it multiple times a day, everyday, since the first time I showed him. Sometimes I wish I could decide which things he pick up on and which things he forgets about instantly.
Well, we were in Utah for 2 weeks and then California for a week, because KIRK CAME HOME FROM AFRICA!!! It was so wonderful to see him and to finally have him meet our boys!!! It's crazy to think about all that has happened since he left. I have been wanting to post about our trip, but I am still missing a gazillion pictures that my mom took, so I have been putting it off. I still do not have those pictures, but I think it's now or never, so I'll post what I've got.
It was great to be with Grandmas and Grandpas. You got to see pics of us hanging out with Mike's fam at the dinosaur park. Here's a little of what we did with my fam.
Obviously, seeing Kirk was the highlight. Unfortunately, that is where I am the most lacking in pics. Mom, I need a CD. But here is one of Kirk and Noah.
Grandma and Noah slept. A lot. (Grandma slightly more than Noah)
In reality, I'm sure my mom slept less than normal, because she was kind enough to have Noah in her room more than half the time. A super big help, since I was a single parent for a week. (I don't know how people do it for any kind of long term!!)
Grandpa and I took Bradley to the zoo. We had a blast, and Bradley got sprayed by an elephant!! It was awesome. That elephant sucked water up its trunk, aimed right at him, and fired. Bradley loved it. It was hot as well, so it was a nice way to cool off. :) We let Bradley just run around. We followed him wherever he wanted to go and it was probably the funnest time I have ever had at a zoo. This is Bradley and Grandpa on the train.
Then we went to California. THAT was such a blast. I loved loved loved the beach!!! So did Bradley, but for different reasons. I love the waves; he loves the sand. Again, I'm missing pretty much all the pictures. Here are some of us on the pier, though.
A picture of me, just because I'm not in any other picture
We forgot Bradley's jacket so he got to wear daddy's.
I think we need a picture of Dad throwing Bradley everywhere we go. :)
Why wouldn't there be a bench with Mike's name on it?
And here is a random one at dinner time. Why this picture was taken, I'll never know.
When we were waiting at the airport in Carlsbad, we got some hot water from the little deli there so that we could mix it with cold and give Noah his bottle. While we were getting the bottle ready, Bradley stuck his thumb in the lid where the straw goes. His thumb got stuck there (for about 3 seconds until I was able to notice it and get it out) Needless to say, the water was scalding and the steam from the water burned him pretty good.
I felt so horrible. He cried and cried pretty much until the plane left. But God answered our prayers and he slept most of the way home. Poor little guy.
And that was our trip! And now, here is a video of Noah laughing, for no other reason than the fact that it is completely adorable.
Aunt Jenny, Dinosaur Master T-rex class, prepares our brave adventurer for his first trip into the dinosaur infested forest.
For his first encounter, he travels with Jeremy, a master of the tricerotops, who's experience with said beast goes back to his days as a child. His infamous brother was master of the stegosauras.
And to encourage our young adventure, Jeremy bestows a gift that few have ever seen... an unforced smile.
For his first lone encounter, our young adventurer tries on something his own size. The dinosaur was a little bigger than he, but he was the more fleet of foot.
After his first encounter, our adventurer decided to return to his mother and gain more training from her vast knowledge of the history of dinosaurs.
He also climbed the wall of rocks to gain wisdom from his grandfather, the wisest of all dinosaur trainers.
With this new gained wisdom, our adventurer gathered his hand selected force of dinosaur trainers and set off on his grand adventure.
As he went, he remembered the words of all the dinosaur trainers of the past.
The journey was long, but his training from the T-rex master served him well.
He soon mastered many dinosaurs.
He sought long and hard to understand dinosaur ways.
Guided by his mentors, he faced challenge after challenge.
He was now prepared to face the greatest challenge of them all and become the greatest of all dinosaur trainers. He sought out the famed T- rex, Rexasauras, and engaged his opponent. At a critical point it looked as if the T- rex had the upper hand...
but the T- rex forgot one very important thing.
There is no creature more dangerous than The Dinosaur Trainer.
