Birthday Lunch

We took a break from all the activities at the Children's Museum to have some lunch at Red Robin. It's a great place to go with kids since it seems like one big ongoing party. We, of course, told our server that it was Jonas' birthday so they would bring balloons and a nice big sundae with a cherry on top and sing their crazy Red Robin birthday song. The top photo is Jonas' reaction to their singing...he was really amazed at the whole thing. Next photo is him delicately removing the cherry to give to Kelly...he's not a fan of cherries. Then you can see Kelly waiting patiently for Jonas to enjoy the first bite before (next photo) she dives in with him. I had to put the camera down and grab a spoon too, before they scarfed it all down.

Children's Museum, Vet Clinic

Kelly and I thought the Vet Clinic was very cool with tons of different (stuffed) animals to choose from that you could "doctor" on. They had scrubs to dress up in and stethoscopes and x-ray machines to use. It took several tries to get Jonas to even go in the vet clinic and once he did he bandaged a monkey, stuffed it in a pet carrier and he was outta there. It was maybe just a little too realistic and reminded him of his trips to the doctor.

Children's Museum, Artist's Corner

They had a great set-up in the Artist's Corner. Jonas was really only interested in the painting but they also had a bunch of recyclable (egg cartons, foam packing peanut, assorted paper, etc.) that you could make art out of. There were photos of very creative stuff that kids had made.

Children's Museum, Mexico

Mexico was so awesome. This was one of my favorite places because Kelly dressed Jonas up in the authentic clothes and he just went along with it. Jonas immediately made a friend to fish with in the cool boat with the huge net. There were photos showing this region of Mexico that was being depicted and the huge net was almost exactly like the one in the photo. After catching a mess of fish, Jonas was off to the open air market to get some produce to go with his fish. Then back to the casa to fix some fish tacos. Mmm, plastic.

Children's Museum, Outdoors

The Great Outdoors was perfect for burning some excess energy. With a rockclimbing wall, kayak, river rocks, hoola-hoops and more, there were endless possibilities for play. I was especially impressed by the incredible mural painted on the wall...it's of Smith Rocks and the Deschutes River...I wish I had gotten a better photo of it.

Children's Museum, Pizza Parlor

The Pizza Parlor was extremely realistic with pizza crust, sauce and all the fixin's just ready for assembly. Then into the oven...count to ten...pizza's done and ready to eat. The coolest part of the Pizza Parlor was that kids could call from other places (like the Grocery Store or Vet Clinic) and order a pizza to be delivered. Older kids (8 to 12 yr. olds) especially enjoyed this aspect of it. They were cranking out the pizzas by the dozens.

Children's Museum, Grocery Store

The Grocery Store was so much fun. There were real metal shopping carts outside the store that each little shopper could push in and around the store and load up with all their groceries. From produce, to baked goods and even baby formula and contact lens solution, everything goes in the cart and then wheel it up to one of two check stands. The cash registers were real and everything was priced as each cashier saw fit. Then the customer gets to turn into an employee and re-stock the shelves with all the things from their carts. We visited the grocery store several times.

Children's Museum, Construction Zone

Photos: July 26, 2007 Jonas' 3rd birthday

Our friend Kelly Fudge invited Jonas and I to go to Working Wonders Children's Museum with her on Jonas' birthday. (Tony was in Israel so he didn't get to go.) We had such a great time and Jonas had so much fun with Auntie Kelly...she plays all the games! A big thank you, K. Fudge, for a great day at the "Useum" (Jonas-ism). I highly recommend this kid's museum to anyone with kids of any age. It's in the Old Mill District in Bend. You can check out their website, www.workingwonders.org and see what it's all about.


In the construction area, Jonas did his usual sort-by-color with the big foam blocks.

This was the summer of...

Photos: June-July 2007

This is my first two-page digital layout. I got Photoshop Elements for my birthday and this is my first real project using it. I've done a few other one-page, one-photo layouts but those were more just playing around with it. Now it's time to get serious. At my current rate, I'm sure I'll get at least one more layout done before the end of the year!

I like the idea of digital because I just jump into it with the current photos on my computer. With traditional scrapbooking, I feel the need to stay chronological so I am somewhat behind...ok, honestly, I am almost exactly a year behind...constantly. But it's fun to do when I have time so....off I go.

Fireworks

Photos: July 4, 2007

We staked out a good spot to watch the fireworks in Redmond. These two photos accurately show what Jonas was doing while "watching" the fireworks: walking around clutching his glow-in-the-dark rings and eating animal crackers. If I could add sound to the images it would be something like this: "Hey. Dad. Do you hear that? It's sounds like FIREWORKS!!! Can I have more crackers?" (repeat 100 times.)

Fourth of July

Photos: July 4, 2007

We spent 4th of July with friends just hanging out and sweltering in the 99-plus degree heat. Jonas had a lot of fun playing in their backyard, especially on their cool play-structure. He found a little toy hammer and went from one part of the play- structure to another using his hammer and repeating "Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap" non-stop.

Swim Lessons

Photos: June 28, 2007
Jonas' second session of swim lessons were only slightly better than the first. He has a love/hate attitude about swimming...he loves the songs they sing "Wheels on the Bus" and "Hokey-Pokey" are two favorites, and he hates everything else, especially that the water is so cold. The last two lessons Tony got in the pool with him, (it's always been me up until then) and Jonas actually responded somewhat better to his dad. I love the photo just above this text..it looks like Tony has just swirled Jonas' head through the water which is not exactly what happened. I think the water is just spraying up from Jonas flinging his arm through the water but it looks really dramatic. We start another session of swim lessons next monday, the 16th for two more weeks...what was I thinking?!?

Planting our Flowers

Photos: June 27, 2007

This started off as me wanting to plant some flowers and thinking Jonas would have fun helping me. I thought he would like to help dig the hole and then maybe shovel some dirt around the plant...nope...Jonas likes to organize and line things up and sort-by-color. He spent about 45 minutes rearranging all these flowers in their containers. He was having so much fun that I waited to plant them all until he was taking his nap, which he didn't want to take because "I neeeed to play with my flowers, Mom!". When he woke up from his nap I was sure he'd have forgotten all about the plants but upon waking he asks "Should I play with my plants?" He was just crushed that all the plants were in the ground and he was not allowed to pull them up to play with. What a funny boy.

Backyard Adventures

Photos: July & August 2006

The photos on this layout are from last summer...it's kinda funny that Jonas is still wearing this same t-shirt and shorts this summer. He has grown this year, I think these clothes were just on the big side last year and now they are fitting just right...although when he starts showing his belly button I think it will be time to retire this outfit.