Total Boy & Losing Teeth

Audrey talked Sam into rolling around in what she calls his bro-hawk. He will literally do anything to gain her favor!
Though, I must admit . . . he does look a little menacing at the park when he commands heavy machinery sporting his bro-hawk.
The tire swing was always my nemesis as a child. Just watching them swing around made me nauseous.
Here Audrey is with her first lost tooth! So exciting. Tears were certainly shed, but in the end . . .
. . . a little ice cream numbed the pain. I'm not sure how I survived without Costco as a kid. Our kids absolutely love it. I suppose the pint full of frozen yogurt helps. Though Sam tends to complain that it's too cold (notice his hand placement). Definitely not bro-hawk toughness there Sam.
To prove that he is still "boy-tough" he's never seen a mud-puddle that he isn't willing to play in. Please ignore the "sewer" sign to the right of the picture. I'm sure it was a misplaced stake in the ground.
Nor has he seen an object he isn't willing to throw. Thankfully he can take out his aggression on the rocks at a near by creek.
And yes, every mud puddle must be tested for depth. When we go to the store we literally have to scout out where the puddles are as he cannot physically walk by one without stepping in it. Sooooo boy.
During Snowmageddon 2012 the neighborhood kids (1) built a snow fort and (2) armed it with a bazillion snow balls for the "kids vs. parents" snow ball fight. They were certainly more prepared than we were!
In an effort to warm up after the battle, Audrey set up a little "fort movie". Thin hair + cold dry weather = static electricity. She's like a little science experiment. But kisses with a little shock are soo worth it.

Christmas - Bavarian Style

I'm not sure what Santa told them, but those are the faces of kids that think they're getting more than coal in their stocking.

We're definitely at the age where Audrey can be very helpful. In other words, she's past the stage where she thinks she's being "helpful", but really you have to redo whatever task you've delegated to her and it takes you twice as long. Lisa would argue I'm still in the "helpful" stage.

Sam doesn't even qualify for the "helpful" stage. He's still in the "don't touch anything" stage. Here he's claiming he will cast a spell and the tree will be done. ABRA-CADABRA!!!!

WHOA SAM!!!!

We tagged along with good friends on their holiday tradition and went to Leavenworth for a couple of nights. My previous experience in Leavenworth was a LOT of drive by's and one Oktoberfest. Safe to say, this place is on its game in December. The town hadn't seen snow since Thanksgiving, so the small sledding hill in town was actually just a series of ice-chutes. Bring it on said Sam! Faster, faster!!!

Ice down the back of my pants?! Who cares, let's do it again!

Little miss cautious on the other hand decided that the "snow" was unfit for sledding. "Dad, snow is actually soft. This is not soft, so this is not snow".

A day later, and maybe a bribe or two later . . . she jumped on. It's safe to say when these kids are teenagers and we get a call from the school or heaven forbid the "authorities", we'll be 99% sure who the call is about.

The classic "Hey this is fun . . . why was I so scared" smile.

Okay, maybe a sleigh ride was one of the bribes to get Audrey on the sled. : )

Oh Leavenworth . . . where else are you going to get random table side visits from Father Christmas?!

Dylan and Dalanie, great neighborhood friends of the kids. The danger with friend vacations is a simple family vacation is going to seem downright boring.

Sam and Dalanie led the restaurant in a rousing rendition of the Chicken Dance. Sure, it's fun at a randmon wedding. But a live accordian in a Bavarian restaurant is tough to beat.

In the classic "arranged marriage" joke, here go Sam and Dalanie with their wedding coordinator to talk rates at the Enzian Inn for a December 2037 wedding. I mean, they already know how to bring down the house with the Chicken Dance!

Fall has fallen!

I don't have much to say other than this is easily one of my favorite pictures of all time. Classic fall picture that reminds us of what a beautiful area we live in.

OK . . . in what can only be described as a textbook sibling rivalry example, listen to the exchange:

Audrey: I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm winning!!!!!

Sam: No you're not, no you're not, no you're not!

Over . . . and over . . . and over again.

Lisa's (and now our) family tradition is to head to Stanwood on the weekend after Thanksgiving to cut down the Christmas tree.

Dad: Hey Sam, Dad's been cutting down the tree for 10 years now. How 'bout you get down here and take a pull.

Sam: Dad, I'm not allowed to play with saws. Plus, I helped with the lights, remember.

Dad: Sam, I'm not sure what you did with the lights can be classified as helping.

Sam: True dat Dad. Fair enough, want some of my hot cocoa?

Dad: Hey Audrey, how about a little help from you?

Audrey: Dad, you know I'm really only here for the picture!

If you've received our Christmas card you know the while Audrey lobbied for this to be the central picture, she did not get her wish.

Dad: Lisa?

Lisa: I'm on it. Don't lose the kids.

Dad: Don't look now, but they may be getting along! No seriously Lisa, don't look . . . keep cutting.

Oooohhhh Mexico!

Okay, quick window into one of the ongoing Lisa and Tony marital "discussions".
Lisa: I hate those stupid cars! You bump into every grocery display!
Tony: Those cars are awesome. I want to ride in one!

So here we are, Audrey taking dad's side and wanting to ride with Sam. Ignoring the fact that she's 6 and he's 3 and they are both . . . well . . . huge for their age. As you can see, it turned out poorly. Score one for Lisa.

We recently got a brand new fire station near our house. Nothing christens a new fire station like a neighborhood pancake feed.

It's always funny to see the shock on the kid's faces when they run in to neighbors at a "neighborhood event". I love how small the world is to them.

Little punks.

Oh how kind the last year has been to Audrey and Sam's relationship. He's truly grown into a playmate vs. simply an "attention stealer" . . .

. . . or he does whatever the heck she tells him to do! "Whatever dad, we all have our price!".

October brought the much awaited trip to Mexico (Sam's first trip on a plane). The sad thing is, he really thought he was going to get to fly the plane!

Instead, we piled into bulkhead row 6. That's a very minor barrier to first class! Whatever they paid for those seats, I'm sure it wasn't worth the mayhem directly behind them.

Whoever had seat 6F after us had a surprise waiting for them. I hope they like Cars!

Finally, the beach!!!! Hey kids, check out the nice calm waves . . .

SAM, GRAB MY HAND!!! AUDREY, HOLD YOUR BREATH AND SWIM!!! SWIM AUDREY, SWIM!!!

Much to my delight, and Lisa's chagrin, the kids absolutely loved the ocean. Though a life jacket for Audrey would have made everyone feel a little better.

Ahhhh, much safer territory.

We cut the vacation one day short to make sure we got home the day before Halloween. However, getting to a pumpkin patch was out of the question. So, for the 3rd year in a row we rolled down to the Yakima Fruit Stand to "hunt" for pumpkins. At this point, the kids have no idea this isn't really a pumpkin patch.

"Audrey, would you rather have one more day in Mexico?". "Ummm, dad, are you kidding me?!". "Would you trade that KitKat for one more day?". "Dad, are you going to take my candy when I go to bed?".

If you are one of those people who put out an "honor bowl" and then go trick-or-treating with your kids, well then Sam is your nemesis. I can't count how many pieces of candy I had to return to the bowl because he simply doesn't have the will power to take just one.

"Dad, I need to put some meat on these bones! Give me a break!". "Oh, but have you seen my new toe nail polish?".