Letters to Grandma: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Dominic

I never tire of the things little kids say. It really makes some of the more difficult moments in child rearing okay, knowing that it all comes together at some point and time to make one beautiful life.

Of course, next week as we begin school for the year, I will probably feel totally different, but today, it's all good!

As Dom and I were driving up the Pass (and driving with a child always leads to some very interesting conversations) he casually states, "Mom I would wub to wun on water."

Where he got this idea I have yet to determine, and the fact that he doesn't want to simply walk on water, but RUN totally fits him!

Later that afternoon, I laid down with him for a nap. I was busy trying to breathe deeply, but could hear him rustling beside me. I peeked to see what he was doing, to see him pick-pick-picking his nose.

"Dominic, stop doing that in my bed!"

"It's okay, Mom. I'm wiping it on my bwanket!"

Oh good, I feel all better now.

And tonight he was standing beside me on the lawn waiting for Daddy to come out and shoot his bow. I watched as he pulled a handful of chocolate chips from his pocket.

"Dom, why do you have chocolate chips?"

"Oh, Daddy paid me to be his caddy."

"Caddy for what?"

"Caddy for pulling his arrows out of the target."

Presently, he is sitting at the counter eating his very own recipe ~ a tortilla sandwich. He was hungry and frankly, I am done preparing food today. I told him if he was that hungry he could either have a bowl of cereal or make something for himself. He went right to work...first the plate, then some grapes in one corner, two slices of bread, mayo, a tortilla, some cheese curds and a final slice of bread to top it all off.

Gag.

But he's happy, so I'm happy...good night!

Vacation Life

Typically I am not too fond of laundry, but after our trip to the coast every pocketful of fine sand, every sock with bits of shell stuck to it, reminds me of what a wonderful vacation we just had. The backpack full of rotten-fishy smelling clothes didn't inspire wonderful memories...it kinda made me crabby! After we had been crabbing I told the kiddos to put their clothes in the laundry pile. Eric, in his typical fashion lately, must have missed the memo and shoved his stinky clothes deep into his pack to flavor the ~~laundry room~~ house upon our return to Montana. Mmmmm, it smelled so good, or horrendous as the case may be. We may need to throw that backpack away....which makes me wonder, "Why haven't I seen that pack come through the laundry yet?"

It is probably sitting in his room, which would explain the strange odor in that area the last couple days. Oh dear, I need to be more on top of these things.

Our vacation was wonderful. It wasn't quite the same without Daddy, but I still let the kiddos have ice cream cones for breakfast at the Tillamook Cheese Factory!

Watching our favorite cheese be packaged ~

We haven't been crabbing before; this time we tried it out with Grandpa, Uncle Joey, Stacy, Michaela, Eric, Katherine, and Joshie. I must say, it was fun! While Uncle Joey's luck was less than spectacular, together we brought home enough crab for dinner.

Another day, Grandma took us into Seaside to ride the surreys. Of course we got the largest one and tootled around town for an hour, only taking one ice cream break. Yes, ice cream is a theme in our family ~ if you skip breakfast, eat ice ice cream ~ if you are feeling fatigued from too much vacation, eat ice cream ~ if it is hot, eat ice cream ~ if it is cold, eat ice cream ~ If there is ice cream available, eat ice cream ~ Grandpa D. would be so proud!

Besides that we spent a ton of time plopped on the beach burying our toes in the sand. We were blessed with warm weather which is not often the case on the Oregon coast. Michaela, Kath, Eric & Joshie could not get enough of riding the waves, boogie boarding, body surfing, skim boarding, swimming over the swells. Even Nickles got into the water. He is a bit of an adrenaline junkie for such a small squirt. I'd hold him while we'd crash through a wave, but before the water was even wiped from his eyes he was scanning the surface for another "good one" to which I could not get to quick enough for him!