Nature boy

I think it's pretty awesome that Oliver would rather go for a walk than play on a play structure.  This may change over time, but right now, I am going to embrace and love the fact that he wants to look at all the leaves, get muddy, and jump in puddles.

There is a nice park with lots of trails right by our new place.  The park is so big and some trails are so empty, you forget sometimes that you are still in a park and not in the forest. 

Autumn makes me so happy - I'm glad to see someone else enjoys it as much as I do!

Really recent stuff!

Okay, now that I got you caught up (mostly) with the fun stuff of summer, one HUGE thing we did was MOVE.  We moved out of our condo into a rented house in Mountlake Terrace.  Not to dive too deep into the WHY we did what we did, the fact is - we needed more room.  We needed a YARD.  We needed to be able to just walk through a back slider and relax.  We loved living in Ballard (for me, 10+ years, Tim, 15+ years), but the fact that you can't rent a house in Ballard for a reasonable price means we had to move closer to my work where rent is cheaper.  We will be selling our condo in a short sale.  We attempted all options to keep the condo and work with the bank to negotiate the terms but our credit is TOO GOOD - what a problem - so they refused to do so.  Working out the pros and cons of staying there until we can sell it on our own vs. moving and being happier with a ding on our credit for 7 years... well... sometimes even stellar credit has to get ruined for the happiness of the family.

Okay so that was much longer than I thought it was going to be.  :-)

So here's the new place:

The view from the family room:

We were very nervous what Oliver was going to think.  Luckily he loves his "NEW HOUSE!"  He still calls it his new house even after a month.  :-)

A few days after we moved in, Tim saw this train table with ALL accessories.  If any of you know, this would be HUNDREDS of dollars new or even on craigslist.  He got it for a steal so he had to buy it.

Here is some other silliness that has been happening:

Part of the move meant getting Oliver into a new daycare.  We were going to stay with the one he had been going to, but they were forced to close (also a long story, but I will spare you the details on this one.  :-) ).  I was soooo nervous about this new bit because he had been going to a daycare that was ran out of a lady's home.  She had a few employees so it wasn't the typical home daycare.  The new place is more corporate.  We've been calling it his new school and we really hyped it up that he was going to go to school.  He's been going for a few weeks and so far it's been good!  One of his notes from his teachers:

And one of the most recent things we did - Oliver and I went to a pumpkin patch called The Farm this past week.  He had TONS of fun.  This one has lots of animals - some to look at and some to pet.  We also picked a tiny pumpkin (only because I didn't want to haul a big one around by myself).  



Seaside, OR

One of the many things we did over the summer was go down to Seaside for a few days.  We stayed two nights; after two nights, I wanted to stay for more but we had to get back due to the craziness that was going on with our move.  Next year we will definitely be spending more than two nights there.

My brother, SIL, and niece also came down; we met up a few times but also did our own thing (in typical Seaside family trip fashion). 

Me and my arms are on here only because I love the look of pure joy on his face.  We were lucky enough that there was no one in the pool, so it was a great way to get to play with him without worrying about other kids splashing or being too loud.

We did get to the typical Seaside things - Carousel (as seen above), the aquarium, pool time, breakfast at Pig 'n' Pancake, and playing in sand.  You would think going in July would mean that it was sunny.  Wouldn't you know it, it RAINED and was cold and cloudy the whole time! 

Oliver and Chelsea loved the beach - particularly running around in circles!  Oliver's highlights also included destroying all the sand castles I was making.  He thinks he's Godzilla or something.



It is quite amazing how a trip to the ocean really recharges your batteries.  We all felt like new people after leaving.  Oliver had a wonderful time.  We cannot wait to get back next year - let's pray for SUN next time!

Fell off the blogging wagon...

Oliver turned 2 and the next thing you know, the blog stopped!  It was a hiatus due to a number of things, but as you know, sometimes life gets in the way - which is not always a bad thing. :-)

Oliver, Tim, and I have had a fantastic summer including a trip to Seaside, wading pools, parks, Golden Gardens, running, walking, and MOVING!  We will get to that last bit in a moment - but here's just a few videos from the past few months:

I will get back on it, I swear!  I had this going so I had something to look back on to see how our little guy has grown.  We had a crazy last few months so it should be back to normal soon!

2 year stats and other stuff

Sorry for the delay in updates.  Our work has been CRAZY BUSY which leaves no time for blogging updates.  :-(

So here are the stats on our guy for his 2 year check-up:

Height:  2 feet, 10 1/4 inches  (46 percentile)
Weight: 25 pounds  (15 percentile)
Head circumference: 19.69 inches  (83 percentile)

Our little guy continues to be full of big brains but still petite.  His pants are still in the 18 month range and tops are either 24 month or 2T.  No shots on this visit and next well-child checkup isn't for another year! 

A few weeks back while Tim was in Pennsylvania, I met up with my mom, brother, SIL, and niece for Touch-A-Truck down at Magnuson Park.  Here's my brother with my too cool for school niece and Oliver.

    

Oliver had a lot of fun - he is a boy's boy that loves trucks and buses and construction vehicles.  We went over to the playground afterwards where Oliver and Chelsea both had a wonderful time.

Some other stuff we've been busy doing.  Reading.  Trains.  Watching shows about trucks.

                   

 

Yesterday was Father's Day - we had a very relaxing day of Tim, Oliver, and me time.  We went to the Ballard Farmer's Market, Tim got a haircut, played with the trains at Ballard Coffee Works.  After a nap, we had more playtime and then over to my mom's for dinner.  Tim had a wonderful Father's Day, especially since it involved having a burger for dinner!  :-)  No pics from yesterday (besides the one a the trains above), but take my word that it was a lot of fun.

Happy 2nd birthday!

I'm not sure where the time went, but someone around here just turned TWO.  Two.  OMG.

In typical Hollingshead fashion, we spread out his birthday (if you count the time in Pennsylvania, this Birthday Extravaganza has lasted for 2+ weeks).  On his actual birthday, we celebrated with cupcakes and ice cream.  Here, Tim, Mom, and I can't carry a tune.

Is it just me, or are you super impressed how he just blew those candles right out?! 

We had a small get together on Sunday for his party - I am pretty sure everyone had a nice relaxing time.  Oliver loved seeing everyone and, of course, enjoyed getting to blow out more candles.  :-)

 

Whew, buddy!  You must be on a sugar overload!  Happy birthday to my favorite little guy!

Pennsylvania | Part two

While in PA, we went to visit Tim's other grandparents (his Dad's mom and dad).  They live a good way out so I was pretty thankful that we got to go in his sister's Suburban.  It was outfitted with a DVD player which kept Oliver and his cousins occupied when they weren't sleeping.  For the record, we probably watched Cars 6+ times just in the car alone during our whole PA trip.

 Having lunch at Donna's...

  

Oliver has been loving all the dandelions. He has become a master of blowing the seeds.

   

We then made another day trip to go visit Tim's dad. He lives in a super remote area apparently because I had no cell service there, and an hour before and after. :-\ His dad bought a bicycle (actually tricycle) that had a basket in the back. I was freaking out because Tim wanted to ride around with him in the basket. Oliver did fine - just sat and didn't try to jump out. Crisis averted.

   

Lastly, we went to go visit one of Tim's cousin's working dairy farm. Oliver went last year also. This year, he was very excited to sit on the tractors and check out the cows.

 

We had such a hard time pulling him away from the barn! Our little city guy loves the farm life! We had a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful trip. Tim's mom said it was probably her favorite week off as she got to spend it with her son and daughter and all her grandkids. We are so grateful for their love and cannot wait to go back.