Friday

Friday we hung around Lynden. We ran some errands in the morning and on the way home we passed the farm where Jack's Great Grandfather grew up. This is the Great Grandfather Jack is named after and the farm was sold recently and may be torn down. Mom thought it would be great to get a few pics of Jack by the old barn and farmhouse to send to Great Grandpa.

After errands and lunch, Jack begged to go to the pool so Oma took him for a swim. Jack had a great time and didn't want to leave. Oma asked Chris and I how long we thought Jack would swim if let him decide when it was time to leave. We told her she would be there all day and even then he wouldn't want to leave!! After swimming Jack showered. Mom turned the water off after a few minutes and Jack looked at her and said, "Oma, I am not done showering, you forgot to soap me up!!" Once soaped up and out of the shower, Jack decided to play a little soccer in the locker room showers! Friday night we hired a babysitter and Mom, Dad, Chris and I went to a great restaurant called Chuckanut Manor. It was a lovely little restaurant over looking the San Juan Islands. It was a perfect night and the seafood and wine were amazing! I am really good at taking pictures of the boys, but not so good when it is just Chris and me...next time.

Thursday

Thursday we drove to Bellingham which is about 30 min from where my parents live. Our first stop was the Marine Life Center. Here Jack could see all the animals that live in nearby tidal pools. Jack held a purple starfish, an orange starfish, a pink starfish, and a hermit crab. He also touched a few sea anemones. There was also an octupus named TONK in a tank that Jack loved seeing!! Below, standing under a plastic dome, he can see a tidal pool from the inside out.

Here are Jack and Chris standing by the Bellingham Harbor.

Thursday cont...

After we visited the aquarium we went to the Children's Museum in Bellingham. Jack thought this was the greatest. There was a boat that Jack loved playing on. He rounded up all the animals, fish and whales and put them in the "water" around the boat and then fished over the side of the boat with the fishing nets. He caught this octupus and and the killer whales. He also enjoyed making a meal below deck with Oma.

One thing cute that Jack did while fishing was to take care of any baby animals he caught. At one point he caught a mommy, daddy and a baby killer whale. He hauled them on deck and then threw the mommy and the daddy below deck but carried the baby killer whale down the stairs and layed him carefully next to his mom and dad. He said he did this because you have to be very careful with all babies!!

Jack also found a bunch of boxes with different games and toys inside but he stopped looking through the boxes when he found the marbles!!! Jack and Oma had so much fun building and rebuilding the track for the marbles. Later we took Jack to the Dollar Store to send one dollar and Oma secretly bought some marbles. She found some wrapping paper and paper towel cardboard tubes and Jack and Oma built their own marble track at home.

Wednesday

Today was a slow day. In the morning Jack, Oma and Chris went to the Lynden Tribune and watched the paper being printed. I'll finish updating this day later...

Tuesday

Tuesday we went back to the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Canada and it was great weather!!! The cheetah was one of Jack's favorite animals at the zoo and he was a very comical cheetah. There was a long path on the side of the cheetah's cage and when Jack would run down the path the cheetah would chase him. Jack thought this was great and continued to run up and down the path while the cheetah played chase with him.

At 1pm the zoo had a lion and tiger feeding. We made sure we were there for that. They place the meat high on the fence and the lions jump up to get it. I think that was Jack's favorite part!

Alot of the animals at the zoo had baby's this year. The giraffes were proud parents of a 10-month old and Jack just adored it! The baby would not get close enough for a picture but it's Mom and Dad did. There was an overlook and when you got to the top it was like looking right into the giraffe's eyes! Did you know that giraffe's only sleep 30 min a day!!!

Here is a picture of one of the two baby wallabees. It was enjoying a ride in it's mother pouch. I think this was my favorite animal at the zoo. The baby's were so little and cute!!

Tuesday Cont...

We also took a train ride around the zoo. This way we could see all the animals again and get a rest from walking!!

The zoo also had a park and Jack couldn't leave without playing there. He climbed the monkey bars and went swinging. After that he found this interesting ladder but when he got to the top couldn't figure out how to get onto the platform so Oma had to climb up and rescue Jack. Jack and Oma then slid down the slide together. Jack thought that was pretty cool. The zoo was a huge hit with Jack and he never got into the stroller the whole 3 hrs we were there. We thought for sure he would crash when we got into the car but he didn't. When Papa got home from work Jack even played kickball for a while. 3 yr old's just go and go and go...Jack was in bed by 7:30pm and slept in until 9am. Love it when they sleep in!!! Here is the tricky ladder where Oma performed her heroic rescue: (She wondered who was going to rescue her once she got up there.)

Monday

Monday we stayed in Lynden and went to a few shops downtown. We went to this little shopping center where they have a stream running through the middle of it. Jacked loved seeing the fish and wondered if we could fish for them. We also purchased some post cards that we then sent to Jack's class in Grand Rapids. He had so much fun picking them out! (However, Jack wanted to keep them so was sorry to see them go out in the mail.) I think we ended up with post cards for Grandma T, Grandpa T, Great Grandma T, Great Grandpa T, Bec and Jay, and Lib and Justin.

When shopping with Oma it usually means there are treats involved. First we went to a little candy shop and shared a carmel apple, which was delicious, then we went to the shop to pick out the post cards and they had ice cream but they weren't serving it yet. Jack then found this ice cream cone made of fudge and Oma thought he ought to have it. He pretty much liked the chocolate part on the outside and then Oma helped him finish off the raspberry fudge on the inside. We are learning Cooperation & Sharing!

Ever since we went to the zoo on Sunday, but then got rained out and had to return home, Jack has been wondering when we will go back to the zoo. Oma decided Jack should build a zoo of his own. Jack & Oma found all the animal toys and build little cages for them. He has rebuilt the zoo two or three times and in the newest version there is even an aquarium with an octupus in it. He even has a bunny that tends to escape once and awhile and then we all have to search around the house to find the bunny!! What a great imagination he has!!

God is Great and God is Good...

Jacked learned his prayers awhile ago and everynight he asks to pray. Even if someone else wants to pray he has to pray first and then they can.

I pledge allegiance...

So I think I figured out how to load video's onto the blog. This is a video of Jack after he learned the Pledge of Allegiance. Oma was here and whenever Jack spotted a US flag she would recite the pledge. He listened a few days and soon could say it all by himself . I thought it was pretty cute!! Enjoy! And instead of saying "and justice for all" he says "and Justin for all", after his Uncle Justin.

Sunday

Sunday we went to church and Jack loved going to Children in Worship. Mom dropped him off, he took off his shoes, hung up his jacket, and sat on a carpet square and never looked backed! After church we had supper and watched the Ryder Cup. After the Ryder Cup Dad and Chris went to play golf and we layed Jack down for a nap. Mom and Dad live across the street from the 13th hole so when Dad and Chris made the turn on the 13th they came over and picked Jack up. This was Jack's first golf outing with his Dad and I don't know if Chris will be able to golf without him again. When Wade woke up from his nap Mom and I went for a walk to find the golfers. We found them at the 18th hole. If was a par 5 and Chris was on in two shots but had a few problems putting. I am sure that having Jack there to give Chris advice had nothing to do with it!!

More golf...

Saturday

Today was a little rainy but not terrible. We decided to go into Canada to go to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Mom and Dad live about 3 miles from the Canadian border and the zoo was only another 15 min drive once through customs. By the time we got to the zoo it had decided to pour!! So we loaded everyone back into the car. There is a wave pool in Canada that we are going to take Jack to, so we decided to go and check it out. Jack thought it was great and really wants to go back when we have our bathing suits. There were also kids (girls!) playing hockey at the rec center so Jack had to watch them for awhile. Then we drove back over the border. It took about an hour to get back into Washington. We got home just in time for the boys to take naps and for Mom and I to get to the grocery store. We had a low key night and I made Pomegranate Martinis (Sara, wished you could have been here to enjoy one with me!). We also watched the Ryder Cup and a little college football.

Friday

Friday was another lazy day for Chris and me. I think b.c. the summer was so busy our plan for this trip was to do the least amount possible. We usually start our day around 9am when Wade gets up, we have a cup of coffee, breakfast and then another cup of coffee, a little Sportscenter for Chris, Today Show for me, and Playhouse Disney for Jack and then another cup of coffee for me!! I think by around 11 or 12 I am ready to get dressed and start the day. Good thing that Oma is here to entertain Jack so Chris and I can be this lazy!!

In the afternoon on Friday I went with Jack and Oma to Rod and Carol's dairy farm and to no ones surprise--Jack loved it. First we went to where all the baby calves were. There was one little calf that had been born 1 hour earlier and was getting it's first bottle and learning how to walk. Here is a picture of the other calves and boy where they interested in us. Oma let one of them suck on her finger and when we asked if Jack wanted to do the same he was not at all interested in that adventure.

After visiting the calves he wanted to go and see the donkey. In Rod and Carol's family there are 3 boys: Jon, Jeff and Mark. On the night Mark was getting back from his honeymoon at 2am, his brothers had parked Mark's truck at the entrance to his driveway so they could not get in. There was a note on the windshield telling him that the keys to the truck were on the donkey's neck and if he wanted to move the truck they would have to catch the donkey. I thought that was a pretty funny story!! Now the donkey lives at Rod and Carol's and Jack just had to meet that donkey.

After the donkey visit Jack had to go back and check on the calves, then he had to go and check on the donkey again and then one more trip back to the calves. He wanted to check in one more time to see if the new baby calf had learned to walk. He was pretty disappointed when we left but we told him we would come back to visit. (The donkey is the white one.)

Thursday

For some reason a three hour time change and 12 hours of traveling does not affect a three year old. So Thursday, while Chris and I recovered from the travel and time change, Oma took Jack to the Library and the Park. I think he checked out every book in the library. Good thing Oma took her Costco shopping bag with her to carry all the books. He did discover "Where's Waldo?" and now that is the only book he wants to "read" before he goes to bed. Too bad it can take even the adults 15-20 min to find Waldo. He LOVED the park!! They just put this park in and it is great!! I think it took three phone calls to Chris, & Papa showing up, to finally convince Jack it was time to go. We have all these fun things planned and I think if we just took him to the park everyday he would be totally happy.

Jack also got to pick out new barn boots from Oma & Papa and here they are. He also loves throwing stones into the creek by the park so the boots came in very handy!