Cheeeese!

Colin and Katie rarely enjoy posing for pictures. When the rare mood hits them, though, they'll both yell "cheese!" over and over again for 5-10 seconds.

Here's an example of the "cheesey" pair as they're perched atop their new-to-them bunk bed (our big Memorial Day project and another Craigslist success story -- though let's just say that some particleboard furniture would have been much easier to haul up the stairs).

The best part of this picture: Rachel is looking on as if she can't quite believe what they're doing: "Mommy, are these two insane, maybe?" Quite possibly, Rachel, quite possibly. :-)

The new-to-us bunk bed

Here's an in-progress photo of the kids' new bunk bed. They are both absolutely delighted with it after weeks of anticipation. ("Can we go to the bunk bed store now? Now? Now?")

It took:

• Craigslist and a little negotiating
  
• Many helpers (thanks, Chris, Tim, Eudora and Jimmy!)
• A pickup truck and a minivan
• A little spackle, sandpaper, and paint
  
• A few bumps and scrapes
  
• Much head scratching ("how are we going to get this thing through the door?")
• A few Allen wrenches
• A lot of grunting

But we're very pleased with the result.

Hint: for moving big heavy awkward pieces of furniture, end-over-end somersaults work well.

Care Bears are back!

It's nostalgia time! This summer, the studios are launching remakes of the Love Bug, Bewitched, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The greeting card and toy industry is on the bandwagon as well, with the re-release of the Care Bears. They're back!

Doubt it? Then check out the Care Bear's own Web site.

I was overseas when the first explosion happened in the early 1980s, so I missed the whole trend the first time around. But no such luck this time. As startling as this might sound, I recognize all 14 of them ("no, honey, that's no Love-a-lot because she has two hearts on her tummy").

Both kids are big fans, so they were naturally eager to pose by Johanna's Care Bear birthday cake. Katie actually has stuffed versions of both Tenderheart and Cheer Bear, so when she saw the cake (and these pictures), she yelled "that's me!" (rather than "they're mine!").

Swim like a fish!

Both kids had a grand ol' time at Johanna's birthday party, which was held at the Peninsula Swim School. Katie is still talking about it a week later ("Katie swim with daddy", "Katie swim like fish!"), and Colin enjoyed running his yellow-and-blue truck in the "puddles" by the edge of the pool.

Dump truck anyone?

Colin's photo-journalism career continues...

We were delighted to have lunch with the recently engaged Cathy and Russell. They hosted a lovely banquet at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae. We went without the kids. Well, without 2 out of 3 of them. :-)

Congratulations to the happy couple!

The Other Katie's birthday party

These days, weekends feel like one birthday party after another. (Not to say they aren't fun!) Last weekend was no exception. Here are the kids at Gymboree celebrating with the other Katie. Somewhat alarmingly, our Katie thinks the other Katie's name is literally "Other Katie" because that's what we usually call her.

Helmets

Colin has long been a fan of protective headgear. He's very careful to put on a hart hat when playing with construction equipment. Because we don't have an actual hard hat at home, he usually just puts on [backwards] the play fire helmet the local fire station gave him during the last Little Lambs' Preschool field trip.

At the Other Katie's birthday party, our Katie got into the "hat spirit" by donning -- surprisingly -- an anti-riot tactical helmet.

And other headgear

The two Katie with their fashion-forward headgear...

Dressing up

Colin not only picked out my smiley-face tie this weekend, he wanted to wear a tie to match. So of we went to church in our blue button-down shirts and ties. Katie has no tie, but she is showing her the fairy she got at Bridget's birthday party (the first of two this weekend).

Teenie Ted

Colin's learning how to take pictures with the digital camera. His biggest challenge is holding the camera steady, especially when he pushes the button to take the picture. Occasionally he gets it and takes some great shots.

Here's one of his favorite subjects, his well-loved and well-worn Teenie Ted.

To Edmonton on a propellor plane

Fedora brought the kids to Edmonton to visit her mother's relatives. Here's the brave gang heading out to the propellor plane that would take them from Seattle to Edmonton. Declared Colin: "the propellor plane is too noisy!

First snow

The propellor plane was a first -- as was snow! The kids were fascinated with the snow, though Katie (our family's fearless adventurer) seemed uncharacteristically daunted by the white stuff.

The world's biggest mall

I'm told no trip to Edmonton would be complete without a visit to the West Edmonton Mall, the world's biggest mall complete with its own indoor amusement park. The kids had a grand old time, of course. Here are Katie and Lian hanging with Winnie the Pooh.

Hanging out at the hotel

Colin, Teenie Ted, and cousin Lian enjoy a quiet moment at the hotel.

Colin on the forklift

Colin found the forklift at the mall -- need we say anything more?

Katie and the white horse

Here's Katie on her second white horse -- she still remembers the white horse from Disneyland as well.

Auntie Eudora and cousin Julian in a local Edmonton park. Julian is a pleasingly plump and perfectly round shape these days.

Yuv my sheep yippers

For some reason, Katie has always been challenged by the "l" and "sl" sounds. "I love my sheep slippers" sounds more like "I yuv my sheep yippers". We think it's kind of cute and will be sad when she outgrows it. So here's an audio recording to preserve Katie's unique pronounication.



(Yes, she really does have a pair of purple slippers that has sheep on it.)

Katie and Colin pray

We had BFAM (our church group for parents with kids) over to our house yesterday. We hauled out a set of toys we'd thought the kids would enjoy -- but they most enjoyed a toy of their own invention, which was a "mountain" of pillows piled up in the corner of the living room. You'll hear the kids giving thanks for that mountain in this audio clip.



p.s. I have no idea what "frog noodles are".

Once upon a time...

Colin has enjoyed telling stories for a while now. His favorite type of story these days involves Colin and Katie being the "grown ups" and mommy and daddy being the kids. Colin and Katie will lead the family on all sorts of adventures. In this installment, the family goes to the moon!