Ahhhhh Summertime!

We hope you're all enjoying a great start to summer. It's been about as beautiful here as we can hope for and Kieran can't seem to get enough of it. Watermelon outdoors is far better than in a high chair in the house. Thanks Shiway for the picture!


Our little outdoor guy. This was his reaction to his first ride on the push merry-go-round at the playground behind the local ice creamery.

He's a slide lover too. Weeeee!

Mommy insists on going for the ride on the big slide though. This nice little girl offered to catch us.
Kieran and his extension cords. He loves them. He insisted on taking this one to the park with us. His other obsession is vacuum cleaners. Since summer arrived and the daycare garden was planted he has been the official (i.e. most enthusiastic about grabbing the hose) waterer. I think we'll be adding garden hoses to his list of obsessions - this makes me grateful that we don't have one.
Ah, cleaning the spatula. An age old kid job and this was Kieran's first shot at it. It was chocolate mousse and whipped cream...I think he liked it.
Kieran at a Mexican themed party last weekend at the neighbor's house. He was super excited to participate in and then watch the big kids...
...whacking a pinata to pieces. The next day we were in the grocery store and all of the sudden he said OOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that's a REALLY BIG Ooooo!). I turned around and he was pointing up to row of pinatas hanging above the fruit case. If he had had a stick they would have been toast.


Another park evening. It was after daycare and mommy forgot to bring a snack. Big mistake. We borrowed some money from Rachel and got ourselves a hot dog. Kieran loved it, of course, and wouldn't let me even hold the leftover bun for him while he cruised around the playground. Eventually he gave me what was left so he could go down the slide.


Quack quack. I hope these two wanted to get chased. I'm sure they like it.

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all our favorite Moms, Grandmas, Bushkas and Aunties a wonderful Mother's Day!

We love you and miss you!

Spring break up

It's been a quick change from winter to summer here...April came in cold and snowy and left with temps topping 80F in some parts of town. It's a real heat wave and it's lasted for almost a week. The 2 foot snow pack is nearly gone from everywhere and our yard is a muddy mess - all the better for Kieran. He is a true puddle lover and can't stay away from the little runoff streams meandering down every slope. More about that below. First I must share a few sweet moments...like the look on his face here. It says "I may be in trouble here but that was really fun and I'd definitely do it again - but I better not smile"

Fairbanks snow is too cold for making snowmen during winter so we took advantage of the warm spring snow and made Kieran's first snow friend. It had arms and legs and...

...antennae.

Max did what he could to mitigate another year of melt water running into the leach field. It seems to have helped and we'll have a passable yard much sooner than we would have otherwise. At the moment the yard would probably swallow you whole at your first step. Muddy mud mud.

An after school snack on the front step. This is as close as I can get Kieran to inside when we get home in the afternoon. He must be outside for an hour minimum before I can convince him that he wants to come in for dinner.

This was last night after his bath, after his book, and ready for bed...sort of. He was about to head off to bed when he heard Max shoveling outside. There is no putting Kieran to bed when something as exciting as shoveling is happening outside! He ran to the front hall, grabbed his boots and opened the door. He was too cute to stop. He picked up his shovel and ran out to help.

"It's okay, I'm here dad. What are we doing?" Kieran is so proud of his breakup boots. They're just like daddy's.

Must keep the drainage ditches free of debris! Kieran is an excellent helper.

First survey the situation.

Then get to work. Just like his papa...and I mean JUST like his papa! They're more alike every day.

Look at that technique! Sometimes I have to remind myself that he's only 16 months old. Sometimes he reminds me though, like when I'm trying to get him in the house before he's ready or he has to wait for me to peel his apple. Then he is definitely 16 months old.

Looking up the snow-free driveway. We had some exciting car rides up and down the driveway during the melt...it's nice to see dirt again.

Kieran does occasionally come inside. Here's a quiet moment on a sunny morning with his penguins. What a sweetie.

Easter

Easter started on Friday for us with Kieran's first Easter egg "hunt". It was actually more of an egg scramble at Kieran's daycare...look at all that stuff! It was a lot for 6 kids to collect and they gave up before it was all claimed. I think next year Dana will have to cut back just a little.And here they come! Little Kieran is the youngest of the kids and always gets special baby privileges...I wonder how much longer that will last. He was the first one in line at the door and he didn't even get trampled! These are some pretty nice kids.

There was a lot of excitement out there. I imagine this guy is thinking, "Don't move and they won't see me".
Kieran is an expert collector. He knew exactly what to do and got down to work putting everything he could find into his bag. Soon it will be pockets filled with rocks and other treasures he finds in his path. I must be better about checking pockets before sending pants through the laundry! Notice his new "big boy" shoes. He's very proud of his first pair of real shoes and will sit and hold up his feet at any mention of putting them on. There was a break in the action when the kids had had enough of picking up stuff off the deck. Kieran took a little drive...Vrrrrm.

Time to liven this party up a little...bring on the bubble stuff! Wow, was that a hit! Kieran got all the other kids running and chasing bubbles - they really got whipped up into a frenzy! He really is a fun little guy - no wonder they all like him so much :)

Ooooooooooo!

More?

Kieran's favorite gesture..."Where are the bubbles? Where are they?" We eventually had to put the bubbles away and head for home. What a great time though!

On the daycare theme...Kieran came home with a mohawk last week. Of course we had dinner plans that evening with no other than Kieran's best older girlfriend Lola and her parents. I think they were all surprised to see the "bad boy" side of Kieran. Lola is a true daredevil - surely she was impressed with Kieran's new edgy style. (We won't tell Lola that he was vacuuming when this picture was taken - that would really ruin his new bad boy reputation!) And finally, the last snowfall of the season (fingers crossed!). Kieran takes a ride down the trail in Max's snow scooper. We hope you all had a very nice Easter and are enjoying warmer spring weather wherever you are!

Mush for Kids

We had a fun day at the "Mush for Kids" fund raising event last weekend. Mom and Dad were more impressed with the firetruck than Kieran was this year.

Kieran was pretty happy with the puppies though. The line was too long for Max and me. Luckily the fence was wide open to those who weren't interested in waiting for a chance at the puppy petting area. Kieran made friends with this little guy while he (the puppy) was hiding from all those crazy kids who waited in line to get inside the fence!


We had fun watching the mushing rides. Kieran was too small to get into a sled this year but he was pretty excited to see them go by!


His latest word is "Wow!", and this was a perfect opportunity to put it to use. He had many perfect and enthusiastic Wow!'s before Max broke out the video camera...here's what he caught.

Mushing kiddos

While Max was skiing Anchorage's big "Tour" race, Rachel, Kieran and I were at the dog races...Anchorage had the Iditard start over the weekend but Fairbanks had the Junior North American Mushing Championships. The kids ranged in age from about 2 1/2 to 10 years - with so little weight to pull, the dogs really make quick work of the course. At the start it takes a team of adults to keep the dogs at the line, keep the kid on the sled, and keep one finger on the timing clock. When the timer says "Go!" all hands release and the dogs take off with the kiddo hanging on for dear life. Very exciting! This dog on the right (below) spent its entire wait at the line airborne, too excited to stand still.


And they're off! Most of the kids immediately duck down behind the sled to get out of the chilly wind. This little girl was from Anchorage. Where else do you find city girls doing this for fun?

Here's a 3-dog team. That's a lot of dog power attached to a little person! I've never been hooked up to more than 2 at a time. This must be a huge thrill for the riders!

Kieran had another fun day outdoors. He's very tuned in to airplanes and can hear them coming from miles away. Here he's pointing to where the plane is. Where is the airplane? "Up!" He was hanging out, exploring, watching the dogs...and being a major distraction. There was a busload of Japanese tourists at the race taking a break from their aurora watching to see some locals doing what the locals do. Well, they thought Kieran was the cat's pajamas. We were approached by nearly all the Japanese ladies asking if they could take his picture. Could they get into the picture with him? "How old?" "Live here?" "His name?" "So cute!" His face is going to be all over Japan's facebook pages ;) What a popular guy.

He got his first close-up look at a Sno-cat. I think he's going to be as much of a fan as his daddy is. Fun day at the races...who needs the Iditarod?

Hanging out at home just being cute. No wonder Japanese ladies can't stay away :)

Meeting little Sam Flynn

Last Sunday we drove south to Delta Junction to meet the newest baby in the "family"...little Sam Flynn, 1 week old. We have a habit of inviting ourselves to dinner whenever Ellie and Jeff bring home a new baby - a nice tradition that we're happy to uphold (and so are they apparently). Besides, we certainly didn't want Sam to think we weren't as excited about his arrival as we were for older brother Wyatt! Sam is a mellow and sweet little guy, alert, social and not averse to getting handed around a crowd. And look at that face! He's a beauty. Mom is looking great too. Nice work Ellie!

The big boys had a nice time together. Wyatt is going to make a terrific older brother.

Kieran was pretty excited about Wyatt's squishy ball. Feels funny!

It bounces when you hit it! Bang bang bang.

So hard to remember the newborn size...was Kieran really this small??

The boys. Kieran was fine letting his daddy hold Sam...he wasn't so happy to share mommy's lap though.

Rachel had everyone's attention when she opened her bag of oatmeal cookies. Kieran didn't know he should want one until Wyatt showed him that cookies are something you should want. Showing the little guys the ropes...an excellent big brother trait!

Max looking like an old pro. 2 kids? No problem! Thanks Ellie, Jeff and Wyatt for letting us come and meet your beautiful new baby and brother...welcome Sam!

Back home with Kieran and his surprisingly sturdy balloon. It's a seat, a pillow, something to roll on...they sure make balloons tougher than they used to!