Grandma and Grandpa Come to Visit

We had more visitors this weekend. My parents came to visit us. They had spent much of the winter down in Texas so hadn't seen Stian since Christmas and needed to come see him. So they came down and helped us get some stuff done around the house. Kris and Dad concentrated their efforts on the attic, installing some hardwood flooring and light fixtures, painting the walls, urethaning and putting up the railing, and they started getting the baseboards ready to go in once it has been carpeted. It's shaping up! Though there is still more work to do up there.

We also had time to do some playing, of course.

We went out to dinner.







After dinner Stian spontaneously went over to this tree and gave it a hug. We had to have him recreate it for the camera, but it wasn't as cute as when he did it on his own.



One of Stian's favorite activities these days is driving. When we get back from some place he invariably wants to sit in the driver's seat and pretend he's driving for awhile. He likes to push buttons and pull levers. And we learned he can take the key off the dashboard and put it into the ignition by himself. So we need to be a little more careful about that!



He got to talk tractors with Grandpa.



Grandma and Grandpa brought him a kite back from Texas and we flew that.













Stian helped Daddy get the garden ready for planting.





Grandma and Stian played together lots.





And Stian goofed around and was his silly self.

Conversations

Before naptime on the weekends and before bedtime every night Stian and I sit in the rocking chair in his room and talk. This is after he has gotten in his jammies and brushed his teeth and we've read stories and turned out the lights. We talk for a few minutes while he sits on my lap and we rock and cuddle and then I sing him a few songs and put him in his crib.

We've had a few interesting conversations lately. The other day before nap time the conversation went like this:

Stian: What would you see if you cracked open the sky?
Me: (pause - thinking: wow, deep question) How would you crack open the sky?
Stian: With a hammer.
Me: (pause - thinking)
Stian: What would you see?
Me: What do you think you would see?
Stian: (pause, thinking) A car!

Okay - so not so deep afterall.

And then the conversation tonight before bed:

Stian: What's a captain?
Me: A captain drives a ship.
Stian: does he sit in a chair?
Me: Yes
Stian: Does he have a steering wheel?
Me: Yes
Stian: Does he drive the life boat?
Me: Yes. It's quiet time Stian, put your head down and I'll sing to you.
(Stian rests his head on a my shoulder for about 10 seconds while I sing - then he lifts his head again and looks at me)
Stian: Do captains have eyebrows?
Me: (laughing) yes, captians have eyebrows.
Stian: Do they have eyelids?
Me: Yes
Stian: do they have eyelashes?
Me: Yes
Stian: Do they blink their eyes?
Me: (laughing again) Yes Stian, they blink their eyes, they're people. Shhh - It's quiet time now.
Stian: okay

Visitors

My good friend Laura and her two girls Sunny and Ace came to visit this weekend. They live up in Minnesota, so we don't get to see them all that often, so it is so nice that thy take the time to come and visit us occassionally! We had a very nice time with them. Here are few pictures:

Battle Ground Park

I was getting the pictures from LA off of Kris's phone and found these too. These were taken a few days before we left for the cruise (amazing how much more green it has gotten here since then). We both had gone to pick up Stian at school, so since we were all together we decided to stop at the Battle Ground park on our way home and look at the monument and hike down the hill to the creek. Stian had such a nice time. He especially loved sitting by the creek and throwing rocks and sand into it.

LA

The day the cruise ended we stayed in LA to visit with my friends Shayla and Shannon, and Shannon's two kids, Levi and June. We went out to lunch and then went to Newport Beach so the kids could play on the playground and in the sand.

It had been a long time since I had seen either of them. For Shannon the last time I saw her was when she was pregnant with Levi - you can see how big he is now. And it had been almost that long with Shayla. It was good to see them. Wish we could see each other more often!

Cruise 2010 - Day Six - At Sea

The last day was another sea day. We didn't take any pictures that day. Probably because I spent most of the day lying on my bed moaning from being so seasick. That is perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it was quite rough, and I was quite ill that day.

I forgot to mention earlier that on the first two sea days we saw both whales and dolphins. Quite cool.

The day we pulled into port we spent the day with my friends Shayla and Shannon. We forgot to bring the camera with me, but Kris took some pictures with his phone, which I will get from him and post soon.