Charlie turns 4 on a trip to Spokane

We now have a four year-old in our home! This past May 4th, Charlie celebrated his fourth birthday with GG and Auntie Marion in Spokane. Tom had a conference in Spokane and my parents and Beth were out of town. So, we joined Tom in Spokane and celebrated and visited with our elder family members. Sadly, a stomach bug went around to all of us except Charlie. So, we didn't get to see GG as much as we would have liked, but we were able to celebrate with her a little bit. 

 We took Charlie out to breakfast at Frank's Diner for his birthday. It is a diner inside an old train. Not only is sitting in a train amazing, but it is right near train tracks. So, you also get to see the trains as they go through Spokane. A favorite! This morning Charlie was super lucky and was given a breakfast ice cream sundae to celebrate his day. Having the waiters and waitresses sing was a bit much for our big guy, but as you can see from the picture above, he loved the sundae!

 Gabriel was all tuckered out from a day of fun at River Front Park. This picture is a bit out of order, but below you can see some of the fun. We rode the gondolas over the falls that day. The falls were high and beautiful!

 Since we were sick quite a bit of the trip, Charlie spent quite a bit of time playing in the pond in the back yard of my parents home. He had lots of fun "fishing" for a small black container that floated on top of the water.

 This is another yard activity that passed the time while I moaned on the porch. Gabe dug dirt while Charlie went "shopping" up and down the side of their home.

 GG and Tom out to breakfast. This too is out of order. This is from Charlie's birthday breakfast.

 Charlie and Tom took a spin on the Spokane merry-go-round while at Riverfront Park. We learned that day that Gabriel is not a fan of merry-go-rounds. In fact, they make him cry and cry. Watching is his thing.

2013 Skagit Tulip Festival

The last weekend of April, my parents and my sister Kaarin joined us on an outing to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. We all piled into our van, stopped at Starbuck's and were off for a day of adventure. Unfortunately, Tom had to work that day, so he couldn't join us. He was surely missed by all of us festival goers. As you can see from some of these photos below, we had a great day. The following are some obligatory shots of us kneeling by the flowers. 

 I found myself attempting to take some artistic shots of tulips. Here is one that isn't half bad. Boy, the tulips were gorgeous. We were nervous we were going post bloom, but that wasn't the case. We were at the tail-end of a wonderful season.

 This is a photo taken by Charlie. He is still learning the camera. Getting the heads in the frame is his next goal. The flowers are pretty and that is Nonnie and Boppa, if you couldn't tell.

 Gabriel had lots of fun out of the stroller, when we let him. It was a bit muddy in spots that day, so he was tied into the stroller quite a bit. Running into this field of yellow tulips was awesome for him. He was giggling and laughing.

 Charlie took over stroller duty for a while. Thank you Boppa for assisting Gabriel as he hops back into the stroller!

 This was our favorite flower stop by far. These fields also had several huge kites flying in the air. Of course, flying kites are a great magnet for kids. Our kids included.

All in all, we had a wonderful visit. Several stops at tulip fields, lunch and a stop at a road-side market made for a great outing. Thanks everyone for joining us!

Recent favorites

As it is with children, I have taken many, many pictures with so-so outcomes. There are a few lately though that I enjoy going back to over and over again. This post is filled with some of those photos. The first one is a photo of Gabe inside our tunnel. This was a Christmas gift that has gone miles in our home. These boys have played and played in this tunnel. I've taken many photos of the boys naked in this tunnel, but those won't be on this blog. I was able to catch Gabriel sitting still in this shot. 

 This photo is from a day that Charlie asked me to take photo after photo of him hitting the baseball. He wanted me to catch the moment his bat hit the ball. I must say, I like this one better. Can you see the ball? Luckily the camera was not hit, but it was a close call.

 Oatmeal is our #1 breakfast. This was an extra special oatmeal at a Seattle restaurant. They have a "breakfast bar" which you get to go add fruit, whip cream, almonds, syrup, etc. into your bowl.

 We went out to an early birthday dinner for Dad in Spokane and Charlie. They are one day apart in their birthdays. Gabriel was being a bit of a pill that night. Sitting still wasn't in his vocabulary that night. This is a fitting picture to remember the night by for me. I am wrestling him in this shot.

Bainbridge Island

Bainbridge Island has become a favorite day adventure for our little family. This time Gabriel was awake for the ferry ride. This was the first for him. We had a great ride over and even found a woman willing to take our picture. Again, we left early enough to have breakfast before the Children's Museum opened. Charlie was so excited that he didn't eat any of his breakfast as he just wanted to get in there and start playing. This was sure a great day and one I'm so thankful we could give to the boys. 

 In most of my pictures from the day, we do not have either boy actually stoping to pose for the camera. There was just too much to do and mom's desire for pictures didn't fit into that picture. The first one is a perfect example. A kind woman offered to take a picture of what had been the two of us playing together. However, the second the camera was on the scene, he decided to do something else.

 Driving us home on the ferry!

Easter 2013 & Tractor Rides

We spent a couple weekends in April at the ranch in Yakima. Although there was sadness in saying goodbye to Baku, we were grateful that we were able to spend the time together with family. I'm also extremely grateful that both boys got to meet Baku before his death. Baku will be missed and his life will always be remembered. 

 One of the awesome adventures for Charlie in Yakima was taking almost an hour-long tractor ride with Grandpa Bud. This first picture is the three Wagner boys watching Grandpa Bud warm up the tractor. Pretty cool for young boys. Grandpa Bud received several points for this adventure!

 Gabe also got in on some fun tractor rides. His just weren't actually moving.

Tractor riding is serious business!

 I couldn't get a good shot of these three on their way into church. But, here is a shot of Charlie and Gabriel wearing their matching shirts, courtesy of my mom.

Charlie found several real eggs and a few plastic eggs around the yard. Pretty fun! Gabe even got in the action this year. Although, I don't have any pictures of that. It must be a second child thing.

Food, Glorious Food

Quite possibly we have one of the pickiest eaters on our hands. He never was one for a bottle. Just recently started drinking out of a sippy cup and cup and finally at about 14 to 15 months stopped eating only pureed food. This picky eating hasn't helped with keeping weight on his body. After roughly four months of ear infections and weight loss Gabe is down to about the 5th percentile for his age in weight. We keep trying to introduce new foods, but this doesn't always go well. However, after numerous bananas laid on his tray, he actually ate one yesterday. This brings me great hope that he may turn the corner on other fruits soon. 

 Wish I could remember what this was, but it looks yummy. I know it was the pureed phase as well as self feeding.

 French fries are his "go to" while out in a restaurant. We know he will eat this and usually only fries.

 Charlie took this picture and so it made it to the blog.

This picture makes me feel like he is so big already. Eating a snack outside on his own chair!

 Gabriel had quite the meal - watermelon, french fries and yogurt!

Today we headed to the Kent Water Park for a picnic. Gabe ate about everything - almost in the same order as Charlie. He loves to mimic his brother! I'm trying to take advantage of that at meal time.

Gabe's favorite foods:
  Watermelon, pomegranate seeds, toast, yogurt bites, veggie sticks, yogurt, peas, carrots, cereal,   chicken tacos, chicken nuggets, grapes, french fries, pirate booty

Gabe's least favorite:
  Avacado, noodles, apricots, almost every meal that we eat doesn't go in his mouth.

Park time

We have had too numerous to count trips to our local neighborhood park. It isn't large, but it sure is fun. This photo below is a picture of a "bird house" that we made together. Lots of imagination went into that house. 

 Who would want to go down on your bottom when you can slide face first? At least that was Charlie's mantra on this visit. We laughed really hard while we both attempted to do this together. Stopping before hitting the dirt was a challenge for me.

We often take the wagon given to us by Uncle Andy and Aunt Debbie. The walk is slowed down when Gabriel has anything in his reach as he loves to drop it on the road.