Sunday, December 16, 2018

Rotary Lights 2019

The 2 cutest penguins!

Lucy really liked this musical light up tunnel.

Charlie and Isaac dancing through the tunnel.

Charlie was thrilled to be free of the Santa line and encounter and proceeded to march his way through the whole loop.

Making circles through more lights.

Given that Charlie is our more social and outgoing child, we thought this Santa encounter would be a breeze.  Instead it was the classic toddler interaction.  He far preferred looking at the "moose" (reindeer).

Lucy's visit didn't go much better.  She clammed up around Santa so I'm not sure he heard her gift request.  She also had a full blown tantrum after she got the wrong color candy cane from Santa.  

Adventure in the Melting Snow

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day (one of those days that would feel amazing at the end of February..but that makes us snow loving skiers a little sad).  We drove up to Upper Hixon where the snow pack is a little deeper and soaked in the sun while running some energy out of the kids.  Lucy skied half the trail and Charlie out-hiked her.


The very start of our loop-in the shade Isaac was a bit regretful of not wearing a coat.

The littlest hiker just chugging right along. On the downhills he would raise his arms and say "wheeee" while running down.

A happy hiker :)

A family selfie.

At the lookout point.  We saw several hawks soaring below us.

They posed so well in the family shots I thought we could get a sibling shot.  Right after this "hug" Charlie started shoving Lucy away and yelling "NO".

Taking a break to just sit in some snow.

All sorts of funny poses where demonstrated today; this is the only one I captured.  I think we have Maddie Hyland to thanks for this.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

December 4th and 8th

https://youtu.be/vBHan81VzmA

Charlie's Bad Habit, Lucy's Emotional Eloquence

The last few months Charlie has been throwing food, utensils and cups from his high chair.  We still don't know how to stop this behavior.  We have started giving timeouts in his room the last week or so.  We take him to his room and explain what he did and how it makes us feel and we just sit. 

Last night Charlie threw something, so I got him out of this chair and told him to walk to his room and sit down because he threw something and now has a timeout.  Well I'll be darned if he didn't go off to his dark room and sit down on the floor! 

Today he threw a spoon from his high chair.  Lucy saw this and told Charlie is made her sad.  I responded it made me sad too.  Lucy then said, "no, when Charlie throws things it makes Dad mad, Mom sad, and I get.... frustrated!" 


Thursday, November 29, 2018

It's a beaut Clark!

We decided it would be fun to attempt cutting our own Christmas tree this year!  So Kerry researched all the options (classic Kerry move) and we Lucy had a plan to find "the perfect tree" (Lucy loves to have a plan).  Isaac was still fighting a bug and tried his best to be accommodating.  The wish list included a Frasier Fir that was 10 feet tall (and we like 'em fat).  We hiked high and low but could not find just the perfect tree....so we resorted to the pre-cut section where our decision was easy!  It still felt more authentic than Home Depot at least.

Peterson Christmas Tree Farm in West Salem- built on a ridge...with lots of uphill/downhill hiking involved with our search.


"Walkin" and "Nooooo" when attempting to carry Charlie up the big hill.

There's our big tree all ready to get loaded on top of the van.


Lucy is very excited to be involved with the whole tree process this year!!

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Charlie's photo shoot

Maddie and Abbey were fantastic this weekend about helping get Charlie's 1 year photos. (Technically 1 1/2 year old photos. Nice and late, just like Lucy's).
Charlie is usually a bubbly, happy go-lucky guy...but as soon as all attention was on him for the pictures, he clammed right up!  Luckily we squeezed some smiles out.  He was rather demanding-"Abbey wee oooo wee ooo" (he liked it when Abbey made the ambulance noises for his smiles).
Here's what his expression was the majority of the time (when he wasn't in tears):


But, Maddie scored some good ones too! :)




Lucy's Lingo

Way too often, Lucy says some things that have us cracking up (or shaking our heads).  I'm trying to get some of them down in writing so I don't forget!

On our way home from dinner, Lucy went on and on about calling me by my "other" name (Kerry).  We had a discussion that she needs to be calling me Mom.  She let it drop, but never really confirmed that she was on board.

Fast forward 30 minutes-I knocked on Lucy's door to start pajama time:
Mom: knock knock
Lucy: who's there?
Mom: It's Mom.
Lucy: What's your other name?
Mom:  Mother.
Lucy: No, what's your other name like Isaac?
Mom: Momma.
Lucy: Come on in Kerry.
Mom: Sigh.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Johnny's Graduation Trip part 3



Johnny worked hard to bring in this Rainbow Trout...took close to 10 minutes to land it!

This was Kerry and Isaac's first time fly-fishing.  Kerry caught a pretty trout...Isaac took some pictures and almost caught some fish ;)
The Grizzlies shut down one of our original planned hikes to Iceberg Lake so we did the Grinnel Glacier hike instead.  


Super cool glacial lake at the base of the Glacier.  There were ice chunks floating in it; it was the coldest water we've felt to date.


Mountain love.
We wrapped up the trip  by staying in the Many Glacier Lodge which has been completely restored.  It was fun to compare this to my initial memories of a somewhat run down/leaky lodge on my graduation trip in 2002.  
Our last night of the trip.  We did some viewing of grizzlies from a safer distance than usual and had a delicious meal in the lodge dining room.  Great trip Johnny!

Johnny's Graduation Trip part 2

A super rad hike to Sentinel Pass out of Morraine Lake.  We had to get to the parking lot by 5:45 am for this one.  Johnny was a trooper.


360 views...where to even look?!

Mountain high!

Morraine Lake-on our list to come back to.
This spot was partially Johnny's inspiration for the Banff trip.  We had to spend a little time searching for this unmarked spot-Johnston Canyon Cave.  So cool!

Johnny is really mastering his camera skills.

We were very excited to check out the Canmore Nordic Center (home of the nordic ski venue of the Calgary Olympics).  Johnny and Isaac had a great trail run and we completed Johnny's goal of a great running shot in the mountains.

Early August, Goofballs, Lego Train, Pump Track

https://youtu.be/O1Hfimo5DPo

Highlights of Johnny's Graduation Trip Part 1

A while back we told Abbey, Johnny and Maddie that we would take them anywhere in the country for a graduation trip as long as it partially involved camping and a national park.  Johnny decided on the Canadian Rockies; primarily Banff (cue the gleeful whoops as Isaac and I love that region).  Here are just some of the high lights. 

We found a place to set up hammocks in Waterton National Park after 23 hours of driving. Isaac was quickly sawing logs.

Looks like we are balancing on a cliff!  This is the incredible view from the Prince of Wales Hotel.

Prince of Wales Hotel.  We had a lakeside room with a killer view.  We also got one of the best nights of sleep I can remember in the past 3.5 years of my life.

Upon arriving to Banff, Kerry and Johnny headed to Lake Louise for a sneak peak of the next morning.  Hard to believe, but this picture was taken at 9pm.  

Our first real hike of the trip; it felt great to get out on the trail.  We did the Plain Of The 6 Glaciers out of Lake Louise.

Late July 4 Leg Visitors

https://youtu.be/W8pxC3azFsk

Late July Let the Choir Sing? Charlie Rides

https://youtu.be/y8x5FRxbn6A

Late July Goggles, Nose Plugs and an 11 Wheeler

https://youtu.be/tIu5ajhpXjM

Late June Charlie - Piano, Grandpa Snuggles, Trying to Not Walk

https://youtu.be/DqF8LRDKK_Y

1st and Last Day of School-Lucy

Here's a look at Lucy on her first day of young 3K and last day.  A lot of growth happened!

Last day!

Lucy with her beloved teacher Mrs. Haro as well as teaching assistant Miss Jamie and Lucy's buddy Liam.