CA Pt. 2--Indian Canyons

Gma and Gpa de Jong had to work on Friday while we were visiting, so Mommy, Daddy, and I went to the Indian Canyons in Palm Springs. I guess this is a place where Indians used to live. There were lots of palm trees, lots of rocks, and a little stream.

The palm trees were so tall I could barely see the tops of them!


There were houses made of palm tree leaves (fronds) that I got to run in and out of.

I had a blast while we were there. Look at this giant rock I was able to pick up and throw.

And there were tons of rocks for me to jump off of. (Those of you who know me know I love to jump off of anything and everything.) Usually I jump by myself, but Mommy thought I could use a little help this time.

Daddy lent a helping hand too.

There was a trail you could follow that was about a mile long. It took us about half an hour to go a quarter mile. I kept running the wrong way (Apparently, the opposite direction of Mommy and Daddy is the wrong way.)

And of course I had to stop and admire/throw all of the rocks I found along the trail.

These other trail walkers were nice enough to stop and point out some rocks I had missed during my explorations.

Taking a breather.

You can't really see the size of this rock that I found, but you can tell how big it is by the size of the hole it left behind.

Jumping off a rock.

Isn't this rock cool? It's ginormous!

Mommy and Daddy thought I was moving too slow sometimes, so Daddy helped me along. We actually didn't make it the full mile because it was taking too long and I kept getting distracted.

Ah, the lovely desert. The background of this picture is slightly different than you see in Washington.

What a fun day!

California Pt. 1--the de Jong's

A couple of weeks ago, we flew to California with my Aunt Andrea and cousin Melanie. We visited Grandma and Grandpa de Jong for the first two days, and then Daddy's brother Uncle Matt and his family.

At Grandma and Grandpa de Jong's:

My buddy Cujo is so awesome. He's not as afraid of my as he used to be (Man's best friend). And he is so nice. I shared my Kix cereal with him and he barely touched my hand with his mouth when he ate them!

I found a cool flower in Gma and Gpa's backyard. It sure looked different than flowers from home.

I decided to give it to Cujo.

But apparently, he didn't want it.


The day before we got to CA, the weather was sunny and 80 degrees. The day we got there, it was cloudy and 60 degrees and basically stayed that way through the whole weekend. But it didn't really rain on us at Gma and Gpa's, so I got to play outside.

I love jumping off anything and everything.

And when I say, "Mama jump!", she does!

I'm sure I must look better than that when I jump....at least, I hope so.

A new habit of mine--chewing/sucking on my fingers or thumb. Mommy is hoping it's not a permanent habit.

We hardly have any pictures of me with both Mommy and Daddy. Probably because I hate sitting still for pictures. We're having professional family pics taken this weekend. I guess I better get my act together so they turn out better than the one below.

We took the cushions off the couch so Melanie could sleep next to Aunt Andrea in the guest room (Andrea had the bed). I had fun jumping (shocker) next to Grandpa on the couch, even without cushions.

But I settled down eventually.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was on Saturday, but Mommy and I made a special treat for Daddy the day before. We made Daddy's hearts while he was at work on Friday so that they would be a surprise for him when he got home.

It was so much fun making the sugar cookies. Mommy didn't even care that I got things messy.

Here I am cutting a heart out of the dough:

And then putting it on the cookie sheet:


Spreading the flour around so the dough doesn't stick to the counter (with a little extra tossed on the floor just in case any dough fell on the floor):

Rolling out more dough for more cookies:

Then came the decorating. Mommy made some of the frosting pink and she gave me a plastic knife to spread it on the cookies.

It was tricky to spread the frosting, so I just kind of glopped it on as best I could.

You have to shake the sprinkles jar really hard to get enough sprinkles out. I prefer just opening the jar, dumping the sprinkles on a table, and licking them up (see Sprinkles! posting).

Eventually I decided to skip the hearts and put the frosting directly into my mouth.

Two knives are better than one! (Can you believe Mommy let me put a knife in my mouth!!! What was she thinking?)

The finished cookies. Daddy was very surprised and loved his special treat. Can you tell which cookies I decorated and which ones Mommy did?

Mmmmmm. Cookies!

I've graduated...

...to the big table for dinner! No more high chair! I get to sit in a big chair with Mommy and Daddy when we eat dinner and I get to say the dinner prayer every night!

Church wears us out!

Now that we have 1 o'clock church, this is what Daddy and I do in the evening. Sundays are exhausting!

The new way to play

Instead of taking your toys out of their storage bin, you just climb in with them.

It saves a lot of time with cleaning up.

Of course, if you dump out your toys, then you and a friend can fit in the toy bin and play together.

Me and Brady

For Aunt Kari

My Aunt Kari came to visit a few weeks ago. Every time she comes, she wants her picture taken with me--but I'm not all that big on posing for the camera. That's why most of the shots Daddy and Mommy get of me are while I'm on the move. Aunt Kari always tries so hard to get me to sit with her for the camera. This time was like every other time--not very successful.

We visited Cooper's grave and Aunt Kari spent some time trying to catch me for a pic.


She tried to sneak up behind me and pose while I took a break from running. I took off as soon as she kneeled down to my level. She can't fool me, I knew exactly what she was up to.


Aunt Kari finally just scooped me up and while I struggled to get free, Mommy managed to snap a decent picture.



An action shot. Anyone willing to jump on my bed with me can have their picture taken with me, but I'm not going to stop jumping for the camera.



On Aunt Kari's last day here, we went out to lunch. She was still trying to get a nice picture with me. I wouldn't stop playing with my bus, so she just leaned herself in toward me so Mommy could get a picture of us together.




You'll notice that I just kept minding my own business, until she tried putting her arm around the back of my high chair.

Get your hand off my chair!


Back off, I'm busy!


Then I really had to take some defensive action.



But in spite of my best efforts, Aunt Kari managed to plant one on me.

Aunt Kari, I may not be excited about getting my picture taken with you, but I still love you.