Smiling William

Sometimes even the most simple moment makes a great picture.

This morning we were leaving for daycare when Will requested his new sunglasses... even though the sun wasn't really up yet. It was cold this morning and he already had his jacket and hat on. I thought that the glasses just made him look more like a snowboarder.

So, we had to have a picture.

New Sand and Water Table

We finally got Will's new water and sand table put together this weekend. He spent hours playing with it. He built "sand castles" and watered pretend flowers.

I enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out. Paul had Saturday off so we got to spend some time with him, which is always nice.

Yesterday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Noble's house to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. Will helped me bake him a cake and ran around yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" all evening.

Head Colds and Car Accidents

I freakin' hate the universe sometimes.

Yesterday I finally got in to see the ear, nose, and throat doctor about my chronic sinus issues and head colds. He gave me a whopping does of antibiotics and wants me to come back in 2 weeks for a head CT scan.

I started taking the meds last night and I was starting to feel better.

However...

This afternoon as I was coming back from making the daily mail run at work I got into a car accident. A guy in a truck made a left hand turn right in front of me while I was doing 40 mph. I noticed him just in time to slam on the breaks, but we collided anyway. The entire passenger side front end of my car is crunched.

Luckily no one was injured.

So, now the van is at the body shop and I am back at work. The adrenaline is slowly working its way out of my system and I am now in desperate need of a nap.

Should you come looking for me this Labor Day weekend I plan to be in my backyard, lying in the shade, with a fruity drink in my hand... and safely away from moving vehicles.

Car Show and Gardens

On Saturday we went to a car show. It was mostly classic cars, but there were some really nice new ones, too. Paul was in heaven.

I was persuaded to go because it was being held at a local botanical gardens. I figured that when Will and I got tired of looking at cars we could wander around looking at flowers and other pretty things.

When you first walk into the gardens you start at the top of a very steep hill. This picture doesn't do it justice, but there is one further down that looks back up the hill that gives you a better idea. Luckily they had a path the wound down a more gently slope so that we could get the stroller down. However, the hike back up was not pleasant.

Most of the flowers were still in bloom. With all of the rain that we have had this year the flowers have gone nuts.

They had the cars spread out across multiple lawns.

There was a little creek running through the center of everything.

This is the shot back up the hill.

William was in the stroller most of the walk because we didn't want him touching the cars.

At one point Will and I went off on a side path to see what else was in the gardens. There was a vine covered pathway that had little wooden doors inside. Through the doors was a little walled in secret garden. I let Will run around in there for a while.

This is the face you get when you have Will say "cheese".

Once we left the secret garden Paul decided to give Will a ride.

William and Paul liked the old dump trucks.

One of the sections of cars were Austin Healey's. Since Rhonda's first car was a 1959 Bug Eyed Sprite we had to have a picture of one.

There were a lot of cars to look at. Paul loved it, but Will and I soon were getting tired.

I found us a bench near the rose garden so that we could sit and relax for a bit.

It was a really nice day. The wind was blowing a bit, but it kept the tempurature down to a reasonable level. We were all exhausted after climbing back up the hill, so afterward we went to Grandma's and just hung out.

Pool Party

We had a pool party on Saturday at Rhonda's house with our friend Merrill and his daughter Kensie. We kind of got a late start, so rather than go to the big pool we just set up the little pool for the kids to swim in.

Will and Kensie had a lot of fun splashing around while we cooked up the food.

After lunch we went downstairs and let the kids jump in the bounce house. I only got one good shot because they were jumping around so much!

When they got tired of jumping Grandpa Bob brought out the pool of balls.

Will was worn out by the time he went to bed that night, but it was so much fun to have everyone over for a visit.

After dinner we decided to play the new game that Erin gave Paul for his birthday. It's based on a TV show called Banzai. It's a weird game where you watch a DVD for clips and then bet on the outcomes using little plastic sushi pieces. The hardest part was that you had to use a pair of plastic chop sticks to get the betting pieces into the little bowls, and you only had 15 seconds to do it! Usually I would do well at a manic game like this, but my chop stick ability is sorely lacking. Rhonda was the winner.

Erin was gracious enough to take a picture of us all wearing our Banzai headbands.

Crochet Ocean Bag

Okay, so this one is a testament to what you can accomplish when you are home sick. I started this bag on Wednesday when I was at home with a head cold. It was either this or watch hours of daytime television, which I still had on in the background.

I made the little animals on my breaks at work. The hard part was trying to represent seaweed in yarn. There are lots of free patterns for the sea creatures, but I was all on my own for the grasses. I think that they turned out pretty good.

William likes this bag and he can name all of the little animals on it.

Fluffy Blue Baby Blanket

Okay, more craftiness...

I finished this one last night. It is a little baby blanket that one of the girls at work asked me to make for her. It's a simple pattern because the yarn was so fluffy.