New Hat, New Shoes

First I put him on a rider lawn mower, now a plastic bag on his head? You're worried. I have to add some shock value, we don't have "the biggest news" today after all. We're still just hanging out eating popsicles. No, really, all of our congratulations, support, and good vibes to the sister and bro-in-law in their latest blog announcement (check out Midnight Toast, y'all). We've known for awhile, but it's a big step to let everybody know. I know, I remember. I let friends of mine figure it out themselves with my pregnancy books lying around. Then I started this blog to let you know when he eats a popsicle! Communication is getting easier. Here're today's highlights:

That's a big bite sonny...

Brain Freeze!

Can he handle more? Yes!

You may notice the white nurse shoes adorning his feet. Yes, he officially has joined the croc imitation footwear society! I was a little against these shoes, but he really likes them. In all their whiteness. I tried to talk him into some red ones, but he would not have it. Now I am challenged daily to orchestrate an ensemble that goes with these clogitos. Maybe I should just throw in the towel and get a matching pair for myself.

The train is the hit of the month. He demands I create all these tunnels, he loves tunnels, and within 2 minutes he bull dozes them. "Mom, more tunnels!" It's a great game. Train tracks provided by aunt and uncle, blocks hand made by Jason (see "Bro-mance at the Beach").

It's been a long Monday, time to hit ze hay. I love to hit ze hay.

Oh and our thoughts and prayers are with Olive Marla Oil, the amazingly wonderful but sickly Siamese Cat who is suffering from cancer.

Da Boat

Yesterday we took a putt putt around the lake on the old pontoon. Ezra drove, and he's got some skillz but just needs to work on paying attention to where he's going. A wide open expanse of water might be the perfect place for driving lessons.

Belly Dancers and Ice Cream

We are visiting Grandpa and Uncle Nate for the weekend, and yesterday brought us to the thriving metropolis of Bemidji for a Festival of Nations at the University there. There was face painting, and Ezra elected a big ol' sun on his cheek. The face painter than took matters into her own hands and painted a moon and star on his other cheek.

He didn't seem to mind but I'll definitely say that the sun looks better than the moon.
They were both wiped off quite quickly there after. It's hard to remember what's on your face.

Ezra's favorite act of the show was the belly dancer. I couldn't get a good shot of her, she kept gyrating around. So that's her, the blur up there. Where's Jeff and his camera when you need him?

After the festival we went out to Dairy Queen for an Oreo explosion. It's sunny and warmish here (upper 50's), so folks are out in flip flops and tank tops eating ice cream. Ah Minnesota.

Before heading home we stopped at the grocery store. Ezra was purely delighted to find this miniature shopping cart. He filled his cart right up with pantyhose, shake and bake chicken, and some stuffed animals with Nascar necklaces. I drew the line at Nascar.

Back at Grandpa's Ezra really enjoys taking all the balls out of the bin. There are athletic balls galore! Sweet, sweet house of men.

* * *
Now let's take a trip back in time... to our trip to Santa Barbara! You can't get enough, neither can I! These are from some of the "outtakes" by Jeff that I deem blog worthy:

Sisters strolling down State Street. Ezra is just about sleeping. Nice pillow.

I don't remember what we were doing but don't we look tan? Kinda? For Minnesotans...

This picture was taken by Auntie Raia when we went to the zoo. Ezra was trying to feed the fish in this pond but this nasty duck kept stealing it all! He even nipped at Ezra's finger. We ate duck that night...

Choo choo! Here Ez rides the train at the zoo. What delight.

It's another beautiful day here, I think it's time to get outside. Happy Sunday!

True Hick

He does love the neighbor's John Deere. Unfortunately, he will no longer be able to sit on this gorgeous green tractor. Why? The locals have too many horror stories of toddlers and tractors. One told of the dad holding a 3 year old on his lap while he cut the grass and the tot rolled off and his feet were severed. Another was worse, I won't recount it cause I don't want to bum you out. However, let's just keep toddlers and tractors apart.

On to safer ways to play...

Closely supervised under a card table covered with blankets!

On the pontoon wearing a life jacket!

Playing in the dirt!

Trying on Grandma's glasses!

Play it safe out there folks. Off to read some bedtime stories...

Fisherman

Ezra had his very first fishing experience this morning! He is quite fond of the idea, although he didn't catch much. Well, he didn't catch anything at all to be perfectly honest. He was really looking for those fish, as is captured in the following video:

Another highlight of Grandma's house is this pirate ship. There's tons of pirates as well as little instruments for them to hold, like a compass, sword, and plenty of goblets for them to drink from.
Other ways that Ezra keeps himself busy is by tormenting Lucy the cat. He calls Lucy "Puss Puss" however, I guess because the cat at our last house was named Puss Puss. I do find it entertaining to hear him say Puss Puss, so I am not correcting him as much as I could. Here's a short clip showing how gracious Lucy is putting up with his antics.

Back to school work... Did I mention that I am taking 5 classes this term? It's kinda craptastic.

Little Scientist

I haven't taken many pictures this week. This one is from last Sunday, Easter, at the beginning of Ezra's egg coloring experiment. He enjoyed it very much, and made some beautiful eggs to boot. We finally got around to hiding them the next day, but that part wasn't quite as fun as this part, as you might imagine.

He's pretty much adjusted to life here. It's really great to walk out the door and be able to run, play, get dirty, and see animals. In Portland I spent a lot of time fending him off from streets, traffic, and gross trash on the ground, so I don't miss that dialogue at all. Now I just watch out for chipmunks, beavers, and bald eagles to point out.

We did get out one night to see a duo called Brothers Burn Mountain. We saw them at this funny little hippy haven called Terripin Station in a nearby town. Ezra was dancing his socks off, and was in fact the last person at the show to still be clapping for an encore. He is a party baby. I think we're going back tonight for another show, The Urban Hillbilly Quartet. Should be fun! It's somewhat of a life saver to have a place like Terrepin Station around. Music, movement, and organic coffee can really help a person's psyche. I only wished we lived closer. I think I would go there everyday.

I'll try to take more pictures this week of our carousing in the woods.

Here's a couple of left over videos from our train rides. What do you do on a 30+ hour train ride anyways? These give you an idea. In one we're sitting in the "dressing room" down in the bellows of the train and Ezra's fiddling around with the sink. You pretty much just try to make everything take as long as possible when on these epic journeys...