NICE TRY

You are a sneaky one and I'm surprised to find you've learned one of the oldest kid tricks in the book so early.  You've learned to hide your food.  Most kids find a way to hide their veggies to avoid eating them at dinner.  In your case when I wouldn't give you a piece of ham until you finished your cheese, you managed to find a way to hide your cheese.

You may have gotten away with it, had I not noticed how quickly you were finishing your cheese and asking for more ham.  That and noticing Cookie Monster's mouth filled with cheese.  Nice try.

CAMPING

It's been a highly anticipated event for your dad...your first camping trip.  Two nights in a cozy cabin and our last night by Wallowa Lake in a tent.  You can bet I was thrilled.  Thrilled. 

What did you spend your time doing on you first of what will undoubtedly be many camping trips?

 Mess with the stereo volume.  Of course you only knew how to turn the volume up loud, very loud. 

 Decide that the best seat in the campsite was the soot-covered fire pit grate. 



Thought it would be fun to jump off the cooler repeatedly.

And when you ran out of  ways to entertain yourself at the campsite, you decided to take your stroller out for an off-roading joyride to visit all the other campsites. 

PRECIOUS

As precious as this photo of us out on Wallowa Lake is, do you notice that cup by your dad's foot?  It's one of those red plastic party cups found at college parties and backyard barbecues.  Party cups your dad and I now use to carry wine and beer with us while we take you out for walks or to the park.  As your dad likes to call it, it's the urban parent's equivalent to the homeless guy's forty in a brown paper bag.  Classy. 

BIG PAY OFF

The big pay off for sending you to over-priced swim lessons at a private company with their 90 degree pool water?  I'll never know because you couldn't stand the normal temperature water in Wallowa Lake.  Go figure.

NO MINORS

Only in the outskirts of eastern Oregon could we get away with taking a toddler to a bar at night and staying until the band played their last song. 

ANY DAY NOW

Any day now you're bound to grow out of this nose-picking phase.  It's making it quite the challenge to get any decent pictures of you...

RECIPE FOR DISASTER

Over 4th of July weekend your father convinced me to go to Wallowa Lake with you and some friends of ours. Wallowa Lake, a seven hour car ride away. A seven hour car ride with a 21-month old. It could have been a recipe for disaster. Luckily, it somehow worked out and was well worth the drive...

What does one do the entire weekend in eastern Oregon? Most people take in the scenery with days filled with hikes and boat time out on the lake. What did you like doing most?

Playing in the gravel driveway of our cabin.

Throwing as many pine cones as you could get your hands on  into the creek that ran by the cabin. By the end of the stay you had to resort to throwing rocks into the creek because you'd managed to throw nearly every pine cone on our lot into the creek.