Grandparents Russell, and Portland!

Friday the boys went to breakfast with Grandpa Russell, they went to Goldy's. 

That afternoon we all went over to the hotel Grandpa and Grandma were staying at. The pool is on the 5th floor! Guy and I hung out in the lounge chairs while Grandma and Nico swam.

After swimming we walked downtown to The Lemon Tree sandwich shop and had an early dinner. The food was very good, just like I remember.

After getting home that night we let Nico open his birthday present. We told him he was going to need it the next day. The Nintendo Switch! This boy saved up $150 to cover half of this, and we paid for the other half for his birthday.

Saturday was party day! We had 17 kids total, and we met at a trampoline park called Jump Time. We had the place almost entirely to ourselves! 

Sweaty kids eating pizza

Jason, Liz, Rory, and Lexie

When it was time to open presents, everyone gathered around him in the corner to watch.

Saturday night was pizza night, we watched episodes of a show called Corner Gas, a 90's Canadian comedy series that Grandpa and Grandma introduced us to. Nico loved it, as did we all.

Sunday we had a busy church morning and met up back at the Clubhouse that afternoon and evening.

Saying goodbye.

We said a temporary goodbye as we would see them later that week (read to the end and you'll see why and where!)

Monday was Nico's actual birthday. We bought him a small gift that he could open that day (some pokemon cards), and I asked him what he wanted for dinner that night. He said Pizza Pie Cafe, so that's where we went! At exactly 5:57PM we sang him Happy Birthday (the time he was born). That hasn't ever been a thing we do, but this year it was!

Then we drove home and cut into the cake I made for him earlier that day.

He has been playing the Switch every moment he can. We have been purposefully lax on the rules for screen time because... it's summer, it's a new game system, and, it's summer! We took the Switch downstairs several times to hook it up to the big screen.

On Tuesday was Grandma Camp! They mixed up some meatloaves, went to the Creperie, and went to see The Lion King.

At the creperie. They have gluten free crepes??!

Wednesday was prep day for our trip to Portland for Tom and Emily's wedding! We went grocery shopping, packed, and... played the Switch. Very important.

Then this morning, off we went! We caravanned to Portland because I am leaving from here to Spokane on Saturday while the boys head home. We were prepared with Walkie Talkies so we could always be in touch. Most of our chatter was, "Nico found an Alabama license plate", or, "There's a rest stop in two miles, let's go". At every rest stop, they checked license plates.

We stopped near Portland to see Multnomah Falls. We climbed up to that bridge you see in the picture, and Nico and Guy walked across it. I couldn't bring myself to. I fall over from dizziness when I'm near high things these days, so it was safer for me to stay on the side. They said you could feel the spray from the waterfall.

We arrived to our Airbnb in the evening, and then went to the rehearsal dinner. It was SO good to see Tom and Emily again.

The dinner was at a Chinese buffet and Nico tried some new things. Sushi with imitation krab, and clams! He also tried a crab leg. He said his favorite was the clams.

Tom and Emily!

We cannot wait to see them married tomorrow!

Then we went back at the Airbnb and the boys played Battleship.

G.G., Cabin, and Dentist

We had quite a full week!

On Friday, Nico and I drove to Nampa to see G.G.

She had all her toy cars out and ready for him when we walked in. She also gave him a stuffed dalmation dog that he loves and we have tentatively named Spot. (Thanks G.G.!) We had a great time and will be back again next month!

For our drive home, I had prepared a snack for Nico of (no kidding) cut up piece of beef liver along with cut up pieces of cheese. He (no kidding) loved this. The way that I've been cooking the liver has been very tasty, and it is even better COLD. So he munched on his liver and cheese while I just munched on a big slab of cold liver. He has been eating liver and cheese for a snack after nap time this whole week. It appears to be one of his favorite snacks.

After Nico's nap on Friday, we drove up to the cabin to see Papa and Grandma and stay the night! We took the opportunity to spend some time up there while Guy was out of town. We had a lot of fun. Good food and good company! Nico slept on a cot in a sleeping bag for the first time, and seemed to enjoy it. He slept pretty well!

Grandma caught this rare video of Papa and Nico dancing to a song on the iPad:

We left Saturday morning and all of us came back to our place. I went and did some shopping while the Grandparents played with Nico. It was a fun day, Nico got to eat Jimmy John's TWICE (and then again on Sunday!)

On Sunday, about halfway through the church service, someone came to tell me that Nico looked very troubled and looked about to cry in the nursery/toddler room, so I went in there. He RAN to me and hugged me really big. I took him into the service with me after that. I'm not sure why he's starting to have trouble in the nursery again, but I think next week I will stay in there with him like I used to do.

Monday morning we picked up Guy from the airport. It was great to see him again after 4 days away, we missed him! He had a great time in Portland. The comedy show was great, and he got to spend time with his brother Tom and Tom's girlfriend Emily.

Tuesday morning was Nico's very first dentist appointment. It was a "Happy Visit" and they didn't do much more than have him sit on the chair, recline, and poke around his teeth for a few minutes. They attempted to polish one of his teeth briefly, too. Nico didn't like that, but over all he did very well. 

The hygienist made things fun for him and let him hold and touch and play with everything. He enjoyed holding the mirror in his mouth. He also kissed the suction tool when she asked him to, and enjoyed watching it suck up an entire cup of water.

We'll go back in 6 months to get reacquainted and maybe try a bit more of the tooth polishing. His teeth looked good, though, no signs of cavities anywhere, just a normal amount of plaque. The hygienist said she could tell that he uses a binky, but that his front teeth will come back down pretty quickly after he stops using the binky and that it's nothing to worry about right now. Her son apparently used a binky for quite a long while and his teeth had no trouble returning to their normal position.

Family trip to the library on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday we had a play date with Tricia and her 15 month old daughter Brynnlynn. When we were leaving he asked to give Brynnlynn a hug. First time ever asking for a hug from one of his friends! It was too cute.

Then there was the random walk and park visits this week, as it's getting warmer I find that being outside is a great way to spend time! :)

Family

Grandparents Russell came by again today, bringing G.G. (Great Grandma Russell) with them! We did a gift exchange, ate dinner, then FaceTimed Tom (Uncle Tom to Nico). Lots of fun was had!!