A Tale of Two Spidermen(and one Supergirl, and a pirate)

Josh and his cousin Logan are both obsessed with Spiderman (and superheroes in general). Superhero play is very big in Josh's class at school. And Logan just turned 4, and had a Spiderman themed birthday party, with a live visit from Spiderman.
So with Halloween approaching, it was little surprise what they would want for costumes. Although Josh threw us a curveball as we shopped for the right costume, by saying he also wanted to be Batman. He has never been exposed to Batman here, so he must have picked that up at school. So we logged onto a Superhero costume website and let him pick between Batman and Spiderman, and he picked "Venom" Spiderman.
My sister valiantly attempted to lure Logan out of Spiderman with the very cute Supergirl costume, but she was unswayed. She will also be Spiderman, but the "good" one. She thinks it's "so cool" (her new favorite phrase) that she and Josh will both be Spiderman, and claims her good Spiderman will defeat Josh's bad Spiderman.
Luke is going to be a tiger (already had that costume from my friend Kimi), but for fun, and with a little help from Nana, he also got to dress up like a pirate. Aarg.
Josh:


Logan:


Luke:

Pumpkin Patch

After many straight years of going to Sauvie Island for the pumpkin patches, I decided today that we should try a new place. I read about several family farms offering hayrides, animals, and pumpkins of course, and we picked one to try out. It was a mistake. The old adage was true: if it isn't broke, don't fix it. We should have stuck with Sauvie Island.
First, the place was further away than I thought, making for something of a long drive. Then we got lost, making for a longer drive. Then, when we finally arrived, it was small and not very exciting, and paled in comparison to the place we usually go. We'll be back there next year (if not later this month).
Josh had fun though. He picked a pumpkin from the display by the cash register when we first arrived. We talked him into putting it back and riding the hay ride out to the field to see the other pumpkins. But you can guess what we bought in the end: the original pumpkin he liked at the display!
Here we are on the hayride. Lucas was not amused.

The pumpkin selection.

Josh in the hay maze:

The then and present pumpkin:

Josh took this picture of John with a big pumpkin. He is getting pretty good (or perhaps lucky) with framing pictures.

My disinterested boys. Love Luke's arm over the armrest.

Josh

Lest you think otherwise, we do still take pictures of Josh. Here is proof:

He looks kind of grown up here, his face is changing so much from a baby face to a boy face.

These two are also from Lucas's 4-month birthday. Josh is such a great big brother. Josh and his classmates are obsessed with the concept of "best friends" now. He usually identifies either Terence or his cousin Logan as his best friend, but once he said, "baby brother Lucas is my best friend." Way too adorable.

Lucas turns 4 months old

Here's our happy boy:

Lucas turned four months old on October 4. He continues to be extremely dissatisfied with being set down. We were on the hunt for a bumpo, but decided to go with an exersaucer instead, as he is now almost too old to be content just sitting in the bumpo anyway. (How did we get two such active babies??) We found an good used saucer on craigslist and just love seeing Lucas stand up on his own in it.

This picture is from his actual birthday, on October 4. He was smiling and laughing, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. This is the best of the bouncy chair series.

This was after I loaded him up for his doctor's appointment, and I love the intense look he is giving.

All was well per the doctor. She also sees him as a very active child, probably an early sitter, crawler and walker, like his brother. He is 70th percentile for height and 25th for weight, so looking to be tall and thin like Josh, but smaller (Josh was/is always 90th for height and 50th for weight). She has prescribed some sleep changes though, so it should be a difficult weekend for us as we try to implement them. Wish us luck.

Luke's first food

Luke must have been going through a growth spurt, because he could not get enough to eat this day. Since he won't take a bottle anymore, our options were pretty limited, so we decided to move onto rice cereal even though he is only three months old. He still has his tongue-thrust reflex, so he pushes the food back out as soon as we put it in, and we had to push it back in to get it down. Despite this process, he ate almost the whole bowl, so we declared success!




He looks pretty satisfied.

Portland Taiko

Today we went to our third performance by Portland Taiko. "Taiko" is the Japanese word for drum, but also seems to specifically refer to this big drum, physical style of drumming. Last year, we could not make the children's matinee due to John's school schedule, so we went to a regular performance. This year, we made the children's matinee, and were thrilled to learn that children were invited onto the stage during the performance. Josh was one of the invitees, and happily accepted. The picture is dark, and we actually weren't supposed to take any so we only got this shot, but here is Josh on stage doing some Taiko drumming.


He was so cute. Also super cute was Luke, who we outfitted in Bose noise-cancelling headphones (John's) which were way too big but very cute on him. He wasn't bothered by the loud drums at all, and made it through almost the whole performance without so much as a peep.

Cannon Beach

Two weekends ago (yes, late post, typical these days), my dear friend Michele Stone had her baby shower at the beach. Seven women rented a house together in Cannon Beach, Oregon, for a weekend away in her (and baby's) honor. Lucas also got to come as a surprise guest, because he began refusing a bottle when I went back to work in August, so John had no way to feed him while I was gone and I didn't want to subject John and Josh to two days of crying. Plus, Lucas and seven women equals lots of love and affection for baby Lucas, so he had a great time.
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Here is a picture looking north to Haystack Rock.

Here we are enjoying some lazy rest on the beach.

Michele's friend Amanda from Chicago, with me and Lucas, while out window shopping in town.

Erin and Lucas, who is sucking her thumb.

Michele and baby, flanked by Courtney and Erin.

It was a really nice time, sunny, gorgeous, relaxing, and with good company.

Three years // Three months

Luke turned three months old last night at 11:30 p.m. Here are his three month photos, also featuring 3-year-old big brother Josh.

close up:

Luke started daycare yesterday too, and Josh visits him during the day. His teachers are all so impressed with how proud Josh is of his "baby brudder" and how much he wants to show Lucas off to his friends.

Plumas County Fair

Last year we also attended the Plumas County Fair while at Lake Almanor, and we decided to return this year. Last year, one of the competitors in the swine tent let Josh (and us) into his pig's pen to meet him. I remember how ticklish it felt when the pig licked my toes, which he kept doing! This year, one kid tried to show his chicken to Josh, but Josh was a little freaked out at the idea of holding it (I think I would have been too, they seem like wily creatures to hold onto). We visited all the animals but didn't really meet any or get any good pictures, as Josh was tearing through the place and I was busily trying to keep up without rolling the stroller through poo.

We did, however, spend lots of time in the kiddie ride section. Josh was really cute and had a great time. He even left, without a fight, when we said it was time to go.

He told us for the entire duration of his wait in line that he wanted this blue race car. Luckily, he got it.



I was disappointed that the little airplanes came equipped with machine guns, but Josh wasn't. Despite never playing with toy guns before, he seemed to know just what to do as Daddy ran around the circle "hiding" from Josh and getting targeted.


Josh did the bungee at the Rose Festival back in May, and we were excited to see him do it again.





The second time Josh drove the kiddie train, some kid came to sit shotgun with him, and Josh declared his now-overused new expression, "I need space." (I think his teachers taught him this as a nice way to say "go away"). The kid did not give Josh "space," but Josh let him ride along without further protest,which was a huge relief to me.

Looking at this photo as I write, the train seems kinda creepy looking, like it could be in a horror movie with nightmares and bad clowns. It didn't seem that way in real life, just cheesy in a kiddie way.

As with Juniper Lake, Luke spent most of the fair tucked away in his stroller, out of the very hot sun. Next year Luke!

Juniper Lake

During our 2004 Lake Almanor vacation, we decided to venture into the Mt. Lassen national park and explore. That day we hiked down to a geothermal area. The following year, we went into the park land again and visited Juniper Lake for the day. We've return each year since. This year, our brother and sister-in-law Curt and Jeni came along with us. As always, it was a really nice time. It always seems a little strange to leave one lake for another, but the experience at each is so different, we are always glad we made the trip to Juniper Lake. It is fairly still, sparsely occupied, fairly shallow, and just peaceful and wonderful to visit.

Here are Josh and John out in our little boat. John would like me to state that the water was not very deep (as Josh is not wearing his PFD).

Josh is not content to ride and always wants to take the oars.

Aunt Jeni helps Josh to the big rock, much to his delight.

Monica at the oar.

And where was Lucas? Up on the shoreline, under the shade of a tree, staying out of the sunlight.

He'll have more fun next year!

Lake Almanor

Every year we meet up with the Markley clan at Lake Almanor, a mountain lake in Northern California, in the Mount Lassen area. The water is snowmelt (cold, even in summer) and the scenery is alpine (conifers, as we know from Josh's CDs), and there are deer and other wildlife. It is a gated peninsula, and is very serene. We always have a nice time.
Here is a location shot:

Here are my boys. We got a second one of them actually looking at the camera, but this one was somehow cuter. I love how Josh's hand is gently resting on Luke's head.

Josh loved playing frisbee. We loved how he pronounces it.

Surfer dude. I may be biased, but he is going to drive the girls crazy.

Gammy and Poppa:

The week starts off with the Sunday "Family Dinner." There is a long line of barbeque grills and everyone on the peninsula (okay, it is technically called a country club) comes out to eat together, followed by live music. Here are Josh and Gene enjoying their dinners together.

And, here are Josh and Gene the following day, hand in hand (so cute!).
I had to zoom, so I lost some clarity with my less-than-professional grade equipment.

I think this is a really good picture of John and Luke, on the back porch of the house Gail and Gene rented for all of us. We had a great front porch, with a wonderful porch swing, and two back porches, one just off the kitchen, and one down the steps at ground level. It was a really great house.

Morning in the lake house. Dad's job isn't easy either.
Check out Luke's extremely cute vintage hoodie. I am so proud of finding that!

Another cute pic of John and Luke, and of hoodie!

John is rocking the tan already.