Swimming?

Just in case you didn't know...  Kaden is possibly the world's biggest water dog!  He not only splashes in mud puddles, but he find buckets that have collected rain water and dumps them in his own face.  He turns on the shower and stands under the spray sputtering.  He plays under the water faucet at the park.  He crawls into a cooler full of ice just for a chance to splash (Jeni, is there anyway I can get that picture?).  He also plays in animal watering troughs...

Across the yard from Max's beautiful fire pit is a water trough that Maggie uses.  Now it doubles as a swimming pool.  Unfortunately I was feeding Kindi when he spotted it, but I'm told that when he realized what it was he just ran and dove in.

So here are a series of pictures from my goofy sons adventures in the watering trough!

Splashing!

This face cracks me up!

Grandma helped him out so that he could get a piece of wood...

...and take it swimming too!

Where'd it go?

Silly boy!  His facial expression is so funny, but it barely looks like him.

4th of July

Posing with Papa on 4th of July morning.  We had planned to go to church all dressed up, but Saturday afternoon/night I came down with a flu or something.  I was sick to my stomach and had to miss out on the delicious BBQ meal and party.  I did feel well enough to go sit outside and watch Max's friend (an ex Master Pyrotechnic, or something like that...) light off some professional fireworks!  That was fun, Kindi slept through them and Kaden would wait until they were done then he would point up in the sky where they used to be and Ooooo and Aaaaahhh.  Priceless!

Papa was totally in love with Kindi's patriotic dress.  Of course who wouldn't be!

Kaden even had flag shorts! 

Chocolate milk and a swing with Papa make for a happy little boy.

Her smiles were definitely not as frequent as they are now.

Grandma getting some love too.  Poor little Kindi, her hat was just way too big!

I love this picture.

Heading across the driveway to Great Grandma and Grandpa Remboldt's house.

Kaden got a kick out of playing with the walkers.  He would crawl up on them, flip over on his belly, slide off then run around to the other side like a flash of lightening and start again.  They were also good for riding when Daddy agreed to be the motor!

The only way they could get Kaden to sit still and pose with Grandma was to put him on the walker.

This is such a wonderful picture!

Kaden has really taken a liking to wearing big boy hats.

Kaden and I having a little chat!

I believe that Kaden has a spoon that he is playing with in the flower beds.  He had the time of his life at G&G's this time.  The weather was nice, there is so much to explore and so much space to run.

Kindi was thrilled with Papa's clapping and talking to her.  She even blessed him with her beautiful smile and some little squeals.

Kindi's First Trip to Milton Freewater

   We went to Milton Freewater for the first time with Kindi over 4th of July weekend.   Jeremy and I were so worried about taking her for such a long drive (5 1/2 hours if we drive straight through and don't have bad traffic, usually more like 6-6 1/2).  Her typical reaction to being strapped into the car seat is to scream bloody murder (I've never really thought about it before, but that is a weird saying.)!  You would think we were pinching her as we clicked those buckles. 

   Jeremy had to teach summer school that morning, so I packed and kept Kindi awake as much as possible.  When we got ready to leave around 1 or so she was exhausted and had already stopped screaming by the time we got her out to the car, even though she was in the car seat already.  She passed out before we made it out of Lebanon and get this... Kindi slept all the way to Pendelton!!!  Hallelujah!  For those who don't know Pendelton is less than an hour from MF.  Of course when she did wake up she was incredibly hungry and very upset to be stuck in that chair still.  She started with her normal I'm unhappy, fix it, cry but before we could pull into Pendelton to stop at McDonalds, so I could feed her and Kaden could play, she was screaming this high pitched almost hyperventilating cry.  It was terrible and I had never heard her so distressed before.  Thankfully after a break at McD's she only cried for a few minutes before she went back to sleep and made it the rest of the way! 

   Kaden was an amazing trouper!  We usually stop at least a couple of times for him to get out and stretch a bit, but since Kindi was still sleeping we just kept driving.  He napped for the first hour and a half or two and then played quietly for awhile.  We also had a portable DVD player that Grandma had given to him at Christmas so he would have something to do on his next trip to see her.  He was amazed and captivated with the Veggie Tales for oh... 15 minutes!  The truly captivating part was the fact that he could reach the DVD holder with his feet.  So he kicked it for hours, I finally had to take the player away and just let him kick the case!  We did our best to entertain him and he made it with only a minimal amount of whining.  

All the cousins!

Emma, Kindi, Lily, Jacy & Kaden

   Max is a very talented... I don't know what you call him, but he is good at building and beautifying!   He built a fire pit and barbecue area that is absolutely gorgeous!  We ate most of our meals out there and spent the evenings by the fire.  I thought I had a better picture of it in here but maybe that is in one of the other posts.  Because there is so much that I want to share with you all the trip will be a series of posts!  Anyways, that is where we took these pictures.  :) 

Heath and Alyssa with their three beautiful, way to grown up girls!

Kaden wondering why they are all standing like that.

So our kids were so not into having their picture taken at the moment!  Luckily in this small version you can't tell too much.  Maggie (Max's mastiff puppy) decided to join us since she adopted Kaden.

Max had a picture of him and Kaden from last year's 4th of July that he loved and wanted to duplicate with Kindi.  She's not terribly impressed.  :)

Snuggling with Grandma.

Meeting Uncle Heath and cousin Emma.  I am ashamed to admit that I didn't get any pictures of Kindi with Aunt Alyssa.  :(

Great Grandma Remboldt

Kaden loved to stand at the gate from the house to the fire pit and be the door man.  He was quite the little gentleman opening and closing the gate for everyone.

And of course being the monkey that he is, Kaden spotted a ladder and just had to climb it.  He didn't ever get too high on it, but if we were there today he would be at the top in a flash!  He has been practicing climbing ladders at the park.

Jacy is going to show this little heifer at the Walla Walla County Fair this year... I think... it might be next year.  

Kaden didn't care to much for sitting on her back.

These last two pictures are just a couple of me and Kindi.  Kindi is so adorable and since it was her first time there we had to have a morning modeling session each day as we came in the door.  :)

It is so much fun having a little girl to dress up in all kinds of pretties!  

3 Months Old

   Time is traveling way to fast.  I realize that I say that all the time, but it never ceases to amaze me how I blink and my baby isn't a newborn anymore.  She is growing and changing all of the time.  She hardly looks like the infant I brought home 3 short months ago. 

   On the flip side though, she smiles and is on the brink of laughing.  It mostly comes out as a grunt with an occasional squeal, but she's close!  Kaden started actually belly laughing at his 3 month photo shoot with Carpenter Photography just a couple of days after he turned 3 months.  We are about a week and a half after Kindi's (I know, I am slow getting these up.  Sorry!) so I expect to hear that wonderful baby belly laugh any day now.  I love the milestones.

As it seems is always the case these days, Kindi was fighting a bit of a cold when we took these pictures.  She did a good job anyways. 

Isn't her dress cute!  The Wahl's gave that to us.

Just playing a bit.  I downloaded Gimp for photo editing, but I never have the time to figure out how to use it so I just use my basic Picasa.

It is so much fun to see how different and how similar Kaden and Kindi look.  I love comparing Kaden's monthly birthdays with Kindi's.

   Thrilling news!  Okay, so maybe it won't be incredibly exciting for you, but for me?  Oh, yeah.  I finally got a remote for my camera!!!  So what that means is that I can set my camera up on a tripod and stand across the room to take a picture!  It will be great for family photos at Christmas, no more pressing the button, then running to your spot and waiting, and wondering, did it take the pic yet?  Now I can just set up, walk calmly to my designated position and say 'Smile!', and with the click of a button concealed in my hand we have a family portrait.

   It also works great for taking pictures of little kids who have a tendency to tip over when you let go.  In the above picture I have my hands under Kindi's skirt helping her to balance while she stands.  I couldn't do that before!  Of course the problem is that if they move they might not be fully in the picture. 

This one is my favorite.  I finally got a full smile out of her and her cute little hat (which is way to big) is actually on her head!  Too bad she started tipping right as I clicked the button.

Slip n Slide

We gave Malaki a Slip 'n' Slide for his birthday this year, June 13th.  He didn't think it was warm enough to play with it yet, but the other kids did.

Lillie                                             Kaden

The left side of it sprinkles the slider, or in this case, the runners!

Morgan was the first one brave enough to actually slide on it.  There is a big puddle, of really cold water, to splash down into at the end.

I used to love slip n slides.  Now I think... How in the world did I used to do that?  OUCH!  I have joined the 'runner' crowd!

Kaden is such a water dog.

It came with a 'surfer' to slide down on... Maybe I will try that one someday, but probably not!  Morgan tried to get Kaden to do it, he wasn't interested in it at all.  (This was the same day as the 4 wheeler when he was sick.)  Kori thought she wanted to do it although she really wasn't too thrilled once they got going.

Then Morgan talked Zach (her boyfriend) into letting her pull him on it.  After that he showed off his surfer skills.

It also doubles as a drinking fountain!  Silly Kori girl.

Soaked and loving every minute of it!

Lillie makes a flying leap over the splash down pool.