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Enchanted Forest!

We took a trip to the Enchanted Forest before it closes for the summer. I worried the boys might be a bit young, but boy was I wrong. They loved it!!!

They really stopped and took in everything, which was a bit surprising to me.

They hit the trails and were off and running!

They even went in the Alice in Wonderland tunnel and the Indian Caves, which surprised me because it was really dark in there. Zachary stopped mid-way in one, but I went in (oh boy, I bet that was a sight! I was totally waddling like a duck!) and guided him out the rest of the way.

The boys loved this slide! They would have gone on it all day if I had let them!

You can't really tell in this picture, but, those closed windows with the shutters open every few seconds and little people pop out. Zachary stood and stared for a good 3 or 4 minutes. He was just absolutely fascinated by the opening shutters and people popping out!

Time for a snack!

We then went into the water show. I wasn't sure that the boys would like sitting and watching the water and lights but they loved it! Zachary especially!!! The music was loud and enchanting and the lights and water were really pretty. We stayed and watched it twice, just because little Zachary was so entranced. I actually got tears in my eyes just watching him watch the show. I had to take a picture of him just staring away. It was so neat to watch Zachary discover something new and be so mesmerized by it!

And of course, you can't go to the Enchanted Forest without going into the Crooked House! This was my favorite as a kid, and I could tell that it will likely be a favorite of the boys as well. They thought it was so fun to try and walk through the big room of the house. I had to take a quick video to capture their laughs (and the laughs of us adults!) and actions.

We will definitely be making a trip back next summer!

Warning: Construction Zone

The boys had their 2nd birthday party yesterday. Although the weather didn't entirely cooperate (it was chilly, but thankfully no rain), we still had a great time. This year's theme was construction, and I had a blast decorating!

We had construction cones down the driveway and balloons and construction tape all around the house. We also had 'construction area' signs all around the house.

The boys each had their own little construction cake.

Mike decorated the table with construction vehicles. It turned out fabulous!

We had lots of good food and friends.

Way too many presents.

The boys actually dug into their cakes this year!

It was a fantastic party. Thank you to everyone to celebrated the boys' birthdays with us!

Two Years Ago

Two years ago today, my life drastically changed. These two wonderful children were born. It is hard to believe that it has been two years since that day, but I can't really remember life before them. I can't imagine how my days were kept busy without chasing these two around! I cannot even begin to describe the amount of love and joy that these two have brought into my life. I love you Zachary and Tyler! Happy Birthday!

Titan

The cat has a name. Titan. It was a good compromise because Kathryn wanted Tiger and Mike wanted Indie and Matthew liked none of those. West Salem High School's mascot (where all of the kids will go) is a Titan, so it just seemed to fit.

Catching Up

Update time. The boys and I went to Grants Pass for a few days with Trish to say hi to her family down there. I had a terrible mommy moment and forgot my camera. But Trish remembered hers so pictures will come shortly. We got to go to a Wildlife Refuge down there and saw 5 black bears, 2 grizzly bears, cougars, a lynx, two wolves, a bunch of eagles...the boys had a great time! And amazingly, they did phenomenal on the car ride down!!!

Matthew and Kathryn are both into the groove with school. They seem to be really enjoying it. Matthew is on the heavyweight football team at his school this year and he loves it. I am so proud of him. He is playing quarterback some of the time. Talk about pressure! But he handles it so gracefully and is incredibly dedicated to being the best quarterback he can. Kathryn just auditioned for and made Honor Choir, so she's pretty jazzed about that. They are growing so fast.

Speaking of growing fast....the boys will be 2 on Friday. Yikes, where have the years gone? They are presenting all sorts of fun new challenges as they approach two. The latest is climbing out of their cribs constantly. Naptime and bedtime have, for the first time, become a bit of a challenge! Zachary LOVES to get into bed with Tyler. Today, I heard him awake from nap and went in to find him in Tyler's crib, stroking Tyler's hair while he was sleeping. So precious! And tonight, about 20 minutes after I put the boys to bed, Zachary came walking out of his room carrying his milk and blankie. It was so cute, but I had to keep up with my parenting approach of discipline and putting him back in his crib. Oh....and the other latest thing. Nudity. My boys love it. So, duct tape has now become my best friend. It's the only thing that keeps their diapers on.

The cat still has no name. It has been over a week. He is finally settling in and sleeps with Mike and I every night. I told Mike tonight that tomorrow is the day that we WILL pick a name for him!

Left Brain vs. Right Brain

My children are two totally different beings. Which is quite entertaining, but sometimes it just amazes me. Same environment, same parenting....and two totally opposites. But I am so glad for that. I want them to be individuals, but they are definitely close to each other. Lately they have decided that they sleep in each other's cribs. So funny! And then when Zachary wakes up he climbs in his own crib with Tyler. They keep me laughing every day. They'll be 2 next week. Can you believe it?

The boys love music. They love their Baby Einstein video that has cymbals and drums in it, so tonight I got them a little set. And just to show you how different these two are, watch how each of them 'plays' the cymbals.

What Name Shall It Be?

This is our new cat. What do you think is a good name for him?

New Cat, No Name

Well, Monday night we got a new cat. He doesn't have a name yet though. But as I am typing, he is biting at my fingers and his tail is wagging in my face and I am having a hard time typing! He is still trying to adjust to our crazy household and pretty much runs when he sees the boys coming. But he's starting to come out from under the bed a bit more now that he's been with us for 2 days. I haven't wanted to traumatize him with the camera yet, but will try to post pictures tomorrow and you'll have to give me your input on names!

Cat Update

Well, Nike (aka Shadow) had apparently been missing from our neighbor's house for two weeks now. So Nike was just visiting us to get caught up on food and rest. He is back at his home now, although he comes and visits every day. We have been talking about getting another cat though, because everyone seemed to really enjoy having one in the house. It is going to have to be a special cat though. His personality will have to mesh with the 6 personalities at our house! The hunt for a new cat is on!

Just a Hotel?

We had the best evening and morning with Nike. He got to nap and play and cuddle until midnight, and then went outside to play. I found him sleeping on the porch in the little bed we made him at 6am, when Mike asked me to go get the cat. He came back to bed with us and played all morning until I took Kathryn to school. He wanted to play outside, so I left him out because I figured he'd slept on our porch and we'd fed him and let him sleep inside, so he'd definitely stick around. I ran to Walmart and bought all of the cat owner essentials and returned home shortly, but no cat was to be found. And so far, he has yet to return. So, I'm thinking that maybe we were just a much needed hotel for temporary shelter and food. We are all a bit sad, with the hopes that maybe he'll come back but we also know that maybe he finally had his belly full and his rest and went home to wherever he came from. If we were indeed just a hotel instead of a home, that is okay. We had fun while it lasted, but we still keeping checking the back porch to see if he is there. I'll keep you posted.

A New Bundle Of Joy

Why is Tyler looking under the chair, you might be asking yourself?

To find this.
If you know our household well, you are saying to yourself 'But the Sommer family doesn't have a cat.' Yep, that's what I said too when I saw this cat. Hmmm, we don't have a cat. Odd, since there's one in my house.
This morning when I got the boys up and opened their window, I could hear a cat meowing really loudly. Then, Zachary was sitting by the front door, looking out our little window for about 5 minutes. Upon further investigation, I discovered that he was playing through the glass with a kitten. When I opened the door to shoo it away, it wanted to come in.

We did yard work this morning and the cat played with us and the boys the whole time. The next thing I know, Tyler is gone. Mike said, I bet he's inside playing with the cat. Yep. There was the cat, in our house. To make a long story short, the cat basically stayed here all day, napping in the sun, playing with the boys, etc.

Upon further discussion, we decided that the cat needs a home because he was hungry and didn't really seem to have anywhere to go. We asked around and no one is missing one in the near neighborhood. So we are going to keep it. The kids love it. And it was actually Mike's idea to keep it, which is amazing.

His new name is Nike Black Sommer. Nike, picked by Matthew, and Black, picked by Kathryn. I wanted Midnight, but I obviously lost out on the name picking. That's okay, I don't mind. Nike is kinda cool.

Tyler even sacrificed the beloved yellow blankie to cover up the kitty. What's really amazing is how gentle and patient the cat is with the boys. It is like it was meant to be.

Beach Days

Well, I survived. I'd like to say that I'm glad we're home, but, once we got settled in, I felt like I wanted to stay longer! This is the house where we stayed: 4 bedrooms, a loft, 3.5 bathrooms, gourmet kitchen, a hot tub, air hockey....it was perfect. We stayed with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. My other aunt and uncle, and 3 other cousins and their families stayed at a similar house about 2 blocks away.

3 decks - so cool!
Friday we got over there and got all settled in. The boys loved that the house was 3 levels and that there were so many stairs! Tyler decided to take a rest on the bottom stair.
Matthew and Kathryn immediately hit the hot tub and we had a fire in the fire pit behind the house. None of us went to bed until almost midnight - including the boys!
The next morning....off to the beach! This was the 2nd time the boys have been to the beach, but much nicer weather this time. Zachary loved playing in the sand....Tyler apparently loves the ocean, the fish that he is, and I literally had to drag him out kicking and screaming when the waves were coming in too fast and he kept wanting to go in but would get knocked over.
A few of the many cousins there.
Kathryn digging in the sand, after she too was knocked down by a giant wave

Gotta have your beach chairs! And sticks to put in the cup holders.

And digging utensils with bucket. Notice he still has his shoes on. He's not a fan of any sort of dirt or sand touching his body anywhere other than his hands, and even then he likes his hands to be thoroughly cleaned afterwards.

Grandpa put Tyler up on a log

So then, after the beach, the boys crashed, and guess where Grandma and I went? Yep, the outlets!!! And it was the busiest I had ever seen them. But they had great clearance sales and I stocked up on tons of tank tops for next summer for the boys for all about $1! I even found sweats for Kathryn for $.99! But, I also found.....yes, I know.....it's only the 1st of September, but.....the boys' Halloween costumes. I couldn't pass them up. I found the cutest monkey costume for Zachary, so I had to get it! But I didn't really see much for Tyler. Until Grandma found this - the skunk. At first I thought, a skunk? Really? That's kinda lame. THEN I saw the red heart on the butt of the skunk that reads 'Lil Stinker' and I had to have it too. Pretty much describes Tyler in a nutshell. So once we got the costumes home, Tyler wanted to wear his. AND then he wouldn't take it off!!!!!

This pretty much sums up the trip for Matthew and my cousin Erin's husband Sam. They are staring at the tv playing a PS2 game.

Sunday was pretty much a nightmare. After 2 nights of Tyler not sleeping well, and me finally getting him to sleep on my chest, I knew he had an ear infection. Sunday morning we set out on a quest to find a doctor. No Immediate Care.....closed down a year ago. The 'Urgent Care' isn't at all urgent care....its a doctor's office where you have to make an appointment. The ER was a joke. So......back to the 'urgent care' option. I made an appointment for that afternoon. After the doctor tells me 'yep, double ear infection' to which I was to say 'yah, no kidding!' We get a couple of prescriptions. Which are a nightmare to get filled. But....two pharmacies and two hours later, we have antibiotics. So, off we go. Once we got a dose in Tyler, he slept for 2 hours in Grandma's arms. Everyone else took off to the beach to roast hot dogs on the largest bonfire in the history of bonfires, thanks to my dad and Uncle Roger. The boys, Grandma, and I joined later for some Smores, while the big kids played football for hours!

Here are some videos of the boys and the activities that they found in their 'new home' for the long weekend.

Tyler slept on the way home, about an hour and a half, and then took a 4 hour nap once home. Zachary took a 5 hour nap! So, I think hopefully they will be caught up on their sleep by tomorrow. And hopefully I will be too.

And school starts Wednesday! Not that I'm counting down the days or anything. = )