Soaking it all in!

I'm not sure exactly where 2 and 1/2 months went, but sadly, they'll be officially gone in 2 days! We've had an amazing summer filled with tons of sunny gorgeous days and just the right amount of rain (in my humble opinion.)

Saturday was one of those drop everything you're doing and get outside kind of days. It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky. So, I decided to have a date with my boys. :) Dane won a free pass to the Mount Roberts Tram for participating in a library summer reading program and he's been talking about going back up there since our last trip.

Here are a few shots from our day.

We had a blast walking on the trail, but the highlight for the boys was definitely the elevator and drinking fountain. Go figure!

Up Up & Away

Jaeger's birthday bash was a flying success! We had a full house and all the kids seemed to have a blast. I think the adults may have actually enjoyed themselves too. :)

Daddy, our party photographer, has barely had time to see his family let alone download the birthday pictures, so we'll post his photos when he has more time. It's that crazy time at Ward Air where he's out the door before we get up and arriving home after we've gone to bed. :( I did take a few photos of some of the decorations that I thought you might enjoy seeing.

Here are a few of the favors I made for our guests. On the left are candy airplanes made from Smarties, Lifesavers and gum. Here's the original idea from Family Fun magazine. On the right, my friend, Turkey showed me how to make chocolate lollypops. They were super fun and easy to make. Dane really loved helping make both favors. As soon as Jaeger would go down for his nap, we'd get crafting. :)

We put the favors inside this Motion Sickness Bag we got from Alaska Seaplanes. I love how vintage it is!

Jaeger got this adorable backpack from Grandma Heidi and it was a great place to store all the goodies for our guests. :) Thanks Grandma!

Dane also enjoyed helping me make the cake!

Here's the final product. Thanks to Daddy who tackled the writing on the cake and the adorable smoke coming from the back of the plane. He's so crafty! (You may notice that we wrapped the table with some of Dan's old aeronautical charts.)

We had several signs around the house. The welcome sign was on our front door and I'm sure you can imagine where the other signs were hung. ;)

We played one "game." It was kind of a hide 'n seek. The kids had to find toy airplanes in a kiddie pool filled with shredded paper. This was a huge hit and an equally huge mess! Here's one photo I managed to snap of Dane and his friend Kellen going crazy with the shredded paper. (Yep, that's Dane wearing no pants at his brother's birthday party! I couldn't get him to wear pants - what a goof!)

And here's a video of everyone signing Happy Birthday to our sweet birthday boy.

Enjoying these last few days...

It suddenly occurred to me that I only have a week left of summer!! How in the world did that happen? We've been blessed with an awesome summer filled with lots of beautiful sunny days. It's hard to imagine we'll be hustling and bustling with our busy fall schedules in just a few short weeks. (I just got Dane's preschool schedule in the mail!) Until then, we're trying to remember to take things slow (thanks for the reminder Tristan!) and taking time to smell the flowers. :)

What a couple of clowns!

An impromptu photo shoot lasted all of 3 seconds with these 2 clowns.

The Birthday Celebration

Jaeger's Birthday celebration started with blueberry pancakes.


I was quite impressed with myself for thinking to make a 2 out of the blueberries and then Dan came out with this creation for Dane! I've officially been reduced to washing dishes on pancake days! ;)


This was Jaeger's 2nd pancake in honor of his favorite song "Hey Bunny Bunny."




It was a beautiful morning (meaning it wasn't raining like it had been for 5 straight days!) so we headed to the glacier. We'd heard that the bears were out looking for salmon and we got to see this little guy searching for his breakfast.


After many phone and Skype calls talking to our wonderful family we opened all of Jaeger's cards and gifts. Dane really loved helping out with this task! And then we had one of Jaeger's new favorite meals - BBQ Applesauce Chicken (ridiculously easy and super yummy!) and of course, cupcakes for dessert. :)

Thanks Dane for helping out!

Can't you just hear Jaeger Ray saying thanks everyone for making my 2nd birthday so special. He loved all the phone calls, cards, gifts and love being sent his way!

Happy Birthday Jaeger Ray!

Today you turned 2. Where did the time go?

It seems like just yesterday you were bundled up in your favorite blue blankie just days after taking you home from the hospital....

Today you are my mischievous little monkey! Case in point - stealing a sip of Mommy's tea (look at that mischievous little grin!) ...

You seem to have me wrapped around your sweet little finger though! Your smile just melts my heart and seems to erase all the naughty that you've gotten yourself into...

Being 2 is so much fun!
Here are some things you adore:

D! (otherwise known as Firefighter Paul in our house) , asking Why? and then saying "OOOOOO", stacking things (see this post) and this new picture...

Bailey - you absolutely love Bailey (otherwise known as "B") !!! You lay on his rug with him, torture him by putting toys on his head and body (and sweet Bailey is so patient) and purposely throw food on the ground just to feed him (which makes Mommy quite mad!)

You also love dancing in circles with your biscuits leading the way, riding your car just enough past the driveway and into the street for me to say "Jaeger Ray, on the driveway!", the "Hey Bunny Bunny" song we have to listen to non-stop in the car, flushing the toilet over and over again (thank goodness we don't live in California anymore and have to watch how much water we waste!), the phone (you've already broken one and have been sentenced to just playing with the toy versions) , and Dance Party USA (as dubbed by Auntie Jenna). Your absolute favorite Dance Party song is Forget You by Gwyneth Paltrow from Glee. You and Dane come running from anywhere in the house when it comes on. It's so cute! Lastly and to your brother's chagrin - wee ohhh wee -ooohs!

And here's what we adore about you!

Those Hubert cheeks - oh so perfect for laying on a million and one kisses a day, our morning milk get-togethers - just me, you and some quiet time, even though your naughty ways give us a whole lot of grief we still love it, how much you love Bailey, the way you say more (uh - moooor), in fact, all of your sweet words for things (going for a swing is "uh - wee!") , how snuggly you are, your sweet feet and toes, how much you love Dane and your Daddy, rocking you to sleep, your fascination with anything in the sky whether it be an uh-bee (airplane) or an uh-birrr (bird) and your love of the outdoors (rain or shine - you love to be outside!)

We love you more than you'll even know sweet Chunk-A-Monkers!

Sandy Biscuits!