October 1 - 15, 2017 - 3 years 3 months

We went out for sushi and Kadin did a great job with his chopsticks!

ARGGH.  He LOVED the calamari.  He actually ate everything but wasn't too excited about the raw salmon.

As a surprise reward for being so good in the restaurant and in Value Village, I let Kadin pick out a toy and he is super excited about his new pirate ship!

It even has little mini wheels so it can smoothly sail the concrete seas.

Soleil's Birthday Party!!! Soleil is the girl to the far left.  

Mr. Monkey Acrobat in the bath.

In aerial yoga, this would be the orangutan pose.

Throwing rocks and sticks and leaves and watching them sink or float down the coast like a pirate ship.  (Everything is a pirate ship these days!)

It took Kadin over an hour to finally work up the courage to approach Sparky, the fire dog.  Sparky was quiet and patient and eventually Kadin wanted to show him all of his toys and art.  He even started to "read" the fire activity book to him!

We visited Wendy for a lovely tea and biscuits and a fun romp with her dogs.  Kadin found a feather on her window sill and he let me put it in his hair.  I love his facial expression in this picture for some reason.  

Yes, he's still running around naked.  But the awesome thing is that he had watched me mop the floor a few minutes prior to this and then immediately picked up the mop, mopped the floor, and used the squeegie thing to get the water out.  Kids' amazing ability to watch and imitate never ceases to surprise me.

September 16 - 19, 2016 - 2 years 2 months

Every evening when I pick him up from daycare, Kadin begs for a snack and then falls asleep in the car,  snack in hand (and usually all over the carseat too).

My friend Heather couldn't use her cabin reservation at Byer's Lake and asked if Kadin and I would like to go instead… I certainly was in the mood to escape life for a bit so I took her up on the offer…
 Yay!  A few phone calls later, appointments were re-arranged, and I threw a bunch of gear into the car and off we went.  Kadin is ready to go!

Here's our rig - a packraft set up with my backpack strapped down in front, the sleeping pad in the back, and the two of us squished in the middle.  Kadin enjoys it for the most part, but starts to get antsy after a bit.  Then we stop, look for feathers and leaves floating on the water, or have a snack, and all is good again.

Exploring and hiking around the cabin in the evening.  Kadin took a sudden liking to the ferns along the trail and I showed him how to put them behind his ear… like a cute little forest elf.

Kadin found a loon's feather down by the lake.  So pretty!  And we could see the loons on the lake, doing their crazy calls.  

Short trip, just one night, and back into the raft and on the lake 

It was a misty, drizzly day, giving the lake a completely different mood than yesterday.

The rain didn't stop Kadin from having a good time!