Mindless Meanderings of Schroedawg

Jaxson turns 4 months today and what a handsome little man he is becoming. He is certainly the most relaxed, most content baby and doesn't let too much get under his skin. I'm hoping this demeanor sticks around through toddler-hood and into the school age years, because it will make my life a lot less complicated. :) In the past month, he went on his first camping trip and went swimming for the first time. He loved the water, as it was the hot springs up in Sol Duc. He went swimming yesterday for a birthday party which was a little different for his tastes, but he still loved it, once he got used to the cooler temps in comparison to Sol Duc. He also went on his first official bike ride in the baby carrier, which he seemed to enjoy for the most part. He has been working on his tummy time skills, really trying hard to gain momentum to keep his face from face planting on the floor. He really has a strong upper body, so that's fun to watch. He can stand tummy time for about

We planned a fun and exciting camping trip with our wonderful friends. I think Brad and I are pretty darn lucky to A) have a great group of adult friends and B) have adult friends with similar interests and kids, to boot. We decided to camp at Klahowya, a great little campground nestled between Pt. Angeles and Forks. Plus, our friends vanagon, Snickers, and our conversion van, Mayday, are both presently out of commission due to repairs and upgrades---hence, tent camping it was. Thank goodness for gorgeous weather! It was perfect location for us to venture to the Discovery Trail to bike ride, hike the Sol Duc and dip in the hot springs, and enjoy a day at the Pacific Ocean beaches. I feel very fortunate to have this all at our fingertips. Only one cold/misty rain type of day, which was spent at the hot springs anyhow. Upon arrival at Rialoto Beach, we enjoyed witnessing a humpback breech off shore and tail slap, as well as numerous spouts and backs of whales feeding in the Pacific off s

The rest of June went by too fast and here we are into the end of July. We have been busy most of the summer with swim lessons, summer camps, and time spent with friends. Highlight, though, is the proud moment she took off on her bike without training wheels! For her birthday, she got a new bike from Brad and I, but it was quite a proud moment as indicated by the first pic below.  No training wheels Our first family bike ride  Practicing without the training wheels Our 4th of July weekend ended up being pretty busy, but tons of fun. Lots of family-friend cookouts and get together's and a momentous watching the fireworks at our "spot" with our core group of friends. We also marched in the 4th of July parade down town Pt. Angeles, which was fun for Maddy, since she seemed to know everyone. It was quite comical. I also tried out a technique called Focus Blur and was pretty stoked with the artistic turn out of the fireworks pictures I took. It was f