I've procrastinated too long in writing this post, and now there's too much to write about, so I'm going to do the highlights and then just do a general photo dump and hope for your forgiveness.
The big news of course is Uncle Cliff and Aunt Susana's wedding! We have been gearing up for the wedding for a while, since Grady was graciously asked to be the ring bearer in the wedding (more on this later). This was our second time flying with both kids, and it went pretty well. Grady is old enough now to watch a movie - Cars, shocker - so we almost forgot he was there. Clara was more of a challenge, but did well for the short flight. We had her decked out in the cutest outfit we could find, just in case.
Clara and Grady both were pretty excited to see San Diego!
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| Hope she doesn't continue to do this when the person in the window seat is not related to her |
There were a lot of highlights for this trip. The wedding itself was lovely. Susana, unsurprisingly, looked gorgeous. The music was fun and lively, everyone was dancing, the toasts were heartfelt and poignant, and it was clear that there was a lot of love between and for the two of them as they started on their journey together. My dad wrote a musical toast for the two of them, which was a mash of childhood songs of Cliff's, the MASH theme song (to get to his doctor days) and Here Comes the Bride. It was really well done, funny, and moving.
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| Introducing husband and wife |
Grady, despite having some pre-wedding jitters ("I don't want to be the ring bearer. I just want to be a boy.") did a good job as ring bearer. Although he did make this really weird face all the way down the aisle - sort of looking up and moving his head from side to side while bearing his teeth. Matt told me that Cliff asked Matt "What face is that" to which Matt replied "I have no idea!" He's not a wallflower, that Grady.
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| wedding outfit |
Clara was less professional. We debated what to do with her, and, thanks to a very accommodating bride, decided to go with me trying to hold her during the wedding. It took approximately two minutes before she started loudly imitating the minister, and cousin Noel graciously took Clara for the duration of the wedding. Given that Clara is undergoing some severe separation anxiety/stranger danger at the moment, Noel had to endure a screaming child and some concerned looks from strangers as she walked around the block with her. (Thank you again, Noel.) On the bright side, she did look cute!
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| wedding outfit |
Outside of the ceremony, both kids were rock stars. They stayed up several hours after their bedtimes, were funny and sweet, and made fast friends out of their cousins. Their cousins Scott and Sean especially were amazing with these kiddos during the rehearsal dinner. (If you guys are ever in Portland, we could use a babysitter.)
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| Auntie Joy |
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| Rocking out for Casey and Kath |
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| Daddy love |
The other highlight of San Diego was getting to spend time with family near and far who we haven't seen, in some cases, since our wedding 5 years ago. Most of us stayed in the same house, so we got some time to catch up, look at inappropriate pictures, and generally be goofy together. The visit was too short though. We need to start planning another reunion. Or someone else needs to get married.
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| Grady and Clara cuddling on the doorstep pre-deapature |
Of course, coming from Portland, it's always nice to see some sun and sand too. The kids both loved the beach.
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| catching sleep where one can |
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| small girl, big shovel |
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| sand? what sand? |
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| acting like he owns the place |
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| Awesome little playground. And sand works way better than wood chips to break a fall |
The other major highlight of the past few weeks was that Matt and I - for the first time since before Grady was born - got to go away for a whole weekend without the kids. My parents graciously agreed to watch the kids in our absence. Matt and I went to Dundee, OR, which is wine country. We wine tasted enough to be completely sick of it, enjoyed amazing views, hiked, slept in as late as we could (which, by the way, was 7:45. Lame.), ate a lot, went on some insanely hilly runs, made friends with the B&B's cat, and just generally had a wonderful and relaxing time. Some highlight photos.
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| First wine tasting |
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| view from our balcony |
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| cat friend |
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| crazy hill run |
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| catching our breath |
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| clouds coming in |
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| at the olive grove |
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| clouds coming in some more |
Grandpa and Nana swore the kids behaved, and we didn't press them too hard on it.
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| Not my mommy |
We got to spend an extra day with them after we got back, which gave Grady an opportunity to learn some pie making from the master and us some time to catch up.
Okay, photo dump time.
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| filling out the chair and brushing his teeth all by himself. sniffle. he's growing up. |
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| got some time yet on this one. |
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| though she is learning to wash hands! |
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| and share. |
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| yup, that's underwear |
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| still underwear |
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| besa enjoying the sun |
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| some light reading before our trip to San Diego |
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| i THINK she likes ice cream |
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| summer weather comes to Portland for one glorious week |
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| farmers market restarted today! |
I was going to do some videos, but blogger has other plans. Nothing too crazy - a cute video of the kids laughing at each other first thing in the morning, Clara making goat sounds, Clara playing peek-a-boo, Clara dancing. Heavy on the Clara. I should have one of Clara walking, but I don't. She has gotten much better. Probably able to do about 20 steps at the most, but usually not quite that many. She is motivated though, and is getting noticeably better every day. She has learned a few new words, the most clear of them being "dog." Apparently this is a broad term, as she refuses to call one of her daycare classmates by anything other than "dog."
Grady has been his usual goofy self these past few weeks. He's been enjoying practicing funny faces (see Exhibit A, the Farmers Market photo above), and still could spend all day playing with his cars with faces. He is loving the nice weather and has especially enjoyed playing outside in the kiddie pool. We are all getting excited for the summer over here!
