Trente y Tres

Today's a big day, Trente Y Tres!!!

(Inside story... a few years ago we were in Mexico during our friend Bryan's 33rd birthday and the theme phrase of the weekend was "trente y tres")

Keith and Oliver have been fabulous about making it perfect. A nice low-key weekend with rest and relaxation, a night out with friends, home made breakfast on Sunday, afternoon pool time, dinner at Macaroni Grill tonight, iPod to feed my electronic communication and music addiction and the list goes on. Today, was like any other Tuesday at work but it was immediately brightened when a gorgeous bouquet of yellow roses arrived to brighten my office and day. A little hint, Oliver's favorite color to say is Yellow. He says it much like YeLLoWWWW!!!! So Cute! Thank for a great birthday guys! It wouldn't be the same without you!!!

(Picture below taken with the new iPhone. Nice!)

We had a great dinner at Macaroni Grill. It's funny how the restaurant choice is based around the kid, even if it's not HIS birthday. It makes me happy knowing he is happy. He was in a great mood and ate most of his macaroni and cheese. To top it off, we had Tiramisu, which Oliver LOVED!!! I'm noticing the last few posts make it look like our kid has gone from a healthy eater to junk food. Well... It's not much fun to take pictures of him eating the healthy stuff. Maybe I'll work on making that photo worthy. Ha Ha!

Tiramisu! Finger Lickin' Good!!!
Notice above how nice and neat the cake is.
Notice below... It is demolished! Oliver managed to wipe it out in no time at all.
MMMMmmmmm So Good!!!!!

Outside the restaurant, Oliver and Mama on her Trente y Tres Birthday!

Not quite a weekend in Mexico, better!!!

After dinner we walked next door to Barnes and Noble. I wanted to get Oliver some Potty books. It seems he is too young to potty train but he talks about it a lot lately, knows where the potty is and connects "poop" with the potty. Ok, probably too much information for many readers, but it's the facts of life. I figure that we could start talking more about it and make a trip to the store this weekend to get a potty. There are a couple of kids in his class working on potty training, maybe he is interested. I'm thinking we should seis the moment!!

While at Barnes and Noble, Oliver was in heaven with all of the books. Without prompting, he pulled out the book "How to Talk to Girls" and sat down to read it. Keith and I thought it was hilarious and had to take pictures. Watch out Ladies! Oliver is cute, charming and now he is equipped with skills .

To save the best for last, my gift from Oliver. Unknown to me, Keith has been working on Oliver saying "Happy Birthday Mama" for weeks. We haven't had much luck getting a clear video of it but here is Oliver giving it a shot, with a finishing mumble over Keith's shoulder. Tonight it was coming out "Happy Birthday To You". YAY!!! I loved it!!! I'm thinking by Keith's birthday in October, Oliver will have this one mastered.

Sunday Swim

Sunday we pulled out Oliver's pool so he could take an afternoon dip. It was a beautiful sunny and hot Sunday, perfect for a cool dip.

Keith was so excited that he dove in head first!
We have never gotten Oliver to actually get in the pool so this time we only filled one of three tiers of the pool with air, which also meant less water. First step, we finally got Oliver to stand in the pool. Before the end of the day he was laying in it.

Just about the time I thought I would sit back and work on my tan, the clouds came in. I didn't turn this photo to B&W, this is just how it came out. We did get a few sprinkles, but we didn't let it scare us away.

Who should be scared away from a few rain drops when we have Madalyn patrolling the perimeter?

Oliver LOVED being in the pool. As you can tell, he was quite proud of himself.

Scoping out a rolly poly that Dad found.

At one point we found Oliver dipping his face in the water. We're thinking this is HUGE! He's never done this before. YAY OLIVER!!!

Check it out, wet face!

Nothing tops a day in the pool like Creamsicles

I stood up for 2 seconds and Oliver was speedy to take my seat.

What a great time! The sun did come in and out the rest of the afternoon. With temps in the 90's the clouds were welcome relief.

Horsing Around with my Husband

Saturday night we had a special invitation from Jen and Craig to join them at a horse jumping event. Craig works for CB Richard Ellis and they were sponsoring the event for one of Craig's clients. We had VIP treatment with front row seats, literally! We were about 5' from the jump that Jen and Craig are standing in front of in the picture below. We had never been to anything like this. We highly enjoyed it and had a great time.

Carrie and Keith in front of the jump.

I went with a pony tail for the horse event... get it? HA HA!!
Across the way we had a view of Pike's Peak

Just horsing around

These horses were HUGE. Maybe it was because we were sitting at a table nearly below them. I am posting the next two pictures to show how tall they were. Check it out!

This horse could rest his chin on this guys head. Crazy!

Let the jumping begin!

Here are a few pictures that I took from our seats.

This was "our" horse, Conquistador!

They auctioned off the horses at the beginning for charity. Essentially you bid on a horse to win and the top three places won money and the rest went to charity. The four of us picked this horse in honor of Jen's mid western roots since it is from Michigan and Jen is from Wisconsin. Most of the horses were from Europe.

Traditional self portrait right before the Champagne Divot Stomp

Jen and Craig stomping the divots, just like on Pretty Woman!

Stomping divots with flare!

Taking a photo during divot stomping. Who knew hanging out in a horse pasture could be so much fun without actually being on a horse?

Keith and Carrie breaking from stomping for a photo

Jen and Carrie with sunset lighting and wind in our hair

Pretty Woman... Walking down the horse pasture...

As the sponsor of the event, CB Richard Ellis presented the check for the winning horse. Jen stepped in also along with one of Craig's colleagues and the ranch owner.

The winning horse, giving Craig the eye.

This photo cracks me up. Craig isn't looking to sure about this.

Conquistador stopped for a photo! What a great guy!!

He made it to the jump off but came in fourth place. He had perfect jumps but he was a little slower than the rest. We loved him any way. Luckily buying a horse didn't mean he was coming home with us. Oliver may have loved it but I'm sure the rest of us wouldn't have been too thrilled.

We had a GREAT Time!!! Thanks Jen and Craig for inviting us along!!!

What?! A Weekend at Home?!

That's right, two weeks ago we spent an entire weekend at home with our furthest destination being the grocery store. After being on the go week after week, it was nice to have some time at home. One afternoon as I was standing at the kitchen sink I noticed Keith and Oliver bonding over lip balm. Ok, so these are the ball mania's that DGL makes with Intertech Plastics. You may also recognize them as the favors from our wedding. Oliver LOVES them since they are the size of a golf ball. Sometimes we show him that there is a surprise inside. He likes to put it on lips, cheeks, noses, legs... you name it. I think his favorite place it to put it on his nose, but we're working on aiming for the lips.

Pucker Up!

This is right after Oliver got it on his lips. I missed that part but it was quite cute.
Oliver giving dad a little "Twist and Pout" action

Going in for another dose

Is it OK to double dip with lip balm?

MMMM... Yum... Vanilla!

The next day Oliver discovered that he liked to help clean. YAY!!!

He is mimicking everything we do now, including pushing around the broom.

Family Visit in Washington

This past week we ventured up to Washington to see the Garner family. We had a great time. It was a quick trip so we didn't get to see any of the extended family or friends, however, Jerry came up from Portland so all of us siblings got to spend time with each other and Mom and Dad.

The first order of business was a stop by Target for a few items, including new bouncy balls for the boys. Rio and Oliver LOVED these balls and you can see the cart was filled to the rim.

At Grandma and Grandpa's house, running around with the ball.

Thursday evening we went into Shane's house and Oliver discovered the toy guns. He was quite interested in how they worked. Uncle Shane enjoyed teaching Oliver how to load and shoot the gun. Two days later Uncle Jerry arrived with a play sword for Oliver. Well... I guess this is what Uncles are for. Another one of Oliver's favorite moments of the weekend was all of the super juicy melon. His favorites were the cantaloupe and watermelon. Yum! He loved to let it run down his chin, elbows and belly. Here Rio and Oliver are having a watermelon snack. Yum!

On Friday Grandpa moved the cars out of the shop so the boys could ride the tricycles. I'm not sure that he anticipated ALL of the boys would be excited about this.

Even Shane's dog Dude wanted to join in the fun with Keith.

Friday afternoon we heard Grandma, Oliver and Rio having fun in the living room. When we peaked out to see what was going on, we found them wresting on the floor. Go Grandma Go!!!

Oliver LOVED wrestling with his cousin Rio.

After a day of riding tricycles, eating melon and wresting with Grandma, a bath was much needed.

With two boys to bathe it was an assembly line of scrubbing.
Having fun in the tub!

Shane and Rio

Keith, Carrie, Oliver, Shane and Rio

Saturday morning Grandma introduced Oliver to the garden and he came out with a fresh carrot, plant and all.

Later Saturday morning we took Oliver to the Valley fair. Mom and Dad have lived in the same house since 1978, only a few miles from Valley and we had never been to the Valley fair. It is very small but it is a great place to show Oliver some farm animals. He LOVED it!

Keith and Oliver checking out some cows. Every time the cow would "moo" Oliver would "MOO" right back, a little louder each time.

This is what we found in the pig pen. It's not every day that you see a kid sleeping with a pig that is bigger than him. He sat up after I took the picture (I guess he wasn't sleeping after all). I asked him what the pigs name was and it is "Snuggle Bunny". How perfect!

There was even a baby exotic miniature cow from India. Well.... it was from right down the road, but these cows are from India according to the owner. Oliver really enjoyed petting the month old cow.

For lunch we ventured up to Waitts Lake. Usually the beach is packed but I think the cooler weather and Valley fair kept the beach clear of people. After lunch we went out to check out the water. When I was a kid it was a big deal to spend a day on this dock working on my tan.

After Oliver's nap we discovered the peas growing in Grandma's garden. I had forgotten how good fresh peas from the garden were. Oliver discovered them for the first time. Yum!

Mmmmmm Peas!!!

Oliver enjoying Grandma's sand box in the back yard Sunday morning.

Shane, Jerry and Carrie

Dad, Jerry, Carrie, Oliver, Keith and Mom

Sunday afternoon we took Oliver into Spokane to go to Riverfront Park. He LOVED feeding the ducks and geese.

Oliver enjoyed playing on the slides in the little people playground.

A view of the Spokane River

Family photo above the Spokane River.

Carrie and Mom

Oliver playing beneath the clock tower.

Big Belly laugh

Look... Oliver found a horse in the park!

This big red wagon slide is the coolest thing ever. My friends and I used to play on it when I was in high school.

Here come Keith and Oliver down the slide.

Rio and Oliver having fun and holding hands on the way to the airport on Monday.

Oliver is very serious about reading the airplane safety card. You never know when you'll need to know what's going on.

Thanks for a great weekend! We hope to see you all soon!!

If you are wondering, Keith really was riding. Check him out!