A Record of Favourites

It’s been a little since I’ve taken out my camera to simply record our everyday lives so on Sunday, the first day of August, I decided to record each of my boys’ favourite things – right at that moment.

Samuel – Frozen blueberries. When this child finds a food that he likes he really latches onto it. This month is frozen blueberries, Trader Joes turkey meatballs and watermelon (when I remember to buy it). Diapers have not been much fun.

Thomas – Star Wars (as if there was any question). We went to Target on Sunday and he was literally jumping up and down with excitement when he saw the figurine that he REEEEEEAAAALLY wanted. Thankfully he had enough money in the piggybank to cover it. We’re planning a trip to the local Star Wars store in the next couple of weeks where he will be free to choose his own birthday present – with a spending limit, of course.

Oh, wait! I have one more boy with a favourite thing. This was totally unplanned, but when Kei asked me to take a photo of his brand new golf club (yawn!) I realized how perfectly it fit with my theme of the day.

So I present my other boy with his brand new toy…

This weekend includes a meeting with friends about a charity golf tournament that is near and dear to my heart (I plan to share details soon), a get together with a couple of fellow pre-school parents, a desperately-needed visit to the hair salon, a Japanese festival and a little R&R (if I can fit it in). Bring on Friday afternoon!

Wordless Wednesday: Starting The Wave (Unsuccessfully)

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming: A Nike Adventure

So the person who said that summer was a slow time was crazy – or they didn’t have my job. Either way, it seems my blog is suffering. I have been meaning to post more pictures from our family visit for… well… a month. I guess life got in the way. When’s my next vacation? The story of their visit continues…

So what do you do when you have two teenage boys, and one almost teenage boy, come to visit you in Portland? You call on a friend who works at the biggest sporting gear manufacturer in town and ask them for a tour of the campus of course! (thanks Corey)

The afternoon began with a visit to the Nike employee store. I have no pictures but all you really need to know is that we spent a lot of money. We ALWAYS spend a lot of money when we visit the Nike employee store which is why we visit only a couple of times a year, and why we are grateful that it is just far enough away from our house to be a teeny bit inconvenient to visit on weekends. I’m sure we’d be broke otherwise.

The Nike campus is just like one big sports museum – especially on Friday afternoons in summer when the entire working population seems to be off playing golf. Each building is designed to pay homage to a particular sport. Some I knew well (Tennis; Golf), others I just had to browse the artifacts and pretend that I understood (Soccer? Anything ending in “ball”?). Nevertheless, it was all very interesting and the entire time I found myself thinking about how much longer the tour would have been had my father been there to read each and every word on the displays. Maybe we’ll take him on a tour next time he comes to visit. I’ll bring a book to read.

Here are a few photographs from our visit. The lighting was bad thanks to some crappy Portland weather (yes, in July!), but I managed to capture some great moments of our extended family enjoying all that sports memorabilia has to offer.

I couldn’t resist the reflection on this one.

Walking in to the first building (I love having extra hands to push strollers while I take photos).

The world cup was in full swing and they had a display of the Aussie uniform. I have no idea who this guy is but he’s Australian so I took a photo. I cling to anything – especially now that my four year old has started making fun of my accent. It helps me maintain a little national pride.

That’s Corey, our friend and tour guide, showing us where Nike is on the big ball-map-thingy. My kids were too scared to go near it but a ball despite the fact that a big ball floating in water is pretty cool. I want one for our backyard.

Two of the three nephews and one child. I am also grateful for almost-eighteen-year-old-boys who like to keep four year olds entertained. Seriously. I almost wish I had one of my own.

This is Tiger Woods. I know that because I read the sign.

Another thing we should have in the backyard – an art installation consisting of many spinnable bicycle tires. It could keep a toddler entertained for hours.

The artist in me found this to be very impressive – a baseball player made entirely out of recycled materials including bottle caps and old baseball bats and balls.

The next two photos make me laugh. Two brothers in perfect synch.

We also enjoyed a few sculptures around the beautiful campus. Between the art, the lake and the amazing exercise facilities, it almost made me want to quit my current job and camp out until Nike gave me one. I’m buying a tent.

Finally, we ended up at the John McEnroe building – something I can relate to thanks to a childhood living across the street from a tennis court and a brief season in the top girls’ tennis team at our club. It was brief shining moment in my otherwise insignificant personal sporting history. Forgive me if I dwell on it a little.

Our tour ended after about two (very rainy and fun) hours, and I can now say that, after 7 years of living in this city, I have seen the Nike campus. One more thing marked off my list alongside that of planning a successful outing that would appeal to three teenage boys, their parents and their (very) small cousins. Oh, and Kei enjoyed it too. A great day.

The Up Side

Every day lately seems to be a struggle with Samuel. Independent spirit is a gentle way to describe him. “I. Do. It. Myself!!” is on repeat. He becomes frustrated and angry when I try to brush his teeth, put the lid on his sippy cup, help him put on his pants, etc. etc. and I don’t even want to talk about what happens when his blood sugar drops a little below normal.

He likes to torment his brother, hit (me and others – something we’re working on) and throw tear-filled tantrums.

But he also tells me he loves me about 10 times a day (often for no reason at all), can’t leave me without a big wet kiss and a cuddle, breaks out into an enormous grin without too much prompting, says sorry easily (especially when he thinks he’s going to be put in time out) and is constantly trying to make me laugh.

I know he knows that all of this makes me more tolerant of his bad behaviour, but I just can’t help myself. The kid is a charmer and he’s adorable.

I guess you could say he has me wrapped around his little finger.

Amusement Park: A Photo Walk

On Saturday morning I managed to drag myself out of bed at 4:30am to head to a photowalk at a local amusement park. Rising at the crack of dawn on the weekend was a challenge, but it was definitely worth it. I feel like I learned more about my camera in just a few hours than I have in many months. It’s amazing what a little photo “me” time can accomplish. I played with motion, lighting, colour and angles and it was just so much fun.

The trouble was culling the 700 or so photos that I took down to my favourite 20 or 30. And now what should I do with them? Maybe a book? Or perhaps I should consider printing some to hang in my house (my house is woefully lacking in the photo display department – it’s tragic).

I had to submit one photo to the photowalk website. I chose one that I thought was unique to our walk and would grab attention. Which one would you pick?. I have three days to change it so please be honest (and quick) with your response. 🙂

Purple

It’s funny how Monday’s are so much easier to deal with after a fulfilling weekend. Mine was packed with a special photowalk at an amusement park (at 5:30am!), a fun five-year-old pool party where we discovered our little water baby (Samuel – we’ll take you to the pool again soon, promise!) and a wonderful pot luck get together with good friends. And to top it all off, I have downloaded the first episode of Mad Men. Sometimes Monday’s aren’t so bad.

This week’s I ♥ Faces photo challenge is “Purple” and, well, there’s not a lot of purple in my world. I have never been a very big fan of the hue and, with two boys, purple does not make much of an appearance in our closets.

So to meet the challenge, I unashamedly borrow the daughter of a good friend who has declared purple to be her favorite color – right down to the specially chosen first pair of glasses.

Now off to watch Mad Men. I’ll be back with photos from my weekend adventure soon.

Wordless Wednesday: To Mary

Sending photos your way soon, I promise.

Mosaic Monday: The Special iphone Edition

I know I have been MIA lately. Work is busier than I remember it. Or maybe it’s my life that’s busier and it makes it harder to fit work in. Either way, I have barely found time to breathe. I have been relishing every moment away from the computer instead of enjoying the “me” time that it provides.

On the up side, I have been taking a lot more photos as part of my day job and I love that! It helps me dream of a day when all I do is take photographs from dusk until dawn.

Speaking of photographs, I my iphone arrived a week or so ago and I soon discovered the joy of camera apps. In the mood for a Holga? It’s right there in the phone.

So, today’s mosaic is a collection of iphone pics. It should also give you a tiny glimpse into how I’ve been spending my time lately.

Off to babysit for a neighbour and then enjoy two whole days off from work. I see a visit to the zoo in our future.

Back soon with more – promise!

Wordless Wednesday

Truly no words needed.

My Fireworks Are Bigger Than Your Fireworks

Yesterday was the 4th of July. I did not grow up with the 4th of July. Well, we had a 4th of July, but not one that with BBQs and big balls of fire. For one, the 4th of July was always cold during my childhood. And, while this 4th of July in Portland will not break any heat records, it’s clear that my children will grow up with a much different experience of this date than the one I had.

Exhibit A:

I wonder who comes up with the names for these things.

This year we were blessed to spend the holiday with three teenage boys who may have pushed the excitement to a whole new level for Thomas and Samuel. Oh, and Kei was right there in the mix.