Monday, July 29, 2013

Keepin' It Local! (2yrs+10mo!)

2 years + 10 mo old!
 We kept it local all weekend long, we didn't get in the car once! (actually we did but it was just to pick up some take out). The boys aunt Janet came to visit and we've had tons of fun. The following pictures will tell you the story...
Waiting for the choo choo (light rail), it was very exciting for the boys. While Phil went on a 73+mile bike ride, aunt Janet and I went to Saturday market downtown with the boys. 
I didn't plan on the boys wanting to get wet but of course when ever I don't bring their swim wear they do!
They ended up in their underwear...
Having a snack after getting the water crazies and entertaining the crowds
Then a little walk along the waterfront
As we walked home our neighborhood was having it's annual street fair, we stopped to watch a little bit of a dog costume competition. And then made one last stop to the fancy bottle shop to pick up some beverages for dinner, Thomas here shows you the fine selection we have just around the corner from home : )
Our neighborhood park was playing The Lion King that same day, so after naptime and dinner we headed out to the park for pre-movie music and free popcorn. 
Here's the gang, aunt Janet, Phil (making a weird face), and the other Phil. Boy were the guys tired after that long bike ride!
The boys ate their weight in pop corn, man they sure like that stuff!
Aunt Janet THOUGHT she was going to eat ice cream...I don't call them hyena's for nothing!

I didn't realize how late it gets dark so the movie didn't start till 9:30pm. After making it through the whole movie plus the walk back home, plus the boys wanting to eat a late night snack the boys didn't go to bed till 11:30pm! The boys didn't even seem tired when we finally put them to bed...so much energy!
We were hoping they'd maybe just once sleep in....
Nope! they were up bright and early at 7am. After a lazy morning we took the boys to "Sunday Parkways," this weekend it was in our neighborhood. In case you don't know what it is, they shut down all the streets to cars and everyone gets on their bikes and rides on a specific route. Along the way they have pit stops with vendors, music and kids stuff. In this picture we found some cool heavy equipment to drool over. 
Even though there were no cars on the streets we still made the boys ride on the sidewalk because they kept almost running into other bikers. 
According to aunt Janet's pedometer the boys rode about 6 miles and the grown ups jogged the whole way! 
I really regretted wearing flip flops and jeans!
After hardly being able to keep up with the boys and seeing how good they balance we are going to start saving up for pedal bikes (without training wheels), they will be sooo ready for them by next spring!
Aunt Janet is still here but leaves tomorrow, boo! But for the next four weeks or so we'll be having more family coming to visit, YAY! Mama Elda comes next followed by uncle Garrett, and then my sister. Fun times to be had!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Water Crazies

Our friends invited us over for dinner at their swanky condo on the waterfront, the boys had a blast playing with the pool and running along the promenade. They also ate a ton...and so did I! Mmmmm carne asada, more please : )
On our way!
The boys got the water crazies along with their little buddy!
The water was a bit too chilly so everyone was reluctant to get in
Caleb's got that crazed 2 year old toddler look!
Awesome view of the Fremont bridge!
Playing a little ball after dinner
some more running around
The boys liked running along the high ledges. (C)
T
Running after the ball

Caleb the thrill seeker! UP...
...and down!
Walking back well past our bed time! (That's me in the far right!)
The best way to end the night is with Go Dog Go for the 50,000th time!
And here is a video of the boys getting the water crazies...there's lots of excitement, silly faces, and a few falls...but it's also 5 min long so this is mostly a video for grandparents and aunties : )

Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Flashback!

The boys aren't the first triplets we've ever had! About two years before we had the boys, a mama coon gave birth to triplets under our house, they were really hard to get rid of and they eventually dismantled parts of our heating duct work. In retrospect they weren't nearly as much trouble as the boys are, hahaha! If I believed in omens I'd sure think it was fitting!

They were actually pretty cute!
After trying everything in the book we finally found the best way to get rid of them and much cheaper than the $250 quote we got from the pest removers. We simply threw a rag near them soaked in ammonia, which has a smell similar to predator pee (which would have also been very pricey to obtain), they were gone within hours!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Anniversary Weekend!

We started off the weekend by giving the boys haircuts
I was brave this time and went longer on the top and shorter on the bottom.
It's hard to do on a wiggly child but was able to do a decent job.
Our friend K watched the boys for 6+ hrs while we went gallivanting around Portland on our bikes (what a nice friend we have!). Our first stop was the Mississippi Street fair where we hipster watched, listened to live music, ate sushi and drank sake cocktails. After that we stopped in at a microbrewery and enjoyed a Portland delicacy. Then to finish off our date we ate Lebanese food at one of our most favorite restaurants in Portland before riding back home : ) 
The next day we took the boys to ride their bikes, we could hardly keep up with them! 
The boys are balancing machines, they can balance (no feet on the ground) for crazy long stretches!
I tried getting a group picture but for what ever reason Eli did not want his picture taken
...and whack!
We live just minutes from the beach! (albeit a river beach, ha!)
The other day T and E made up this game where they would stuff bubble wrap into a plastic bin...
and they would carry it to the other end of the house...
and dump it, repeat!
Back and forth they must have done it a dozen times
Good team work!
Just a cute picture at the park
From this morning, it's gonna be HOT so we're dressed to beat the heat!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Big Boy Beds!

Here they are in the building process order...

First the concept sketch (Phil's drawing except that stuff on the far left, that would be mine)
The computer model (all Phil's work)
We showed this to Eli and asked him which bed he wanted to sleep in and immediately said "up up mimi!"
The boys were involved in the entire process, no surprises, they'll learn and appreciate more that way.
They all got to hammer in nails too!
TA DA!
The slide is one of the best features, we used left over flooring from when we replaced the carpet in this room years ago. We figured it's extra smooth texture would be a good fit for a slide (but need to find some kind of landing pad so it protects my floors, the towel I have now is ugly and just not cutting it!).
Storage/Staircase, they are not attached so if and when they outgrow the slide we can relocate the stairs to where the slide is for more space later on. 
The two lower beds nest into the taller bed for more space to play in.
The beds are mostly made of cedar (it smells soooo good too) and a few non visible pieces are pine I believe (I have been corrected, it's Douglas fir). 
close up
We did not want to paint it because the look of natural wood is so beautiful! (but we did stain it with a colorless lacquer)
The lower beds have two wheels at the 'pillow' end and two peg legs at the 'foot' end. This makes them really easy to slide in/out, even the boys can do it. Also having just two wheels as opposed to 4 makes them stay in place and not roll around too much. 
First bed time in our new beds!
The comforters were special made for them. When the boys were tiny babies a family friend made them but since they where on the big side I thought they'd be perfect for big boy beds so I put them away and brought them out tonight! I love the three different shades of blue and they also have three different cute patterns on the other side : )
Custom Made Triplet Toddler Beds

So if you notice I talk a lot about the space saving features in the picture captions. That was the whole aim of these beds, our house is small but I don't think it's too small. With some creative thinking and organizing we have plenty of space in my opinion and we'll make it work.

The cost of materials was way cheaper than if we had gone out and bought three toddler beds but Phil spent several weeks and many hours making them in his very sparse free time. So that makes these beds worth a lot more than those cheap little things they sell at stores! I mean, how many people can afford to hire an architect to design and build their triplets beds? : )

The boys have slept in their new beds since Monday night so about 4-5 days now. The transition has gone pretty well although the first couple of days they played too much and it took them hours before they fell asleep. I went back to my old strategy of just sitting in their room and watching them until they fell asleep. Last night and today for nap they went right to sleep without any babysitting so I think they are adjusted now. As I mentioned Eli picked the top bed and since neither of his brothers protested, that's the way we will keep it. Caleb gets the far in bed, since he is least likely to get up (like to pee or to come into bed with us). And Thomas got the bed that is closest to the door since he gets up a lot more. You might think why not put Thomas in the far in bed to curb his getting up, but my rationale is that I don't want him waking up Caleb by constantly going past him to get out the door. I also must add that Eli keeps thanking his dad for building their beds its so cute, even when he isn't around he says "papi mimi" and then signs 'thank you.' (mimi means sleep in Spanish baby talk)

The beds were the first part of their new big boy room remodel. I have chosen a theme of my own choosing because this will be the last time I can get away with it (hint: it is not trucks or trains, I'm sure that would have been their first choice but I still think they will really like it). I've made pillow cases, curtains, reupholstered a little rocking chair I found at a thrift store, and Phil bought canvases to paint each boy a painting on. So pretty soon I will debut the boys new totally awesome room, stay tuned!

Their new beds are a perfect example of how the older the boys get the less space they take up! I'm already envisioning the even more space saving bunk beds we'll build for them in a few years, I love adding a fun factor like the slide so I'm already thinking, 'fireman pole' for the next beds. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves : )