Animal Lover

It's clear Anders is a big fan animals and does a great job showing his affection while being gentle. 

Dog pile. 

Petting littler kids at the fair. 

Holding Hazel's hair, instead of his own. 

Cuddling with Eemie. 

And super excited about it!

Shoes!

Anders put his shoes on today all by himself for the first time today. He insisted on receiving no help and putting his shoes on the opposite feet. I'm surprised he doesn't find this uncomfortable, but apparently does not. 

Vacation - part tres

And finally the sun came! 

We enjoyed an amazing hike and morning at Smith Rock. 

An exhausted family selfie at the top of Misery Ridge. 

The view was amazing up there! 

Don't be fooled by her smile. It was a very challenging hike!

The following day, on our way home, we went to Steelhead Falls at the Deschutes. The water was cold but Anders and Hazel still enjoyed a quick dip. 

From a cliff from which people jumped into the swimming hole below. 

A little further down the river, but still in view of the cliffs and falls we waded in. 

Hazel showed off her water dog heritage. 

The water was a little too cold to stay in for long. 

Playing in the river. 

Hiking out. Anders needed a little help up the steep hill. 

When we finally got home we lived up the last of vacation with a bike ride into St. John's for dinner. It was a sweet way to cap off the week. 

Vacation 2014 - Part two

The weather finally broke on Wednesday and we got outside. 

Anders was less than enthused to be in the pack, but he rallied and enjoyed the hike in the Mt Jefferson wilderness. 

Family selfie! It's too bad you can't see the amazing mountain behind us. 

The last 20 min of the hike was in the rain. Thankfully we had the sun shade, which provided a little protection for Anders. Then we huddled in the car for lunch. We channeled our Euro neighbors and fed Anders shelf stable, milk box. Weird. But he didn't seem to notice the difference. 

In the evenings we caught frogs in the pond and creek by our house. 

And visited a horse, who enjoyed a treat of clover. Anders was very brave, and loved feeding the horse. Kristin was careful to make sure he kept his his hand flat and didn't loose any fingers. 

Vacation 2014 - part one

We rented a house at Eagle Crest, just outside of Redmond. Not knowing what to expect, we are pleasantly surprised by how beautiful, quiet and fun our place is. The first few days we had storms, but vacation is a good thing, no matter the weather. 

The view from our back porch. 

Our first night we were treated to an amazing, full rainbow after the first big storm. 

Exploring the games while waiting for a sun break. 

(Those are blackberry smudges on his belly)

Day two we day tripped to Bend. First stop was the High Desert Museum. We saw river otters, porcupines, a homestead from 1904, Bald Eagles and played on sculptures. 

Looking at the chickens at the homestead. 

Then we headed to 10 Barrel brewing for lunch, at which Anders mastered the art of "cheers!"

Taken with the puppy playing on the patio. 

Family dinner

We had a summer visit from Kathleen and Greta!

He's totally over the screen time ban

Anders is fixated on figuring out how to open the laptop. We're going to wait until he figures it out on his own before reveal the wonder inside. 

Friday zoo visit

We had a three day weekend and decided to kick it off with a morning at the zoo. 

Animals all around. 

He found a climbing toy tucked away behind the alligator building.  

Rosie the goat!

Anders was very gentle and sweet with the goats. Shout out to Eemie for training him well. 

He took a detour when getting out of his car seat and climbed up front. Apparently he is interested in driving. 

That moment when your sweet baby turns into a tyrant little boy

"Anders had an okay day. He had some trouble being nice to one of his friends in particular. He tackled her a lot and had her body pinned down multiple times."

And we thought Amber, the girl in question, was cute. Maybe too cute? Who knows.