The Nelson Narrative

Last week I posted a bunch of stuff that I wanted to do during the brief period of time between Long Beach and Crescent Bar (zoo, aquarium, water spray park, etc.).  Um, yeah, we didn't do most of it.  We ended up spending a few days staining our fence (well, Paul did while I kept the girls out of the way) and then we substituted Lake Tapps yesterday for the original idea of Lake Sammammish State Park or the water spray park.  Oh well.  We've had a great time so far, and Paul has a few Mondays off in August so we'll hopefully make it to the zoo then. It's amazing how fast 3 weeks goes.  It seems like Paul's 3-week vacation just started, but we're leaving tomorrow and when we get back, that'll be it!  Gone.  Back to work.

We had the best day today at Lake Tapps.  Paul's company has their own private section that is SO nice!  They have their own campground, lots of picnic/BBQ areas and a great swimming area, all with goregous Mount Rainier in the background.  The girls enjoyed playing in the water and running up and down the...not dock, but a breakwater/walkway type thingie.  We had a picnic lunch and just had a great time hanging out as a family.  I love that we can do things now and not have to worry about rushing home for naptime.  While the girls do usually nap from 1:30 to 3:45 or 4:00 (heaven!), if we're gone somewhere and we don't make it back by then it's no biggie.  Today we left around 3:30 and they just crashed in the car (missing out on ice cream at Ben and Jerry's, but they got some later at home).  They only got a 30-minute nap but that's ok.  We were going to go to the zoo tomorrow, but have decided against it.  Paul twisted ...

Last week we went to Long Beach, WA, a cute little coastal town right on the Pacific Ocean just north of the mouth of the Columbia River (i.e. the dividing line between WA and OR).  We had a pretty good time, although the weather was cold and cloudy much of the time.  We did have a few warmer spells but it mostly hovered around 60, 61.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed playing on the beach, building sand castles and flying a kite, and took a day trip to Cannon Beach, OR, about 45 minutes South.  And of course, I ate my weight in Salt Water taffy. Anyway, on Tuesday we did a horse-back ride on the beach.  I was figuring that I would have to go alone while Paul watched the girls, but to my surprise they let the girls ride in front of us, so we could all go together.  They had never been on a horse before but they weren't the least bit scared.  We were on HUGE horses, too--Shires, which are a DRAFT horse breed (draft horses are the big ...

This week's topic at Multiples and More is staying at home versus working outside the home. Do you work outside the home, or stay home with your kids?   I stay home. How did you come to that decision?   Frankly, the decision was made for us because of the cost of TWO in daycare (or with a nanny).  I had always wanted to stay home anyway, but didn't think we could afford it. I had every intention of going back to work after the girls were born, not because I wanted to but because I thought I didn't have the choice.  But as it turned out, putting them both in daycare would have consumed most of my salary, so what would be the point of being away 50+ hours a week (I had a horrible commute) for a few hundred dollars?  So, I "got" to stay home after all.  It's very tight financially, but SO worth it! Are you glad that you made that decision?   Absolutely. What is your favorite aspect of working, or of staying at home? Being th...

This weeks QOTW topic at Multiples and More is on the controversial subject of CIO, or crying it out, a sleep training method. How do you feel about CIO?   Personally, I'm not a fan, but if it works for others that's fine.  It really wasn't an option for me, having twins (as it was, the second either one of them made a sound I was in there in a flash to quiet and/or remove them in an attempt to not wake the other), but even if it were I don't think I would have used it.  I just couldn't stand by and listen to my baby cry for 20 minutes.  Although, Kayley did go through a phase where she just wouldn't go to sleep at bedtime and we finally did just let her cry for 20 minutes one night, despite poor Olivia having to listen to and put up with her.   The next night it was only 10 minutes and the next night it was back to normal.  Because I knew that the only reason she was crying was that she simply want...

Paul has the next 3 weeks off work and we have tons of plans.  We are heading to Long Beach (WA) on Sunday, so today I'm going to be busy doing laundry and packing because tomorrow we'll be gone most of the day at his company picnic and then I have my monthly girls' night tomorrow evening.  We'll get home Friday, and then the following Thursday we leave for Crescent Bar again. During the week in between that we're home, we want to: Go to the zoo again, hopefully with much better weather than when we went on Memorial Day. Go to Lake Sammammish State Park to play/swim/have a picnic. Go back to the water spray park since I couldn't manage it well by myself. Go to either the Aquarium or Children's Museum, maybe both if there's time. I hope that we'll be able to fit it all it, considering that we also have tons of home projects to work on, namely staining our fence and hopefully painting our living room. Should be a fun and busy three weeks.  And...

We had a playdate today with my friend Laura and her 4-year-old daughter Linsdsay at Coulon Park in Renton (her older son came too which was great-extra eyes and arms!).  I've been there before (took the girls a little over a month ago after dropping a friend off at the airport-it's on the way there/home) but didn't realize they have a really nice, huge playground.  I just knew they had Ivar's and Kidd Valley, a boardwalk by the lake and a bunch of nature trails.  Anyway, it's a really cool park.  The girls had a blast playing on a bunch of stuff we don't have at any of the parks around our house, and loved their fish and chips from Ivar's.  We saw ducks, including a mommy duck with 11 tiny ducklings (so cute!) and turtles. Lindsay (with Jordan and Kayley in the background) The girls wanted to hold Lindsay's hand(s).  So sweet. Octoduck, plus 3 more somewhere.

Last weekend my family had a BBQ at my brother and sister-in-law's house.  It was so fun for us because most of my family lives an hour and a half away and we don't see each other that often.  My niece (daughter of said brother and sister-in-law) has two little ones also, a daughter that's 11 months older than the girls and a 4-month old boy, so it's fun to get them all together.  In the past the 3 girls haven't really interacted very much but now that they're a little older they did much more so this time so that was fun to watch.  We were blessed with a nice day, so the girls got to play in the wading pool. They had a total blast, especially after their uncles threw the slide into the mix. NOW we're talkin'... Tomorrow we have a playdate with a friend and her 4-year-old at Gene Coulon Park in Renton.  It should be a beautiful day for fish and chips by the lake.

Today I had a moms group playdate at Crossroads Community Park in their water spray area.  I never knew this place existed so I was really excited to find out about it.  It's a great park with all these cool whales, dragons, rock walls, etc. that spray water, as well as a big dry land playground.  Today was really hot so I was really looking forward to it.  But, as has happened before, I never actually found the group!  I had forgot the organizer's phone number at home so I couldn't call, and I've never yet met anyone so I had no idea who was with the group and who wasn't and there were way too many people to just start asking.  In any case, we still had fun, although it was really hard for me to keep track of both girls by myself so we didn't stay too long.  I'm hoping to go back in a few weeks when Paul is on vacation and can come with us (we could go on a weekend but I'm sure it's a zoo).

No, not as in money.  While at Crescent Bar over the holiday weekend we met a family with a 20-month-old son with cancer.  His name is Cash.  It's in (or around) his brain stem and is inoperable.  He was diagnosed at 16 months after the family was initially told it was something else that was very common and harmless (I forget what).  He has undergone radiation and some other new, state-of-the-art therapy (proton something-or-other?) in Houston (they live in Washington).  Oh, and they have a 3- or 4-year old son and a 6-week-old son.  This woman has been flying (or maybe driving, since most 3rd tri women can't fly?) while in the last few months of pregnancy and now with a newborn.  Can you imagine the stress?  Dealing with all this while expecting a new baby? The good news is that he seems to be responding very well to the treatment (which has also included a stem cell transplant from the new baby's cord blood (or whatever).  And this ...

We spent the 4th with the in-laws at Crescent Bar.  The girls had a blast again in the baby pool, and this time we could just sit comfortably by and watch and not have to been in the water with them, hovering in case they fell over or whatever.  On Thursday Paul and I got to leave them with grandma and grandpa and go wine tasting at a nearby winery with spectacular scenery, so that was a nice little "date".  Saturday they had an awesome fireworks show, and Sunday the girls got to be in the annual 4th of July parade.  The neighbors in the condo below did a whole Hawaiian theme and had extra leis and skirts for the girls (actually just one skirt that we cut in half and duct-taped), so we walked behind their "float" (decorated golf cart) with the girls in their umbrella strollers.  I thought they might just walk at least some of the way but they were pretty tired from staying up late the night before so they were perfectly content in their strollers.  It ...

I'll get around to posting about our 4th one of these days, but in the meantime, summer has finally arrived here in the Pacific Northwest (a day late--usually it's July 5th ) and the girls got to try out their new water table. It wasn't long before they decided it would better serve as a wading pool... And not long after that they decided to just water plants instead... Moments after deciding it was safe to sit down and open a book, I looked up to discover this scene unfolding... When in Rome... Tomorrow we'll try swim diapers and bathing suits...