July at a Glance

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, but not for a lack of doing anything. We are always doing something. We just don't always have pictures. So what have we been doing the past month? We hosted a pool party at our apartment, we celebrated our seven year wedding anniversary, we watched the Tour de France in its entirety every night, we upgraded to smart phones (again), and we rode our bikes all over the place. And that pretty much sums up July. To accompany this brief summary, here are some random photos which are in no way associated with any of the activities listed above.

Thanks to a lifetme warranty, we got a brand new bike trailer. The boys like it. As Howie said, "This one's not gross." You will notice he didn't say anything about how it got gross in the first place.

Howie climbed up here all by himself, but he needed a little help getting down.

Howie said, "I wearing sunglasses!"

This is an alien rocket ship.

Finger painting

Henry--6 Months Old!

My little baby is growing up! He is now six months old! A whole half a year! He is getting so big, and he can do so many new things.

He can sit in the umbrella stroller!

He can ride in the backpack!

He can eat solid food! 

(And boy does this kid eat. Sweet potatoes are his favorite.)

He can sit up!

He can sit up and eat at the same time!

Isn't it just amazing how much a little guy can learn and do in such a short amount of time?

Matt's New Bike

Matt has a new bicycle! Isn't she so beautiful and sexy? Yes, yes she is.

Frequently Asked Questions


How many bikes does Matt own anyway?

Believe it or not, only one. We live in a two bedroom apartment. If our two bedroom apartment came with an attached barn we would probably each own at least 20 bikes. Unfortunately our space constraints limit us to one (or two) bikes apiece.


How many bikes has Matt owned in the last 5 years?

That information is classified.


Where did all the other bikes go?

We found good homes for them on Craigslist.


Why is Matt currently riding a single speed bicycle?

Because single speeds are simple. Single speed components are brightly colored. A very nice single speed is considerably cheaper than its multi-geared counterpart. And because Matt has quads the size of watermelons.


How long will Matt keep this bike?

Nobody, not even Matt, knows the answer to that question.


Not Frequently Asked Questions (That I will answer for you anyway)


Can you tell me more about this beautiful, sexy bike?

Why, yes! I would love to! This is a Bianchi San Jose in celeste green. (Bianchi is one of our favorite brands of bicycles and celeste is the most beautiful of all bicycle colors.) 


Where did Matt find such an awesome bike?


At Ozone Bikes, our favorite bike shop. Matt ordered the frame and hand selected all of the components. The good guys at Ozone put it all together for him.


That looks like a really fast bike! Is she speedy?

Yes, she is very fast. Matt has a cruising speed of 19-20 mph.

I don't really need to ask if it is a fun bike to ride, do I?

No, no you don't.

The Boys: An Update

Henry

5 Months, 15-ish Pounds

• Henry almost never cries. When he is hungry at night, he coos to wake me up.
• Henry laughs when he is happy. He is happy when someone smiles at him, when someone sings to him, when he sees something silly, when it is time to eat, when he sees his mama, when he sees his daddy, when he sees his brother . . . so, he laughs quite a lot.
• Henry rolled over for the first time!
• Henry's favorite toy is a little blue stuffed elephant. He likes to chew on its trunk.

Howie

3 years, 30-ish pounds

• Howie is potty trained! Whenever he needs to go to the bathroom he drops his pants wherever he happens to be, even if he happens to be in the middle of a restaurant.
• Howie's newest phrase: "I'm not doing anything!" (Which usually means he is doing something--something bad.)
• Howie says all of our prayers. They usually go like this: Thank you for the day. Please bless me I can buy new cars next week. Amen. Amen. AMEN!
• Howie calls everyone kid. At the park, you might hear him say, "Hey, kid! I have new underwears!" or "The small kid play tag with me!" or "Mama, where did my kid go?"
• Howie likes to talk to people who work at stores. When we go into a store, he goes to the front counter and says, "Excuse me, do you have a potty here?" He also likes to help order his food at restaurants. At the sandwich shop he says,"I want chips, please." At the ice cream shop he says,"I want the blue one!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!

If you know anything at all about Howie, you know that he loves cars. He loves playing with cars, imitating cars, talking about cars, buying cars, watching cars, and reading about cars. When we color together, he asks me to draw cars. When he sees pictures of cars on our junk mail, he asks me to cut them out so he can play with them. When he sees soup cans or yogurt at the grocery store with cars on them, he wants to buy them. At night when the game is on, he is watching car commercials. There is almost nothing in the world Howie loves more than cars.

For a boy who loves cars as much as Howie, Saturday was like a dream come true. We took him to Thunderhill Raceway to watch REAL, LIVE RACE CARS! I don't believe it is possible to describe in words how excited he was. It was like Christmas in June, a second birthday, or a trip to Disneyland. Howie sat glued to his seat for two hours watching stock cars, trucks, mini stock cars, and the like drive around the track. It was probably the best day of his life.

Howie making race car noises. Yes, that is a Lighting McQueen T-shirt he is wearing.

Howie in awe of the awesomeness of real, live race cars. He is covering his ears because race cars are really loud. Later he was wearing some earplugs that we bought for him.

So you know Howie had a good time, but what did the rest of the family think of their first Nascar experience? Matt and I were pleasantly surprised to discover that live car races are much more exciting than their TV counterparts. On TV you know the cars are going fast because the announcer tells you they are going fast. At the race track you see them going fast. And they are really, really fast. And you see how many times they almost crash into each other. They are loud (really loud) and bits of gravel and dust fly into your face when they rush past. And the whole time you are drinking a cold lemonade surrounded by your fellow Nascar fans. (We never knew that you could feel over-dressed wearing a t-shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals.) It is all pretty exciting.

Henry, on the other hand, did not enjoy the experience. Did I mention that race cars are loud? They were much too loud for little Henry. Matt and I took turns being with Howie, who wanted to be as close to the race cars as possible, and Henry, who wanted to be as far away from the race cars as possible.

Since we live with a little boy who loves cars, I imagine that we will become regulars at the Thunderhill Raceway, but next time I will be sure to remember my Dale Earnhardt baseball cap and ear muffs for Henry.

Howie, Henry, and Matt watching the opening ceremonies.  Henry is happy because the cars are not racing.

These are all the cars that were racing that day. They did not race all at once, but they were all lined up together for the opening ceremonies. 

The Green Flag. Time to race!

Even these small cars were surprisingly loud and fast.

We are all kids at heart

File this one under "things you are never too old to enjoy": Building a fort in the living room with the couch, kitchen chairs, and blankets. It is fun for people of all ages! It is even more fun if your completed fort is filled with cookies, milk, stories, and shadow puppets.

A New Job

Congratulations to Matt on his new job! He is now the planning manager for the city's solid waste department. He is very excited to be in the garbage business again!