Curly Top

Zak can work up quite a sweat when he's "crawling". It's hard work! Couple of laps around the family room and this is what he looks like...

Birds of A Feather

When we arrived at Poppy and Grammie's house, Poppy and Uncle Barry had a special project for Sam. They were going to make a bird house!

First he had to put his gloves on -- he's ready to work!

Hammering nails with Uncle Barry. Every nail was thoroughly
pounded and no fingers were hit!

Sam shows off his bird house.

Poppy and Sam.

Next came staining -- Sam used a lot of stain. A lot of stain.

Sam with the finished bird house -- ready to put in the backyard.
We'll be anxious to see if we get any visitors!

Fun Times at Poppy & Grammie's House

It was a jam-packed weekend of fun. On Saturday my parents rented a bounce house and all the cousins came over for the afternoon. The kids played in the bounce house for over three hours. Sam was exhausted!

We realized too late that we should have taken this picture
before they were worn out from jumping.

Zak didn't even make it into the picture -- he was worn out
just watching them. He sure liked snuggling with Auntie Debbi!

Sunday was church with the family and then lunch at a favorite restaurant -- The Beach Cafe. They have a huge outdoor sandbox where Sam can dig to his hearts content.

Time to fill up the wheel barrow -- just like at home!

It's A Zoo Out There

This past weekend we loaded up the car and headed north to visit Grammie and Poppy and especially Uncle Barry, who was visiting for the week. We met up with them at the Woodland Park Zoo.

We had a great time walking around the zoo, looking at animals, eating ice cream and riding on the carousel. Sam's not real big on looking at the animals -- he'd rather jump off rocks and look at almost anything other than animals. Maybe one day he'll appreciate that the animals are actually the main attraction!

A fun time was had by all!

Uncle Barry and Sam zipping by on the carousel.

Sam eating Grammie's ice cream.

Zak passed out from all the excitement!

Sam just loves a good tractor!

Sam Has the Last Word

Matthew was reading the story of the prodigal son from Sam's Bible last night. When he read about the younger son running away from home and how that wasn't a good thing, Sam had a differing opinion.

Matthew: If you ran away, we would be so sad. Just like this boy's father is sad.
Sam: But Dad, running is exercise.

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Sam has a globe pillow -- it's called "Hug A Planet". He loves to find where people live -- and he never forgets. He can show you where everyone lives:

Grammie and Poppy -- Washington
Grandpa and Nana -- Oregon
Caleb and Joanna -- California
Auntie Emily and Uncle Matt -- Michigan (Sam calls that state the mitten)
Uncle Barry -- Missouri
Auntie Katie -- Mexico (not to be confused with New Mexico, which he points out every time)

He can even find Korea, which it where Won Tak is from, the foreign exchange student staying with Grandpa and Nana.

Today he wanted to find some new places, so when he pointed to New Zealand and asked what this place was called, I told him. Without missing a beat he said, "Where is Old Zealand?".

That guy is always thinking!

Harder Than It Needs To Be

Zak can now get anywhere he wants -- but we hesitate to call it crawling. Crawling makes you think of a baby getting around using their hands and knees, tummy off the ground. Zak does not employ any one of those things when he crawls. I can't imagine how fast he would be if he was a traditional crawler. Maybe we should be grateful. :)

See for yourself...

Zak's Puzzled

Do you think he's going to pick this up?