The Three Year Old Photographer

For Father's Day this past year Dave received a digital SLR camera. Ian immediately wanted to play, poke, and manhandle it. Dave's parents saw how interested he was in the camera and they got him one of those Fisher-Price digital cameras. It is the real thing! LCD screen, memory, pixels the whole sha-bang. He loves it! He has taken some funny pics, but then he usually deletes them-because that involves pushing buttons and some cool noises. I hid the camera after our trip to Jackson and here are some of his best shots.

He is a great wedding photographer. Look at that great composition. Okay, I'm not sure if Ian took this picture-Addie, James maybe it was you. There was a wedding going on in the Lodge due to the rain outside. James took the kids up to the balcony and look at the amazing shots someone got!






He's great at landscape too! This is looking off the outside deck at Jackson Lake Lodge. We were hoping to see a moose.

He's good at portraits too! Here is his friend Addie Jo at Jackson Lake Lodge on our vacation.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Yesterday I turned 4! At least according to Ian. He wished me happy birthday and then told me that today I would be 4. I was pretty excited considering that I finally feel like I am entering my 30's. We put 4 candles on the cake and Ian helped me blow out the candles.

Home to the Motherland

My friend Dave recently called us from the Tetons to report he had returned to the "motherland." I thought this term fit so well - we just can't stay away from those beautiful Wyoming mountains, and everytime we return it does feel like going home to the motherland.

We just returned from our annual family camp-out and desipite the constant rain it was a success. We spent the four days throwing rocks in Jackson Lake, looking at the mountians, visiting any visitor's center that was open, watching storms move in across the lake, cooking out, hiking, visiting with friends, lounging at Jackson Lake Lodge, watching the kids dig in the dirt, wading in String Lake, and relaxing. Insert ran from the rain between each activity and you will get a general feel of how the vacation really went. We did learn that our tent is about 95% waterproof and the towels we brought for swimming managed to tackle the other 5%. We can't wait for next year--we might have to go back in the winter and do some cross-country skiing with the kids.

Big Brother, Little Brother

I do believe that whoever came up with the term "terrible twos" did not have a three year old. Ian has discovered the joys of being the "big brother" and by joys I mean using Miles for entertainment. He thinks it is absolutely hilarious to run into a room and bait Miles to follow. He'll say "Come here baby" while waving some enticing toy. Miles rolls, army crawls his little body as fast as he can to get to the big brother he just adores. As soon as he is at the door Ian slams the door shut and laughs hysterically. This scene played out about 10 times this morning with Ian running up and down the hallway and into every room wearing out little Miles. I finally told Ian to stop before he slammed Miles in the door or he would have to go sit in the corner. He looked at me and said "The corner is not a happy place."

The Little Man

Do you ever look at you kids and instead of being babies or children they just seem like tiny grown-ups? Miles has always seemed this way to me. Little tiny body, very mature face, and big thoughts that I can see written all over his face. In this picture I believe if he could talk he would say " I think I am suppose to be having fun, but I'm not quite sure about this."

He has recently learned to army crawl everywhere. He seems to prefer the hard kitchen floor. Yesterday, he ventured into new territory and discovered me loading the dishwasher. He seemed so proud and excited that he had found something new, and what baby doesn't love to hang on the dishwasher door.

What Money Can't Buy

Today Ian and I were deep in conversation about the importance of working hard and earning money. I was explaining to him how daddy works really hard so we can have everything we need. I began to list all of the things that we are able to have because of all the hard work daddy does;"our house, our car, our clothes." Ian began to add to the list "my toys, my bike." We made a long list and then he looked at me patted his head and said "my head!" I told him the heads were free and I guess money can't buy everything.