Dain's new glasses

Well, we haven't had much happen since we got back from IN, with the exception of Dain getting new frames and lenses. He had his old frames since he was 11 months old, and finally outgrew them! So we got the next size up. We're also trying out bifocals without the bi-nasal tapes to see how he does with those. So far so good!

Here's a picture of Dain at the pool in his goggles. He insists on wearing them, even though he won't put his face in the water! He had also just finished eating Cheetos, which is why his face is all orange. Silly boy!

And here's Dain at the zoo, at the river otter exhibit. I got really lucky with this shot! Less than 5 seconds after I took it, we were swamped with kids! Also, most of the time we don't even get to see the otters while we're there.

More Aruba Pics

Ancient cave drawings in the cave we visited on our Jeep tour.

Baby Beach... you can wade out 300 yards and the water doesn't get higher than your waist.

This place is called "ugly mouth" in Papiemento.

Baby Bridge

Natural Bridge that collapsed in 2005.

Butterflies at the Butterfly Farm.

Aruba Pictures

On our "jeep" tour - visiting a cave with a really cool couple that we rode with.
The Xtreme Party Cruiser that picked us up at our resort to take us to the "Jeep" tour.

Eagle Beach at sunset (our resort was on this beach)

An aloe field. Aloe was Aruba's chief export and income before tourism hit. They still grow, process and sell aloe today. See http://www.arubaaloe.com. We visited the factory while we were there.

Some of the beautiful colors of the water - picture taken while on our snorkeling cruise.

Time Flies, especially for bad bloggers like me

Wow, how time flies!!!!!

I'll try to catch up a bit...

Part 2 of Aruba was fun - we did a half-day snorkeling trip, part of it at an old shipwreck from WW2. We took a jeep tour (I say "jeep" loosely) around the island and we saw lots of things we wouldn't have seen otherwise. We went to the Aruba Aloe factory and to the Butterfly farm. I will post some pictures at a later date, as I am currently out of town and away from my computer (and all my pictures).

Dain and I have been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer. For the 2nd half of June, into July we've gone at least 3 times a week. Hot sunny mornings, perfect for the pool, followed by lovely afternoon thunderstorms. Ah, our summer weather has finally returned after a too-long drought! So far Dain and I have some very impressive tans/tan lines. And this is from wearing at least a 30 spf most days.

Poor Jeremy has been going through a lot. He got bronchitis, had to start physical therapy on his shoulder and elbow because of an old injury, and then just had a nasty 12-hr flu bug. Otherwise, he's still working and playing baseball. He's also trying to fit in fishing when he has the time.

Dain and I are currently visiting my friend Jenny, who lives halfway across the country from us. It's been great, since I haven't seen her for 2 years. Yesterday we took Dain to a splash park (he freaked out when the fountains turned on). Last night, while Jenny's husband Max bravely watched Dain (he has a fear of toddler poopy diapers, can't blame him) I went with Jenny to a Brazilian Samba class that she teaches. Yes, I shook my booty. And looked ridiculous doing so. Thankfully, so did everyone else since it is a beginner class and has only been going for a few weeks. And, I did have a lot of fun and got a great workout!

Today we took Dain to the zoo. The morning was gorgeous - not too hot, although a bit stickier that I'm used to (I never have been a fan of humidity).Here's Dain petting a very fat goat at the petting zoo (picture courtesy of Jenny).

I have also been shopping - right here in Jenny's house! :) Jenny is a very talented jewelry designer and makes all of her own jewelry. Each piece is so unique. I've really had to hold myself back from buying everything that I liked. Take a look at her website for Black Rock Design. She has some really beautiful stuff! Needless to say, one or more family members might be getting something pretty and unique for Christmas! :)

Tomorrow we're off to visit my aunt and uncle, who live about 2 hours from here. I'm really looking forward to it. And I think Dain will be fine in the car as long as he gets to watch Nemo for the hundredth time. :)

Aruba trip, May 7 - 9 (part 1)

Jeremy and I went to Aruba! We had a great time, and left Dain at home with my mom. A few things we learned about Aruba:

1. Aruba is "one happy island" until you're on the road with the locals. They have no patience for tourist drivers.

2. Aruba is windy, all the time. It's nice, because it helps to relieve the heat of the sun.

3. Iguanas are everywhere.

4. Aruba has a total of about 5 stoplights - in the entire country.

5. Locals grow up learning how to speak 4 languages: Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English.

6. The mullet-style faux-hawk is the height of fashion among the locals.

7. "$6 isn't great, it's awesome!" (explanation to come)

Here's a short diary of our vacation.

Thursday, May 7: Jeremy and I flew to Aruba. We left our house at 2:30 am to drive to Denver. We flew from Denver to Chicago, then Chicago to Miami, then from Miami to Oranjestad, Aruba, where we landed at approximately 9:30 pm (eastern standard time). This was how we celebrated Jeremy's birthday. Happy Birthday, sweetie!

(When we checked in, they made us wear plastic wristbands with the hotel logo on them. They don't want anyone other than their guests using hotel amenities. The wristband left a tanline on my wrist. )

This is where we stayed, La Cabana Beach and Racquet Club. It is the 2nd biggest resort on the island, behind the Marriot.Friday, May 8: slept in until approximately 10:00 am. Had late lunch at the hotel restuarant. Explored the resort and wasted some time listening to a time-share spiel (where they gave us $150 to gamble.) Discovered that iguanas are everywhere in Aruba. Did a little shopping and had dinner in downtown Oranjestad. This picture was taken right outside our room at the resort.

Saturday, May 9: Slept in again. Had a late breakfast at McDonald's. Tasted like home. After that, went grocery shopping for breakfast and lunch food, since we had a kitchenette in our room. Plastered ourselves with sunscreen. Spent some time at the beach and in the water. Jeremy got a sunburn anyway. Checked out the pool and watched kids go down the waterslide. Had dinner at the Buccaneer. I had pasta, and Jeremy had swordfish. Neither were that great. But the ambiance was excellent!

To be continued...

Dain's 2nd birthday

On March 11, the day before Dain's birthday, I decided that he needed a haircut. He was bordering on the mullet - and I love my child too much to let him have a mullet. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before:

After:

Here is Dain on the morning of his birthday, playing with his new table and train set we bought for him. He was so excited that he kept saying "wow!"

Here are a couple of pictures from Dain's birthday party.

Halloween Pictures

Why Dain doesn't need to go Trick-or-Treating....

Where's all the good stuff?

Shiver me Timbers!

Hello? Oh hi! There's no candy left here! Go to the next house please!

Yesssss! Jackpot!

More pictures of Dain

New Pictures

Well, we broke down and bought a new digital camera. We've been using one that we bought 6 years ago for approx. $400, and it doesn't do half of what a $150 digital camera does today. So I played with the new one quite a bit and got some cute pictures. Enjoy!

Dain in our front yard by the flower bed. He practically posed for this one!

Our one and only kitty, Butters. Doing what he does best... being cute and cuddly. Oh yeah, and sleeping. He does that a lot.

Goofing around outside.

This is a rare moment indeed... Dain is not pulling Butters' tail, and Butters is not running away. Yet.

Silly boy!

Road Trip, Labor Day and pictures

Well, yesterday we got home from a short road trip to NE. We went for Jeremy's childhood friend Brandon's wedding on Saturday, in which Jeremy was a groomsman. I was designated as Dain-chaser. Dain was not a very easy kid to travel with, and we caught our first glimpses of the two's, which seem to be starting a bit early! He learned how to throw a tantrum to a captive audience (in the car) which gave Mommy and Daddy a headache! I'm so thankful that the trip is over! Unfortunately, there were no pictures taken in NE.

Today, after a nice long sleep (even Dain slept in till almost 8 am) we decided to go to the zoo since Jeremy has the day off. We met up with my parents and 2 of Dain's cousins. Here are a few pictures from it:

I guess this is from Jeremy playing with the camera or something.

Here's Dain with Grandpa on his first Carousel ride ever! He was a bit unsure but liked it by the end of the ride.

Jeremy and Dain at the playground at the zoo. Dain loved the slide!

Dain and Jeremy watching the grizzly play underwater. What a cool exhibit!

Updates

Hi, I'm back! Sorry about the long lag of no blogs. We had Jeremy's dad visiting from CA and Jeremy's grandma visiting from MD. Both stayed with us for about 2 weeks so I didn't really have a lot of free time. We had a nice time visiting. Dain had a blast having 2 more people around to play with. I think right now he's kind of wondering where they went, just as he was getting used to having them around. Here's a picture from when we went to the zoo on Wednesday, the first sunny day we had during their visit.

Dain's eyes: On Tuesday, we saw Dr. P. He has recommended that we have a consultation with a surgeon to discuss the surgery Dain will need. We're not in a hurry, and have time to "shop around." However, he did say that if the surgery is done before Dain turns 2, he has a better chance at developing better binocular vision. I'll keep you updated, as we haven't heard from Dr. P. that he's ready for us to make the appointment yet.

Tigger: Due to some questions about my prior post (remembering Tigger), here's what happened (I won't share too many details). To preface, we live on the very edge of town where there is still quite a bit of wildlife around. Tigger didn’t come home Thursday morning, which happens sometimes. Thursday night we still hadn’t seen her. Yesterday (Friday) morning, Jeremy looked out window and saw her in the small field behind our house. He went outside and took a closer look… it looked like the coyotes got her. I ended up burying her after Jeremy left for work – I didn’t want to leave her out there all day. Needless to say, I cried most of the day yesterday and I think it will take me a while to get over losing her.

Well, to brighten things up, here's another picture of Dain with yet another new toy. :) His aunt Carrie recently bought a motorcycle as her Master's Degree graduation present, and Dain thought it looked like something she should have gotten for him .

Swimming Time!

Today Dain and I went swimming. The weather continues to be in the high 80's to low 90's. We don't get to go every day but love it when we can! Dain has gotten more and more comfortable in the water. He loves it now! Here are some pictures from today.

Playing in the kiddie pool.

Taking a break for a snack!

About the Pets...

We have two cats: 6-yr old Tigger, the female, and almost 2-yr old Butters, the male. They tolerate each other. :)
At our old house, Tigger was an outdoor cat, so she was also a hunter. When we moved into our new house 1 1/2 years ago, we had her declawed and kept her inside because of coyotes around here. We also got Butters right after we moved in and had him declawed as soon as he was old enough - and he's always been an indoor kitty.
Well, this summer, we decided to start letting them outside during the day since the coyotes seem to have mostly disappeared.
Lo and behold, our declawed Butters is a mouser! And, I have actual proof of it right here.

Here he is guarding his mousie already dead).

Tigger had to investigate... I don't think she believed that he actually caught a real mouse...

Here he is wild-eyed and starting to play with the mousie before eating it (pictures I did NOT take.)

He's still playing...

while Tigger looks on in disbelief.

Daddy and Dain just thought it was all a lot of fun!