Puddle Stomping

A little rain never stops Max from wanting to play outside. Right before this soggy play time, Max was all upset because it was time to turn off Thomas the Train. But, I said, "rubber boots" and "puddles" ... and Max perked right up!

Max had a great time running around jumping in the puddles trying to make the biggest splash possible. His buddy, Bear, loved having Max to chase. Needless to say, the two of them were a soggy mess by the time puddle jumping was over. Mama looked pretty silly in the pouring rain taking pictures too. Our neighbors must just love us! LOL

Even with our fire engine red rubber boots, we were soaked to the bone! Max could have stayed outside all day. The fact that he was water logged didn't seam to bother him.


Hey Mama ...why don't you stomp in the puddles too. So, I got my rubber boots on and stomped around with Max. :)

Autumn is well underway and it is time to start pulling some stuff from the garden and moving to the compost pile. Needless to say, it involves digging and dirt .... Max is all over it!

A big shovel is no match for Max ... whatever Daddy does, Max wants to do too!

Dragging 10 foot sunflowers to the compost pile is Big Boy work! What a stud! My boy is the bestest!

Ground Breaking

We had our ground breaking ceremony for Max's play set this weekend. We're ready for the fun to begin!



Corpus Grandpa got Max an awesome play set earlier this year. Time for gardening is now over, so we've got some construction to do! And if it involved digging in the dirt, you can be sure Max is all over it! It's got the perfect location so we can look up at the pretty mountain while Max plays.



The shovel was a little big for Max, but that didn't stop him from jumping right in the middle of the activity. He even was stomping his foot on the shovel like he saw Daddy do.


Max makes sure that Daddy measures properly. Measure twice, cut once. Well, we did a little re-digging. Luckily it all worked out perfectly.


Taking some time to really get into the dirt. There are very cool earth worms that have been exposed.


No smiling... I take my digging very seriously.


Just a glimpse at some beautiful autumn color!

It's fun to be Max!

Max, Uncle Brian, and I went to River Front Park in Spokane last weekend and had a total blast! We were trying to keep Max out of Tommy's hair so he can work on building his play set in the back yard. Brian was nice enough to help me entertain Max.

Mostly it was a great day. Max did have a little issue with barf in in Uncle Brian's car. Yikes. So we pulled off to the side of the road. I stripped down Max, cleaned him up and gave him fresh clothes. While Brian had the yucky job of cleaning out the car seat. What a great uncle!

We walked around River Front Park and looked at the pretty rivers, saw the neat train, and took a ride on the carousel. Max really liked that and probably would have stayed on it for hours if we let him. We followed up with a trip to the new Apple store and various retail therapy... and Chinese food from PF Chang's! It was a great day. Thanks Uncle Brian for sharing is a special time.

I know we just spoke of how much Max likes to water ... but look at the joy on this boy's face! We can get an hour of "free" time if we just turn on the hose and give it to Max. I'm not quite sure what we'll do this winter to keep him occupied.

This is the look he gets on his face just when he's about to water Mama!

Sunflowers from the garden.

Green Thumb

Daddy makes sure Max gives all the plants a good drink.


Max loves to do anything that daddy does! So, without question, one of Max’s favorite things to do is work in the garden. He LOVES to water; as Mema would say, “water bug”. Tommy has done a wonderful job with a beautiful garden in our yard. He’s grown strawberries, several types of lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, chard, and various flowers, etc. Let it be knows, that mama complains about the garden a lot because it’s taken a lot of precious time, but the results are truly amazing. Tommy (and Max) have a lot to be proud of.

These are just a couple of pics to show Max doing one of his favorite activities and Tommy’s green thumb. The great thing is, we can give Max a hose with dribbling water, and he’s good to go for an hour. LOL





Here is an off topic video ... Max daning to "They Must Be Giants"... sooo cute!

Summer Vacation - Take 3! Seattle!

We had the final installment of summer vacation; we went to Seattle to see the Ranalli family. What a blast we had on our short visit! We did a 6 hour car ride from Sandpoint to Seattle and Max was an absolute champ! He did very well on his first big road trip. He did have one minor incident where he barfed all over the car about 20 minutes from our destination. But, us pulling over to clean up kept us from being caught up in an accident that wasn't too far up the road. God works in mysterious ways.

We went to the Woodland Park Zoo and it was the best day ever! It was a little overcast and cool, but that made all the animals out for our visit. Max and Nicholas were two little peas in a pod and it was so much for to see the zoo through their eyes. It was also heartwarming to see these two little guys get used to each other and play. Just darling!


Nicholas and Max ... bosom buddies.


Nicholas and Max check out the kimono dragon. This was super cool and very impressive ... for the parents too.


The best way to travel? On Daddy's shoulders of coarse!


Nicholas investigating the bear cave ... Max is going to make sure Nicholas is safe before he goes in too.


Look at this darling face! I think Nicholas was just about to tell Daddy it was OK for him to explore the bear cave ... even though Daddy had reservations.



It was really fun to watch Nicholas and Max RUN through the zoo! They were both so excited and just took turns chasing each other ... The Daddies are not far behind!



The Rowell and Ranalli family. Great Friends!



Mama and Max checking out the elephant. Max was so happy to see all these animals in real life! I already can't wait to go back.


Darling Christian! He is the most perfect baby ever. He's smiling all the time and had a great disposition. I forgot he was there sometimes he was so good. And look at those big blue eyes! He looks just like his pretty mama.


Nicholas and Max getting ready to ride the carousel.

Max was kind of freaked out on his first carousel ride, partially because some guy stepped on his fingers right before the ride. He cried when we rode by and waved at Daddy, but then wanted more once the ride was over.

We went to this great Castle Park near the Ranalli home; the boys had all kinds of fun running around. There were also great black berry bushes to pick berries from along the way.

Nicholas is a master balancer!

Max loves to slide!

Super Mom Kelly can do it ALL! Truly, the most amazing Mom!

Max and Nicholas both have a great love for Thomas the Train. This is them watching their favorite show together.

Kelly and Chris .... we had an amazing weekend! Thank you so much for your hospitality ... and Nicholas for being so generous, sharing his toys with Max. This was the best weekend in a long time! I can't wait to do it again! Love you!!

Summer Vacation - Take 2!

Tommy's sister, Cindy and the rest of the Govett family came to Sandpoint to visit for a few days. Max so loved having his cousins, Abbey and Chase, here to play with. Max instantly looked up to Chase when he realized he can ride the skateboard. They took turns, Chase on the skateboard, Max running his truck, up and down the walk way.

Chase was so sweet with Max; he went out of his way to get down to the little guy's level. Max just loved having a dude to look up to.

Chase and Abbey got Max in the lake! They did a great job of collecting rocks for Max to throw in the water. I don't think Max really cared what they were doing, as long as they were together.

Abbey helping Max navigate the lake.

Max and Abbey had a fun time playing with blocks in his room. They also had some mad tent/tunnel time and of coarse, snack time.

Grapes, strawberries and cheese .... Max likes to feed Abbey. Awe....

Max's adoration for Abbey is very apparent. He watched this video of the two of them about 50 times in a row!

photography by Abbey!

Two hot mama's ... that's why we hit the shade. :)

It was GREAT to see everyone! Max is still asking for , "Aaaace?" and "Abbeeeey?" Soooo darling, I just wish we all were closer together so we could enjoy the company more often.