The Girls

Bear's Sunday

Bear's been asking to have his bike seat raised because he is "too big for his bike." (which is code for -'how about a new bike?') So I raised his seat and now all he does is trick riding where he sits very low behind his newly high seat -totally negating any new increase in seat hight.

For his birthday, Bear got a $20 bill from Auntie Carol and Uncle Dan. One of the things he got was a book about the Hulk with one of those grow-in-water-things Hulk figure stuck to the front. It has been in there for a day and only some parts are expanding, so the Hulk looks like he has some sort of palsy or is frozen in the middle of a Thriller dance.

Danielle has learned how to follow crocheting patterns to make stuffed animals. Here is her first creation - a blue bear for Bear.

That's me, actively participating in the family swim.

Bear and Willow enjoyed rambunctious bumper car activities in the kitchen.

Tall Tomatoes

Remember when the Godfather collapsed in the garden with his fatal hearth attack just after playing with his grandson amongst a forest of tomatoes? "Uggh, aaahh, ughhh, aaaghhhhgggg." His tomatoes ruled. They were like 8 feet tall and I decided that I would like to have a tomato garden like that.

So this year, I double stacked the tomato cages so they are 8 feet tall -tall enough to accommodate a serious Godfather tomato vine like Don Vito Corleone's. And it is working! I have been pruning them like some sort of cosa nostra, so they go tall and narrow...and so far so good. Hopefully, though, Bear does not witness me clutching my chest and falling to the ground, clawing desperately to life as pulmonary jets of pain shoot through my arms and jaw and darkness closes in -like poor Don Corleone.

While looking for a picture of Don Corleone in his tomato garden, I stumbled upon this this disturbing looking tomato.

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Free...

So it turns out, Willow likes peaches. Likes them a lot. Like, a lot-lot.

Our peach trees went bonkerz this year and the first tree is loaded with tons of ripe peaches. It's peach heaven.

And Willow is right there in peach heaven. She's like, "If loving peaches is wrong, I don't want to be right."

Thinking aloud...

So, one requirement i have failed to meet with Juneau's name is a song. The other two kids have a good song that uses their name as the theme.... Bears- by lyell lovett, and Little Willow- by Paul McCartney. I found some lame hard rock Juneau song, but it does not fit the bill. Google just isn't cutting it.
Also, there is a Juneau, alaska (obviously), and a Willow, Alaska, but no Bear, Alaska. I found this relatively suprising. The closest we can find is a Bear Creek, Alaska...thats not too far off, pretty close. We'll definitely have to take a trip someday. Also, there is the great Bear rainforest in canada, right below the alaskan border, it looked pretty sweet in national geographic, i want to see it.

Juneau Report

8 more weeks to go....
I have turned into a giant baby and am very, very lazy...

• When i try to read books, it is hard to keep track of my progress because my belly keeps moving the book around.
  
• Bear is very excited and had a dream of his brother being born last night.
  
• I had a dream that John got three other chicks pregnant, one with twins, so we then were expecting three more boys and one girl. My main concern was handling that many children, and we are out of bedrooms. That would be 7 kids!!!! Thats too much!!!
• I am out of belly butter (cocoa butter formulated for pregos) and am too lazy to go to the store...oh man!!!
  

Trip to the Museum

We went to the MSU museum the other day. They had tons of old stuff there.

Just the Right Shoe

One of Willow's favorite things to do is to wear just one shoe. On her right foot. If there are shoes lying around, you can count of seeing one of them on Willow within minutes. There in the background you can see the matching shoe. It is of no interest to Willow -she has what she needs.

Mackinac 2008

It ruled. One week of absolute Nelsonness.
We neglected to bring our camera with us to Mackinac this year, so here is what I have from my phone. I defer to Carol and Cassandra for much, much better coverage.

For instance, I stole this picture from Carol.

Willow and Amya ride in luxury at the Crossings.

The front yard. You can see the path Danielle made a few summers ago. Carol reinforced it this year with some more gravel -it was flooding.

Shirt twins.

While Willow looks dramatically into the distance as Bear and I engineer a breakwall for splashing babies.

A real handfull.

Bear's favorite hangin branch.

Matthew, the neighbor boy, and Bear test the water.

Poking around at the Outfitters.

Burt and Chris' distinguished grandchildren.

Coffee and donuts at the bakery.

Kevin landed some prehistoric monsters.

Adding to the baby breakwall.

All the grandkids meandering around in the water.

Another sinkbath.

This was not nearly as dramatic looking in real life.

Slackers

I just checked our blog and realized what slackers we are. Posting has definitely slowed since the real life pace picked up.... so just know that we are doing lots of cool things that you guys are not reading about, torturing you with this lack of knowledge. Right now i am just taking a time out from one of the most exciting days of our lives that you will just have to wait to read...well, gotta go!!!