This Little Piggy

As spoken by Gus to Jack:
"This wittle piggy got a market,
This wittle piggy at home,
This wittle piggy got some recipes,
I can't renember this part,
And this wittle piggy goes
'wee wee wee wee' to home"

Nature Walks

Max is in summer camp this week. Gus and I have been exploring our yard while he's away. Here's a sampling of the things he wanted me to photograph:

Snail:



Morning rain:

A "Roly Poly":

Rocks:

Baseball Guys

Recently, on a trip to Snapdoodle Toys, I came across the perfect toy for Max. Perfect because it caters so well to his detail-oriented personality. Baseball Guys, as they are rather uncreatively called, is basically a bunch of, well, baseball guys that you place on a felt field. It comes with two teams, both with defense and offense, an umpire and a scoreboard. We immediately had to make dugouts and over time Max realized he needed to add other missing elements such as field umpires, base coaches, a ball girl, a mascot, a bat boy, a foul pole, a fence and advertising. Yep, that's right, advertising. This kid means business when it comes to authenticity. Here's a few pictures of his creation:

He's so proud when it's all set up. And this is a very rare occasion because normally Gus comes through and knocks it all over before Max can finish. These are not the happiest moments in the Kaetzel household.



Here's the view from homeplate. Notice the Lincoln Log fence and the advertisements. Max actually had me draw out a conceptual sketch of what advertising we would have were our backyard to transform into a baseball field. Ads included Legos, Target, Coke, Toy Story 3 and more!

Here's Batman moonlighting as a base coach. Also note the "foul pole" or foam building block as it is also known. If you look in the dugout you'll see Pikachu who is filling the role of bat boy. Not pictured, Mario in a go-kart filling in as the Mariner Moose.

A Day at the Park

Summer is finally making an appearance here in Seattle. Last week the whole Johnson side of the family enjoyed a fun day at Blyth Park.

The kids were super excited when the Popsicle Man showed up (which, come to think of it, no one really uses that term "Popsicle Man" anymore, do they? I guess it's more just the ice cream truck or something like that.)

This photo pretty much kills me:

Jack was pretty certain that a swing was not his cup of tea, at least not yet.

Here's hoping we can string a few more sunny days together and officially call it summer!

On (Not) Getting the Job

Up until today, I had a secret that only Mark and my sister knew: Last month I applied for a job. Not a "real" job, as in one that would take me outside of the home and into an office, but a writing job. It was for a blog called Ohdeedoh, which focuses on modern design and kids. I've been a reader of the blog for a couple years now and when they put out a call for a new contributor I thought, "why not?" For a week, I worked to put together my application, which included a nursery tour and a "Round-Up", a collection of items focused around a single theme. I used Jack's nursery and did a round up of kids' market totes. It was a lot of fun and made me remember what it felt like to write. I loved it.

I found out recently that I didn't get the job.

It was disappointing, but at the same time I think not getting the job was exactly what I needed. If I really want to try my hand at writing again, I need to practice up, keep working, write, write, write and ultimately try again. And again and again and again. And I need to work on my photography skills. Blog contributors don't just write, they submit their own photos and I am the first to admit that my photography skills are sub-par. I don't know how to use Photoshop (I don't even own it!) and I know that's a must. So even though I didn't get the job, it's time for me to get to work.

I also realized that I never showed Jack's finished nursery on this blog. Here it is (although truthfully it isn't finished. We've got doors to replace and curtains to hang, but all in good time, right?)

That's Entertainment

Check out Gus making Jack laugh. It doesn't get much cuter than this.

Jack's First Market

Here's Jack at his first-ever farmers' market. I know he'll be spending a lot more time here this summer!

He loved the walk and was all smiles the whole way:



While he may not look it, he was super excited to see Daddy!

Such a cutie!

Mama and baby:

To Market!

Today was the opening of our local farmers' market. It was a little disappointing honestly. There weren't as many vendors as in past years and they've moved it away from the park area, onto the street. But the ice cream lady was there and she had sweet cream caramel and rocky road today, so all was well in the end. We walked there (the boys did great!) and then Mark met us and drove us home. There were tons of kids which made me so happy to see and the boy had a total blast playing at the park.

This photo of Gus isn't the best since his eyes are just about to close, but I love how he has his hands in his pockets. That kid walked around like he owned the place.



See what I mean?! There's confidence in those steps!

This is Max doing his best to evade my camera--a very hilarious game apparently. He would get as close to me as possible and then try to turn and run before I got a shot. This is one of the lucky ones where I caught him from the front:

And this is Max doing his best to be wacky:

At the Zoo

We went to the zoo on Memorial Day and I just had to share these two shots of the boys. They were so excited to climb up in there and pose for photos...a rarity these days! The moment was ruined though when a big fat rat scurried right past this little hut during our photo session. So gross!