How to Climb a Tree

So a day at the park included a lesson in climbing trees. We found the coolest tree that doubled as a play gym. Bella's first attempts to climb were very successful.
She is of course a natural. Her mother has been known to climb a tree or two back in the day, usually after church in church clothes.....

Cameron on the other hand was much more interested in gathering sticks and twigs to play with. Anything that can be turned into a sword.

Ah success! Unfortunately getting him to leave his sticks at the park was another story. He always wants to take them home.

Car seat inspection

Today we have the official inspection of "Logan's" new car seat. Cameron and Bella had to make sure it passed for comfort and durability. The durability portion of the inspection was tested by the 30 some odd pounds these kids weigh. The car seat is only supposed to hold up to 22 pounds......

Father's Day weekend

Happy Father's Day! For Father's Day weekend, besides camping, Darin took us on an adventure to some favorite outdoor places. We started out driving on all the favorite farm roads between our house and Fall City. We ended up at the falls which was described by Cam as "big Wa-Wa". Bella was a little scared on the observation deck and refused to have her picture taken. Cameron the other hand thought it was very cool.

After spending a little time there, our goal was to go strawberry picking at Remlinger Farms. This of course being a first for Cameron, he was so much fun to watch. Bella has been exposed a lot more to gardening with Daddy so for her, it was all business.

Cam did really well filling his container with strawberries, not yet realizing that he could eat them too. Once his basket was filled, he refused to give it up to be weighed for payment. The nice people running the U-pick place, let it slide.

Again, Bella was a pro. She actually filled up half of this flat with the perfect strawberries. She has become quite the little harvester of produce. It only took a little explanation and she was off finding all the best bushes.

Then of course, the concept of eating the berries right off of the bushes came into play. Once that started, it was time to go.

It was another very happy, fun filled Father's Day for Darin. He got to do all his favorite things and spend great quality time with the kids. Darin is such an amazing father, his kids always come first and he genuinely enjoys being with them. Their isn't a better man for the job in my eyes. He is everything I could ever ask for a father to be to our children. I look forward to many more years of watching him nurture our kids. It is a privilege to have a family with him.

"Dad and Me" camp-out at church

This was the 4th annual "Dad and Me" camp out at our church to celebrate Father's Day. Darin took just Bella and the two of them camped out on the church lawn just two blocks from our house.

Now this being an event planned by men, for men, you can just imagine the "activities" that had been arranged. This particular picture is of our precious angel competing in a burping contest. Apparently everyone broke up into groups and in Darin and Bella's group, she was the best candidate based on her abilities...that's our girl.

Next of course was a pie throwing contest where the kids had the opportunity to throw a pie at dad. I think Bella was more interested in eating the whipped cream.

Dancing was on the schedule as well. Eventually Bella ended up on stage dancing in front of everyone.

Oh boy, did I hear about this one. Apparently Bella took a liking to a particular boy that according to Darin was twice her age. I think that might have been an exaggeration made by a very panicked father. When asked by daddy what she was doing, Bella's response was "I'm just giving him loves".

Good morning all! And I use the term "morning" loosely. Bella woke Darin up at around 4am stating that she was done sleeping. Not wanting to call his pregnant wife that early (I had the car) he tried to keep her busy without waking up the whole camp. By 6am I received a phone call to pick up the campers, Bella was ready to come home.

This was such a special experience for Bella and Darin. I'm pretty sure it will become an annual event for the Leonardsons.

Cam's 1st haircut

So we decided that one too many people told us "what a cute little girl" we had and asked "how old is she?" Time for Cameron's first haircut! My beautiful boy with his beautiful curls is now described by Grandpa as "all boy, looking to get into some trouble". I think we had a reversed Sampson effect, cutting off Cameron's hair has freed him some how and he now can jump off of anything and turn anything into a sword.

We should have known it would be a production when just putting on the cape evoked such screams.

A brief moment of quiet while being distracted by trucks.

The before picture....where these curls came from, we have no idea. Take a good look because they are all coming off.

These hairstylists have to be pretty good to cut the hair of a moving target...

And the clippers are introduced. As his hair was falling to the floor and all over him, he kept saying "Uh Oh! Uh Oh!"

If our son could swear yet, I think now would be the time. The look of "what the heck are you doing to me?" was priceless.

"ok, maybe I look cute"

"I think I might need a nap after this", what a traumatic experience.

A new man is born! "Watch out world, no more Mr. Cute Curls!"

Bubble fun

Bubbles are the new obsession in our family, we are constantly in the backyard playing with bubbles. The kids are getting pretty good at it but no matter how much we practice, you can't avoid the sticky mess.

Bella is becoming quite the pro with the big bubble blower. This little sticks usually end up all over their faces...

This may look professional, but he really only got it all over his face. But he sure looks like he knows what he is doing.

"Papa" giving it a try on mother's day...

"Moms & Muffins" at Bella's school

For Mothers day, Bella's preschool had a special "moms & muffins" event where the kids hosted the moms and gave them snacks in the classroom. No dads or siblings were allowed, just moms and the kids in Bella's class. It was the most exciting mother's day experience so far for me. Bella worked so hard preparing for weeks. She made crafts, decorated her classroom and kept the big secret for as long as she possibly could. I got to experience her class, do a craft with her and have "circle time". In the circle time, we read stories, sang songs and just had a great time together. I will remember this time forever, it was a very special thing to share with my daughter.

This is Bella with her teacher Mrs. Marquez. She is reading her special note to mom for circle. All the kids had a chance to do this for their moms.

For our craft together, we made picture frames that now is on our fridge with a picture of the two of us from that day.