Saturday, June 27, 2009

Washington D.C. (Friday)

WASHINGTON D.C. - What a place to visit. We arrived Friday evening just in time to hit the heart of rush hour. Our route took us right to the 495 loop of slowness. We ventured a few times with some side roads which kept us occupied but didn't really help us in the long run. We finally made it to the Green Belt National Park. Yep, we went camping in Washington DC. It's a great way to save money on hotels but we wouldn't recommend it in the summer. Ticks & humidity!

Friday:
1. Got Stuck In DC Rush Hour Traffic
2. Drove Around The National Mall
3. Ate Seafood
4. Camped

Yummy seafood!
After 7 hours in the car, everyone was happy to be outside.
Sleeping in DC means diapers only to stay cool.More photos coming soon...we've only just begun! :)

Saturday:
5. Smithsonian Castle
6. Freer Gallery of Art
7. See Washington Monument
8. National Museum of American History
9. National Museum of Natural History
10. National Air and Space Museum
11. Go Inside The Washington Monument
12. National World War II Memorial
13. Korean War Memorial
14. Lincoln Memorial
15. Vietnam War Veterans Memorial

Sunday:
16. Jefferson's Memorial
17. National Geographic Society at Explorers Hall
18. American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery
19. Retirement Party
20. National Air and Space Museum (Round 2)
21. U.S. Capital Building

Monday:
22. The Pentagon for LtCol Bonilla-Lucia's USAF Retirement Ceremony
23. National Air and Space Museum Steve F. Udvar-Hazy Center
24. Drive Home

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Negotiator.

He's the negotiator. I'm the procrastinator. I'm talking about Lucas and his Mommy.

I'm procrastinating on my Washington DC posts but have at least downloaded all the photos...it's a start.

Lucas, the NEGOTIATOR, has mastered this skill. I had no idea a three year old could be so good at negotiating. Here are some recent examples for his talent.

Mommy: "Lucas, you can eat the rice or the meat but you have to eat one."
Lucas: "How about I eat the cucumbers instead?"

Mommy: "Lucas, time for bed, let's go brush your teeth and use the potty."
Lucas: "How about I cuddle with Daddy on the couch first?...I LOVE TO CUDDLE!"

Daddy: "Lucas, it's time to eat dinner."
Lucas: "How about we have dessert for dinner?"

Everything is up for discussion in Lucas' opinion.

There are a million more I can't think of right now but I'll get back to this post.
Axel is waking...
:)

Here's some photos of the boys from the other day at our local climbing gym.

Lucas climbing.Axel watching.
Chub! I love it. Oh, and did you see those brown eyes?! Taking after his Mommy!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Washington D.C.

Okay, not really fair to title this post "Washington D.C." because it's really just to let you know we are back from a whirlwind trip to the DC. We had a wonderful time but today is all about unpacking, laundry, watering, slip-n-sliding and just enjoying our home...hot home. Dayton is heating up for the summer.

I have ONE MILLION photos to go through but will get a DC post up soon. :)

Love you all!
-JMLA

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

New York

Last weekend, we found ourselves in New York. We got a call from Mark telling us about a business trip to NY so we quickly changed our plans. After a few long hours in the car we took a little break and hit New Jersey's high point. Check out this monument!

The big "hike" to the top of Jersey.
Mr. Smarty Pants...finally stands still for the camera but closes his eyes.
He ran away for the first family photos. Then, we tricked him with the self timer light..."Ooooo, look at that Lucas."
Then Mommy closed her eyes but I still love this photo. You can see Axel's intent stare. He watches Lucas and won't pay attention to anything else if he's close by. Pretty cool to see their bond already developing. Well, that, and FEAR! We are still pretty sure Axel is half afraid of Lucas and half in love with him. However, Lucas is the only one who can really make Axel laugh out loud. I love it. I forgot how fun a 4 month old is.
Hiking down, love those cheeks!We then headed to The Gunks for a little climbing with Uncle Mark. We didn't tell Lucas about meeting up with Uncle Mark. HE WAS SO EXCITED and half confused when he first saw Mark. If only I had my camera at the pizza place.

Copperhead snake...yikes! We kept our distance and our eyes peeled all day for anymore.
The Gunks offers great multipitch climing which Mike and I loved doing before kids. It's nearly impossible to do it now unless someone like Uncle Mark is around and willing to baby-sit. It was a real treat to do a couple climbs with Mike. I think Mark got his fill of the boys pretty fast but what a trooper to help us out. Thanks Uncle Mark!The bugs were bad so Axel stayed cozy in his tent for most of the time.
Lucas kept busy catching caterpillars (about 15 of them), building pretend fires and making friends.
The rock can be very steep but has big, happy holds. Right here, Mark is going over a big roof.
Gearing up!
Yep, even Lucas got a chance to do a little climbing.
Such a big boy!
Wow, a photo of Mommy climbing. It was so much fun!
And another.
Daddy too.
Another roof..."Send it Daddy, send it!"
NYC: We drove into NYC early morning to meet up with my step-brother Brian. He lives in Brooklyn and works in downtown Manhattan at the Apple store. Boy, what a different life it is in the city of all cities. We only had a few hours to maximize fun so we hit the Empire State Building, B&H Photo, Central Park, lunch with Brian (yummy seafood) and then a quick trip over the Brooklyn Bridge before heading home. We could have spent a week with the amount of things to see and do in NYC. However, for our first time there, we were pleased with what we did.

Empire State Building
There are a lot of buildings down there!
Driving over the Brooklyn Bridge. If you look close, you can see the Statue of Liberty.
On the Brooklyn side and then the camera battery died. We were lucky to get these few shots in the city milking the battery. Next time we go, we'll be armed with TWO strollers and a FULL battery in our camera.
It sure is fun to explore out East. Our next adventure: Washington D.C. this weekend!

Monday, June 15, 2009

30 Pounder

I've been meaning to do this for awhile now. Lucas is growing up before my eyes and each day he looks more and more grown up. It's hard to see the toddler he used to be and even harder to imagine him as a baby. Everywhere I go, people stop to see Axel (I forgot how a baby can draw people in) and tell me how fast time will go by and how fast they will grow. Lucas is proof that it is true. No matter how hard I try to slow him down, I can't. Instead, I've learned to enjoy each stage and try to capture what I can in this blog with photos and documentation.

All about Lucas...who will be turning FOUR this August!
- Huge imagination! Making coffee, blending, food processing, lawn mowing, fertilizing, airplanes, cars, trucks, car washes, spaceships; absolutely endless. I love watching him!
- When we are out climbing he loves catching caterpillars and building pretend fires
- Likes to climb and swing. The higher the better and is very friendly to other climbers. He's always making new friends and makes people smile wherever we go.
- At home, he's a huge helper. Starts the dishwasher for me, will help put clothes away, loves the vaccum cleaner, helps clean up the bathroom but HATES picking up his own stuff. "It's too hard!"
- Whenever he is sad or angry he says, "Mommy/Daddy, I need hugs." I LOVE THIS! It keeps everything in check even when Mommy is irritated. :) I need hugs too and love to get them.
- Loves the color Red and anything that is Red.
- Get's song stuck in his head like Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle, Twinkle. He will hum them for hours usually after we sing them for hours. :)
- Anytime he wants to ask a question, tell us something or show us something he says, "Can I ask you a question?" It makes us smile. We've discussed the difference between questions and statements a few times before. At the end of one discussion he said, "Mommy, can I ask you a question-statement?" At that moment, I realized I should not try to correct him, only enjoy him for this stage will be gone too fast.
- Needs to confirm things with both Mommy and Daddy even if we are all sitting in the same room or car. Example: He asks Daddy in the car, "Where are we going? Mike will say, "The Air Museum." Then he'll turn to me and say, "Mommy, can I ask you a question? We're going to the Air Museum!"
- Loves to learn how things work...takes them apart when possible and studies everything to learn
- STILL LOVES SPRINKLERS. He's our sprinkler EXPERT!
- Infatuated with batteries...car batteries, toy batteries, etc. (This makes Mommy nervous)
- LOVES BOOKS and reading time
- Loves playing card games like Go Fish and Old Maid
- Enjoys puzzles and his favorite is the U.S. puzzle. It's amazing how many states he can recognize. Last weekend while climbing he asked someone if they new where Tennessee was and then proceeded to tell them that it was right by Kentucky. I was proud.
- Loves roller coasters and other fun rides at amusement parks
- Knows his ABC's, can count to 20 with a little help to get 14 out before 16
- Likes to add on his fingers: simple ones like 2+2, 4+3, etc.
- Can identify almost all the lower case letters
- Knows his street address
- Can spell LUCAS, STOP, ON, NO, OFF
- Has meltdowns if he gets hungry
- Love hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac-n-cheese, oatmeal, broccoli, SUGAR
- Still loves to watch Caillou but is exploring other shows...Peter Pan, Scooby Doo, Sesame Street, etc.
- Enjoys cutting out shapes and gluing them in the form of airplanes...he'll make sure it has two wings, a tail, a fuselage, pitot tube, engines, wheels, cockpit, etc.
- Gluing in general is fun
- Cutting too!
- Play dough and cookie cutters are big around here. Mixing all the colors together is a must
- Likes to paint for about 5 minutes
- Likes to do things by himself. We will get in trouble if we forget to let him help out...opening oatmeal packages, turning on lights, opening doors, ringing the door bell, etc. Such a big boy!
- He's a skinny boy but I think he weighs about 30 pounds...watch out, Axel's catching up!
- Loves to "cuddle" in morning but can't hold still for more than a minute. Elbows, arms, knees and feet everywhere. He makes us smile!

Dear Lucas,
We love you so much and are amazed at how big you are. You are a wonderful big brother and are so good to Axel. Your patience is amazing when it comes to your brother and having to wait for him to eat or get his diaper changed. We love your happy mornings, your hugs, your cuddles, your love and your sweet voice. You have been such a treasure. We love watching you explore and learn new things everyday. We love when you ask questions about the world around you and try to learn new words. We love our chats about fire, the weather, or how something is made or how it works. You bring so much joy into our home and to everyone who takes the time to meet you. You are a smile maker everywhere we go and people constantly tell me what a cool kid you are. We agree, you are a COOL KID! We are so lucky to have you in our family. We are so proud of you and love you so, so much!
Love, Mommy, Daddy and Axel

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

17 Pounder

Axel is 4 months old today and had his doctors check up yesterday. He tipped the scales at 17 lbs 11oz! I'm not sure if I totally believe it but he is a big boy for sure. Yikers! No wonder my arms are getting tired and my back hurts. :)

All about Axel...
- Weighs 17 lbs 11oz (Note: This is what Lucas weighed at one year)
- Height 25 in
- Head 42 cm
- 97% in baby size chart
- Loves sucking on his right first three fingers. If he can get his hands, a blanket and pacifier stuffed in his mouth at the same time, he's super pleased with himself.
- He discovered his toes which are sooo fun to play with but hasn't sucked on them yet.
- Loves to smile and is a huge flirt. If he catches your eyes, he gives free smiles.
- Giggles and laughs
- Ticklish under the arms and on his feet
- Sings a tired song (whine) when it's time for bed
- Loves to eat! Obviously
- Very happy in the morning but likes to sleep in too
- Likes the TV or computer screen or any other cool lights
- Loves his brother and still watches everything he does
- Startles fairly easily but rarely cries...we still get the hand flair
- His eyes aren't sure what color to be. Right now, they are brown, hazel, green, gray.
- Will talk and coo but most of the times just likes to watch what's going on
- Drools a ton!
- Sleeps in the car really well
- Very mellow boy and goes with the flow! This is a great trait to have if your an Anderson!
- Loves his tag blanket and other little soft blankets to grab and suck on.

Axel,
You have been a true blessing in our family. You have reminded us how wonderful it is to have a baby in our home and you make us smile everyday. We love watching you grow and discover the world around you. We are all amazed how fast 4 months has gone by and how big you've grown in such a short time. We love you so much and are so happy to have you part of our family. God has such an amazing way of showing His love for us especially through a baby, a baby like you! So precious, a true miracle and an amazing gift. Thank you God! We are so thankful. Axel we love you with all our hearts and can't wait to continue on this journey of life with you!
Your Family,
Daddy, Mommy and Lucas

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Flashback

Grandpa Anderson sent us this photo of Uncle Dan, Daddy and Uncle Mark. This was Daddy's first fishing trip. There is still some debate on how old everyone is in this photo.

However old, I love it!

Above Photo: Downtown Portland Oregon Bike Ride

The Danger Zone needed a little update to include not only LUCAS DANGER, but also his little brother...AXEL ADVENTURE!

Welcome to our family blog now known as:


DANGER and ADVENTURE Around Every Corner!!

Enjoy!!