Life at Two

  I'd say life at two is pretty great.  You have personal assistants all around you, ready to jump at your every need.  You're extremely cute, so who wouldn't want to drop everything to grab you a snack because you're "hungy".  You can sleep with a binky and a blanket and no one will look at you funny.  And lets face it, you can melt anyone's heart with your little "I lub you".

Doing some work, hauling pumpkins. 

 Riding a bike with the required hat.

Getting the "Bad guy! Bad guy!" with a sweet new hair style.

 

Wishing that "knock knock" happened more than once a year.

Happy Birthday Layton!

Wouldn't you know it, we have a two year old in the house!  We just love our little monster to pieces and find a birthday is a special day to spoil our little fella to no end!

Friday we went up to Pasco, Washington to visit Chris' dad (he is currently farming up there) and to celebrate Layton's birthday.  We got to see what Pasco was all about (ie-Mexican Flea Markets, Griggs Hardware, Pasco Farmers Market, a Harvest Festival) and best of all Chucky Cheese!  We were so busy having fun that picture taking wasn't our top priority.  I hope you'll settle for the few I took.

We came home Sunday and celebrated some more with a silly birthday hat, a little singing, and some cake too.

A Close to Summer

The summer is dwindling down and we are trying to squeeze every last ounce from it.  Although school and work are back in full swing we have been taking full advantage of the weekends and the warm weather is a plus too.

Layton has started to become more interested in riding his bike and four-wheeler.  Of course he is a friendly little guy and wants someone to join him whether it be a bike riding companion or us jumping on behind him on the four-wheeler (picture that!).

(Check out the video at the bottom of this post.)

 

A few weeks ago Chris took me on my first overnight backpacking trip.  We decided to leave Layton behind to play with Grandpa and Grandma Kasel for the weekend.

We ventured to Box Lake, right out of McCall.  It was a lot of work hiking in with a 3 mile climb right off the bat but well worth it.  I hope to do more trips like these next year!

Cheers to a fun summer 2012 and we welcome a warm and cozy fall!

Cloud Dough

I've seen a lot of posts lately of moms finding creative ways to let their children play.  I always feel like I'm a fuddy duddy mom and wanted to step outside of the box a little and let Layton do new and exciting things.  It may not sound so exciting but I made Layton some cloud dough to play with last night.  It was something new and interesting for this crazy kid who never has enough to do.

He stayed fairly clean until Chris decided to get a little crazy and put it on his head. 

And then it was everywhere (but so fun!) 

 At this point I mentioned a bath and he started to roll around on his belly.

To top it all off I found this robe under the bathroom sink that should have been pulled out a year ago.  Still, he insisted on wearing it after his bath and it even went to bed with him.

Hike to Shirt Lake

On Sunday we decided to venture out for our first hike with Layton.  We drove up to Snow Bank and planned on hiking to Blue Lake but the parking lot was full!  Wow!  We couldn't believe all of the people up there.  So, we decided to try out Shirt Lake.  It was beautiful and Layton did great!

 We usually give Layton Dramamine when we drive into the mountains because he gets car sick.  He doesn't usually fall asleep but looks pretty drugged out!



Layton fell asleep as we descended to the lake.  Such hard work for him. :) 

Chris scoped out what seemed to be the only fish in the lake.  It was huge and he tried for about 45 minutes to catch it.  No such luck.  We got home and found out it's a Tiger Muskie.  Now Chris is bound and determined to go back and catch it after studying the correct bait to use. 

Layton-22 months

Of course, Layton just keeps growing and growing. He has become super smart and trys to repeat things we say. He has put a couple of words together to make a "sentence" including "where go?" and "don't know". His blanket, pacifier, baby doll are all "baby" and says "baby" when he wants to be held. "Go Go" (Cat in the Hat) is his favorite show and always asks to watch it.

He says "mama poooop" after he's gone in his diaper. I was able to catch him one day and he made it to the potty but I have no desire to potty train and I'm not sure hes really ready either



 

He calls the hammock a ride and thinks it's a real treat when he can be on it.

He loves his cousin baby Jack and gives him tons of loves.  Notice the Tic Tacs in his hand.  They are a "Grandpa treat" that Grandpa Don usually carries in his pocket for Layton.  He gave Layton his own box when he left to farm in Washington.

Layton still has an obsession with wearing certain things.  This day it was his goggles. :)

He found my stash of purses and came out of the bedroom saying "backpack".

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We just love this boy to pieces...who wouldn't?

Camping at Deadwood

In July the Kasels did their annual family camping trip at Deadwood Reservoir.  This is always a favorite for Chris and I as it is a week of mountain bliss.  Every year it seems someone is unlucky enough to have "camper" drama.  This year we were those folks.  We got to camp and we were missing a tire (and had been for some time).

Alas, a missing tire was not going to spoil our fun.

This kiddo can't get enough of the dirt!

The party barge



Catching frogs

Apparently this is the way you lick a bowl.



Layton got his first ride on the tube and was not thrilled, to say the least.



We had a massive storm one night while eating dinner.  Thunder, Lighting, pouring rain, huge hail...left a huge mess to clean up afterwards!

 

This year we found a shortcut to the hot springs making it about a mile hike.