Our Day at the Park

We brought James to the park the other day and let him go down the slide for the first time. He wasn't sure whether he liked it the first time down the slide, but after climbing back up the stairs and standing at the top of the slide, he knew that this was something he had to do again...and again...and again. I think he went down the slide 20 times before he started looking for something bigger and better. I took him down the big slide a few times and he really seemed to enjoy that as well. We tried the swings, but they had some weird swings that I'd never seen before. They had the normal ones for older kids and then they had some that looked like a captain's seat, but it didn't have anything to secure them with, so we didn't really want him to try it. He wasn't sure what to make of the wood chips. He would pick them up and look at them, but I think the texture deterred him from actually trying to put it in his mouth. Always curious, he decided that after he'd had enough of investigating the wood chips, he would see what all the rest of the playground was about. So he tried to climb up several things--including the slide--that were way to hard for him. When he started throwing a tantrum because he couldn't do it, I knew it was time to say goodbye to the park for the day. We're excited about bringing him back and letting him try the slide again.

Happy Birthday James!

James celebrated his first birthday last Wednesday. We didn't do anything really big for his birthday, but he did get a few presents and we had cake--which he did not enjoy at all. I thought he would love a chocolate cake, but when I put it on his tray, he just played with it. And even when I put some in his mouth, thinking he would see how good it was and gobble it all up, he just spit it all out and threw it on the ground. It was disappointing. Hopefully next year will be better. Oh well.

He did enjoy his pool toy that we got for his birthday. It's warm enough down here in Arizona that we could go swimming...sort of. The pool isn't heated so even though it's 85 degrees down here, it's still pretty cold water. So we just soaked in the warm hot tub for a while and only dipped our feet in the pool itself. It is getting warmer each day, though, so it shouldn't be too long before we're swimming in the pool itself.

Grandma and Grandpa Hunter got him the cute church clothes. Thanks! And surprisingly enough, he didn't suck on the tie (even though he loves to suck on Daddy's ties).

Car Crash

Paul, James and I were travelling to Las Vegas so that we could catch a cheap flight to Idaho to visit my family. On the way, we stopped off to get a little In N Out Burger. While Paul had his head out the window at the drive thru, ordering our food, an 18 year-old kid, hit us from behind. His excuse was that he had tried to put his car in park and it just kept going. From the look of the pictures, I think that he should have actually tried stopping first, before he tried putting it in park. It's a little obvious with the damage of the car that it was hit with a little more force than a car just rolling forward because it wasn't put into park properly. Oh well. We didn't get to go to Idaho, but luckily for Paul and me, we stopped at the In N Out Burger that is not too far from my sister's house. So we stayed the weekend with her instead and went to the beach. That was loads of fun. My sister, Belinda, and I were very brave (for it being the last day in February) and we got in up to our necks...well I did anyway, she didn't quite make it that far. The tide was going out, so it was all we could do sometimes to not be swept out with the waves. We were shell-seeking for Belinda's kids. They were so excited with each new shell that we brought up. Probably the best part was Bekah (Belinda's 8 year-old daughter) screaming at the top of her lungs each time she saw a big wave coming. I actually appreciated it because sometimes I wasn't being terribly observant and a wave would hit me from behind and I'd almost do a face-plant. It was great, though. And really warm when we got out of the frigid water.

My mother in-law has lots of decorations all around her house that James likes to play with and get into. I've taken the breakable things out of his reach, but every week or so, he discovers something new for the first time. I was cleaning in the next room and I could hear something metal scraping on the tile, so I went to see what James was doing and whether I had to take something away or not. I found him as you see him in the picture, riding the cat. I'm not exactly sure how he figured out how to put his leg over the cat, but I couldn't stop laughing because he was trying desparately to get off...until he realized that the heavy metal could hold his weight, then he wanted to sit on it for a little while.

Our Walk

So I guess I need to just see more of the exciting in the day-to-day things that James and I do all day because nothing really substantial has happened in the last little while, but I feel like I need to write. Otherwise life will have slipped by in the day-to-day and I won't have documented the things that will eventually have made up my entire life.

James is as cute as ever. I babysat for my sister in-law yesterday and took her twin girls and James on a walk (luckily Jill had left her triple stroller over here so that it was possible). I didn't get a chance to take pictures then, but it was a blast watching James and the girls get so excited about the walk. In the beginning, the girls wanted Paul and me to jog so that the stroller was going fast. We did this, and the girls laughed in delight while James just stuck his tongue out while grinning as widely as he could. When Paul and I were tired of jogging, we came up with the brilliant idea to see if the girls wanted a turn pushing. They of course did, so they took turns helping to push the stroller. They were hilarious because they took it so seriously and pushed as hard and as long as they could. Lily was amazing pushing it all the way up the hill (with my help) and keeping a very fast pace for such a little girl.

Today, James and I went on a walk down to the ocean. Although I don't think James really understands the significance of how much water he's looking at, he is interested in how the waves crash on the rocks. When we were walking past the marshes, it was amazing to hear the chorus of bullfrogs. They were so loud and there were so many of them. I wish that I'd seen one, but they're really good at hiding in the rushes. These pictures of James are during the walk and at the very end, once we got back to the house.

James' Black Eyes

So I'm not sure if you can see it, but James fell and smashed his face and eye and got two bruises. I have to admit, I've tried not to bring him out in public the last few days so that people don't see them and think I beat him. He's just now beginning to walk and he face-planted on top of a toy that gave him the nasty bruises. But this video is of a more successful walk.

Our little Vacation to Paul's job interview

I haven't posted anything new for a while because we are currently in Southern California. Paul had a job interview in Tucson, so we decided to make it a family trip and all go down. We were there just long enough to get the interview done and then we came back to Palm Desert to hang out with Paul's family (his sister travelled down to be here with us too). The interview went well, but we probably won't hear anything for sure for at least a few weeks while they get everyone else interviewed and make their decisions and all that good stuff. But we're hopeful that Paul will get a more permanent job soon. The caddying has been great, but a little more settled job would be even better.

We've had lots of fun on this trip, though. Paul's dad was here by himself for a few days and wanted us to stay with him, so during that time I played more golf than I've played in my life--24 holes in 2 days. I even got blisters in the right spots on my hands to show all the effort. We've also eaten the most amazing food. Paul's dad makes it a habit to know all the good spots in every place he visits often, so we've had the best meals.