Friday, July 31, 2009

Five!

Happy 5th Birthday, Cameron! We'll have to celebrate when Malcolm and I come and visit you in San Diego in September :D

Aaaahhhh...Brief Relief

For those of you that watch the news, you've probably heard that Seattle experienced a record high in temperatures this week. Since many of you live in areas of the country that get hot like this every summer, you may be thinking, "When it gets into the 100's around here, I just stay inside." Well, that only works if you have air conditioning which few places in the PNW have. Our good friend, Julie, recently had central AC installed in her house. She just so happened to have a portable AC unit that was going unused that she is letting us borrow. We thought about buying a couple of window units but not until there were no AC units to be found. Thanks to the generosity of Julie, we've been able to sleep.

This morning, I awoke to temperatures in the low 60's. I opened every window and currently have goosebumps from being chilled. It is glorious. The temperatures are expected to be in the high 80's/low 90's later today, so we're enjoying this while we can.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Hot.

Hot.Hot.HotHotHot.Hot.

HOT.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Mal's First Camping Trip

This past weekend, we went on a much anticipated camping trip. It had been 3 years since we had camped last and I've missed it. I found a great deal on a huge tent that Tony thinks is too big. Our other tent was fine for the 2 of us but would have been too crowded for 3 (soon to be 4). We also got Malcolm his own sleeping bag and camping chair that he loves.

I packed up our car Friday afternoon and we picked Tony up from work and headed north. We decided to camp at a campground that we'd been to previously and also try a hike that Tony & friends had done but I missed out on due to my back seizing up. Our trip there took quite a bit longer due to our first car sickness incident (yuck!) and me missing our turn and driving waaaay too long before realizing it. But, we made it there and our friend, Eric, had already arrived and started a fire. Adrianne & Natalie showed up an hour or so after us and we settled in for the night. Although Malcolm loved playing in the tents at REI, he wasn't so sure about sleeping in one that night. After finally falling asleep, he only woke up once during the night.

On Saturday, we headed up to the North Cascade Trail a bit before lunchtime:




We have a backpack carrier for Malcolm that Tony carried him in for most of the way. Mal loved going 'up up in the air' as we climbed. After about 2 miles, Malcolm decided that he'd had enough so The Johnstons headed back down while the rest continued on the trail. We now know the limit for hiking distances with Malcolm at this age. Tony also discovered that it's a lot more work carrying a toddler on your back.

Back at camp, Malcolm spent most of his time throwing rocks which is one of his favorite things to do. We had a tough time keeping him out of the fire pit (when there was no fire going, of course). In the early evening, a fellow camper was walking around with his 3.5 year-old son and he and Malcolm ended up playing for a couple of hours. I think that might of been the highlight of the trip for Mal. He had a much easier time going to sleep that night but had a hard time staying asleep due to the cold and his insistence of not sleeping with covers. He ended up sleeping with us which meant I slept really poorly that night.

We spend Sunday morning having a leisurely breakfast and took our time packing up camp. It was really great to get out in the mountains and spend time together as a family and get to hang out with good friends. We can't wait to do it again.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Welcome, Trekell Boys!

This morning, my fabulous friend, Jill, gave birth to her twin boys; one naturally and the other via c-section. We're glad you are finally here, Max and Alex! I hope to meet them later this afternoon.

My 'friends who are pregnant' list is dwindling quickly. No one else has announced a pregnancy since me. Right now, I have 6 local friends who are pregnant (not including me). I have three friends who are trying to conceive so I'm hoping they'll have news soon.

Babies!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

A Quick Hello

All is well in Johnston Land. Not much new to report. I've been plagued with daily headaches and try to avoid taking Tylenol too often since it can be bad for your liver. We've been busy going to play dates and whatnot. Today, my goal is to clean & pull out our camping gear to take inventory. It's now 1:15 PM and I have yet to lift a finger. I blame the headache.