"Best" Birthday Ever!

So, Alan's birthday was last Friday and sadly, I don't think it was his most fun birthday ever. I guess it was better than when all three of us got the stomach flu on his birthday two years ago though.

It started out good with some cool presents. Alan's Dad made him this really nice race results display board. It has three sides with bulletin boards and signs to promote their new business (more on that coming later.)




Spencer and I got Alan some new camping gear for all of the scout camp-outs he goes on. And, he got a gift card to Home Depot for adding to his tool collection from my parents.




Alan's birthday fell on Friday this year which should have been an easy day to celebrate, but since we had already tilled our back yard and the weather was perfect, we spent the weekend laying sod. Exciting, yes. Fun for your birthday, not so much.

Spencer loved helping Alan with the lawn roller.




After the ground was a level as we could get it, we took a break for birthday brownies and ice cream.








This was what our back yard looked liked before we started working on Saturday. It only took us about 4 1/2 hours, but it was not easy work. Alan had the hardest part of wheeling the sod from our driveway to the backyard and then rolling it out. I was the straightener and Spencer mostly ran around counting the empty spaces that needed smaller pieces of sod.












Spencer loves to help me water. Sadly for him, EVERY day this week has been VERY rainy and this was the only time we have watered.




And this is how our back yard looked when we finished. Green grass! We're so excited to start using it!




I totally feel like we cheated. We had originally planned to plant seed, but after killing ourselves to get the land cleared and then researching a little, we decided sod was worth the money. We planted seed in our front yard last summer and it didn't do so well. It's finally starting to look sort-of nice after almost a year. We wanted to be able to use our backyard this summer - not wait a whole other year.

I guess Alan's birthday ended well too. We didn't do any yard work on Sunday and he got his official cake at his parent's house. This is Alan's Mom's homemade German chocolate cake and it is to-die-for, but it's also about enough work to kill you off. You can't really tell from this picture, but this is only half a cake. Debbie made it for Darwin's birthday a few weeks ago then froze the left-over half for Alan. It still tastes just as good, but she only had to make one cake. It works out perfectly for everyone.




Happy Birthday Alan! I'm sorry we didn't really get to celebrate, but at least we have a pretty satisfying feeling of accomplishment!

Father's & Son's Outing

Alan got to take Spencer on his first Father's and Son's Outing last weekend. It was also Spencer's first camping trip ever and I'll admit that I was a little nervous about whether or not Spencer would sleep alright in a tent. (He is still perfectly content sleeping in his crib at home. We have been using a pack 'n play every time we travel, but Spencer is really way too tall for those anymore.) Alan had more confidence in Spencer's adaptability than I did, however, and was super excited to take him. We got Spencer his own camping chair, sleeping bag and flash light to make things a little easier. He loves his chair and was practicing "fishing" in the living room before they left.




The two of them wound up having a WONDERFUL time. I have never seen Spencer so animated and excited about something as he was when he was telling me about the trip. He was completely in heaven. The camp was near Tillamook, on the coast, so they had lots of time to play on the beach.




Roasting marshmallows for s'mores at night then making hot chocolate in the morning were both new experiences for Spencer and highlights of the trip. He also got several other snacks that I don't usually let him eat at home and Alan even stopped by the cheese factory for samples before they came home.










To my relief, Spencer slept just fine with his normal blankets on top of his sleeping bag. Alan couldn't persuade him to get inside of it. It's a start. They both still came home pretty tired. Spencer fell asleep in Church yesterday - something that hasn't happened since he was one.




Spencer wasn't ready to be done with tents when they got home, so he spent Sunday morning playing in this one. I'm so glad that Alan's race-timing job for the weekend fell through so he could take Spencer on this campout. What a great experience to have with your dad! It makes me very glad that we have a little boy.



As for me, I got to go to the Temple Friday evening, which was lovely. Then I spent 6 hours on Saturday hoeing clumps of grass out of our recently tilled back yard - not so lovely, especially without any one to talk to. This was the first night I had ever spent away from Spencer. It was nice not to be woken up in the morning by cries of, "I need to do wets!", but it was rather lonely. The good news is that we're getting closer to having a lawn for Spencer to play on!

1st Dentist Visit

Spencer got to get his teeth checked out by a dentist for the first time yesterday. We had previously checked out a library book about going to the dentist and had talked a lot about what was going to happen. Spencer seemed excited to go, but once we got in the exam room he stood with both hands over his mouth most of the time the dentist and hygienist were talking to him.

Spencer did like brushing Jose the dragon's teeth with a giant toothbrush and he was very excited about watching Cars on the tv mounted on the ceiling. The dentist was really great with him and eventually got Spencer to let him look at his teeth. That's as far as we decided to push it this time. He came home with a toothbrush, balloon, bubbles and stickers. Hopefully those prizes made a good enough impression that he'll be more comfortable next time. In 6 months, I'll take him back to get his teeth cleaned and he'll get to watch his movie.






In other fun news, it was so warm and dry outside today that Spencer and I washed my car. It was way overdue for a cleaning and I actually had to use a toothbrush to clean off the MOSS that was growing around the windows and decals. It was so gross! Only in Oregon.