messy party fun

noah's birthday party on saturday was lots of fun. it was a "messy party," an idea which we got from an old issue of mothering magazine. (the sub-heading for the article was, "in a world of no, the messy party says yes.) actually, the party wasn't really all that messy, though there were lots of opportunities for mess and general disorder.

aaron set up a few stations around the yard for digging in dirt, sandbox play, water play and slime play. the water station was definitely the biggest hit; it involved pulleys (boat hardware), buckets, pipes and pools. the whole thing is still set up, which is fun for noah but a bit of a hassle for the mailman.

aaron and i got noah a little wheelbarrow and some garden tools for his birthday, and on that note we asked people to bring plants as presents. we've been working on planting starts and seeds this week, and noah has really been enjoying digging, raking, watering, dumping wheelbarrow loads, etc. also finding worms. i'll post more garden pictures soon.

a big crew at the sandbox worksite

maryka and isla, not messy at all

nessa doing some chalkin'

jessa and evan at the digging station

grayson sliming it up

elliott and pearl and the water station

jessica, noah and grayson in a cardboard box/house

happy three, noah barnes!

still here...

april has been jam-packed with busyness so far, not leaving a lot of time for blogging. which in some ways is good. not sitting in front of the computer means (usually) that i'm outside enjoying the sun! i'm having lots of fun working in the yard and the garden. noah is very excited about turning three and having a birthday party on saturday. aaron just built us a lovely porch. isla got another tooth, which looks like a fang. we are all well!

today some of my family comes to visit from new england. wish us sunshine and tulips!

ball game (a movie)

Click to Play

wherein isla tracks the balls as they go down and noah points out the colors of the levels.  i think it's so funny how her little head goes back and forth. 

also please note how she bop-bop-bops as she sits.  it's so cute! 

similarities

i was perusing pictures of whistler weekends of yore, and found these comparisons. here's noah the kid on the blackcomb gondola this year...

and last year. what a little guy!

and here's little isla (at around six months)...

looking a lot like little noah! (he was about ten months here.) the cheeks must be a dominant gene!

whistler weekend 2009

we had another lovely weekend in whistler with all of aaron's family. this was the first year john, jess and kids were able to come join us, and it was great to have them along. noah had tons of fun with kate. here they are riding the blackcomb gondola, in awe at the view.

("we're going up, up, up!" said kate. "now we're going down, down, down!" said noah. "how does it go up?" kate asked. "electricity," noah said. "how the electricity work?" kate asked. "it goes... it's too hard to tell," said noah. it is so funny listening to these two converse!)

isla and john spencer munched some toys together.

we checked out a few olympic sites. here are a few bandstras at the base of the ski jump. we also saw the luge/bobsled track in town. it'll be fun to watch the olympics next year and be able to imagine these places!

noah focused on the severe-weather snowplows.

aaron focused on firearms.

just kidding--but he, irene, colin, nicole and kevan did try their skills at the biathalon range. i think the consensus was that the girls were the sharpest shooters. meanwhile isla and i checked out the tiny whistler anglican/united/lutheran church with aaron's dad. we were the only guests, and stood out amongst the eight or so parishioners. it was a simple layservice, and nice to be part of. isla stole the show, of course.

and the highlight: cross-country skiing! we skied on the very last day the trails were open. the snow was a bit mushy, but it was still a lovely afternoon.

noah and isla snoozed in their little trailers for most of the ski. kate chatted the whole way!

hooray for whistler and family connections! i'm already looking forward to next year. (mostly so i can try yet again to finish knitting the hat for aaron i've worked on every year for the past three years... i'm not kidding!)