Summer In Poulsbo

Well it's been a long stretch without a post, but here it is! Ryan, Kender, and I are in Poulsbo, Washington for the summer. On the way up here, Kender did a lot better than we thought he would! He didn't cry much, and he actually took some pretty good naps. He did, however, throw up some apple juice all over the back seat... Fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again on the way back to Rexburg.

Kender is having so much fun at Nana and Grandpa's house. He's developed a new love for Greek Yogurt, and he has loads of fun helping Nana in the kitchen. Eventually we banned him from the area. It was fine when he only knew where the bread pans and plastic bowls were, but then he discovered Nana's nice china.

We also had a surprise visitor last week. A horse escaped from the house below Paul and Susan's and one of the neighbors caught her and brought her to our pasture for safekeeping until we could find the owners. It was so fun to have a horse down there, even though it was only for a few hours. Kender was fearless. Her size didn't scare him one bit! He loved watching her run around, petting her, and helping mommy feed her carrots.

Nana and Grandpa have a super cool slide in their front yard. Kender needs help getting up there, but he figured out how to get down the slide all by himself. He prefers going down the slide face-first, and he even knows how to control his speed. Pretty good, eh?

This past week has been a humbling lesson for me on gratitude. Kender is a very energetic little boy, and at times I find myself wishing that he was more calm and less demanding. Well, last week I got my wish in an unexpected way. I had a cold, so I was expecting Kender to get sick, but I didn't expect him to run a high fever for 3 days. He spent hours just lying in my lap, and he didn't have much of an appetite. On Wednesday evening, Kender woke up at 10pm with a fever of 104.8. I have zero medical knowledge, and I don't like taking risks when it comes to health, so when things like that happen my first instinct is to go the the ER. In Idaho this would have been an option, but unfortunately we discovered that our insurance isn't accepted in the state of Washington.

In a groggy panic, Ryan and I gave Kender some Tylenol and prayed that it would work fast. Thankfully, Paul and Susan knew what to do to help bring his fever down. We gave him a lukewarm bath, kept him in just a diaper, took him outside, and pointed the fan at him. It didn't take long for his fever to get into a comfortable range.

After that scare, I am especially grateful for Kender's fun, happy-go-lucky energy. I really missed it those few days he was sick. I missed him running around screaming, laughing, stabbing me in the bellybutton with his finger while saying "dat!", throwing his food, throwing tantrums, and everything else he does to get on my nerves. He's tough at times, but he's my precious little boy and I wouldn't change him for the world.

Kender has learned a few new tricks since we've been here too. He says "hi," brings you his socks and shoes when he wants to go outside, eats with utensils and a bowl, and can get on and off the couch by himself. We're still working on going down the stairs safely... Apparently it's way more fun to turn into a limp noodle and let someone lower you down by the arm.

Here are some pictures:

Kender showed us that he does indeed know how to hold his bottle all by himself, he just likes it better when mommy or daddy does it for him.

Of course we had to make a little stop at Sluy's Bakery. Their maple bars are too yummy to resist.

Paul has some AR15's, so Ryan is in gun heaven.

Ryan has been working full time for his cousin Nathan and also taking one online class for the summer session. He deserves every break he can get! But his homework isn't all bad. It's especially nice when he can do it outside on the patio with Roxy supervising.