San Juan Island

 
 
 
 

Phew..

Sorry we've been so out of touch- we did in fact survive the camping trip- although we were exhausted. We had a great time with our friends Sue & Tim and their kids Maggie & baby Graham on San Juan Island- only a bit of rain to keep us stuck inside the Koontz family's HUGE tent! Chris and I had a different strategy for sleeping: we brought two tents- one for Chris and Cooper, and one for Ian and I. That worked out great- everyone slept pretty darn well.

While we were there we met another family who have an adult brother, who's in his 50's, with Down syndrome. They were amazing with Cooper- playing with him, and singing songs, and generally acting as surrogate grandparents. For me, that's been one of the gifts that Cooper has brought to us- we've got this special little hook into so many people's lives. We hear all the stories about the generations of people that have come before Cooper, and we feel so lucky that he's had so many people fighting for his right to a high quality life.

One of my favorite adventures was to the outdoor sculpture garden by Roche Harbor with the Koontz fam. In particular, I loved watching Coop and Maggie tear through the meadows, running from one sculpture to another. Last year, when we were there, he was still bear crawling, so my early morning trip to the garden entailed carrying him in the backpack. I watch him go now, and am astounded at how far he's come since he started walking in January!!

Pictures

Here are some current pictures. We had a great visit with my mom last weekend, while Chris was at "Man Camp" (I'm not kidding, that's what they called it!) Now we're off for the big adventure- 3 nights camping on San Juan Island.
Let's just hope:
a) it doesn't rain
b) Ian doesn't take this week to start screaming all night
c) Cooper, who's beginning to be potty trained (with VERY regular reminders) doesn't run through all his clothes in one day.

Wish us luck...I'll post pictures if we survive.



Just starting to smile.



My mom, my great-aunt, and my aunt- see any family resemblances?

Summer Fun

Well,we're into summer now- The weather's been great and we've had so much fun playing in town. The blog updates have been sketchy, mostly because Cooper's become a computer junkie- we can't have it out while he's around without a cry for movies/videos! So I have to sneak away.

Ian's doing great- he's seven weeks old now and about 11 1/2 pounds. He's sleeping really well, and has just started to smile at us- about the sweetest thing yet.



What could be more relaxing??



Thanks to the Durand family for the fabulous meal, and for introducing Coop to the joys of ice cream cones.



Cooper, my new sous-chef...Everytime I get out the baking supplies, he's right there with me, "Coooook!!" He's getting better at dumping ingredients, but he really likes to keep dumping- even if it's not something on the ingredient list! I haven't let him break eggs yet..



A great visit with my Aunt Carolyn. The boys both loved having her here- she was able to soothe Ian when neither Chris or I could, and Cooper was in heaven going through all of our magazines over, and over, and over identifying everything with her.

Crawling!

Okay..for all of you who briefly thought we must have the most physically developed 7 week old ever, sorry- it's Cooper. Two years after starting his bear crawl; 6 months after walking, he's finally crawling on his hands and knees- go figure!

Kiawah, SC

Here we are on our annual Howard Family trip to Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Ten adults and eight children under 7 in one house. Look out world!!


Grandma Betty leads a yoga session with the grandkids...

Almost a Month Old