Summer Heat

Yes, we know we moved back to Texas during the HOTTEST time of the year. The temperatures have been in the mid- to high 90s with upwards of 80% humidity. The following conversation ensued while Tyler and my dad were running errands yesterday morning:
Tyler: It's so HOT PawPaw!
My dad: Welcome to Texas, son! You better get used to it.
Tyler: We'll see about that.

Until Next Time Oregon...

It was pretty cool to see the moving truck in person. I kinda
felt guilty that Tyler and Daphne were at school while the
truck was at the house.

The movers were able to compact the contents of our house
into the space between the front of the truck and the
open doors in this photo. Crazy!

On the plane

Riding the tram (at least 5 or 6 times) in Las Vegas
to kill time during our layover

The movers packed and loaded up our house last Tuesday and Wednesday and an auto transport company picked up our cars on Thursday. We decided to fly with the kids because three days on the road probably would not have gone well. The night before we left Portland Tyler said, "Maybe we can come visit Oregon sometime so I can see my friends." I told him that was a great idea! The night we got to Houston he pouted and said, "I'm going to miss my friends!" and then he started listing all of them.

At the Arcade

Lilith and Daphne

Michael and Tyler

Calvin and Dave

Daphne thinks she is cool

Sporting Tyler's hat and sunglasses

Austin, Texas

When Tyler tells people about our move he says we are moving to Austin, Texas. To be clear it's not Austin, it's Austin, Texas. Just in case there was any confusion on the state.

Uh oh!

Daphne has added "uh oh" to her vocabulary. I informed her that saying "uh oh" after intentionally dropping her fork on the floor is not the appropriate usage of the term.

Do You Take Requests?

Daphne is getting picky about what songs I sing to her at bedtime. I guess she has heard Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star too many times because if I start to sing it she emphatically shakes her head no and then gives me the more sign to indicate I should sing something else. I guess I'll have to work on my repertoire!

Caricatures

Deena Printz did these awesome caricatures of the kids at school this week. I think I'm going to frame them and hang them in our next house.

Playground

I don't know what this crazy playground toy is called (other than the brand name on it), but kids love it! I call it the serpeant or the crazy see saw.

Tyler still clings close to the see saw to hang on
but our Daphne rides it like a fearless cowgirl!

Tyler, Daphne, and Viola

How to Eat Cheerios

1. Throw spoon on floor.

2. Dump Cheerios out of bowl onto table.

3. Throw bowl on floor.

4. Spread Cheerios out on table and play with them.

5. Eat Cheerios with hands.

Summer Fun

The kids have been getting their water fill. On Sunday they ran through the sprinkler in the back yard while Michael and I sorted out all the stuff in our shed in preparation for the big move. They both had a blast and I could hear shrieks of delight from the front yard. Then on Monday they played in a public fountain/splash pad.

Tyler in action

Christopher and Tyler were constantly running back and forth.
They would drop their buckets at the top of the water fall and
then chase it to the grate that separates the sections of "stream".

Daphne liked putting her hand in the water fall
and at one point put her backside in the falling
water and then ran off quickly.

Just chillin'

Little Miss Fearless climbed this entire waterfall. I'm not talking
about the adjacent stairway. She climbed the whole thing and the
bottom tier is a lot taller than the one she is sitting on in this photo.

Big Brother at the Wheel

Tyler giving Daphne a ride through the house.
They are so cute when they play together nicely.

Look what I can do!

Daphne can now climb into a regular chair all by herself.
Miss Messy still has to eat in the high chair though.

Daphne recently took it a step farther and climbed on the table.

It's not good enough to wear any old
baseball hat. Daphne has to wear Tyler's hat.

Daphne is quickly becoming more and more of a big girl. A few of her recent developments:

• Just like Tyler: Daphne essentially thinks she is a 4-year old just like Tyler. She thinks she can pretty much do everything Tyler can do although she has a long way to go. This often frustrates Tyler because she gets into all his toys.
• Sibling Squabbling: And since Daphne gets into Tyler's toys, clothes, blankets, etc. this has led to a lot of sibling arguments. I didn't think it would start this early! I mostly hear complaints from Tyler since he can talk but Daphne will squeal for my attention too if she wants help dealing with Tyler.
• Rough and Tumble: Daphne is no damsel in distress! She can play with the boys and big kids. I have seen her pushing Tyler. While I am glad she is no pushover I also don't want her to be a bully.
• Climbing: Daphne is climbing on even more stuff as you can see by the kitchen table photo. She is a pro at climbing onto the couch now and so she runs back and forth on our sectional just like she has seen Tyler do a million times. We should have nipped that habit in the bud when Tyler was smaller.
• Doors: Daphne is currently fascinated by doors. She has gotten the hang of closing them but she hasn't figured out how to turn the door knob to open them. Conversely, she can sometimes open sliding pocket doors, but hasn't figured out how to close them.
• Trash Cans: Daphne has figured out how to open the lid to our kitchen trash can and we have seen her putting paper towels and napkins in there. She also likes to try to put stuff in public trash cans all by herself. We have to stop her because sometimes she tries to get rid of non-trash.
• Mine!: On Friday Daphne started saying "mine" and she has squealed "mine" continuously since then.
• Talking: Daphne seems on the cusp of talking more. She has started using "mama" and "dada" in context more often. She says "muh" for milk. Generally Daphne seems to be trying to use language. She still communicates pretty well with pointing and head nods. She finally nods yes after months of shaking her head side-to-side for no.
• Miss Messy: Unlike her brother, Daphne makes a giant mess when she eats. Don't get me wrong, Tyler has made his share of food messes but they were mostly related to learning how to use utensils and get food in her mouth. Daphne approaches eating like art. The other day she essentially finger painted ketchup on her tray and yesterday she treated her yogurt like lotion. She rubbed the yogurt all over both hands and then all over her arms up to her elbows. Daphne also loves to throw food on the floor and we're trying to break her of that habit.
• Organized/Cleaner: Daphne counter-balances her messy eating with a love for organizing and putting things away. It's nice when they inherit some of our good traits too!

Triple T Transit Day: Train, Trolley, and Tram

Tyler has been asking to ride the tram for ages now, so we made a whole day of it and rode the MAX light rail train into downtown, took the Portland Streetcar (or "trolley" as Tyler calls it) down to South Waterfront, and then took the tram up to OHSU. Tyler was pretty stoked he got to ride three modes of transit and loved the tram ride. Daphne enjoyed herself too.

Tyler and Daphne on the train

Tyler and Viola excited about their seat choice on the streetcar

Waiting for the tram

On the tram

View from the top

Wild Goose Chase

A flock of geese wandered close to the playground and soon found themselves chased to the lake by most of the kids.

Daphne excitedly ran after the geese.

She thought twice about it after she saw their wingspan.

Tyler (in red) and Christopher (near Tyler) ran
after the ducks while also shrieking at them.

"City" Music

After a few bars of Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart" played on the radio in the car Tyler exclaimed, "I LIKE this song! What is this song?"

A few days before that we had been talking about country music. Tyler said, "I don't like country music. I only like city music."

Our Farm Animals

A few weeks ago at the Balloon Festival the organization running the kids area took farm animal photos. These gems showed up in my inbox today.

Dinner Review

Tyler's review of dinner tonight was "It's not that bad." after he had tried everything on his plate. I will take that as a compliment. It's much better than the whiny squealing and shriek of "I want to pick my own food!" that I am normally met with.

I don't think so...

Tyler: We need to have a family of 5.
Me: Are you saying that you want a baby brother or baby sister?
Tyler: Yeah.
Me: Do you just want one because cousins Noah and Damon just got a baby brother?
Tyler: Yeah.
Me: Daddy and I are pretty happy with a family of 4.
Tyler: Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease.
Me: You would have to share all your toys and Mommy and Daddy with another sibling.
Tyler: I'm really good at sharing. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

Girls can drive race cars too!

Whenever we see one of the race car carts in the parking lot or in the store entrance area, Daphne excitedly points and grunts to let me know her cart preference. When Tyler is with us he often goes to Playland but I do sometimes get to shop with both of them in the race car.

Ducks and Geese

Calvin and Tyler

Daphne and Lilith

Reading Nook

Michael went searching to find out where Daphne had wandered off to and found her reading in her closet. She seemed perfectly content. Usually she goes into her closet to pull out all her shoes and choose a pair for me to put on her.

Uncool

While getting ready for bed I told Tyler to get his buns moving or something to that effect. Tyler said, "Buns are not a great word for butt. It is very uncool." Is he 4 or 14? I thought I had a few more years before I was uncool...

Welcome Cousin Micah

My brother Bryce and his wife Sonia welcomed baby Micah on Friday. This makes boy number 3 since Micah is preceded by big brothers Noah and Damon. Tyler said, "I can't wait until we move to Austin, Texas so I can see my cousins more often."

Baseball and Fireworks

We took in a baseball game on the 4th. The Hillsboro Hops, the Portland area's new single A team, took on and got pretty beat up by the Vancouver Canadians. It was an evening game that was followed by fireworks. Amazingly both kids stayed awake until the fireworks, which didn't start until about 10. Daphne is absolutely fearless and didn't seem scared at all. Tyler liked the fireworks except for the loudness. He held his hands over his ears the whole time.

Clara, Elaine, Barley, Renee, and Tyler

Teresa, Viola, Barley, Jack, and Bebe

Bebe, Daphne, and Jack

Mmmm... cotton candy! Tyler shared
with his sister and friends. His hands
and mouth were so sticky!

Getting snuggly as it cooled off

Viola and Clara were quite the dancers
during Gangnam Style and other popular songs

Warming up with hot chocolate as we
await the fireworks show

Happy Birthday America!

Austin Bound

Later this month the Hurtado's are moving to Austin! Yesterday we finally signed an agreement with the buyer of our house and we are through the inspection contingency period, which means we are breathing easier. We will close on the house on July 22 and likely fly to Texas on July 26. While excited for the move we are also going to miss Portland. Tyler also has mixed feelings about the move. Here are some of his observations:

• Tyler told his teacher we were moving a good couple of weeks before we officially started telling people, including our employers. She mentioned it to another teacher who brushed it off as a potential visit to Texas.
• Tyler: I like this house. I'm sad that we're selling it. Me: Don't you want to have your own bedroom separate from Daphne? Tyler: Yeah! (big smile and eyes lit up)
• I want a house next to Calvin's. [Calvin lives in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland.]
• In our next house I want a bunk bed so Calvin can sleep in my room.
• Our next house needs a skee ball machine.
• Are the new owners keeping everything in the house? After explaining that all our stuff would go with us, Tyler said, "It's not all going to fit in the car."
• It's not a moving van. It's a box truck.
• I want my fire truck. [We put a bunch of stuff, including numerous toys, in storage so the house would seem less cluttered when we listed it.]

Songwriting

Tyler was wearing a shirt today with a guitar on it that says Rock Camp. He decided to write this song:
     I'm a rock star
     playing the guitar

He told me that you can also sing it backwards:
     I'm playing the guitar
     I'm a rock star

Go Figure!

Tyler has been wearing shorty pajamas (short-sleeve shirt and shorts) for what seems like months. So now on the hottest days of the year so far he keeps requesting warm long-sleeve pajamas with pants. Go figure!

Keeping Cool

The heat wave continues so we headed to a playground with an awning today to stay out of the sun.

Lilith and Daphne

Snack time

Here comes trouble!

Calvin and Tyler

Daphne Danger? Daphne Daredevil? Little miss
fearless is already climbing up the slide!

Monkeying around

Roughing up the slide for big brother

Christopher and Tyler