The House that Damon Built

While driving in the car I saw a bright blue house and asked Damon if he liked it. Surprisingly, the kid who loves all things blue said "no." He proceeded to tell me that our own house was "lame" and that we needed to have a blue slide so he could slide downstairs instead of having to walk down every time. "There would be a blue bed at the bottom of the slide so you wouldn't break your back." "Well what else should we do to our house Damon?" I asked. "We need to be next to a runway so we can fly the plane. There would be a runway into our blue garage where we can just get in our plane and fly so we don't have to walk or drive to a airport hangar. In the backyard there could be a giant lake with a boat launch and our plane would have giant floats and we would have a diving board with no diving board rules and we could jump in, plug our nose, and float with our life jackets on. There would be a slide longer than the slides inside our house that would let us go super fast into the lake. We could have floaties at our lake and lots of rubber sharks. Five rubber swordfish, five great white sharks, five hammer head sharks." "Do they have to be made of rubber? Can't they be real?" "Not real, because if they were real they would bite us.........they all have to be rubber!" "Anything else our house should have?" "Yeah it should have a blue roof and blue walls. The stools in the kitchen need to be automatic so they come out of the ground and I don't have to pull a lever to make them move up and down." "Wow, those are some good ideas, thanks Damon. We'll have to let dad know all your great ideas."

So one minute he didn't want a blue house, and the next minute he wants a lake, a garage/hangar, indoor slides, a diving board, and of course......a blue garage, a blue roof, and I'll just assume the whole house will be BLUE.

Where are you?!?

The other morning I was cleaning up after breakfast and witnessed Olivia trying to find some secret escape hatch in order to get away from her brothers. She was more than content in the cupboard with the plates and bowls. I didn't hear a peep from her. I had Damon come into the kitchen and try to find her. I had to show Damon which cupboard she was because she was being so quiet. He opened up the cupboard and Olivia let out a happy little giggle. Maybe she'll be a regular winner in Hide-N-Seek. She is very mischevious, but cute all the while.....and she knows it.

Our First Family Flight

We have been trying to visit my brother, Austin, and his family in southern Cali ever since Josh got his Private Pilot's License back in April. In true Hunsaker fashion ("things never seem to work out as you had planned them to") our hopes of getting down were not sooner than later, but definitely later. We were going to head down for my birthday weekend, but no dice, and so the story had been going. Eventually (as Hunsaker fashion does.........or more likely when Our Father in Heaven sees the time as right) things worked out, and we were able to get a trip in to visit Austin's family.

We got to the airport just as it started to rain, but luckily our departure went smooth and Josh was able to find some clear patches and we maneuvered through the rain storm. I will not lie......I was nervous because this was my second time on an actual flight with Josh as my pilot, and we had all the kids in the back seat for their first flight. So it could have gone very badly with the kids going crazy, but luckily they slept, ate, and played nicely for the majority of the flight. Thank goodness for answered prayers!

We had to avoid some forest fires in Nevada and California, but nothing scary. By night fall we were landing and were greeted by our cute cousins Makenzie and Ethan and Uncle Austin. It was nice to be out of the plane and heading to Austin's house to relax.

On Saturday we hit the beach in LaJolla and it was so nice. We haven't spent much time at our freezing Oregon beaches with the kids, and so I wasn't sure how they would be with the waves and the mass loads of people. Luckily the kids stayed close by, chased seagulls, rode boogie boards, and had a blast! (Damon running around like a wild man and loving every minute of the ocean).

(Joel didn't stop laughing the entire time he was in the water......well except for the times the waves got a little bigger than him and his open laughing mouth got filled with salt water! Then the laughing turned into spitting).

(Olivia had fun, but by the end of the day she was exhausted).

Austin and Josh took Makenzie, Ethan, and Damon over to an area where Leopard Sharks were breeding. It was an experience to be that close to sharks with no protective gear on, but this shark breeding is a regular thing and the sharks just mellow out (as we were assured by Austin). They all came back alive to our little beach area so Austin was right.

Sunday morning Cherisse wasn't feeling well and so Austin ended up taking her to the hospital to get checked out since their little boy was due in about a month. I was worried that the steak dinner Josh had cooked up the night before didn't sit well with her, and that's what made her not feel so great. A few hours later we got the phone call that Austin and Cherisse had welcomed their new little boy into the world. I was stunned they had the baby, relieved that Josh's cooking hadn't made her sick, and so happy that we were in town to help take care of our cute little cousins. This trip was definitely perfect timing.

The kids played and played, built forts, read books, fought, all the usual kid stuff. We had a good time hanging out with all the kids and on Monday Austin arranged for us to go swimming at a friends house. Since we happened to be in California during some 100 degree heat wave, we opted for the pool time and that was a great decision. The 5 kids had a blast (poor Olivia slept the entire time we were there and missed out on the pool fun). We were very grateful for Austin's hospitable friends sharing their pool.

(The Cousins: Joel, Olivia, Damon, Tessa, Ethan, the neighbor kid....and Makenzie was at school).

We ended up leaving on Tuesday morning and had a safe flight home. Once again the kids were great in the plane. (As we landed I finally took a picture of the kids in the plane. Damon with his headset, Joel was asleep until he got the forearm to the face, and I'm pretty sure Olivia was checking out all the other planes).

It was a blessing to be in California when we were, to help watch some cousins so Austin and Cherisse could be with their new little boy. I think Austin and Cherisse felt bad we didn't have some "California Adventure Vacation," but that's not why we were there. We were meant to be at their house at that time and I'm so happy we could be there to help. That's what families are for.

So our first family flight will truly be memorable.

Green Damon

A conversation between Damon and dad:

Josh - "If you're done with your yogurt go throw it away Damon."
Damon - "Throw it away?"
Josh - "Yeah, go put it in the garbage can."
Damon - "Why would you throw it away when you can recycle, you crazy!"

I thought this was funny because I am always rising out plastic yogurt cups, or putting emptied cereal boxes in our giant blue recycle bin. So, obviously Damon hangs with mom all day and is realizing that we can recycle without too much effort. If Damon starts advising that we switch to a low flow shower head, I will definitely be putting my foot down there!

Damon & His New Pal (Phil)

We have had some heat this week and are lucky enough to have pool set up in the backyard. Claire and Phil came over for a cool down and Damon didn't hesitate to join them. It seems that eveytime Phil is around, Damon spouts out some interesting comments.

While playing in the pool, Damon kept referring to Phil as "you." So Phil decided to clear things up and said, "oh, by the way my name is Phil." Damon replied: "Oh, thanks for warning me!"

Once Damon figured out Phil's name then came, "Hey.....I remember your name. I can say it 5 times.....watch! Phil, one. Phil, two. Phil, three. Phil, four. Phil, five. See!" (Good thing Damon counted it out, Claire and Phil probably would have lost track of how many times he said Phil's name).

He informed Claire and Phil that he had 20 girlfriends at church, but they were all sick with colds, coughs, etc. (This is news to me. I thought he only had his eyes on one or two.....not twenty).

Once everyone was done in the pool they came inside. Phil has been to our house before but Damon didn't remember that. He was quite hospitable and felt the need to treat Phil like he was part of the MTV Cribs crew, showing him all around the kitchen, and even inside the fridge. "Here's the oven so you can make hot food. Here's the fridge, we have grapes, apples, meat. That's the toaster. This is the microwave where you can heat up food to eat...........the garbage..............here's some towels to dry off your hands. Here are some knives, but they are sharp and can cut you very bad."

Phil was very gracious for his tour but just needed to use the bathroom. Unfortunately he couldn't use it until Damon gave him the run down. "This is the bathroom........You poop and pee there.........Here's the fan if you make it stink up in here..........Make sure you wash your hands and this water can get very hot so be careful..........Dry your hands with these towels here." After continuing on for a few more mintues Phil was finally able to use the bathroom.

Pullin' a Fast One

So our big grown up Damon still wears a diaper to bed. This week Josh explained to Damon for about the sixtieth time about how important it us to get up and use the toilet at night time, when you wake up, or whenever you gotta go. Damon was very serious during this talk and it seemed to sink in. Thursday morning he came to our room proudly with a dry diaper. Josh was so proud and pleased with Damon. Friday morning he had another dry diaper. Josh was so surprised Damon pulled it off two days in a row. I was downstairs making breakfast and Josh announced to me the great news. I was happy for Damon, but had a suspicion that things weren't quite what they seemed. I told Josh to check the garbage can in the kids bathroom. He headed back upstairs and then I heard him call to Damon. Josh came back downstairs a few minutes later and I asked if he had discovered anything. Sure enough he asked Damon what was in the garbage can and the conversation went like this:

Josh - "Hey Damon, I need your help opening up this garbage can. Can you help me out?"

Damon - "Yeah sure dad!"

Josh - "What's this in here?"

Damon - "Oh dad, that's just garbage."

Josh - "Looks like a diaper."

Damon - "Yeah, that's my diaper."

Damon thinks this is his new found talent. He tries to be sneaky and thinks that lame old mom and dad won't catch on to his weasel ways. Unfortunately Damon is new to this game and mom and dad have him all figured it. It is funny to listen to him try and pull a fast one over us.

Just Do It Yourself

Olivia is quite a sport when it comes to playing with her brothers. She will shove'em if they shove her and if one of them hits her, she'll return the favor. She is pip squeak compared to her brut brothers, but that doesn't stop her. There are times she would much rather be left alone, than be bothered by the boys and so she will just do her own thing. This time she didn't want anyone pushing her, and so she sat in the toy stroller and used her little legs to motate herself through the kitchen. I just laughed because she wasn't going too far with the those little legs of hers, but she was quite pleased to do it all on her own.

PreSchool Graduation

I signed Damon up for a two month long preschool. It was three days a week and over by noon so that worked for me. It was the start of another chapter for me. Getting up early, trying to get grumpy Damon out of bed, helping him get ready, and getting out the door on time.

Before he had his first day of school Josh went over the important school rules with him:
1) Know who your teacher is and be respectful.
2) Know where the restroom is.
3) Don't hit anyone. But if someone hits you first, then you can hit back and you better do it harder than they hit you.

At first it was a little scary for me just leaving my first born son in the care of strangers for close to 4 hours. Luckily there were a few kids he knew from church in the class and that helped with the transition. For the most part school went well. He always had fun and I had a hard time getting him to leave on some days.

For his graduation he was declared "The Toughest." That could be good, but bad at the same time.

He seemed to have lots of friends who were mostly high school aged girls that were helping out with the preschool. (This guy always goes for the older girls......we are in trouble). Since his birthday is in November I'm sure we will be doing the preschol thing again. It was a good experience for Damon and for me. My little Damon isn't so little anymore.

Boy's and Their Toys

The Blog is normally my thing, but every so often Josh decides he wants to add something.  Actually he wants me to add it for him.  Anyway......He and my dad started talking race cars and got connected with the owner of a shop in the Portland area.  As Josh and my dad wandered around the shop, I'm sure the owner could see the excitment in Josh's eyes as he stared at all the "man toys" or maybe it was the drool.  Whatever it was, the owner was nice enough to let Josh sit in this.

   I'm pretty sure he had the same grin when he got home.  

Family Camping

We decided to go camping over Memorial Day weekend.  Grandpa Don was nice enough to let us use his motor home which, with little kids, makes things a lot easier.  We got a late start (surprise surprise) but drove on until we found a nice secluded spot.  As soon as the motor home stopped Damon just wanted to make smores, Olivia just wanted to eat marshmallows, and Joel could've cared less because he fell asleep before we even found a spot to camp.

 

Josh started a fire and we enjoyed a few smores.  After Olivia had her fair share of marshmallows I snuggled her up next to Joel and she went off to sleepy land.  Damon hung out with us for a little while, but then decided to turn in for the evening.  He retreated to the top bunk of the motor home, opened up the window by his head, chewed on some beef jerky, chimed in on the conversation, and slowly fell asleep . 

 

Josh was the first one out of bed Saturday morning and decided to go fishing while accompanied by Tank and Rocco.  He came back just as we all woke up.  We had breakfast and then headed outside in the morning sunshine so we could enjoy the outdoor view of the snow capped scenery.  

It was so nice be outside and away from everything.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. 

Josh got the fire going once again and enlisted the help of Damon.  (That kid needs a task to accomplish to keep him out of trouble).  So Damon found large rocks and carried them over to put around the fire.  He heaved over some pretty big rocks.....I was impressed.  

We just hung out and enjoyed the outdoor air and scenery for a while and then Josh showed me how to split wood.  Josh was amused to say least.  Molly chopping wood in flip flops......very safe!  Oh well, at least I learned a new skill!

Eventually we packed up and headed towards the reservoir to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa.  The guys took the canoe out and that was amusing to watch.  I'm sure Damon was barking orders the whole time.

The dogs got a chance to play in the water.....I really think it's Tank's most favorite thing to do.  Rocco just enjoys swimming after the sticks and if the water wasn't involved, that would be better for him.  Those silly dogs though.  Everytime they got out of the water, they would come stand right next to me and shake....everytime!

At one point Olivia figured that the water was perfectly safe so she just marched on in.  She tripped and went face first but luckily Josh was speedy on the recovery and pulled a bewildered, soaking wet little girl out of the water.  That girl has no fear!

We came home Saturday night.  It was a short trip, but still nice.  We will have to do a lot more camping this summer.  Especially when the lakes get warmer!