More beach trip pics.

As soon as we got to Newport we hit the Old Bay Front and checked out the sea lions lazin about below the pier. Then we bought taffy. Why else would anybody go to the coast? Taffy.
After we left the Old Bay Front we hit the Aquarium and Baron had a good time. He really just wanted to be put on the floor so he could hit it at his pace but we couldn't let him do that. Sorry buddy.
He wasn't really too thrilled about most of the exhibits but he did enjoy the jelly fish. I think he could've stared at them softly float through their tank all day long. I think I could too.
He also really liked the walk through shark exhibit but then he found the totally awesome floor lights and that was the best part of the aquarium for him. The little floor lamps. Yep. Floor lamps. But hey, he also really loves ceiling fans!! Who doesn't? I mean, really?! I love the aquarium and all that but I think I could've saved myself thirty bonez and just walked him through a hardware store for free. He would've loved that as much, if not more, than the aquarium. eh.
It was a great trip though. We ended up having chowder at this little mom and pops cafe at six o'clock in Garibaldi(?) and it was great chowder. And the people who owned and opperated the joint really were Mom and Pop. Some old couple, and when I walked in I felt like I had just been welcomed into their home dining room and kitchen, not some little tourist stop on the way to somewhere more popular. I'm not a big fan of Moe's chowder. I've tasted some to-die-for chowders along the Oregon Coast that would send Moe's crying home to her mommie. (Moe was a woman.) The best? the Sea Buouy in Seaside, but if you have your heart set on their chowder you better call ahead 'cause that's the place where all the locals and fishermen get their chowder fix on. It's got a little extra paprika that really makes it come alive in your mouth. (!)

Is it really summer? Finally?

I remember when I was younger I would hear the older folk talk about this big ball of fire that would light up the sky all day long and it could even get real hot sometimes. But I thought they were just stories. Until a couple of weeks ago. I saw the Sun.! Whoah, so unreal! It was all bright and warm and stuff and even made the back of my neck all red and hurty but I didn't care 'cause the Sun made me want to have fun. And I did. I like the Sun and I hope it stays, at least for a while until people start wondering where the rain ran off to.

Baron has been having nothin but fun since the weather took a turn for the better. Papa and Nana took us on a beach trip and Baron went to the Aquarium and saw jelly fish and sharks and then he played on the beach. And I took him on the MAX up to the Zoo and he met interesting people at every stop. And a couple of days ago I took him to down town St. John's and he got to play on the play ground equipment at the elementary school AND the play ground equipment at the adjoining preschool. AND THEN I walked him over to the St. John's Park and he played there for a while. I was tired.

Greatest. Picture. Ever.

This mindblowingly awesome picture of Baron going down a slide was taken by Nana Debbie today when we were playing at the St. John's Park. It was such a gorgeous day, too. I think it might've reached seventy! It was way too beautiful to stay inside, that's fo sho! He enjoyed the park, but the playground equipment wasn't really designed for toddlers but more for older kids. But anybody can slide.
This is just such a fantastic picture!!!
Today he also fell down Nana's and Papa's back steps. Scared the jeepers out of me. He didn't really cry. And THEN, after we got home he bailed off of the chest that's below the window in his room and landed right on the top of his head. Didn't really cry though.
When we were at Nana and Papa's I was watching him play by himself over in the corner of the living room. I watched as he picked up one of his Elmo books, opened the front cover (right side up!), looked at the pictures, flipped to the next page, looked at the pictures and he continued to do this until he got to the end of the book!!! AND THEN HE DID IT AGAIN!!! He's never, ever ever-ever-ever EVER sat still long enough with a book to do that. I was so excited.
And nobody else was watching.
I've been trying for so long to get him interested in books. I read to him all the time. We're over half way through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and when that's in the bag we're going to start on The Call of the Wild. But he gets lots of Shel Silverstein and Dr. Suess and Counting and ABC and color books too. We'll be into Douglas Adams before too long and then Advanced Philosophy.