Videos on YouTube--NOW ON THE BLOG!

So I (Rob) decided to try and upload some little video clips to Youtube and then embed them into a blog posting, since we saw that on someone else's blog recently. I got the videos up onto Youtube, but then couldn't get the embed feature to work on blogspot (where you would see the video clip directly on our blog). So instead you can click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/cudgelfunkhouser and then just view them on the Youtube site.

The three on there so far happen to be a little Rose-heavy--will have to get better stuff of August later. The one of Rose saying "Hi" and waving is a very short file, so should be easy to download, even on dial-up. I did not prompt her to interact with the camera this way, BTW--she just did it on her own.

UPDATE --I got the videos embedded on here finally!

Rose Says "Hi"




Rose Dancing




Where's Your Nose?

Monday goofin' around.

There's never very much on our schedule for Mondays. So today, like most Mondays, we've just been hanging out at home and I (Becky) took some pics of the kids. August loves to help out with the housework and seizes the duster to do some cleaning whenever I leave it unattended. Unfortunately, he likes to imitate his parents so he nearly always dusts in already-dusted spots. Here he is this morning.
He got a little wound up for the camera when he realized he was getting his photo taken. What a ham.
Rosie likes to play peek-a-boo with the living room curtains. She hides behind them and then walks away from the wall to reveal herself. Then she does it all again...and again, and again, and again...
Not to be outdone by her brother's hamming it up, Rosie smiles for the camera while sitting in a box. Believe it or not, there's a lot of competition for the privilege of sitting in that box these days.

Weekend cabin trip

We've been eager to get out into the woods for some camping but not so eager to manage two high energy toddlers around a campsite. So Rob found a compromise by renting a cabin from the US Forest Service for the weekend. It had electricity but no running water so we were sort of roughing it. We didn't have to worry about bugs attacking the kids or about keeping them warm but out of the fire. The cabin was in a beautiful spot right by the American River on the drier eastern side of the mountains. August and Rose had a fabulous time throwing rocks into that river and exploring the cabin and the area around it. They were especially delighted when they woke up on Saturday morning and found that our friends Tom and Anna had arrived the night before. With two extra adults to watch them they got to throw twice as many rocks!
Here's an indoor shot of the cabin. Becky doles out bananas, cheese, and bran muffins to August (and Rose who didn't make the shot.)
We went for a great hike on Saturday with Rosie and Augie riding in their backpack carriers. You wouldn't think all of that riding would be so exhausting, but by the time we got back to our car at the trailhead Rose was out like a light.

Love that vacuum!

Although I missed the opportunity to get a really good shot of this activity, I decided to post this photo anyway. As many of you know, our kids are enamored with the vacuum cleaner - turn it on and they come running. This morning August got tired of being shooed away from the sweeper and got his own toy to push around side by side with Daddy. The moment was past by the time I grabbed the camera, but I thought it was too cute not to post.

I hope this means we've got two future enthusiastic house-cleaners in the making. We're not counting on it, though!

Nature lovers

We hope that August and Rose will love hiking, camping and being out in the woods as much as we do. To that end we took them on a hike yesterday which turned into more of a nature walk due to time constraints. They had a great time being in the backpacks, touching trees, pointing at...we're often not sure what, and feeling moss. Rob and August inspect a boulder.
A slightly blurry but fun picture of Rosie and Becky smiling for the camera. Rose especially loved hiding behind tree with Mommy then jumping out to surprise Augie and Daddy. Augie thought it was pretty hilarious too.
August and his dad.
Snack time for the kids, break time for Mommy and Daddy...OK, we admit it. We ate some of their bananas and graham crackers too. But we made up for it by sharing some of our ice cream at Dairy Queen later. Blizzards are a post-hike family tradition for us.

Good-bye lunch

On Saturday we said good-bye to Becky's mom Gloria who'd been visiting for the last two weeks. As always the time with her went fast and we were sorry to see her go, but we'll see her again before too long. On the way to the airport we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in the Southcenter Mall. Afterwards the kids got a complimentary ride in the fire truck/stroller.
Here is Gloria with August at lunch. Although he calmed down for a picture a few minutes later it only seems fair to ocassionally post a picture of his un-cajoled behavior. Here's a common look for our little guy when faced with another injustice like being prevented from eating crayons.

Previews of summer

Although it's chilly and rainy today, yesterday was sunny and warm. So we hauled some toys out to our backyard and hung out there. Rosie was mainly involved in painting the sidewalk with buckets of water.
Augie, having already dumped his bucket of water on his pants, moved on to bubble-blowing.
Rosie soon followed suit with dumping water on her pants too.
They each took turns helping Grandma plant some flowers behind our building.

Fun with Grandma Gloria

Grandma Gloria has been here visiting for the last two weeks and we've been busy having fun with her. One day while Becky was at the gym, she helped August and Rose finger paint. Augie really got into the art or the mess-making depending on how you look at it. We made a trip to the aquarium to show Grandma one of our favorite places in Seattle. Here Rosie introduces her to the jellyfish.
Rose had a great time watching the jellyfish. It helped that we went to the aquarium on a Wed. afternoon when it was empty enough to let the kids run around. Rose could get out of her stroller and see the jellyfish up close. August, who's running away in the above photo, had a great time walking all around and dancing in the lights in front of the octopus display.