Sanity break and big trucks with sirens

The endless rain is finally gone and hopefully summer will stick around a while. Collin is growing, talking, seems more like a little boy and less like a toddler every day. And in September he'll transition to preschool! He talks in three phase sentences, is pretty good about "please," and "thank you," counts to 12, sort of sings the ABC's and still loves to point out shapes (his favorite being triangle). He lets us know when he wants to be changed but isn't interested in actually using the potty. We're also trying not to spoil him and give into his every whim but the whole pick your battle thing often prevails. Screams or chocolate milk? Yeah yeah I can be a pushover.

Both Mike and I switched off breaks of three days for bits of family freedom. Mike went and hung out in California and the next weekend I hit up Vancouver, B.C. to splurge on shopping and yummy food with a friend. It was a blast and both Mike and I realized the importance of getting a break (from each other and Collin)--once a year would be nice!

While I was gone, Mike took Collin on a tour of a Portland Fire Department. Thanks to Mike's firefighter friend Collin got the VIP treatment. For an hour and a half he explored different fire trucks and watched the fire fighters respond to a scene with lights blaring. He was in little boy ecstasy.

From Summer 2010