Sunday, October 30, 2011

Playing Catch-Up


As seems to be the pattern, I'm way behind on updates.  One thing I have learned in the last couple of months though, is that having a baby is a great excuse for a lot of things...being late to an event, wanting to leave early,  wanting to go to bed before 9p, or even wanting to skip something completely.  So, we'll blame my falling behind on blog entries on Dylan.  Seems fair, right?

I'll start a few weeks back when my Aunt Debbie came to town for a visit from Montana.  She is an incredibly talented and creative quilter/seamstress/craftperson.  We've been using a little blanket she made us with a Dr. Seuss pattern for Dylan's tummy time.  She brought Dylan a beautiful new blanket she'd been working on that converts to a little sleep sack.  Love it!


During her visit, we took a trip over to Ballard to have brunch with Elliot and Sarah at Portage Bay (one of our favorites) and a walk around the Ballard Locks.  We've taken Dylan to several restaurants, and each time I expect him to have a breakdown.  Thankfully, we've been lucky so far and he's been a champ everywhere we've taken him.  I keep hearing that this good fortune is inevitably going to come to an end.  Can't wait.




The following weekend we made a trip down to Camas so that Dylan could meet all of our family and friends down there.  As part of the trip, I was asked to speak to the Sports Management class at Camas HS about my job with the WIAA.  I only had two people fall asleep during my presentation, so I considered it a success.  While I was giving my presentation, my mom was schlepping Dylan up and down the halls of CHS introducing him to anyone that would make eye contact with her.  "This is my grandson!"  Her enthusiasm for being a grandma and her love for Dylan are adorable.


My mom brought out a very special gift...Whitman College baby clothes that Elliot and I had worn.


The rest of the trip itinerary was full of introductions that coincided with meals.  He had a lunch date with his Great GREAT Aunt Cay, dinner with his Great Grandma Lin, lunch with our friends Jen and Ryan, and lunch with our friend Melinda before we headed home on Sunday.  Among all of those social engagements, he managed to have some quality bonding time with his grandma and grandpa.

Here are some images from our trip...



(http://animoto.com/play/hI0D05SvdxdQV0lX7jUXkA)



Monday, October 10, 2011

Magic in the Methow




About four hours northeast of Seattle sits the Methow Valley.  When the road isn't closed due to snow, the best way to get there is by taking the North Cascades Highway.  If you have never driven that road, I would highly recommend it.  The views are spectacular, even by Pacific Northwest standards.

A few weekends back, we packed Dylan into the car for his first road trip to Twisp, one of the Methow's many endearing towns.  Twisp is home to Darin's Grandpa Dave, Grandma Barb, Uncle Neal, Uncle Gordy, Aunt Adrian and their daughter Kathleen, and her cousin Dani and her husband Ray and son Marcel.  Her Aunt Chere is also a short drive away in Wenatchee, and was happy to make the trip into town to meet Dylan.  From an efficiency standpoint, we managed to knock out nearly the entire Reynaud (or 'Reno' if you're in Twisp) side of the family in one visit.  Yay for us.

The tranquility of the Methow Valley is tough to describe if you've never been there.  Surrounded by sprawling hills, an assortment of wildlife, and the soothing sounds of the river, it's tough to be stressed about much of anything while you're there.

We had a perfect visit that included a tour of Dani's Montessori school, a Liberty Bell HS soccer game to cheer on Kathleen, some baked goods at Cinnamon Twisp, watching UW football trounce Utah, hot tubbing under the stars, a morning walk in the hills of Twisp, a few poems from Grandpa Dave, and several hours of laughing and chatting with the entire Reno clan.  The magic of the Methow was not lost on Dylan.  Here's a slideshow of our visit.  The song is "Come On Down" by Luc & The Lovingtons (Darin's cousin Luc's band).


Up next, Dylan's first trip to Camas.  Can't wait to see his face when he gets his first whiff of the mill.