The Pollard Place: August: SURPRISE! It's a birthday party, not a baby.

This month started out with us hanging out at Seafair. We went down to Madrona Park (experiencing a new area and Lake Washington. We brought our blanket and some snacks and laid out while we waited for the Blue Angels to come. Henry has been in this phase where he just LOVES airplanes, so we thought that this would be a home run for him. As soon as they started flying overhead his mouth dropped open and his little finger was pointing up to the sky. He was so enthralled with them! The tricks that those jets can do are just unbelievable! Once while we were all watching the four Blue Angels Fat Albert came from the other direction and was so loud that it startled me so much! They would stall and then go straight up, fly upside down, and fly just mere feet away from each other. It was amazing!

After hanging out there we went and got some lunch at some random Chinese place we found, and it ended up being awesome! The owner was talking to everyone and was so nice and happy and the food was tasty. Then we drove to another park that we had driven past and hung out there to watch the hydroplane races and some more planes. My favorite part, after the Blue Angels, was watching this acrobatic plane. He would fly really high up in the air, stall, cut his engine, and come falling down towards the ground in this spiral leaving a trail of smoke. When he got close to the ground he would pull up and do it all over again. It looked so much like he was going to crash I was having panic attacks haha. It was SO cool! Then we watched the boat races (man those things are fast!) before coming home. We did some more work on the cornhole boards, got a redbox, and ate ice cream while we relaxed. Great night!

We have also spent some time outside playing in the pool in the backyard, and we finally got the sand for the sandbox which has been the biggest hit! We've also gone on some bike rides and runs on Centennial Trail, which is always a favorite. Henry rode around on his strider bike for the first time and he LOVED it! At first I had to entice him with some chocolate, but after a while we was so happy and excited!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much Henry loves to follow us around and do everything that we do. Rusty will walk into the house afer work and give me a kiss, and then Henry immediately runs over to give me a kiss too. So one day I decided to take pictures of everything that he was trying to help me with. It ended up being hilarious! Also, notice how many outfits he goes through in one day haha.

He especially loves working on Daddy's bike with him.

Rusty's birthday is this month, and because Henry and I were going to be gone for the actual day we celebrated it a few days early. He got a cotton candy maker, an AR15, his bike repairs, some Tshirts, and a craft. We celebrated with a turtle cheesecake and a canoe ride down a slough here.

Henry and I went to Utah for a week by ourselves to go to the Porter Family Reunion and so that I could go to Education Week. Being able to see everyone was wonderful and we had a great time with the Olympic theme! I was able to stay at my grandparent's house and talk to them. They are so funny and sweet. The next week my mom stayed with Henry so that I could go to Education Week. This was an amazing experience! I learned so much about things that I have been struggling with and my testimony was strengthened so much. Angie was there for most of the week, and some days her friends Jana and Melissa were there too. It was so great to spend time with my sweet sister and to go to some classes with her. Really it was an amazing week that I am so grateful I got to have! We went out to dinner, shopping, and my mom and I got to go to the new Provo City Temple to do sealings and sit in the Celestial Room. It was gorgeous there! On the way back Henry had a really hard time at the airport. He would just lay down on the floor and cry; I've never seen anything like that! Insanity. When we were standing in line this guy said, "I'm an injured vet, I can't sit by that kid." And then the lady standing next to me said, "I don't want to sit by him either." And I was too tired and stressed out to turn around and yell, "Hey! I don't want to sit by him either! But somebody has to. I've had a rough day, stop being mean to me!" Haha. Yikes.

When Henry and I got back we went out to a delicious dinner with Rusty at a Japanese restaurant. Then the next day was Boeing Family Day and we got to go on site for the first time! They had free souvenirs, lunch, and ice cream for us and we also got to go on a big 747, tour the factory and watch the crane at work. Henry also got to sit in a forklift and honk the horn and then get a fire hat and sit in a fire truck. At the end we got to go and see Rusty's office, which doesn't sound like a big deal but if you work at Boeing it really is! Family only gets to come on these family days, which happen every other year. So being able to see his desk and where he spends all that time at work was really special. It was such a great day; so much better than we had even thought.

We got free tickets from Pickett Street to go to the outdoor movie at Marymoor Park. I have heard a lot about this park and the movies and always thought it would be fun to go, but it costs money so we have never done it. But with free tickets and free vouchers to get dinner from the food trucks we were so excited to go! We got some yummy pizza and thai food and then settled in to watch The Princess Bride. It didn't start until it was dark though, so it started getting pretty late and Rusty had to work the next day (and race) and Henry was getting tired so we left about halfway through. It was so much fun, and definitely a great summer experience!

So we had missed all of the Thursday night races at Hannegan in Bellingham, but there was one left that we could do. So Thursday Rusty got off of work early and we got some Subway and headed on up. He hasn't been riding in so long because his bike was broken (this week was a mad dash to get it all put back together) but man he did so good! He placed first in practice in his class, third in the first moto, and fifth in the second moto. He would have been in second or third in the second moto too but he crashed. Ok, so he only tipped his bike over but I've never seen him crash before and I had all the crazy adrenaline going through me haha. I was getting ready to hand Henry over to someone and run out on the track amidst all of the speeding dirt bikes to help him get up, so lucky for him (and me) that it only took him about two seconds. He did so great and I'm so proud of him!! Henry also got his first kiss from Blakley, and his first time holding hands. He wasn't super fond of either of them, but he sure liked playing with her!

The next day was the ward campout! We got up there in the evening and went swimming in the river. Kenny and Amber saved us a cabin next to them, and then later Analu and Parker came and got the one on the other side. We made tin foil dinners and then had cobbler from the bishopric, before heading back to our group fire and having more peach cobbler made by the Hudsons. It was so much fun to hang out and talk and stay up WAYYYYYY too late. The next morning we made breakfast and then headed home to start working on the fence and cleaning the house getting ready for "book club", what I told Rusty was going on at the house which was really his party. :)

The last Saturday in August I threw Rusty a surprise birthday party. I felt so bad that I was out of town on his birthday so I really wanted to do something special. We had a backyard carnival with his cotton candy maker, a big popcorn machine, the corn hole game that I made, giant yahtzee, ring toss, and those really funny dental mouth openers where you had to try to blow bubbles and do mad gabs haha. It was incredibly difficult to get anything done because Rusty was home all day, and so I had about ten minutes when he went to get pizza to get everything out and decorate and have the guests show up. I even called Papa John's and asked them to stall Rusty for about five minutes and they were gracious enough to comply. That's the only way that I got anything done! It was a blast. I'm so grateful for that guy and his birthdays :)

We went to the Evergreen State Fair and had an absolute blast! There were yummy elephant ears, Navajo tacos, and all of the fun lights. Then there was a fun lumberjack show where we saw two guys running on a log on top of water and then two men climb up to the top of 65 foot poles and back down in 22 SECONDS! WHAT?! It was insane. Henry got to ride around on toy tractors and then we went to a petting zoo. I think it was the best petting zoo I've ever been to! There was a donkey, llama, alpaca, tiny pigs, pygmy goats, sheep, and deer! I could not stop laughing and giggling at the llama. I seriously think I want one so bad.

Log climbing

My best llama friend

Henry's Highlights:

18 month appointment went great! The doctor said that this was his last baby appointment; the next time that they see him he will be 2 years old and will stand on the big boy scale and everything. :( Why does that make me want to cry?!
He loves saying "hi" now, and will say it over and over again. He also loves to talk on the phone.
His new favorite songs are Ol' McDonald, and he'll even sing the E-I-E-I-O part haha. He also loves the Hush now, my baby song from Prince of Egypt. After each verse he'll ask for "again", and as soon as you start singing it he will snuggle right up to you.
He still says "Mmmmm!" any time that he is loving what he is eating. He has also started to blow on his food when it's too hot, but he can only do it for a few seconds before he just starts laughing.
When he wants to go down the stairs he'll stop at the top and wait for me to sit down on the stairs and grab him. He can do down by himself, but he loves this. Sometimes he jumps out before I'm ready and I have to pull a miracle grab to keep him from falling haha.
Favorite toys are a little tool kit and all of Rusty's real tools as well. A favorite book is Grandpa's Garden, which is a book that I had growing up.
He loves to say "No!" all of the time, but it's not mean or annoying. Yet. He also yells "MOM!!!!!" which I kind of love. He always says, "car car" instead of just "car"
Airplanes are a huge love, as well as still loving water and sand.
Bath time is still the best, but he has figured out that bubbles not only add so much fun, but where they are. Every time he goes to get in the bath he grabs the bubbles first.