Glasses and Keb' Mo'

We went to Cole's 4 year appointment recently and found out that he needs glasses. It was striking at his appt. when I helped him look at the eye chart. He did ok for the left eye then when I covered the left eye he couldn't even see the first item on the chart. He insisted on pulling my hand away from his left eye so he could see. He tested 70/20 in his right eye. So now we are stuck with nagging him about putting his glasses on - a formidable task!



Cole has been excited about going to a Zoo Tunes Concert recently - Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal. We went last week on a stunning Northwest sunny day to meet friends Lisa B. and her kids Ava (Cole's best-friend) and Ian. Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal were amazing and the family scene was equally vibrant.

Here is a picture of Cole sparring with the swamp creature from a local tideland preservation campaign called Mudup. If I've not mentioned it before, Cole is crazy for all things Star Wars. He is using his "force powers" here on the swamp creature and the swamp creature is playing along.



Dad and baby sister at the concert.



Audrey was a pretty easy going concert goer. She charmed the people around her with her smile.



Cole had a fun time hanging with the older boys (8 & 9) but also had time to get into and dance to the music. Wherever he goes he makes contact with people - dancing and saying howdy.



Cole's best friend Ava. They amuse themselves with seemingly nonsensical banter that only they find amusing. I guess the definition of a best friend.



Lisa and Ava, our good, good friends.



Taj.



A very tired Cole leaning against Dad toward the end of the concert.



Sweet, sweet Audrey.

And more parties

We gathered at Aunt Gabe's house to celebrate Christina's graduation. This was Daniel's first introduction to the family. He and Christina headed to Mexico the next day to visit his family's home town near Guadalajara.



Grandma Sharon, Christina and Aunt Gabe



Cole looking a bit like Sting from the Police because of the short hair and bumblebee shirt.



Jackie seasoning Cole's belly with some salt and pepper before taking a nibble. A fun game that never fails to cause howls of laughter.



On Saturday we threw a pool party for Cole's 4th birthday. I originally planned the party for May 11 not remembering that it was Mother's Day. So I had to reschedule and June 21 was the next available date. This will be a perennial problem since his birthday will frequently fall on Mother's Day weekend.

We filled the place up with 40 of Cole's buddies and their parents. We had berries, pizza and cake. Cole picked the cake out at Costco - chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and strawberry mousse filling. It was surprisingly good, in fact if you get a Costco cake you should get that combo for sure!



Audrey likes the pool too.



This slip and slide mat is out in the deeper end of the pool. Some of the kids put life jackets on and played out there with their parents. Here Audrey stands holding Alex's hands.



We came home and immediately set up one of Cole's gifts - this race track.

Golden Gardens Sunshine

I love Golden Gardens. We went today in the late afternoon because ... why not? We met Christina and her friends Lauren and Zane.

Lauren with Audrey. She is so great with the kids - like another older sister.





Christina being glamorous.



Cole and Zane starting a drip castle.



Continued work on the castle.



The island castle with Shilshole Marina in the background. The beach is the perfect place for kids of all ages. It is enough to build something with sand.



Audrey managed to eat probably a teaspoon of sand.











Cole is always at home on the beach.



Sisters. I'm going to really miss having Christina at the house when she has her own life at college. It's just starting to sink in that she's grown up and moving away soon. Of course she'll be back for breaks and some weekends but we will be seeing a whole lot less of her and worse for it.









Alex and the little ones in the wagon.

A Busy Weekend

Cole and I went to a play on Saturday at the Seattle Children's Theatre called Busytown. I've been eagerly awaiting the day when Cole would be old enough to enjoy plays. It was a musical based on Richard Scarry's book What Do People Do all Day? and he loved it!



A picture of us just before our big outing.



After the show we drove to Lynnwood to attend older sister's graduation party at her mom's house. Alex and Audrey arrived before us and Audrey ate her way through an astonishing array of yummy Filipino food. We both enjoyed what I think was Suman sa Lihiya - a sweet steamed rice cake with coconut and sesame seeds wrapped in banana leaves. Christina's mom, Espy, made a slide show of very cute pictures of Christina's life - baby through now. We enjoyed visiting with Daniel's (Christina's boyfriend) parents Dora and Balta as well.

It was a late night for the kids.

If you've called us anytime in the past month you will have noticed that we have a new official phone answerer. Cole insists on answering the phone and will talk your ear off if you don't ask for the person you called for.

Cole talking to Grammy about our imminent trip to Bellingham.



On Father's Day we all drove up to Whatcom County for the Deming Log Show. We watched men chop trees down as fast as they could, run across logs floating in water, and climb 90 feet up a tree as fast as they could. We also saw many logging trucks, front loaders, and machinery of all sorts. A wonderland for Mr. Cole Zecha, however I think due to a sleep deficit he was off his game and didn't fully enjoy himself.

Obstacle Choker Setting: these two men raced across the logs and back then wrapped a cable around another log.



One of the many wonders of the Deming Log Show - trucks.



We tried to get a family shot but Cole is such a goof these days we only got this!



Alex and his kids on Father's Day 2008.



Audrey is starting to take 5+ steps all by herself.



Audrey and Grammy.



Checking out the bumper sticker booth.



Mom got Cole the Darth Vader sticker because he is CRAZY about Star Wars now. In Cole's world Darth Vader protects him from bad guys that visit his room at night.



Alex has been steadily working on house projects. This week he got the gutters up on the garage and finished a shelf for the bathroom.

Dad taking a short break from working in the garage.



The finished shelf.



We finished the day with a visit to the splash park in Fairhaven and a pizza dinner in La Conner. Whew. You would think the kids would crash after all that but NO! Both Audrey and Cole stayed awake the whole way back to Seattle and then proceeded to put up a fight when faced with bed when we finally arrived home.
Oh, the horror.

Audrey and mom at the splash park (there are jets of water the kids can run through).