Tim’s parents were actually able to make the drive over here recently, and it was very nice to see them again. Chemo has been hard on Wendell, but he’s doing remarkably well.

Meanwhile Lex has become quite the little daredevil on his scooter.  He’s now doing “tricks” like going as fast as he can down a hill while holding one leg high up in the air.  I’m amazed we haven’t had an ER visit yet…(oh, and clothing is apparently optional, as long as a helmet is worn)

The other day I babysat Lex’s friend Clara while her parents went to the new Harry Potter movie.  Lex had a great time driving her to the park in his new Gator (a larger two-seat version of his John Deere tractor, courtesy of grandma and grandpa).

Then yesterday Lex and I went to the Washington county fair.  There were tons of tractors and construction trucks sitting out for the kids to crawl over.  As you can imagine, the area was a big hit with Lex.

Riding this fake horse was the closest Lex was able to come to an actual pony ride at the fair.  Some of his other friends got to ride the real thing, but since Tim is so deathly allergic to horses, I didn’t dare let Lex near the live ponies.  Luckily Lex didn’t know what he was missing.

A while back I bought Lex this Little Mermaid doll from a garage sale.  It cost me a quarter. Who knew she would become one of his favorite toys?  Ariel now ranks right up there with Bear in importance.

An afternoon tractor ride:

with Ariel in tow, of course

I don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I want to get these posted.  So forgive me if my descriptions are rather brief.  You know you just like to see the pictures anyway!

Lex playing at Jack’s 3rd birthday party:

And yeah, there was a trampoline

Lex has attended two of the monthly free kids workshops at Home Depot recently.  Here he’s showing off the tool box he made:

Helping mommy make strawberry freezer jam:

Reuniting with my longtime friend Jackie during a recent Boise trip:

Lex playing with Jackie’s daughter Tyler:

family picture (we drove to Boise with Becky):

just hanging with Grandpa:

Lex’s first movie in a theater (we took him to Cars 2):

a little downtime with the iPhone:

Yeah, so it’s been a really long time since I’ve added anything to this blog.  I have a backlog of pictures which I need to post, but today I’ll just catch up with our 4th of July celebration.

This morning we went to the Hillsboro parade.  Lex learned quickly that if you wave at the parade participants, they might throw you candy.  Here he’s chowing down on some m&ms:

Tractor!!!

Then this afternoon our play group had our annual 4th of July family bbq at my friend Jenny’s house.  Lex played in the wading pool for most of the evening.

Jessi and me:

the kids:

sparklers!

I’ve been really sick and today is the first day I’m feeling back in the land of the living.  I promise to post some more June pictures relatively soon!

Last Saturday we took Lex to the rose parade downtown.  We usually avoid this annual event (due to the torrential rains that are common on this day), but the weather was good and our schedule was clear.

Lex was a real trooper.  We ended up having to wait at our intersection for over an hour before the parade made its appearance.  There were tons of people, but we managed to get a good viewing spot on a corner.

The floats were beautiful, but I think Lex liked the marching bands the best (and there was definitely no shortage of bands during the parade!)  I think every school in the surrounding three states was marching that day.  But I didn’t get a picture of any of the bands.  I think we all know what they look like…feathered hats and all.

We left the parade before it was over, and while walking through Pioneer Square we stopped at a gorgeous floral display of all the continents of the world.  My picture would be better if taken from a helicopter hovering above the courtyard…but it was an impressive sight!