Mason & Thomas the Tank Engine

Ever since Mason was 2-3 years old, he has been obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. We kept the Brio & Thomas Wood train track that Mac had and Mason played with it as soon as he could put the track together. He watched the Videos/DVD's that we had, he loved the books, etc. It always blew us away how when we went to a Toy Store and it showed ALL of the Thomas the Tank Engine trains with his friends-how Mason knew ALL of them by name before he could read. I would pick him up a train for him after he had shots from the doctor, a medical proceedure, or after a hospital stay. Promising him an "engine" at the end of something big was always good bribery or leverage to get him to cooperate with something. In April or May, I found out that Thomas was going to be a the Train Museum in Snoqualmie. I got us all tickets to go a few weeks ago. We didn't tell him what we were doing that day when he asked, until we were on our way there.

Mason w/ Thomas the Tank Engine. His face really lit up when we walked towards him.

Mason with Sir Topham Hat (yes, I know almost ALL of the characters).

Mason walking to board the train. This was Mason's 2nd train ride.

Mason with Gordon, Percy, and James.

They had a LEGO "Island of Sodor", that was really cool. He was very interested in this. He's really into LEGO's now.

Mason in front of this big old train. He loved looking at all of the older trains they had. For the Thomas Event, there were alot of toddlers ages 1-5 years of age. As we were there, I could see that Mason was having fun, but sort of growing out of the Thomas thing a bit. I couldn't believe the parents bringing their 1-2 year olds, I don't think I would have done it.

Mason on the train...he really loved it.

Mac and Dad enjoyed it too. Although, Mac told me that he sort of wished he would have stayed home. That's a teenager for you!

Afterwards, we went to Snoqualmie Falls. It was beautiful. It had been years (alot of years) since I had been there.

But I think I appreciate it more now, than I did almost 20 years ago.

4th of July 2009 (kinda late)

This year, we went to Lee's parents house for the 4th of July. It had been a pretty long time since we had celebrated the 4th with them. They live about 2 hours north of us, almost on the Canadian border. We used to live about 1 mile down the road from them for about 4 years, and when we moved to S. Whidbey, we ususally stayed home to celebrate. This year, we camped out (they live on 5 acres) and Lee thought it would be fun to "camp", which it was. The 4th of July with The Bryant's is usually packed full of Fireworks, Food, Motorcycles, and Flag Cake. It get's pretty loud. We were really blessed with awesome weather this year too! The 4th of July in Western Washington is usually cloudy with a big chance of rain....but not this year.

This is our niece Blaise. She lives in Alaska now, and she usually comes down to spend about a month or so with the Grandparents. Years ago...Patty would make a Flag Cake decorated with blueberries and raspberries (or strawberries). I baked the cake this year, and Blaise helped decorate it.

She had fun (I think) and did an awesome job! I did the frosting part, she did the berries.

Because there were so many people there, I did a 2 layer Flag Cake, something that had never been done before, and something we won't do again...it was just too much cake. But it was really yummy (if I don't say so myself). With this particular cake, simple is better tasting. I made it with a White Cake mix, I did Vanilla one year, and it tasted bad. The frosting is the Wilton White Buttercream Icing-you can get the recipe off thier website, I can't "link" things yet.

Mason and Uncle Wes, blowing stuff up in the morning. This was a big white bucket (5 gallons I think)-it's what paint comes in (when you buy alot of paint). Mason was sssoooooo proud! He made me go and get my camera.

The dirtiest feet in the world....belonging to Mason. His feet were dirty, not tan. And the bottom of his feet were BLACK. I'm not kidding.

Mason with is "tank" fireworks. This is all he wanted, were these tanks. I have alot of pics of Mason, because Mac was on one of 2 motorcycles almost the whole time we were there. 1/2 of Lee's body on the far left hand side, sitting, wearing his KILT. That is a post all on it's own. He's been wearing Utilikilts for 5 years now. Apparently, it's not a phase with him, like I've been telling myself for the last 5 years.

Mason, on his motorcycle....just sitting on it. Lee found some training wheels (yes, really) for motorcycles. He's still kind of affraid of his motorcycle. As he tells me "Mom! It makes my heart affraid!". This is a prime example of how 2 kids from the same parents can be so different. Mac, at the age of 4, wanted to ride motorcycles. When he was 5, we were at Cycle Barn, where he found a Quad Runner, and he came running from who knows where hollering "Mom! Mom! I found a motorcycle that fits me! And the guy says he can finance you!". Yes, Mac said that, at the age of 5. Having no idea what "financing" was.

There he is! Mac, with Uncle Calvin, sitting around the day after. Mac lit fireworks this year, he thought he was pretty "big stuff". We were all tired the day after. I had to take a nap before I drove home.

Mason, with Wes. They were pretty tired too. This particuar weekend was the first time Mason got to really run around, and get dirty, and tired at Grammy and Pa's house. We all had fun. Thanks for having us!

Summertime!

STRAWBERRIES! To make......
STRAWBERRY JAM! And 2 Strawberry Rubarb Pies (in the freezer).

And....two very, very dirty little feet! These are Mason's feet, and no, he's not suntan-he was filthy!

Mason's Asthma Update & Nurse Ellen

Mason had his follow up appointment with his Pulmonary Dr. the end of June. He did another "blowing" test to measure his lung funtions. They improved and we were able to establish a baseline. We had to reschedule this appointment because he caught a cold, and his Dr. was curious how he did on the new meds. He did better, which was good. She wants to see Mason in another 4 months...which was to be expected. All in all-it was a great outcome.

While we were there, he had to get his picture taken with his Orca Sculpture...and he got some ice cream after his appointment. While we were waiting for his lung funtion test-I saw someone familiar, who I kind of lost track of....Nurse Ellen!

She was Mason's primary Nurse while he was in the IICU. She was the first voice I spoke too the first morning after he was born. She told me he was "very stable, a good sized baby, and had a beautiful head of red hair". She was Mason's daytime Nurse, so I saw her during the day, alot. I often joked that she would recognize her voice more than mine. She also took care of me, asking me if I was drinking lots of water, making me sit by his bedside (instead of standing), telling me to take care of myself, etc. When you have a newborn in the IICU-you sort of forget about yourself, and forget that you have just given birth. Mason was her last IICU patient-then she was diagnosed with Cancer right after he was discharged. She fought it, recovered, is in remission, and instead of being in the IICU, she now works in another department of the hospital. I just happened to see her smiling face. She remembered us right off the bat, said "I see you still have your red hair" and knew how old he was. Mason gave her a hug and we talked for a few minutes. When Mason would come back to Childrens for his Clinic Check up appointments, we would always stop by the IICU to see of there is anyone there we know. The last few times there weren't. I can't tell you how happy I was to find her again. When we got home, I told Lee that I found Nurse Ellen, and Mr. Forgetful remembered her too.