Halloween pictures

Tyler wanted to be Lightning McQueen for Halloween, so we settled on being a pit crew. We still have candy left from his trick or treating adventures: party at school, downtown businesses, and hitting Columbia Avenue with about 700 other kids. It was a fun night!

Fall is in the air

As I write this blog, the wind is howling outside and there is a 100% chance of snow forecasted for tonight.  So yes, fall is in the air!  We have had some beautiful autumn days, but the cold is now upon us.  October has been a busy month for us with swimming lessons, trips to the pumpkin patch, and work.  Although the shoulder season is here, our little town has been jumping.  The TV show "The Bachelor" filmed up here for 5 days at the beginning of the month, so that brought business to downtown.  And our Canadian neighbors keep on coming south to spend money.  At the hospital, we have been really busy with meetings and conferences, so plenty of work for me.  Here are some photos of what has been happening here.

 

 Tyler practicing his "arrow arms" at swimming lessons.

 View of the mountain one morning after a little snow.

Hamming it up at the pumpkin patch

First day of school

Tyler is going to Stepping Stones preschool again this year a couple of days a week. He really likes school and playing with his friends. He is getting to be such a big boy now!

Crazy Summer!

Wow!  What a crazy busy summer we are having!  We have been doing all kinds of fun activities and been very bad about posting pictures.  Here is a little catch up!

Mowing the lawn

My parents neighbor, Chris, loves to mow his lawn. Whenever Tyler hears the mower start up, he runs to the backyard to watch. Today Chris invited Tyler to help. As you can imagine, he had a great time on the red beep-beep.

Waterslides

Whew! What a busy summer we are having! Scott and I have been back from 2 weeks in France for a couple of weeks now, and have been enjoying summer in Montana. This week we went to the waterslides with Tyler, and he loved it! I will post pictures of our trip soon, but here is the first slide of the day.

More Swimming

Tyler just completed another round of swimming lessons, this time with him, 4 other kids, and 2 instructors.  It was really more like organized chaos, but he really loves it.  He can now float on his back and doggy paddle to the side.  He has no fear of jumping in, and smiles the entire time.  He even wears his goggles for the entire session now!  We will probably do another session this summer, maybe in an outdoor pool.

 Getting ready to go in

 using a floaty to cross the pool

Playing in the activity pool after lessons.  He is waiting for the buckets to drop water on his head.

Glacier for the day

Our friend Sarah Spindle was in town for a week. One outing we made was to Glacier Park. We walked the Trail of the Cedars and had lunch at Lake McDonald Lodge. Even though it was rainy, we had a great day! Tyler is already looking forward to his next hike.

Swimming Lessons

Today Tyler graduated from Aqua Tots!  It was a 4 week swim program at the Wave and he really loved it.  One of us was in the water with him to learn the basics, and next week he has lessons with just the instructor.  He came a long way in just 8 lessons and is much more comfortable in the water.  He is a bit apprehensive about goggles and going underwater, but is getting much better.  His teacher took some underwater pictures today, so as soon as we get those, we will share them as well!

Practicing kicks from the cool blue mat

Getting ready to throw the baton, and then retrieve it from the bottom of the pool!

Summer Day!

The weather here yesterday was amazing.  Temps near 70, blue skies, it was like summer came to visit for the day.  We had a full day of playing outside, starting with sandbox and beep beep time.  Then Tyler and I had a picnic at the park, where he ran around jumping from toy to toy with this enormous smile on his face.  We haven't been to the park in months, so it was good to be able to get back there.  Last night was our first BBQ of the year, with the Larkin tradition of tri tip and corn salad.  What a great day!



Playing with his Mack truck from Cars in the grass. 

 The John Deere tractor has gotten much use this past week.

On the "little kid" slide.  When he ran over to the "big kid" play area, I was shocked at how big he has gotten since we were last at the park.  He can climb the ladders like the big kids now, when last year that wasn't even a possibility.

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a joyful day!

Springtime!

Today actually felt like spring. Temperatures near 50, sunny blue skies, and the revealing of the sandbox.  Scott and Tyler were able to ski today, and play in the sand. What a lucky boy!

Last day of Ski Lessons

Tyler made amazing progress with his skiing this season. On the last lesson day, they set up a course of gates for the kids to go through. He did really well and loved going on the chair lift. Hopefully we can get him up there a few more times before the mountain closes!

On the magic carpet

At the start of the course...

Coming down with Daddy right behind

Just about done...

Finished!

Check out the snowplow!

All smiles!

Headed up the chairlift with Daddy and Mike

Uh oh, meltdown! One too many runs today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our little leprechaun wishes you a very Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The Donut Debacle

Tyler is a Curious George fan. That's actually an understatement... Tyler is a Curious George Fanatic! We watch George every day, and there was a recent episode where George buys 100 dozen donuts. Tyler thought that we should buy donuts, so one Sunday we went and got 3 donuts. Now he wants donuts all of the time. If I ask what he wants to eat, donuts. At the store, he wants donuts. So today I used that to my advantage...

Tyler caught a cold last weekend, mostly a bad cough, but he has barely eaten anything. After 5 days of barely enough calories to get through the day, I decided to whip up some beignets from a mix I got at work the other day. They're French donuts, so that should count, right? He loves to help in the kitchen, especially if there is flour and a rolling pin involved. Low and behold, we made perfect little beignets, I mean donuts, and he proceeded to eat several.. and some peaches too!

Hopefully we are on the very tail end of this cold, it has been a crummy week of staying in and listening to him cough. Today he has been active, playing, singing, EATING, and hardly coughing at all. I'm chalking the success up to donuts.

Showing off the remains of a donut. And yes, we are still in pajamas at 2:30 this afternoon. It has been a long week.

Ski Lesson

Tyler is progressing really well with his skiing. He learned how to snow plow on Wednesday and just loves being up on the mountain. He has a fan club of grandparents that watch his lesson... he thinks he is pretty cool!

Being silly in the lodge after a lesson...check out those rosy cheeks!
Nana, Daddy, and Tyler

Snowplowing with the instructor

Practicing with the hula hoop

Getting ready to go!

Tyler Skiing

Tyler is really enjoying his weekly skiing lessons. There is just him and one other boy in his class, so he gets a lot of individual help from his teacher. This week, he learned how to stop. His muscles aren't quite developed enough for the snow plow, so he does a turn to the left to stop. He has come so far in just a few weeks, it will be fun to see how well he is doing by the end of the season! We still have yet to try the chair lift, I'm sure that will be an adventure all its own!

Sorry this is sideways....

Way to go, Buddy!

Tyler's Birthday Pictures

I know, I know, almost a month late. Here are some pics from Tyler's Construction Themed Birthday Party. Many thanks to all of those who came and contributed to the Larkin Collection of Beep-Beeps.

I had a great party!
Mmmmm....tractor cookies!

Ready to work!

A Lakers tank top, oh boy!

Of course, a Construction Cake with Tractors and piles of Dirt.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my wonderful mother's 60th birthday (coincidentally the Today Show's 60th anniversary). I am so lucky to have Fafa as my mom. She is an amazing mother, Nani, sister and friend. We all love her so much and are so thankful to have her in our lives. Mom, I hope you have a great day and that this year brings you happiness.  Happy Birthday!

First day of preschool

Now that Tyler is three, he can move over to the preschool side of his school. He will be there from 9-3, a full day of playing. He will be going twice a week for the rest of this school year. He was very excited to see all of the big kids this morning. It should be a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Today our sweet boy is three! I can't believe it....these three years have gone by so fast. Tyler started ski school today and loved it. His party was last night, and it was so much fun....pictures to come.
Tyler, you are such a joy to have for a son and we are so blessed to be your Mommy and Daddy. We love you, Buddy!