Tarando, Dallin, & Keegan!: April 2009

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

One Year Week Fifty-Two

My last full week as a one year old proved to be as fun filled as ever. We had quite the exciting adventure at Northwest Trek. It was just the Moms and us three kids as the Dads had work & school. It's a bit of a journey to NW Trek, (approx. 45 mins.), but Moms know how to entertain us well. Like letting Vincent play with the keys. He was quite entertained for some time when suddenly; we heard the sound you never want to hear. "Splash!" as the keys plunged into the murky depths of the bobcat exhibit. An understanding zookeeper tried valiantly to retrieve the keys, but to no avail. The AAA agent was unable to help due to the sophisticated nature of Aunt Missy's Honda Pilot's security system. With no other options, it was up to Uncle Shawn to take a taxi from his office in Seattle down to his car at the park & ride, and then drive all the way to rescue us. He made excellent time considering the distance and time of day so we all got home safe and moderately sound. Even with all of this going on, we kids still enjoyed seeing all of the many wondrous animals.

I really enjoyed the snake! So much, in fact, that it was the first thing I told my Dad about when I finally got home. "Sssss!"

Even though we got home a little on the late side, the weather was stunningly gorgeous so we all played tennis together. Mom and Dad played a friendly version of keep-away with me as I picked up stray balls and chucked them over the net.

Wednesday evening came and with it, one of our last dinners with so many Montoyas. Because I am such a picky eater, I brought my own dinner to eat in my cool Spider-Man bag.

Edan and Isis ended up eating most of my dinner anyways because I was having too much fun to be bothered by food.

Uncle Ryan was gracious enough to come over for my birthday party on Friday. We set up fans to make the balloons float up high.

I'm old enough to open up my own presents but didn't mind too much that Shayla and Edan helped me. We were all very excited for my presents. Edan shouted for joy when I opened up the vehicles and soccer ball and Shayla tried on most of my clothes and rode my bike.

I was happy with everything, but was completely wowed by my very own train set, as this photo clearly illustrates.

Shayla: "Happy birthday, Dallin!"

Dallin: "Thanks Shayla, but can I please get back to my trains."

Yay! I'm two years old!

The group shot of all us party goers.

My Dad also gave me a special birthday ride while he mowed the lawn on Saturday. I helped him and Mom beautify our backyard. While we accomplished a lot, we still have a ways to go.

While the Moms went shopping, the Dads took us kids out to dinner at Wendy's. Uncle Ryan was especially pleased since he doesn't have a Wendy's near his home.

I continue to learn so many new and wonderful things from my big cousin Shayla, like ring around the rosie. We have so much fun together!

See you next week at the Children's Museum when my Mom takes the day off for my birthday!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

One Year Week Fifty-One

Beep-Beep! Welcome to my wonderful week!

Grandpa was gracious enough to take us out to Azteca on Wednesday. I really, (and I mean really), enjoyed the bottomless chips but not much else. Why try anything new when those chips were so tasty? Try as he might, my Dad could not get me to taste his awesome shrimp.

Grandpa and Celeste stopped by again to drop off my Easter Basket containing an assortment of animals. Vincent, Shayla, and I took turns wearing the cool crocodile cap.

The basket also contained some yummy sweets and with my first trip to the dentist the next morning, I had to make sure to clean my teeth exceptionally well. I even pretended to floss!

Mom had to work so it was just me and my Dad at my first dental check-up. The staff was especially nice and I felt welcomed but wasn't too sure about the nice hygienist snooping around my mouth. While I wouldn't call my visit fun, it certainly wasn't awful either.

The lot of us gathered together at the Yoon's place Friday night to celebrate Aunt Bonnie's promotion at the IRS. Now we can spend more time with her!

Saturday morning arrived and us kids hit the zoo. It seems that the more we go, the better it gets for us. We all really enjoyed the hilarious goats.

Eventhough we saw the tigers pretty well, my favorite animals to see on this particular trip were the sharks. I was in awe of their size and grace as they glided in front of me.

As you can see from our group photo, I am looking longingly at the shark exhibit we just exited.

Here's my impression of a shark swimming fast!

We stayed at the zoo until they closed but the fun continued back at the Kelly's house where I led the family in a dance party. Check me out!

Aunt Noelle and Grandma Sheila came over on Sunday for a funeral but they also brought Amber along much to the delight of me and Shayla. Grandma also surprised me with an early birthday present and mini-party!

It was sure fun to see my Grandma again so soon since the last time. I hope that she makes a habit of it. Can you believe that I'm almost two years old!?

Later that night, we three Montoya boys had a great time playing together.

Monday, April 13, 2009

One Year Week Fifty

Zoom-zoom! Get out of the way! Coming through! These are some of the phrases I've been saying lately. How better to illustrate it, then on my Aunt Celeste's friends motorcycle. I really enjoyed pretending to dive it and didn't want to dismount. As soon as it started up though, I had no trouble being held by Dad.

Dad and I had a blast playing the "catch me" game. I made it interesting for him when I would vault off at random angles.

Grandma Sheila invited us west coasters over to celebrate Easter with her. Everyone was amazed on how consumed I was with Uncle Ryan's train set. I played with it for hours and hours.

I was so immersed that I didn't even want to go to the city-sponsored Easter egg hunt but was grateful that my parents made me. There were so many people and tons of new friends there!

Thankfully, we three kids had help from the grownups so we were able to collect a good share of the eggs. The weather was also nice so we stayed and played up until nap time.

While the grownups set up our own Easter egg hunt at home as we took our naps, Aunt Shannon and my Dad had an intense tennis match. Shannon smashed my Dad in just over 25 minutes to take the first set 6-2. My Dad rallied back but couldn't overcome Shannon's superior shots as she won the second set 7-6.

I was the last kid to wake up but it was worth the wait as we spent a great deal longer finding the hidden Easter eggs and goodies around Grandma's house. The grownups did a great job hiding the eggs!

The dogs were very eager to help us locate and taste-test the many hidden goodies. Luckily, we had plenty to go around. Check out our full grins and baskets!

Later, we expressed our creative sides as we decorated Easter eggs for the Sunday morning Easter basket extravaganza.

After the three of us kids woke up, (with me waking up last, again), we proceeded to find our Easter baskets filled with even more goodies. Wow! With so much loot to take back home, you'd think that we celebrated Christ's birth instead of his resurrection.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

One Year Week Forty-Nine

We went to the Seattle Aquarium on Wednesday which was good planning on Aunt Missy's part since it snowed the next day, April 1st. Nature, it seems, also has a sense of humor. Will it keep snowing all year long?