Boys and Dogs and Sticks

Antonio is a lucky boy and has his own dog...Havana and he has Pa-Pa's dog Copper (appu) and he loves them both. This weekend he got to spend time being a boy and loving the dogs. And if dogs weren't enough, sticks and water will certainly make a boy SMILE!

Bye Bye

Antonio's favorite thing to say these days is 'bye-bye'. Some kids say 'hi' all the time but not him...everything is bye. And sadly, he is often saying by to Da-da...here's a cute video of it.

Deb tells him Da-da went to see Mickey Mouse.....

Sittin' on the dock of the bay

Today the family had a nice Sunday full of fun in the sun. We started with a Water Taxi ride from West Seattle to Seattle proper. Antonio loved saying "Bye, bye, boats" to the ships that passed us in the day.

We hit all the standard spots, Pike Place Market, the Aquarium, the Waterfront, just like any good tourists should do. But you know Antonio's favorite part. Sitting on the planks of Pier 56 just pushing his cars around and hanging out. That kid sure loves his cars. "Vroom, vroom."
Another thing Antonio discovered? A Discarded Newspaper + Wind = Lots of Fun.

Why isn't there a parade on my birthday?

Antonio went to his first Oak Harbor parade for the 4th of July and seemed to like all the people walking by. But especially liked that everyone got a flag.Havana went too, but didn't like all the dogs that were in the parade. She thought they were showing off....
In good OH style, the whole Rodgers family had front row seats as the Delorians cruised by in the parade. The highlight was probably the Delorian with the trailer, oh yes, AWESOME.
For Antonio it was all about the Flag.....

The day after America's birthday is Uncle Alvin's birthday. He turned 50 this year and everyone came out to party at the lake. Since we have no pictures of Uncle Alvin partying, we thing this one of Elijah partying sums it up well. And, it was his mommy and daddy's 5th Anniversary. Thank goodness their's comes first or I wouldn't remember how long I've been married.

It was another great visit to Oak Harbor, making the walk back and forth between Grandma's and Mamma's....luckily now Antonio is learning the route too.
P.S. Be sure to submit your parade submission early for good placement in the Antonio birthday parade. Placement will be determined by the Chamber of Commerce.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

This weekend was easily the hottest weekend in Seattle so far this year. So, like every other family in town we went out in the sun to find things to do. And like a good tourist family, we went to Seattle Center to play in the fountain. This is the space age, remember, so the fountain is this shiny silver thing designed to be the future....but all Antonio cared about is that it had water coming out and he could touch it.

And splash in it...

Just minutes after walking out of the fountain the real show started and the fountain sprayed all over! We just missed it, thank goodness or we would have all been in different clothes.

After checking out the fountain we went to the Children's Museum near-by and Antonio showed me all his favorite things there.
This Ya-Ya is awesome, he has a funny face and check out that chest! On Sunday, Antonio was invited to visit his cousin and his new swimming pool. More exciting than cousin's pool are cousins toys. The thing is that now cousin can move too so sharing is a new and not so fun lesson for the boys. But, the good thing is Elijah doesn't cry every time Antonio looks at him, only when Antonio shows his brown temper and grabs him....

The boys had a really good visit, even though they both woke up WAY too early this morning. People shouldn't be awake in the 5 o'clock hour....oh wait, I'll be up tomorrow then.

The most exciting part of the weekend is that Antonio started saying 'Daddy' instead of 'DaDa'. And that was so great...on Monday he also tried 'Mommy' instead of 'Mama'. For some reason the sound of the 'ee' at the end sure does it make your heart melt.

Summer, Summer, Summertime

It is officially summer in Seattle, basically that means all the big kids are out of school which means we can go to the track whenever we want!

And, the track is still one of Antonio's favorite places. A lady at the track yesterday told Deb it is a giant play-pen and she is pretty much right. Yesterday there were dogs and people with kites and of course a beach ball!Since it was sunny and quiet there, Deb gave Antonio another portrait session so here are some of the photos....

Fish Envy

Grandma and Grandpa are working in Seattle this week at a conference. Luckily that conference is right next to the Aquarium! So Antonio decided to invite them to come and check out some cool fish.
Deb was very excited to hear Antonio say "MA-MA" and "PA-PA" when he was calling for Grandma and Grandpa at the Aquarium. Each day he is getting more words and so excited to show them off!

Grandpa could have stayed all day and watched all the big fish and the big tanks and left with serious fish envy. Antonio on the other hand, found a puddle from this waterfall and could have stayed there all day.

As far as Antonio is concerned, Grandma and Grandpa can come to a Conference anytime.