Kallen's Pre-Party Fun

Before Kallen's birthday party, we decided to take him to a family fun center called Charlie's Safari.  It really was a neat place that had a bunch of blowup bouncy toys/slides, miniature golf, laser tag, and a huge play structure for kids.  Of course Kallen wasn't big enough to try miniature golf or laser tag, but we did everything else.  

Here are some pictures of him and us playing on the play structure.  It was kind of like something you'd find at McDonalds...but a ton bigger.  His favorite part of it had to be the slides.  He loved that.

Here are some of the blowup toys.  Kallen really didn't know what to think of them at first.  He didn't really like walking around on the unsteady surface, but he started to enjoy it more when Daddy and Grandpa got in there with him and played peek-a-boo.

I hate to say it, but I think Kallen's favorite part of the whole place was the miniature entrance door that he could open and close.  What a silly kid.  He loves playing with doors.  He'll open and close them over and over and over again.  Sometimes it isn't such a good thing.

I love this picture even though its a little blurry.  Kallen sure loves his Daddy.

Kallen's Birthday Weekend

For Kallen's 2nd Birthday, he got a great surprise.  Both Grandma and Grandpa Hill and even Aunt Kristi came up to visit for the weekend.  Kallen was so excited to see them all and I'm sure he loved all the pampering he received.

While everyone was here, Grandpa Hill wanted to show Kallen Cabellas.  It is a new outdoor sporting equipment store in Lacey.  We had never been before, but had heard that it was pretty fun to see.  Its a huge store, decorated like a lodge, and then inside they have tons of real stuffed animals.  Things like Lions, Tigers and Bears.  They also have some aquariums full of live fish and as you can see from the picture below, a lifesize plane.  It is pretty neat to see.

Here is chubby, pregnant Mommy with Kallen next to an Elk.  I almost think I'm bigger than the Elk.

Here Kallen and I are looking at the live trout that they had.  He loved them, and we even got to feed them.  I think the fish, which he pronouces "fis" was his favorite thing to see.

Swings!

While we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Hill a few months ago, Kallen got to go to one of the coolest parks.  He was so happy.  Since moving to Olympia, I haven't been able to find very many parks...at least ones that have swings (which is pretty much the only thing Kallen likes). You'd think that Olympian's fear swings, because I had to visit at least 5 or 6 parks around the area before I found one that had swings.  Anyway, enough of my complaining, here are a few pictures of Kallen at the park in Eugene.

This was one of those bridges where if you jump up and down, you can make it bounce up and down.  Kallen thought that was pretty cool.  Can't you tell by the large grin?

Besides the regular swing, Kallen loved the Tire Swing.  You don't find these very often either at parks?  Whats the deal?  They are taking away all the fun things that older parks use to have. Anyway, Kallen loves getting dizzy, I really don't know why.  I took him on this swing first, and Tyson turned us around and around, which turned out to be a very bad idea. Kallen loved it, however, Mommy felt differently.  Whenever I am pregnant, I get motion sickness very easily. It really is a bad thing.  In fact, if I even try to swing on a regular swing, or ride in a car without being the one to drive, I feel like I'm going to throw up.  Needless to say, the spinning on the tire swing made me almost throw up...I really had to hold it back.  So, since Mommy was out of commission for the next 2 hours, Grandpa was brave enough to take Kallen on it...even though he got sick afterwards too.  All the adults got sick from the Tire Swing, but Kallen wanted to go on it over and over.  Crazy kid...he loves getting dizzy.  I don't know where he gets it, because just the thought of that tire swing is making me woozy.

There is one thing that is very funny to watch when Kallen gets dizzy.  It's when he tries to walk around afterwards.  Because he went on the tire swing so much, he kept falling down every time he walked.  He thinks its hilarious and honestly, so does everyone else.  It is very funny watch. Here is a picture of him trying to walk.

Finally, here are some pictures of the squirt in a regular swing...his one true love.  Like I've mentioned before, Kallen could stay in a swing all day long if we let him.  He loves them!

4th of July in Eugene

Last 4th of July we went to Eugene to visit with Tyson's family.  The 4th is one of their favorite holidays and so we couldn't miss seeing them this year.

Kallen got to visit with his cousins Daniel and Nathan and all of his Aunts and Uncles.  One of his favorite friends down there was Salem, their black lab.  He even took some time out of his busy cart pushing activities to play with ol' Salem.

One tradition that the Hill family does every 4th is go to the Eugene Rodeo.  It is always a lot of fun, but Kallen had never gone before.  Honestly, he wasn't that interested in it at all.  Kind of sad.  However, Papa Hill took good care of him during the event and let him eat things like Elephant Ears, Popcorn (which is one of his favorites) and anything he wanted to drink.  After all, Papa Hill is the Pepsi guy.  Here, Kallen is playing with his aqua fina water.

Before the rodeo, we got to eat in the rodeo's barn.  Kallen once again wasn't interested in eating, but enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa.

While we were down there, Tyson's family also surprised him with a little graduation party.  This was their impromptu getup for a graduation gown.  For his present, he got new golf clubs, a golf bag, and golf shoes.  Needless to Tyson was ecstatic.  I think it was one of his favorite gifts ever.  
Here Kallen is playing with his cousin Daniel.  Kallen is popping Daniels cheeks.  This is one of his favorite games.

Sutherland Family Reunion

In June, we went to my family's reunion which was up at Leavenworth.  I had never been to Leavenworth before, and it was fun to see this little mountain town which had a Bavarian theme.  It is totally fake, not a real Bavarian town, but it was still fun to go explore all the shops and the mountains.  I actually only took pictures of the time we went to a petting farm, so all of our other activities weren't recorded.  So sad.  However, we did go minature golfing, shopped at the Bavarian stores (the Christmas and Fudge store were my favorite), explored the mountains and went on lots of walks.  It was a lot of fun.  I would love to see this town at Christmas. Supposedly it is all decked out for the holidays.  Maybe next year we'll have to take a little road trip.

Here is a picture of Kallen at the petting farm.  They had goats, horses, ponies, rabbits, chickens, llamas and a bunch of other animals.  It was a lot of fun.

One of Kallen's favorite things is grass...he also loves pointing out grass and saying "grass" whenever he spots it...which is very often.

Kallen even got brave enough to feed this goat.  We bought lots of bags of carrots to feed the animals, which only lasted for about 5 min.  The kids just had so much fun feeding all the animals.  Once the carrots were out, the animals resorted to nibbling on little fingers.  Kallen didn't mind though.

Kallen also loves flowers.  He thinks they are the coolest things and will point all of them out to us as well.  In fact, while I was creating this post, he was sitting by me and as soon as I got to this picture he yelled, "yellow" and "flower".  He is starting to get all of his colors down now, so he loves to point out colors to us.

Kallen might like flowers and grass, however, is absolute favorite thing are swings!  He could stay in them for hours if we let him.  In fact, whenever we go to a park, he won't want to play on anything else except the swings.  So he was in Heaven at the petting farm when he spotted some swings.  He even got to swing next to his smallest cousin Dalton.

I couldn't help but put this picture in.  I just thought it was super cute of our little guy.

Mariners Game...Way Back in April

I know, it's amazing to see a new post.  Pinch yourself...go ahead.  It's real. Can you believe it? Let's see, when did I post last?...April 15th.  Huh...that is a pretty long time.  1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... wow, over 6 months ago.  Oops.  That is a long time.  I mean, 6 months is pretty much a quarter of Kallen's life.  Sorry guys.  I guess all the pestering I've been getting from family and friends is well deserved.  For instance, my brother-in-law, Aaron, said that he officially "terminated" me from the blogging world.  Now I can't have that, so here are some posts for all of you out there who care.

These are from a Mariners game way back in April!  Here he is with Daddy, waiting for the game to begin.  Isn't he cute in his Mariner's jersey?

This was only the second time we took Kallen with us to a game.  The first time, the little squirt was only 7 months old, so taking him wasn't a big deal at all.  In fact, he fell asleep while at the game...even with all the shouting, music, and noise.  This time was a little different.  He still was a good kid, but he definitely did not want to sit still or stay in his seat.  Instead, he wanted to explore and walk everywhere.

In order for him to stay in his seat we had to resort to feeding him lots and lots of snacks, and we had to entertain him with every toy I had in our diaper bag.  Even then, he only lasted until about the 6th inning.  Hey, that isn't so bad for a 1 1/2 year old.  

Stay tuned for more posts.  I have 6 months of pictures to post.  So I'll take it one day at a time.

Taking a Walk to See the Ducks

Kallen loves to get outside and walk all around. In fact, exploring is one of his favorite things to do, which we just don't do enough of. So when Uncle Aaron and Aunt April wanted to visit the duck pond near Grandma and Grandpa's house, everyone was up for it... especially Kallen.

Kallen liked walking on the trail by himself, but eventually he got a lift from Grandpa.


Daddy couldn't help but start to chase the little guy while he was on Grandpa's shoulders. Being chased by Daddy is one of Kallen's favorite games.

Hurray we made it to the ducks! When we first got there, I had to hold onto Kallen tight because he wanted to tromp right into the water to get those ducks. He wasn't happy that I wouldn't let him. I tried to explain to him that the ducks were in water and he couldn't go in there...especially with all of his clothes on. He didn't like my explanation and still wanted in the water. All he knew was that those ducks were inches away and they needed to be caught.


Yeah for Ducks. On the walk back, Kallen often stopped and clapped for himself. And of course, we all would stop and clap for him as well. I love Kallen's face every time he starts clapping. He always looks like he is so proud of himself.

What's better than Easter Eggs...Shopping Carts!

Okay, okay. I know that Easter was over 3 weeks ago, but hey, better late than never right?

For the week of Easter, we visited Kallen's Grandpa and Grandma Hill in Eugene Oregon. The Easter Bunny dropped off his basket full of eggs a day early this year, so Kallen and his cousin Daniel got to enjoy their easter candy a little earlier than usual. He was even nice enough to hide Kallen's eggs a little easier for the little guy to find since he is so young. They were all just laying on the grass in plain site. We thought that as soon as he saw the eggs on the grass that he'd get excited to pick them up, but no luck. He looked, no I should say glanced at them for one second, and then ignored them completely.


He wanted to walk around the yard rather than searching for eggs. What's the deal? Is this kid not the spawn of me? I mean, what kind of kid of mine enjoys exploring the great outdoors rather than eating chocolate? I don't know....hmmm. If I hadn't actually given birth to the little guy I would wonder.

While searching Grandpa's yard, he discovered many things. First, he met Salem, their mild mannered puppy dog. He loved petting him with Grandpa and Uncle Aaron.


He also discovered a basketball, which he tried to pick up and carry everywhere. Maybe he thought it was a really big egg.


The eggs the Easter Bunny left might not have been a hit, but the other gift he left definitely was. A Shopping Cart! Kallen loved it. The Easter Bunny hit a home run with this gift. Kallen would drive the cart all around the yard and then when we forced him to come in, he continued to drive it all around the house. Kallen is funny with his shopping cart though. He doesn't like anything in it. If you put anything in the cart he will take it out immediately. Maybe we'll need to work with him on that. After all, a shopping cart is not that useful unless things are in it.