There and Back Again

I've got a backlog of photos stretching from mid-June to the present, a select few of which I post here. These begin at our old house, around the time when Uncle Tim and Aunt Caitlin visited (but left no photographic evidence of themselves).

Graciously handing down his old toys

More material evidence of his brother's love (and Caitlin's hand!)

Fill-in-the-blank father's card: "If my dad could go anywhere, he'd go to: London."

"Ladybugs GOOooo!!": another cherished weekend with the Lascus

Stroller cupholders: making Brits jealous all over Oxford

One out of two Hansens approves this falafel

"Closer...closer...too close."

Bedtime selfie

Hometown pride

Our two-week trip to the US was a whirlwind time of connection with family and friends (although also a bittersweet reminder of how many friends and family we didn't get to see on this trip). We started off in Corvallis with Oma and Opa, and Ahbee and Pakka drove up to visit us too. Then we took just Col to our friends Josh and April's wedding about an hour away, where I was honored to officiate and Lars and I celebrated our twelfth anniversary on their zeroeth. After we picked Tor up from Corvallis, we drove up the Oregon Coast to camp on the beach as a family. Then we ended up in Portland for Independence Day festivities with Dan, Julia, and their daughter Molly, before flying out veeery early the morning of July 5th and arriving home the 6th. And of course, we stumbled back to work on the 7th. Whew!

Lean green squirting machine

First roller coaster ride!

Getting schooled by Pakka

Super Soakers: The Musical

That post-play glow

Lucking out with the Oregon Coast weather

One of the few times he slept through the night

We all slept well, apparently

Beach picnic with April and Josh

'Nuff said

Col's first vertical steps

Happy Fourth!!

Our little invertebrate

Once back at home, we dove into our routine. One key purchase for our commute: a Tor seat for the back of my bike. Now either Lars or me can tow around both kids. It's a game changer, practically eliminating the need for the bus in our weekend forays, unless they're out of town. From the new house, we can be in the city center in 8 minutes flat.

The workday commute

Sleeping in . . . until 7 a.m.!

"Hey guys, whatchoo watching?"

Muppetor

Tor is loving walking around the park behind our house. There's a path ringing it with exercise equipment every 500 meters or so (see how I'm converting?). We like to walk around it in the evenings, and Tor's getting good at jumping up and swinging on monkey bars.

Merry men

King of the Mountain

Col is getting increasingly confident at pulling up on things. He's also started to give high fives, which is about the most adorable thing ever, and to clap (usually for himself, sometimes to music). He is at that stage where if there's something on the floor, he finds it.

The diaper is essential. The socks are more for style.

About to erupt into the Nativity scene

That intensity!

Lars got out the instruments that have been in cases for years, including the banjo, which Tor immediately adopted. They sing "the blues" together and Tor makes up songs. A recent one had to do with a Dali painting that we have a poster of, "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bumblebee around a Pomegranate a Second before Awakening." He summed it up pretty well: "There's an elephant with reaaaally long legs! And a bee flying around a pomegranate! And the fish and tigers are jumping out of it!" 

Pre-dinner jam session

Thinking to escape the heat in the movie theater, we took the kids to see The Lego Movie. Funny thing about English theaters: not air conditioned.

"Moooom, I'm a Master Builder!"

And we finally tried punting, a traditional Oxford pastime that involves pushing a little rectangular boat around with a long, heavy pole. Rhonda and Tamer came along and Tamer bravely took the first shift.

Punting . . . it's Oxford, after all

Could they look any less comfortable?