Hazel Loves the Sun!

Hazel has had a very busy weekend. She spent her afternoon lounging in the park near home after taking a walk in the heat to get ice cream.

She enjoyed picking flowers, although Mom and Dad wouldn't let her eat them, which is what she really wanted to do.  

Hazel loves crawling around in the grass and looking at each blade of grass individually before tearing it out of the ground and trying to put it in her mouth.

Earlier in the day, Hazel ventured out to Hagg Lake in the Coast Range to watch Mommy swim 2,000 meters with a bunch of other crazy people.  Mommy's silly.  Hazel and Daddy practiced playing with the stroller.  
Hazel is starting to pull herself up onto objects, and she really enjoyed using her stroller's wheels as a platform to balance herself.

In the above photo, Hazel tests spoke tension on the stroller as Mommy puts on her wet-suit for the swim.  Hazel wore about 6 layers of SPF 50 sun-screen today and spent most of the time in the shade. She also tried and rejected a new pair of sunglasses given to us by our neighbor.  

Sunny days

Portland is currently experiencing a strange weather phenomenon called SUN and HEAT.  It has been spectacular around these parts and Hazel and her entourage are determined to make the best of it until the rains return once again.  To that end, the entourage went to Rainier, OR on Saturday to watch Mom race in the Oregon road race championships.  Let's just say that Mom is NOT an Oregon state champ, but Hazel sure had a good time.

Wow, look at those calves!

This is serious stuff, Mom.  Get it together.

That's not my mom!  Uh...maybe we should go look for her?

After flirting with all of the stinky and sweaty bike racers, Hazel wanted to hang out with someone her own age, so she headed over to Silas' house for happy hour.

Hazel is not very good at sharing her snacks with her friends.

Hazel explains the intricacies of sneaking nuts past your parents and in to your mouth before the age of 1.

Camo'ed up

Have you seen Hazel?  Yeah, I can't see her either.

The Barker Family Band

Hazel loves music.  Over the Memorial Day weekend, she spent a lot of time listening to Uncle Clay play the guitar.   Her dad also happened to pick up the guitar once or twice and Hazel joined in by playing the pots and pans (when she wasn't chewing on her instrument).

Road racing, part deux

What can we say?  The girl just LOVES to watch Mommy race, especially two days in a row.

Road racing

Today was the Silverton Road Race and even though Mom said she wasn't going to do it, she raced it anyway.  Dad didn't race because he's been sick for a week AND he curses Silverton's hills.  Hazel didn't race either.  She heckled Mom for being such a slow bike racer.

Hurry up, Mom!  Being at the back of the pack isn't going to help you at all!

Do you think Mom will be coming by anytime soon??

Hazel and Mom evaluate Mom's race performance.  Next time, Hazel says, make sure to stay with the pack for the first mile at least.

The park

Mom was supposed to take Hazel swimming today, but the weather was just SO sunny and SO warm, they went to the park instead (obviously, the pool is indoors).  We are lucky to live in a town that is nationally known for its amazing variety of parks and even more lucky that there are several parks really close to our house.

One of our favorites is the St. John's Park, mainly because there are ALWAYS kids there.  And, oh yeah, when summer hits, they have a sprinkler/wading pool.

Hazel finally decided she likes the swings.  She spent 15 minutes swinging and did NOT want to get off.

Afterwards, Hazel sat on the grass and watched the big kids play on the playground, whilst chewing on Mom's keys.

Hazel had fun holding on to the bars and standing, and trying a different variety of metal.

The big kids are REALLY fun to watch.

Girl's got rhythm

No one would ever accuse Mom and Dad of being able to dance to a beat.  Let's hope Hazel inherited her Uncle Clay and Aunt Ailey's musical abilities.

A weekend in the life of Hazel

What did Mom want to do for Mother's Day weekend?  She wanted to go somewhere sunny AND warm, go camping and ride her bike.

Hazel was understandably excited when Mom and Dad told her about the SUN and WARM WEATHER prospects:

She spent her Saturday riding in her trailer through the Mosier Tunnels, above the Columbia River.  Mom's bike computer said EIGHTY DEGREES.

During a mid-ride break, it was time to get out of the trailer and stretch her legs:

Afterwards, Hazel helped her parents choose a rad campsite with a view of the Columbia River Gorge and lots of sun.  Mommy took a nap while Hazel played with Daddy:

This was their campsite.  Best view ever.

Hazel helped Mom cook dinner that evening:

And then Mom read Hazel her bedtime story (just like at home):

Hazel went to bed and Mom and Dad sat around the campfire and enjoyed adult beverages:

In the morning, Hazel was little upset by the cool temperatures:

But she perked up when it warmed up.  She took it upon herself to remind Mom to wear sunscreen and sunglasses on her bike ride:

And then Daddy and Hazel spent the next couple hours on their bikes and playing around while Mom went on her ride.  Everyone had ice cream and went to the beach.

Whew!  Time for Monday!

The new helmet

After a fair amount of shopping around, Mom FINALLY found a helmet that fits Hazel...sort of.

Putting the helmet on can be fairly traumatizing.

Trying to decide if her new helmet (which features flying pigs) will match her wardrobe.  

As long as Daddy makes Hazel laugh, the helmet is PROBABLY okay.

Mom and Dad decided to have a little fun and put the helmet to good use.  Please do not call DSHS.

CRRRRAAAAASH!

One of Hazel's new favorite activities is crashing towers of blocks. This is fun for Mom and Dad because they get to see how many blocks they can stack, followed by plastic cups, followed by whatever toy is laying around. During the stacking process, Hazel gets very excited and flaps her arms like an overly caffienated bird. Once the time comes to crash the tower, she pushes it over and then looks at Mom and Dad curiously, like "That's ALL?!?"

So we do it again. And again and again and again. The fun is never-ending around here.

Nine month checkup

Dad took Hazel to her nine-month checkup this morning, since she is nine months old TODAY. By the picture, you can tell that she hated it. Our green bean continues her long and skinny trend:

16 lbs. 10 oz.
27 3/4 inches long
And a still-too-small-for-a-bike-helmet head: 43 cm! Grow, head, grow!

Swings, take three

Remember this?

Mom has taken Hazel to the park a time or two before with similar results.

Today, after Grandma and Grandpa left, Mom and Dad decided to go to the park and try again. This time, Hazel had a dog to look at and big kids to watch, which resulted in a full FIVE minutes of swinging without complaint.

Until it DID result in complaint. And by that time, Hazel was done and ready to go home.  It can be very trying to be a baby.

Also, notice Hazel's seriously rad new leg warmers we picked up at Lily Toad on our way to coffee at Ladybug today.

Going cycling

Obviously, the helmet doesn't quite fit yet.  Neither do the baby helmets, sadly enough.  Therefore, Daddy is still towing the car seat INSIDE the bike trailer.  Hazel doesn't seem to notice.  She and Daddy had a very prolific conversation for the whole ride.  It went something like this:

Hazel: Baaaaaaaaaa....BA

Dad: Ba ba ba?

Hazel: Waaa wa wa

Dad: WA WA!

Hazel: Da? Da da da.  DA!

Dad: DA DA DA DA DA!