The life and times of Baby Bunny

Audrey has a "lovey" that she calls Baby Bunny. This used to be called "bedtime bunny" but she also used to be called a "he" so we are just trying to keep up! Bunny used to be relegated to the bed only because we, as terrified parents of a child who cannot live without something, have scoured every corner of the earth to find another one "just in case" but have come up empty handed. Lately, because Bunny has become the best friend in the whole world to Audrey, we have loosened the grip a little on bunny's roaming options. This has caused a little more wear and tear and the ocasional mild panic when he, I mean she, cannot be found at night when it is bedtime.

The real purpose of Bunny, it seems, it to provide Audrey something to gnaw on. I don't me chew, or nibble, I mean GNAW. She chews Bunny's ears like an old piece of tobacco and after a few hours of that they smell just about as good, no matter how many baths we give Bunny and the teeth. Recently Bunny had a little accident and you should have seen the look on Audrey's face when it happened.


This, of course, happened just a few minutes before we were heading out the door to dinner, but Audrey insisted that Bunny be "whole again" before we left and was in such a state that I decided it best just to crack out the sewing kit and be done with it as fast as possible lest we hear nothing but the howls of an injured Bunny channeled through Audrey all the way to and through dinner. I am happy to report that except for managing under the stressful supervision of a 2 year old to put his ear on backwards, Bunny is as good as new. I even took a few stitches to reinforce the other ear so the the same thing did not happen the following week.


We hope Baby Bunny lives forever, or at least until she's outgrown her dependency!

Cowgirls and carnies

It's time to get back on the horse, so to speak, and update the blog to share all the great times we've had over the last few months. I'm going to keep the blog dates true to the times they actually happened - so you might need to check around a bit to see what you might have missed!

Well, the Pendleton Round-Up has come and gone for another year. When we first arrived in Pendleton the first order of business was to take in the carnival and the main street events. Audrey has new found passion for the carnival ever since we took her to a local amusement park for my company picnic.

Auntie Shelle and Cousin JayCe came to the carnival as well and JayCe was kind enough to go on a few "smaller" rides with Audrey. They both had a blast. We also wandered down main street to watch some of the music that was catching Audrey's ear. Here's a little clip of Audrey's reaction.




After all that dancing we needed to take a break for Audrey's first corn dog! And then some lemonade, and some thai noodles, and finally a big giant carnie-sized elephant ear. Wow - are we breaking this kid in or what! It was a perfect night for all of it and we had a great time. It was great to be able to spend it with family.















We took Audrey to the Rodeo for the first time this year. Just for a little while since it just happens to run right across nap time. Grammy babysat through what was supposed to be the nap that day but Audrey was so excited to be with her and go to the rodeo that there was no way she was going to sleep. Grammy got her boots on her and shipped miss cranky-jeans down to mom and dad. When we were walking back to the grandstand Audrey must have repeated "I wanna see cowboys" about a hundred times from the car to our seats. Luckily we sit about 3 rows up from the bucking shoots (they pass these kinds of seats down in wills and such...) so there were plenty of cowboys to see. Audrey loved the action and tolerated the sitting part and didn't even flinch during the bull riding - which took place literally right in front of us about 10-15 feet. (There's just no explaining the rodeo scene if you've never been.) We mostly loved seeing all the native indians in there ceremonial dress. We were too in awe to remember to take pictures of that but we did manage to catch the "half time act" in full glory! We also took in the Navajo fry bread action and she went even crazier for that than she did the elephant ears, especially with the homemade huckleberry jam.

All in all the first rodeo was a smashing success. I grew up in Pendleton so I actually enjoy parts of the rodeo and use the whole experience as a reunion of sorts with friends. There used to be a whole lot more whisky involved but now I think I'd rather go to carnivals. I think Audrey will be forever just trying to get another bite of fry bread. If it's not that it will be more sneaking into my closet to find these...

Mom the Builder

Well, I've gone and done it. I broke out the power tools. It all started when I found a good deal on a slide for Audrey on Craigslist. Of course, you can't bring something like that to the attention of a 2 year old without getting off your duff to do something about it.



A few years ago Bill built a platform as a replacement for one that was crumbling out of one of our apple trees. We just had the nieces and nephews back then but we wanted a place for them to play. It had potential written all over it to become the beautiful beginnings of a toddler friendly slide platform.

This was a project that seemed so simple at the time. I had a vision of what I wanted for the ladder and then end result took more than triple the time than the whole rest of the project combined! I ran into a co-worker who has a daughter not much older than mine. When we were discussing the project and I was recounting my difficutly with the stairs he immediately rattled off the simple math equation that would have given me faster results. I thought I was gonna kick him. *sigh* It's the latest notch in my project learning curve for sure.

Audrey has given my work the seal of approval on a weekly basis ever since. "Oh, Mamma, it's so beautiful. You did a good job!" Very satisfying.

The Floydian Slips Cuthbert Amphitheater August 08

On August 18, 2008 my favorite Pink Floyd tribute band, The Floydian Slips, played at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, OR. One of the reasons it is my favorite tribute band is because I sing in it and have the ultimate rock singer's dream jobs of singing "Great Gig in the Sky.!"

This was THE weekend in Oregon's for our 3 day heat wave. The day of the show the temps were above 100 and the stage was facing due West. There was a shade cloth put up to help protect the gear - and the people during sound check, but it was no match for that day. Our sound check ended abruptly as Asher's whole mixing rig just said "NO MORE" and started making sounds that it definitely should not have been making. Painful, grating, sample crushing barks that made Asher lose all color. When we broke for dinner and pre-show primp all Asher's sensitive stuff had been cloaked in white towels and turned off. We had no real 100% guarantee that any of it was going to work at showtime. Luckily everything worked out for the best and the sun had set within 20 minutes of our start time so the evening started to take a balmy curve fairly quickly.

Audrey and Bill came to the show and stayed at least until the end of the second set - which is when I get to sing "Great Gig." It works out perfectly for me that she gets to see at least that much. Dad was diligent and Audrey was willing regarding earplugs. Such a trooper that one.



What I had most fun with this show were my video clips from the stage. I got a few candid shots as well but my camera was having kind of a bad night (you would too now and then if you'd been dropped like 100 times) so the focus feature was troubled. You still get the feel for it anyway.




This is almost everyone. (but me and Brendan)








This is Jimmie. He takes very good care of us.








This is Guido. He also takes very good care of us.




This first video clip is the opening song of the night. I get a nice shot of the freeloaders who camp out on the bank of the stream behind official boundaries of the park to get a free earful of Floyd. This area has been made in to a literal bog by the crew in efforts to thwart these would-be ticket busters. They tough it out through the quicksand of mud just for us. Not a bad testimonial. (I think the real truth is that they stick it out for every band that comes to this great venue!)



This second clip one is the last solo of the night where my camera focus was cracking up but it's too good to can because of htat. Al truly pulled out all the stops and for me, it's all about the lip gloss!




Audrey had the time of her life. This is one of her most memorable road trips for sure. Hotel pool, her own rolling suitcase, fancy brunch, the hotel pool... the hotel pool. There are plenty of kids within the band now so they had fun together. It was a good shot in the rockstar arm for the rest of us, so we had fun together as well.

A good time was had by all.

Audrey's Portfolio

I think I’m going to start with this photo when making efforts to make Audrey the next Super Model. I should start sewing her sashes now! Just kidding...

The concept of entering Audrey in a beauty contest equates to my days of “Battle of the Bands.” A very wise soul once told me to think better of myself than to enter contests like those which made you a “loser” just by your participation. I have offered the same advice on numerous jaded occasions.

We had the whole Peters clan over yesterday for a combined birthday celebration. 4 birthdays - 2 of which were the big "Four - OH!" The best part about it for me was watching the kids run and play on our lawn and in the new play structure that I made out of a transformed platform "fort." Audrey's cousin, Analee, is a mere 10 months older and the two of them laughed and squealed with joy for several straight hours. What a treat! It was definitely a real "I scream for ice cream" moment as it, of course, became louder AFTER the desert course.


We also invited our new local friends Dave & Lori Bell and their 15 month old, Jacob. I feel like we have hit the "friends jackpot" by meeting them. If I hadn't met them I might have just become a creepy stalker. When Lori was taking her "post-birth" walks with Jacob (come on, if you've had a baby, you took these walks) and I practically accosted her to say hello. Groovy shades, great Bobby Brady Baby Doll T, cool stroller. I couldn't get to the street fast enough to say hello. You know you live in the country when...

Anyway - we had a blast with the fam. Days like that make all the hard work on the "grounds" worth-while.