Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween! Sierra has decided that this is a great day. You dress up like a princess, have a party, go around and see people who give you candy, apples, and books. She was thrilled and extremely ramped up. The picture of the three of us with Minnie Mouse was from the trip to CA last week. I will post that later. The Snow White pictures are from today.

I made the last minute decision to go Trick or Treat at the Governor's Mansion. The theme this year was "Dora the Explorer". Even the Governor's dog, Trooper, was dressed up as Swiper. Sierra was very excited to see Swiper. There was shrieking when she 1st saw him. He was not as excited.

Hi Daddy

These pictures were taken by request. As in Sierra was playing and informed me that I should take her picture, because Daddy wants to see her playing. As soon as I was ready to take the picture, she would smile, wave, and say "Hi Daddy". Then she needed to assist with review and informed me which pictures Daddy would like. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. At least that's the reason I'm giving for my big sappy tears.

The helmet is a new bike helmet to take into school. It came with elbow and knee pads. She had to try them out. Notice the socks. Yes, those are the little socks that are 0-6 months. One of the games that she was playing was to pull out socks. She put them on herself.

What is Chris Doing?

I just discovered that the Public Affairs Office has set up a blog regarding the training operation that Chris is on, Cooperative Spirit 2008. It can be found at http://cooperativespirit08.blogspot.com/. It provides a brief description of what they are doing, who is involved, and pictures of various training components. There are even a few YouTube videos at the very bottom.

Curly Pony

When I pulled my hair up for the evening, Sierra asked that I pull her hair up into a pony. This was the first time in a while that she has asked for a pony. I hadn't realized how much her hair has grown in the last couple of weeks. How cute are the curls? At least there is proof that there is some of me in there...some place.

Does it Get Any Sweeter?

The Bunny Never Stood a Chance

Smiling for Daddy

I was asked (directed) to take a picture to send to Daddy in Germany.

Mickey Will Make it Better

We all know that Sierra loves Mickey Mouse. She enjoys snuggling in "the big bed" watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. In the last week, she has started pulling "her Mickey Mouse" into the snuggle time.

If you notice the said little face...this was about four days after Daddy left for Germany. Mommy couldn't console her. If Mommy wanted to help, Mommy could go to Germany, so that Daddy could come home.

Puyallup Fair - Elephant Ears

In honor of Tita Tobi, while we enjoying a wonderful day at The Fair, we made sure that we had an elephant ear. You know how sometimes when you haven't had something in a long time, it is not as wonderful as you remember it? That was not the case in this situation. Apparently, the science behind making elephant ears is a state secret. The woman making them got very bothered when I pulled out the camera to take a picture to send Tobi.

Tobi - Sorry that you weren't there to share it with us. Maybe next year.

Camping

This weekend the Joneses went camping, with Chris and Dara Tremblay to celebrate his birthday. . Funny thing is, this was not just our first time camping with Sierra, but Chris and my first time camping with each other.

We had a great time. We headed up to Lake Cushman, just outside of Hoodsport. For Washington, it was great camping weather. It wasn't too cold and it did not rain. By not too cold, I mean nothing that jeans and sweatshirts couldn't take care of.

Making Music

Chris bought a guitar a few months ago. This weekend he hooked it up and started playing around. Sierra thought that it was great that Daddy was making "music". She went to her room and grabbed one of her instruments and then hung out with Daddy making "music". As you could see, she was also in her super special party dress (a tutu from a friend's birthday party). Needless to say, she was a VERY happy girl.

A Night at the Drive-In

A couple of VW clubs got together at the drive-in to see Wall-E. It was a great evening. There were more than 60 VWs there. The movie was fun. Sierra loved it. All the "buses and buggies" and the "b-bot" movie. She enjoyed herself so much that she stayed awake for the entire movie. The next time that we go, we will be taking the camper bus, so that we can watch the movie "in bed", so that Si might fall asleep.

Seattle Summer

Many of you seem to think that it rains in Seattle all the time. I will give you that it does for most of the winter; however, we have some of the most beautiful summer days. This last weekend was gorgeous. We went out with some friends from college to play on Puget Sound and Commencement Bay for a few hours. It was great to hang out and relax with friends and enjoy our beautiful areas.

Sierra was thrilled to be out on the water. She kept informing us that she wanted to go swimming. Chris finally humored her, by dipping her in the water. (Literally holding onto the back of her life jacket and lowering her into the water.) Keep in mind, that the Sound never really warms up. The look on her face when she hit the water was priceless. She came out of the water saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!! Water chilly, chilly, chilly!" However, 30 minutes later, she was asking to go back it.

Cooking

I was making scones on Saturday. As soon as Sierra heard the Kitchen Aid, she came running over to "help". She was very excited to be cooking. When we started forming our dough, Sierra thought that we were playing "Patty Cake". She started singing, patting the dough, and trying to "Mark it with a 'B'." It was great.

The Buses

As promised, here are pictures of the buses. Our 1st bus was the blue one - 1967, 21-window, rag-top. (Also, referred too as "Daddy's bus".) Our "new" bus is the tanish bus - 1966, camper (or "Sierra's 'lello' bus").

The camper has been a Jones for 2 weeks and has already received a lot of TLC. He's cleaning up well. We will get pictures up showing his transformation.

We're not sure when the inaugural camping trip will be. We're still waiting for summer to arrive before we make any plans. (It may have arrived this weekend, but the jury is still out.) Chris and Papa Joe are discussing going to explore Nez Perce Trail Road/Magruder Road Corridor

(http://www.northcentralidaho.info/cgi/TPL03.php?ID=122_503_999). However, the 1st family trip may be the 1st week in August to a local lake. Who knows, maybe we'll just get spontaneous one weekend and take off.

Happy Father's Day

Hope that all of the Dad's had a great Father's Day. It was nice that Chris was home and able to be spoiled. The day was full of surprises from Sierra. She started with camping and grilling stuff and informing him that he wasn't to work on his bus, but could work on hers. As stated earlier, in Sierra's mind, The blue, 21-window bus is Chris's and the camper is hers. Chris put the kids cot up and let her try it out a few days ago (This is a canvas cot that is an original piece that fits about the front seats.), she wasn't too excited about this. However, she like to sit and watch Daddy work on her bus.

My parents, Nana and Papa, were able to come down for dinner. The best type of dinner guests, they brought everything for dinner and helped cook. So we were able to spend part of the day with both Daddy and Papa. Sierra hasn't seen Papa in a while, so she seemed very happy that they were able to join us.

Why "Jones Family Buses"?

So those of you who we have not been in touch with lately are probably wondering why the blog is "Jones Family Buses". We have a new family hobby - Volkswagen Buses. Chris bought our 1st bus in February 2006 - a 1967 blue, 21-window, rag top, split-window bus. This has been great fun - better than new. It has new all-disk brakes, been lowered, safari windows.

In April, Chris drove it to a VW show in CA. This was part of our trip to LA. The bus is great. Sierra LOVES the bus. Honestly, how many 2 year olds know the difference between VW buses and bugs. Yes, she truly does.

This bus has brought so much fun and enjoyment, that we bought another - a 1966 camper, complete with the pop-up top. It is in pretty good condition. We are already planning a few family camping trips - when the weather improves, so August. (The last 3 weeks we have been having lovely October-type weather.)

Actually, according to Sierra, I am not part of this. She likes to point out "Daddy's Blue bus" and "Sierra's lellow bus". When I ask whick bus is mine, she informs me "No no, Mommy bus. Mommy car." Who knows, maybe someday I will be cool enough to have my own bus.

I will post a few pictures of the buses this weekend.

The Family Does Malibu

While we were in LA (April), they had a nice little heat wave. 75 one day, 106 the next. Being from Washington, we just about melted. Tobi was nice enough to take us to the beach in Malibu. Even being cooler at the beach, it was still in the 90s. At first, Sierra wasn't sure what she thought about the water, being as it was freezing. However, she warmed up quickly and when it was over was significantly less than pleased to be leaving.

Sierra's First Trip to Disneyland

In April, we visited Tobi and Christian at their new home in LA. We spent a day at Disneyland visiting Sierra's favorite character, Mickey Mouse. It was wonderful and fun watching Sierra drink it all in and experience everything. To top it all off, the weather was perfect - 75 and sunny. Definitely a far cry from the "wonderful" weather that we have been having in Seattle. It was great that Tobi and Christian were able to spend the day with us.