He'll Be Coming Around the Mountain...

We decided while staying near Mt Hood it would be a good opportunity to take Coby skiing for the first time. It is best to learn when you are young though we weren't sure how balanced he would be. He had seen people skiing at Timberline earlier in the week and seemed interested. He was so interested that at the house he wanted to try skiing with remote controls taped to his feet!

We rented skis for him in Welches, OR, near where we were staying. It was only $10 for boots and skis for him and $2.50 for a helmet, so seemed like it was worth trying and see what he would do.
We drove to Mt Hood Meadows which had a really great beginner area with two magic carpets! One was a small magic carpet really geared to small kids and the other one was a long magic carpet, even encapsulated in a tunnel. He called both of them "ski trains" and wanted to keep riding them. He stayed on his skis for 2 hours practicing. By the time we were leaving, Jeff was able to let go of him for short periods for him to balance and glide along on his own. He really liked it, never complained, and kept saying "again?" to go back up to the top and come back down. Looking forward to taking him again sometime, maybe to Tahoe next season!

Ski Bowl - Mt Hood

Today we took Coby to Ski Bowl at Mt Hood to see if he would like tubing. There wasn't much snow and the existing snow was man made but he did seem to like it. He went down in the tube once. He was more interested in riding the moving walk magic carpet up which he called a train. They also had a small indoor play structure which he tried. Jeff was able to tow him in his own sled at the bottom of the hill too.

Coby's Second Birthday

We had a small train-themed birthday party with Coby with a few friends and family.

A boy and his baa sheep

Today we decided to try visiting a park we had not been to before, called Ardenwood Farm in Fremont. It was a nice day and the park has both farm animals and a train so there was a good chance Coby would like it. And he did!
The train is unique because a horse pulls a train car on a track. We went on it twice.
We also saw turkeys, chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep. We spent quite awhile with a sheep that Coby befriended. He wanted to feed the "baa sheep". We found some nuts on the ground that he could drop for the sheep. He kept saying "baa sheep. hungry? nuts. down there. bottom. coby" I think this can be interpreted as "Mr. Sheep, are you hungry? Look down there at the bottom. There are nuts. Coby put them there." He was very determined to get the 'baa sheep' to eat the nuts and kept finding more and giving him more.
The park also has an old Victorian house that has a special tour for kids under 6 on Sundays. We did that tour for about 10 minutes before Coby decided he was done.
They also had a little cooking demonstration in an old wood stove, so we could try pumpkin pie, corn bread, pancakes, and popcorn. 
It was a nice park and we will be back there again!

Fun in the sun: Puerto Vallarta!

Had a great time last week in Puerto Vallarta! It was Coby's first international trip. Besides his antsy-ness on the flights, he did great! He loved the beach and walking along the ocean. He loved swimming in the big infinity pool. It was an off-season so we pretty much had everything to ourselves. Lots of words became common for him to say this trip: "turtles", "ocean", "taxi", "beach", "swimming pool", "kick kick" (in the pool). He also loved playing hide-and-seek and with his trains in the hotel room.

Lions, Tigers, and bears - oh my!

Last weekend we took Coby on his first trip to the SF Zoo. His favorite animal was definitely the train that runs through the zoo. He kept wanting to wait by the tracks to watch the train. When it came by he waved and smiled each time. When he rode the train with Jeff, he didn't want to get off afterwards. He liked zebras but most of the animals only got a few seconds of his attention.

This weekend when we went the highlight was the grizzly bear feeding. They put peanut butter on the window so the bears come right up to you in their hind legs to lick it off the window! Coby was still fascinated by the train.

Looking forward to going again!

Playtime outside

Coby loves to play outside and today we didn't have any plans so just spent a lot of time in the backyard. We took a blanket outside for him to eat lunch on. And took some tennis balls and soccer ball to kick and play with. He also loves climbing in his slide and pulling lemons off the tree. Here are some pictures we took while playing outside!