So Happy Together...

Why bother doing a blog post if I can't get a song stuck in your head, right? But then I reward you with a video, fresh from this morning. This airplane was Finn's present for his first birthday. Graham has been using it for a walker/push toy lately, and that has renewed Finn's interest in it. Here they are sharing nicely. Mostly.

Walking together from Katie on Vimeo.
And in case that weren't enough, now I will explode your head with more brothers-together cuteness.

Yes sir, good times around the Fortney house lately. Graham turns ONE on MONDAY! He'll be walking soon, he's moving closer to an all people-food diet, and he understands a TON of what we say to him. Finn, who has always been fond of songs but not so much singing, now sings all the time - random lines from everything from "Wheels on the Bus" to "Eight Days a Week" to "Lisztomania." But he would like someone to explain to the Beatles that babies cannot, in fact, drive your car.
I'm doing great. My job is simply wonderful. If you are a library geek I would be happy to explain to you all the reasons why. On top of that I get to walk to my office through a redwood forest and drive home with a vista of Monterey Bay. You may know I have a yard 5 houses from a duck pond, that it backs onto a creek and is popular with local deer, skunks, and the like, but did you know that my house is within a few miles of:

• beaches (with sea lions. And surfers.)
  
• mountains
  
• book and record stores (new and used)
  
• a ROLLER COASTER
  
• a butterfly migration hot spot
  
• an annual aquatic parade
  
• a steam train
  
• at least 3 wine bars and innumerable wineries
  
• 2 or 3 breweries
  
• restaurants from Afghan and Brazilian to ... Thai and vegan? What's a cuisine that starts with Z?
  
• TWO weekly farmers markets
• gourmet chocolates
  
• three completely unrelated independent local grocery stores/small chains
  
• so many great bakeries I sometimes think my head will explode

There's more, I'm sure, but that gives you a picture. You'd never guess that I like food, huh? Life is good. Come visit.

The Last Days in Los Gatos

Blogging, right, we have this blog that we've been great at keeping up and posting to, for nearly 3 years! It is a record of our life and, most importantly, our sons' early years. Well, when you move into a new house, ya really got a lot of STUFF to do, and that takes up a lot of time, let me tell ya. Even when the pace of unpacking is painfully slow, life fills up with non-blogging activities.

On the plus side, thanks to our Droid Incredibles, I've been snapping a lot more pictures of the boys. It's just very convenient, and the quality is pretty good. I decided that I'd blog about our last couple of weeks in Los Gatos. I miss being so close to downtown Los Gatos, and being so walkably close to great stuff. But really, our new place is better.

But onto the pictures! Here is cute little Graham visiting Blossom Hill Park in Los Gatos. Since he can crawl, he had a great time in the tube. This was our 2nd-to-last Daddy Friday, as well. I can't work 4 days a week forever, sadly.

The four of us visited the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose, which is now 30 minutes farther away from our house. We hadn't been in awhile, but I wanted to make sure that we did, because there is a room there especially for crawling babies. Graham liked the little mirror box room. Finn liked...many things.

The night after the movers (yes the money spent was SO worth it) packed up all our things, we were left with no wine opener, only my little tool box. Thankfully Katie and I devised a way in. (Not pictured: pliers) Where there's a will, there's a way.

Finn's last bike-ride on our driveway! Thankfully he didn't hit upon the idea of trying to go up and down the movers' ramp.

We moved!

I was going to write something sappy about it, but there's no time. My house is full of boxy chaos, like this, but... more so. At least we finally have internet.

On the bright side, we have this yard ("MY yard," says Finn), and now there's a play structure in it (Thanks, Kim (and John and Sammy)!!).

In the category of bittersweet, today is the boys' last day at the daycare/preschool where Finn's been going for two and a half years. Keep your fingers crossed I don't bawl my eyes out when I pick them up today. Here they are there this morning.

We are a mobile family.

But not a family from Mobile. In case you were thinking that.
We are back from our trip to Minnesota and Iowa! It was super fun, especially because we didn't over-schedule ourselves the way we usually do and mostly just hung out with family. A few highlights:
Finn and Graham, airport style. How do you not miss your flight when it's half an hour earlier than you thought (because THEY MOVED IT AND DIDN'T CALL) and you're traveling with two small children? Keep the kids on wheels.

Finn's new suitcase-on-wheels arrived just before our trip. It came with its own strap, which he used to play a game he called... well, just listen.

Awesome Trapeze from Katie on Vimeo.

Cousins! The boys got to spend a lot of time with Fortney cousins Finn and Jamie, and Bennett cousins Brandon and Jacob, plus bonus cousins and other kids. (Hi Ashley, Haley, Wes, Daniel, Izzy, Henrik, Abbot, Clara, Joanna, Zoe, and Owen! Is that everybody?)



Jonathan and I went to a Twins game with Jonathan's dad at the new stadium. They lost - wow, did they lose - but it's a great stadium. I got to eat cheese curds twice that day (zoo; ballgame), which is a nice consolation for missing the state fairs again this year.

Did I mention we went to the zoo? And a wedding? And got to see my brother's and sister-in-law's place for the first time? It was a pretty full trip.
We moved up the closing on our house - to tomorrow! We did the final walkthrough today, and already have keys. One more day, and we'll officially be homeowners. We move next weekend, so activity on the blog will probably continue to be ... about this frequent. We are busy, people! Fortunately, kind movers have agreed to pack up all our belongings for us. For a fee, of course, but without them I'm not sure if we'd ever make it to the new house. Packing! Moving! Onward!