Sweet treat

Cole's first ice cream cone. Soft serve ice cream is one of my favorite summer treats and Cole loved it, too. Although not the cone. He didn't want anything to do with the cone.

It's not all about Cole anymore ...

Today is my due date and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl. Its such a weird feeling to know that she could come today or it could be as late as July 13th before we welcome her into the world. But we are ready to meet her when she is ready! Cole is excited to be a big brother, although I'm not sure he completely understands what that means. But he does talk about her a lot and likes spending time in her room, especially in her crib! With this new addition to our family, the focus of our blog will no longer be all about Cole as it has been for the past almost three years. And since the blog's address is currently colebadger.blogspot.com it only made sense to set up a more appropriate one that encompasses both of our kids. For future updates, check out badgerfamily.blogspot.com.

Albany Brass Ring Carousel

While my Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle David were visiting and my mom was watching Cole, they headed over to Albany to check out the Brass Ring Carousel. Pretty amazing work being done by local volunteers!

climbing

Our neighborhood park has two play structures - one for little guys and one for bigger kids. Cole often gravitates to the bigger kids one, although he is pretty cautious and knows his limits with what he can and can't do on it. Today he tried out the ladder for the first time, scaling up it quickly and even making the jump from the ladder to the play structure. I always love watching him be successful at something new. He was so proud!

My boys

Just a sweet photo of Cole and Cory reading together on a lazy Sunday morning. I love times like these ...

First wedding of the summer

A couple pictures from our first, and actually only, wedding of the summer. Our friends Jon and Sadie got married this past Saturday at Flinn Block Hall in Albany. What a beautiful wedding! I wish I had better photos of Sadie - she looked stunning. Highlights for Cole - exploring the building, playing with his buddy Caden, dancing and cupcakes.

picnics

One of Cole's favorite things of late, and mine too actually, is picnics in the front yard. We got these adirondack chairs a couple weeks back and they have been a fantastic investment. We use them every day that its sunny, which thankfully has been almost every day this week. Also notice the cheezy smile, which is what you get when you tell Cole to smile these days. I predict a lot more of these smiles in future photos :)

Wildcat Park

This was Cole's first week out of day care, so we had lots of time to enjoy the sun that is finally here. For a change of scenery, we headed over to Wildcat Park. I can't believe it was our first time there - such a cool set-up. Next time we go there I think we'll take a picnic. I'm sure there will be lots of park pictures this summer as Cole loves going and there are lots of parks to explore in Corvallis.

Day at the zoo

We took Cole to the Oregon Zoo for the first time last Saturday. I can't believe we've never taken him there! We had a baby shower in Portland in the afternoon for our dear friends Kristen and Scott, so it was the perfect opportunity to spend some time at the zoo. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, so my photos are very limited, but what I can tell you about our visit:

• If you ask Cole what his favorite animal was, he'll say "dinosaur." And he's serious! They have a dinosaur exhibit going right now featuring a variety of dinosaurs that move and make noise and even spit (that was a surprise!). Cole was actually pretty scared the whole time, but then as soon as we were done walking through, he wanted to go back again. They also had a cool dinosaur that you could operate via a remote control. Cole could have easily spent an hour with that alone.
  
• We spent the most time at the elephants. All four were out and it was feeding time, so that was cool. And it was fun to see the baby.
• The animals he was most excited about seeing were the giraffes, but sadly they were mostly hiding and we could only catch a glimpse.
• On a recommendation from our friend Brittany, we made sure to jump on the train and took it down to Washington Park, where we got off for a bit to check out the playground. Cole loved the train. This was probably a close second after the dinosaurs. The only photos worth sharing are both from the train ...

Fathers Day

Most of you know that Cory is the chef in our house. He makes some amazing food and I feel lucky to have such a wonderful husband who loves to cook. If it was up to me our menu would be rather limited ... heavy on yogurt and cereal :)

A few months back I had the idea to get Cory a new BBQ for Fathers Day (and an early birthday present). After much research I settled on the Weber Genesis. With the help of my dad and brother I had the grill waiting for him when we got home from Portland last night. He was super surprised and so happy. I should really post a photo of our old BBQ. It looks so sad and tiny next to this one! The first thing Cory did was to put the heat on high and see how hot it would get. Almost 700 degrees! He literally stood there with a big smile on his face (and beer in hand) watching the temperature gauge go up. Needless to say, he loves it! For dinner tonight he grilled up a pork roast for over 8 hours and did pulled pork sandwiches. Um, delicious.

Cole making his "funny face," which is what he says he will do for the baby when she is crying to cheer her up. Classic Cole.

Happy Fathers Day, babe! You're the best dad and husband. Thank you for all you do for us. We are so, so lucky. xo

new favorite things

Cole has been asking (begging) for a BIG Buzz Lightyear ever since he saw the one that our neighbor has. So yesterday we made a stop at Target and got him one. Wow, don't think I have ever seen him more excited about a toy! He has been playing with it non-stop for the past two days. Oh, and we picked up some googles while we were there, too, which he used in the bath tub this morning. These pictures make me smile ...

(playing around with my computers photo booth app)

Getting so big!

I took a few photos the other day and looking at them now I am struck by how old Cole is looking and how BIG he is! These photo also represent one of his most favorite pastimes these days -- "working" with dad on anything & everything outside (this day Cory was hauling gravel for our new path).

Sunny days

A couple photos from yesterday, our first truly sunny day in a LONG time! Cole and I spent the afternoon out and about in our neighborhood, enjoying the weather. First stop - the park!


This walk was all about Cole. I let him lead the way and choose our route, wandering at his pace. Stopping to find good sticks, throw rocks, hunt for bugs, etc.

And he insisted on wearing this winter hat that was stashed in the stroller. Silly boy.

Exploring in the trees, trying to avoid poison oak.