Budinda Family

Visit

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 | Family, Linda Curtis, Quentin Curtis | 3 Comments

My parents arrived this week for a visit. We have been having a great time. We had a chance to spend some time with Quentin’s friend Clara – and it was fun to watch them play together. Mom and I ran a 5K with my friend Emily this weekend. It was a fundraiser for a girls running club – and it was great to see all the young girls out running.
The weather has been typical Juneau since Mom and Dad arrived – but today we woke to a bright sun. It’s supposed to get into the 80’s by midweek. So – trips to the beach are bound to be coming up. We have been having a great time making dinners together and I think my parents are enjoying getting to know Quentin. My dad has put him down for a nap twice so far, which isn’t always such an easy thing.
I’ll try to post more pictures as the visit goes on.

Author: Linda | Tags: clara, visits

Another day at the park

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Linda Curtis, Quentin Curtis | 1 Comment

The weather has been so amazing lately – I think I must have moved to a new town. Seriously, It is just fabulous. Not to hot – and so sunny everyone just has to be outside.

Yesterday Ani and I took Clara and Quentin to a little park near my house. It is a perfect toddler park – and they had a blast.

I am up early to go swimming – my swimming pal has been out of town for a couple of weeks – and a haven’t gone without her. She is back – so here I am up. I would like to say before the crack of dawn, but that would be around 3am in Juneau. And I actually got up around 6. At any rate – I don’t have any time to write – but I wanted to post some pictures because I think these kids are do damn cute!

Author: Linda | Tags: clara, park

Q’s Weekend Visit to Olympia

Monday, May 18th, 2009 | Bud Curtis, Family, Quentin Curtis | No Comments

This past weekend Quentin and I flew down to Olympia to see the family really quick and say Hi. The flight down wasn’t so bad. Quentin watched They Might Be Giants on my iphone and the center seat was open for him to sit in his own chair. My brother Dan picked us up at the airport in Sea-Tac last in the afternoon, which was perfect timing for the rush hour traffic all the way down to Olympia. The temperature was already in the 80s and that combined with the traffic, Quentin was pretty much done with traveling at this point. Once we made it to dad’s and got some food and water in him, he was actually excited to see Grandpa and Sandy. Where I thought he would be exhausted, he stayed up a couple hours past his bedtime to play farmhouse and other toys with Grandpa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4soQE9dgaww

The next day Quentin and I got up and Dan drove us out to see Quentin’s Great Grandmother who’s in her 80s now, but still hanging in there. She is def but she had a great time sitting outside watching Quentin run around in the warm sun, playing in the grass, sprinklers and the flowers. Dan, Q & I all stayed and had lunch with Grandma before heading over to mom’s place that afternoon.

Mom has a great place out on Patterson Lake and Quentin loved seeing his Grandma and playing in her yard, and with all the toys on her big porch. Quentin also enjoyed playing with his cousin Briana after Kyle and Renee joined us in the late afternoon for dinner. It stayed very warm until late into the evening so again Quentin didn’t head off to bed until much later than usual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ZCvDrlY4Y

The next day we got up and had breakfast. Quentin ate about his own weight in blueberries. It was pretty impressive. By late morning, just prior to when Q is about to take his nap Dan and I loaded up the car with our things and started making the trek back up north along I-5. Sure enough Q fell asleep right as we hit the on ramp to the freeway. Middle of the day on a Sunday the traffic is a lot better on I-5 than rush hour Friday night. Before needing to be at Sea-Tac to catch a plane back to Juneau, we stopped by Noah & Jenna’s place in south Seattle. Unfortunately Q only got an hour’s nap in the car ride up, as well as the heat, just did not put him in a good mood for visiting at Noah’s that day. I was able to get some food and water in him, but he didn’t really warm up until about 2 hours after being there, which was about when we had to actually head to Sea-Tac to catch our plane now.

The plane ride back up wasn’t so bad until the end. Even the airport at Sea-Tac was a fun time for Q. While we were waiting to borad I just put my back pack on and followed Quentin as he ran all over the huge airport. The flight up was totally packed so Q was sitting on my lap with a passenger sitting on both sides of us. I’m sure they were thrilled once they realized who they were sitting next to them. Turns out Q totally charmed them. He was so excited to be on the plane. He kept pointing out the window at all the buses, trucks & airplanes. And when the plane took off he would scream “WEEEEEEE!” It was pretty funny and even made the passengers next to us crack up.

He did great until we had to make a stop in Ketchikan before onward to Juneau. I think he thought we were getting off in Ketchikan because he kept saying “All done!” and then was pretty much fussy all the way to Juneau, which we didn’t arrive at until 10:30pm. At this point Q’s eyes were barely open and he was completely exhausted. All in all it was a very fun weekend travel adventure with my son.

http://picasaweb.google.com/quentincurtis/OlympiaTripWithDad#slideshow

Author: Bud | Tags: father & son, grandma, grandpa, olympia, spring, travel

weekend without the family

Saturday, May 16th, 2009 | Linda Curtis | 3 Comments

Bud took Quentin to visit family in Olympia this weekend. Which means I am by myself in the house for the first time in a really long time. It is kinda weird, but I’m doing OK. It’s been extremely gorgeous here the last few weeks – so that is great. I had a massage last night, and went for a run this morning. This afternoon I went out to Ani’s house. They had a fire on thursday – and although everything is OK, the house is covered in diesel soot. A bunch of folks went out to help with some clean up. Looks pretty good. It’s a pretty scary thing all in all, but it could have been a lot worse.
I’ve checked in with Bud a few times, and it sounds like they are doing fine. They seem to be having a great visit – I’m hoping Bud will do a post with pictures.
Tonight I am going to a BBQ and have some ling cod marinating in a thyme, mint, onion and garlic marinade. My herb garden mint and thyme have gotten mixed together – so I thought I’d do a little experiment.
I think Oliver misses the boys – he has been running around and meowing like a maniac all afternoon. His food and water dish are full, so I am guessing he is just wondering were the rest of the family is. He really loves Quentin a lot – even though Quentin loves to attack him.
This week Quentin’s friend Mary was readopted in the U.S. and is now an official U.S. citizen. Her mom Ellen had a little party – and Quentin and Mary had a great time playing. Ellen sent me a picture of the two of them sharing some pizza. I think they will be friends for a long time.

Author: Linda | Tags: mary

mothers day weekend

Sunday, May 10th, 2009 | Family, Linda Curtis, Quentin Curtis | 2 Comments

It has been a full mothers day weekend. Yesterday I did my Whose on first routine at a Boardwalk Boogie Fundraiser. It went OK. I must say I am glad it’s done with. The show was great. It’s amazing how my friend Colette gets people together to put on these kind of shows. There were singers, dancers, musicians and comedy acts. And never a dress rehearsal or full practice of the night. I think people had a good time. Earlier in the day we took Quentin to the fish hatchery for Juneau appreciation day. It was open to the public and there was free food. Needless to say the call of free hot dogs had all of Juneau out and about. Quentin had a great time looking at the fish. He also spent a lot of time looking at the balloons on the way in.

Today, we went out for breakfast and then headed to Ani’s for a day at the beach. It turned out to be too cold so we had to head over to Ani and Clara’s house after a short time outside. Quentin undressed as soon as he walked in the door and had a hoot. Running around and squealing with Clara. It wasn’t what I had planned – but the perfect gift to see my little boy so happy. Then he made a giant poop on the carpet – and we decided we should put a diaper on him. This was after quite a few “sits” on the potty. He did say poop goes in the potty. But then – didn’t have any follow through.

He is just waking from nap – so that’s all I can report for now.

Author: Linda | Tags: juneau, mother's day, potty

is it friday again?

Friday, May 8th, 2009 | Family, Linda Curtis, Quentin Curtis | 2 Comments

I can’t believe the week has gone by so quickly. We had another busy one. Sonia and Sidney were out of town so Quentin was with me in the morning at work all week. He had a good time – but his naps kinda got out of whack. He had more than his usual melt downs at Rainbow – but I still got a bunch of hours in. Not sure how that happened – but I do know he spent a good deal of time in his high chair with either a yogurt, a school bus, or his twinkle twinkle little star book. It was busy at work – the summer tourists are starting to arrive.
I made a blueberry cake for Quentin this week – and overdid it on the blueberries. It kinda collapsed. Quentin loved it. He is a sucker for any berries – so the more the merrier. He doesn’t care how it looks – he just wants to eat!
We had some visitors for dinner this week – which is always fun. Colette Costa came over for baked chicken. Nicole and Curtis came over for matzah ball soup – which always follows baked chicken dinners by two days at our house. It was fun to catch up with friends.
Today was a busy friday. Sonia was back in town and offered to watch Quentin so I could do some errands. He had a great time and seemed really glad to see his friends. I got shopping done with the greatest of ease. We then met Elyas, Jill and Shirin at the bagel shop. The kids ran amok – the bagel shop is a pretty good place to do that – and the ladies relaxed as much as we can with children running amok. Addy was in pre-school so Shirin really got to relax and enjoy her coffee. That will be me and Jill in 3 more years. I can’t wait to be a lady who lunches. Perhaps I’ll have to have a real job by then. sigh.
Quentin and I came home and he took a really long nap. It was my plan to clean while he slept – but bud had already straightened the house. What a good husband. I got some lentils cooking for dinner, and made some chocolate banana muffins. Then I watched some stupid reality tv online. My guilty pleasure.
Clara and Ani stopped by after nap time and as soon as Quentin saw Clara he started undressing. I thought it was sign he is ready to potty train – and she is just such a good example. So I got him naked and he proceeded to run upstairs to the bath. Apparently he just wanted to take a bath with Clara. So, into the bath they went. What fun. The shrieking and giggling and splashing went of for about 30 minutes. Quentin was starting to turn blue – so the fun had to end. The kids were pulled from the tub with promises of chocolate muffins – so the transition was pretty easy.
Ani wanted to go to a yoga class so I offered to watch Clara. Jill and Elyas came over to help – and it’s a good thing they did. Quentin can be quite jealous when I am giving someone attention. It was actually utter chaos as usual at the house. Toys, kids, snacks – and then to make it more fun – doug fanyak came over to practice a skit we are doing. We have agreed to do the Abbot and Costello “Whose on first” routine at a fundraiser tomorrow night. I am prepared to make an utter ass out of my self. So, maybe it will be not as bad as I expect – I’ll only make a fool out of myself.
So, doug and I were trying to practice while the three toddlers toddled – I was glad Jill was here to help out.
Ani had brought me a big bag of fresh nettles she had just gathered. Raw they sting and are not so fun – but cooked into lentil soup – very yummy. When she came back from yoga we all had some soup and the kids started to melt down. At least Quentin was melting. It was a very busy day – and he was done. Fridays are my day off from work – it’s amazing how tired I am after all my relaxing and visiting!

Author: Linda | Tags: friday, friends

Beach Days

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | Family, Linda Curtis, Quentin Curtis | 1 Comment

It’s been a really busy week. The sun has been out – so we have been outside as much as possible. Highlights were a visit from Clara and Ani where the kids took a bath together. Lisa, Electra and the Quigley kids over for a BBQ, many days at Sandy Beach with all Q’s friends, and the three runs I got to take outside. Today was extra fun when I met up with Ani and Clara and went to Eagle beach. The kids got naked and played in the sand. Then found some mud puddles and frolicked like no tomorrow. So much giggling – it was really fun to watch.
Quentin had to have 3 baths today. Besides mud, sand and algae, there was spaghetti sauce to contend with. Not to mention at least 3 cups of blueberries. And of course he had to poop in the tub. Bud is gone for 4 days at a guys long weekend on a near by Island. Boy will I be glad when he gets home. Chasing Quentin around by myself is really hard!
He really has been having a good time with Oliver the cat. Maybe to good a time. We are working on being nice and not pulling on the cat – but it is taking some time.
Currently I am letting him play in the entree way with the shoes. He is mumbling to himself something about Babies. I think he might be singing the wheels on the bus. Quite possibly might require bath 4 of the day after some time playing with the muddy boots. sigh. Here are a bunch of pictures from the week – I missed the kids playing in the mud today. Kind of sad about that – it was really funny.

Author: Linda | Tags: beach, friends