1. My dad and grandpa both have the same name – my dad stole my grandpa’s nickname when he was in first grade.

2. I didn’t ask them to stand like this when I took the picture, but I like how they are both looking at the camera.

3. They are handy: my dad carries a Leatherman and my grandpa carries a Swiss Army Knife.

4. My grandpa is very, very funny, but has a serious compassionate side to him. He is a great man.

5. My dad is very, very smart. He has a library of his own books that is the same size of our guestroom. He too is a great man.

6. My grandpa likes to wear collared shirts. My dad likes to wear T-Shirts.

7. My dad drives a truck he calles The Truck of the Future. My grandpa drives a car that is WAYYYY newer than my dad’s truck.

8. I never really thought they looked alike until I saw these pictures.

Yesterday I found myself listening to talk radio and attempting to re-caulk our bathtub.

It didn’t go as planned and now we have no shower.

We are now missing a chunk of drywall.

I called my grandpa to come and rescue me from this construction project/problem. He loves house repairs…or at least he acts like he does.

I hope we have a shower soon.

Have you ever read something and either connected with it so much it felt like you wrote it or wondered if the person that did write it knew what you were thinking or feeling? I had a grand plan to start a week long series of posts about our weekend. From start to finish it was filled with family and it was fantastic.

Before I started to prep my posts, after looking through my pictures documenting our families, I headed over to CJane’s blog to read her post today because I really enjoy her writing. What I discovered was quick snippets of her thoughts on her post-partum body and expanding family. It was as if she could hear my insecurities  and thoughts while I looked at my rounded cheeks and chubby arms caught digitally over the weekend.

So, I am abandoning my Family Filled posts until tomorrow because after reading CJane’s post I want to go back and look at the pictures taken of me over the weekend and remind myself that my body is the way it is today because I made Maggie.  I MADE her. Althougth the softness that is my body won’t necessarily all go away, I’m thankful for the reminder that this version of my body is because of Maggie.

We got to go see Chach perform some songs from Wicked this past weekend. She sang the part of Galinda and sounded amazing.

She also looked beautiful in her pink dress with her crown.

Chaya looked so happy on stage – I would have looked lost.

You rock, Chach!

While Maggie and I were in Anacortes we got to see her buddies Thomas and Peyton. I hadn’t seen Thomas and Lara since the day that Thomas came home from the hospital, so it was a sweet reunion. Lara and I had almost exactly the same outfit on – black t-shirt, same jeans, and a zip up sweat shirt. New mom uniform? I think so.

Taking pictures of squirmy babies is really hard. They aren’t interested in posing and don’t even really know that they are next to each other.  Thomas looks so much like Lara with his cute little nose!

We stopped at Emily’s house and the cousins spent some time together on the couch. Peyton was really sleepy and kept toppling over on Maggie, when he woke up he tried to hold her hand.

Ahhhhhh…….

My my grandpa called to say that he was going to drop off some tomato plants. He showed up with 16 plants and, as you can see by the look on Maggie’s face, we were shocked he gave us so many .

Last year we had four plants and we were eating tomatoes with nearly every meal by the end of summer.Barry’s mom came and took 6 plants – that still leaves us with a bajillion potential tomatoes to eat eventually.

While we potted the tomato plants Maggie put on (okay, I put it on) her tomato jump suit.

I honestly can’t tell if it a tomato jumpsuit or a strawberry jumpsuit. Either way, she wore it while we planted tomatoes and she’ll wear it when our strawberries come in.

Anyhow, thanks Grandpa for the tomato plants!

Uncle Izak stopped by the other night to spend some quality time with Miss Maggie.

At first she spent majority of the time hollering in his ear.

He hadn’t seen her in a while, so he hollered right back and filled her in on all the adventures he’s been having.

Eventually she relaxed and listen to his wild stories – mostly about sailing, sailing, sailing.

Maggie loves her Uncle Izak – Heisman Trophy winner or not.

When I was little my brother and I would claim the Chiquita sticker off the bananas  and we’d use them as currency between us.  Now when I see the sticker I have to fight the urge not to peel it of and celebrate.

I also get reminded of this childhood tradition when I look at this little figure.

It screams Chiquita Banana, right?

However, when I see this little ‘figure’ I do not take a trip down memory lane.

Instead I wonder how we could get Syd into a banana costume for Halloween this coming year.

When I was little there were times when all my cousins would converge at my Grandma and Grandpa Lowman’s house. For the most part we’d have a great time together playing dress up, rummaging through the back bedroom and eating delicious treats.

When the time came to either go work with Grandpa in his shop or stay with Grandma in the house, Danielle and I would often choose to stay with Grandma. We’d pass our time folding her napkin collection, dusting her bell collection or just talking. The rest of the grandkids would go get dirty in Grandpa’s shop and work with his tools. I loved the order of Grandma’s cupboards and the feel of the soft napkin collection.

Perhaps it was the napkin folding, but my two older cousins, Megan and Nate, rallied the other cousins into making a Cousins Club without Danielle and me. Megan, Nathan, Phil, Ben & Cody took over the chicken coop and made it their clubhouse – with a sheet hung as a door and a sign to boot!

Danielle and I sat outside the Cousins Club on a huge rock passing our time while our cousins and siblings held their Cousins Club meetings inside the coop. To this day Danielle and I have not let Megan or Nathan forget the heartbreak we felt – oh, the pain!

After years and years of sadness related to not being in the Cousins Club, Danielle had the brilliant idea of starting our own Cousins Club with Maggie! We’ve even got shirts to prove our membership!

Yesterday Maggie and I had a long talk about different things that our Cousins Club stands for: napkin folding, bell dusting and equity for all Lowman cousins.

Just so happens that there is only room on the shirts for her, Danielle and me!

This is Barry.

This is Izak

This is Flip (and Maggie).

This is Barry, Izak, Flip (and Maggie) discussing the Ski to Sea course that Izak and Barry were about to compete on. Izak and Barry had a bet – the details aren’t important – about who would have the fastest time.

Barry’s team was the first to come through the kayak leg and my lens wasn’t ready to capture the moment…the look on Barry’s face is one in which he is wondering why I am taking pictures and not standing next to his boat ready to help him carry it to the launch site. I’d decided to pass that job to Izak.

While on the way down to the dock Barry’s number that was taped on his back….

suddenly wasn’t. The race organizers were not impressed.

Not. One. Bit.

So, the job fell to Izak – Barry’s competition – to help tape the number back on.

The amount of duct tape he used was astonishing…..by the looks of Izak’s face he seems to think the amount he used is hilarious. Or maybe, just maybe, he set Barry up.

Too bad Barry is so awesome and kayaks as fast as the speed of light,with or without a number.

According to the bet between Izak and Barry , the details aren’t important, the winner was Barry.

Hands down.

I did manage to get a picture of Izak’s arm completing the race….