M is for Motorcycle

This clip is pretty much self-explanatory. The only thing that it doesn't show is Kurt's heart swelling beyond his chest with pride.

First Harvest!!

You Know You're Old When...

...your BABY brother graduates from college. Sigh. I changed his diapers. I kissed the soft little spots on his head when his fuzzy hair was just growing in. I was the oft' surprised victim of the patented Kristopher Bickley "Fish Eye." And this past weekend, I watched, with the rest of my family, as my nearly-23-year-old beard-growing man of a baby brother graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Biology. We had a great weekend--time with the fam (including Aunt Sue and Uncle John from Idaho!) was great as always, and the weather in Seattle was just gorgeous. Madelyn had a great time. She had two different hotel lobbeys to explore, two play parks, four restaurants, one Pike Street Market (complete with flying "fwish"), and more "honk honks, beep beeps, toot toots, and city buses" to point out on the streets than a girl from the small town of Portland could hope for. All in all a fabulous weekend. And the graduation ceremony was at Safeco Field where the Mariners play which was super cool. Kris got to sit just to the right of the pitching mound and receive his diploma over 3rd base. Not a bad place to officially enter the real world :) Congrats Uncle Kris!!

Garden Glory

As I've written previously, I started my very own garden for the first time in my life this spring. My mom had an amazing garden growing up in Illinois (that I've only just recently come to fully appreciate), and many of my friends are avid gardeners. So, with that wealth of experience alongside me, as well as the bottomless pools of information from the folks at Portland Nursery, I have been planting and weeding and watering and watching and getting more and more excited at the miraculous things that are happening outside my window every day. I just pushed the last of my seeds into the ground this morning. If all goes well, this is the crop I will have this year: potatoes (purple and gold), snap peas, pole beans, tomatoes (sun golds and brandywine), carrots, walla walla sweet onions, zucchini, baby watermelons, broccoli, mini bell peppers, tiny white pumpkins, cucumbers, and strawberries. And our Asian pear tree is looking awesome! Anyway, here are some photos from a proud veggie-mama :)

Memorial Weekend Fun

We took a little hike up the MacLeay trail in Forest Park this past Sunday in an effort to allow Madelyn to frolic amongst the ferns and dirt and streams. As you can see, she walked most of it on her own...which means we hiked a grand total of about 3/4 miles (even though that took us about an hour). Step step stop...look down a hole...admire the water...touch the fern. Step step step stop...turn around and run the other way...point to a doggie...wave to the doggie...chase after the doggie. Step stop...you get the idea :)


This blanket was given to Madelyn by our dear friends the Dekkers. When it transitioned from "blanket" to "Blankie" when Maddie was around 7 months old (and then "Beebee" at around 17 months), we agreed that we'd better find another one if, God forbid, something ever happend to the first one. One of the best decisions we've ever made as parents :) We routinely switch out the blankets so they both get seasoned at the same rate. The extra one lives under my pillow, and about once a week when Maddie comes into our bed in the morning, she finds it and pure joy washes over her face--TWO Beebee's! What could be better than to be physically surrounded with Beebee's?!

Unrelated Bits

Just a few, unrelated, silly updates for you:

1. We've been spending a lot of time around plants lately...both in our yard and at nurseries. We're slowly (very slowly) adding to our yard, and Maddie has been an enthusiastic participant in the selection of the plants. Well, not so much selection as put-me-down-now-so-I-can-frolic-amongst-the-plants-or-this-whole-nursery-will-hear-me-scream.

2. Yesterday, I twice caught Madelyn lining up her toy cars. This might not seem like a big deal to most of you, but to the Bickley family, it's quite a laugh. Her Uncle Kristopher was a MASTER liner-upper. Of all things. From cars to Halloween candy. Even at a young age he would become quite distressed if you tried to come over and actually play with the cars. He intended them simply to sit there and look pretty. And organized. I took a photo of Maddie's first official line-up and texted it to Kris to which he replied "see...I told you she was smart."


3. No idea what this face is all about. Any of you care to venture a guess?

"Cheap" Entertainment!

Kurt and I played hooky from work today and had a wonderfully slow, quiet morning. I went to the gym and came back to smiles on my two favorite people's faces AND french toast! Yum! Late morning, we drove up to Kurt's Aunt Cheryl's home for a little visit. She lives on a big, beautiful piece of property in Vancouver that is so gorgeously landscaped she should really consider opening a bed and breakfast out of her home :) But besides her fun self and her pretty flowers, she also has chickens, which Madelyn has never seen in person. What an adventure! She was a bit hesitant at first and there were a lot of "up" requests, but she warmed up shortly and thoroughly enjoyed the new experience. Take a look!