So for those of you who are unfamiliar with who DD is, let me explain. DD is a comforter, companion in sickness, best friend, tear collector, first love, patient great listener who is game for anything....also know as my son's lovey or very favorite stuffed animal. I just recently have noticed DD being absent from alot more playtime activities than he used to be, you see DD used to go everywhere all the time no matter what, so much so that there are actually 2 DD's, just in case the unthinkable would happen, although after he discovered that there were 2 one of them still remained his favorite more loved on one.
We received DD from Grandma and Grandpa Hotrum a little while after Dylan was born. It had a beautiful scarf around his neck and a music box in his belly that played Jesus loves me. While one day something that ended up being completely un related happened, Dylan broke out in this insane rash....and while I know you are not supposed to wash toys that have music boxes in them, I did. I was so anal (and still am) about washing things I figured it would not be that big of a deal. While Dylan slept with DD every nap all night constantly, so when he broke out in the rash my first thought, don't ask me why, is that battery acid was somehow leaking from DD and on to him. By this time I should tell you that DD had lost some of his fluffy-ness and his scarf (choking hazard?!?). While in my haste and not realizing the possible other causes of the rash of the devastating effects of what I was about to do, I threw DD in the garbage. (*tear) While what happened next was devastating....turns out the rash was from a strawberry sensitivity and Dylan would NOT sleep without DD....Thank the Lord for my mother in law though....she had also bought one for my sister in law Kaydi for the baby they were expecting. So I hastily call Kaydi and frantically explain the situation and ask if I can come down and take theirs and that I would replace it. She says yes of course because she is the BEST EVER!!! (yes, you Kaydi Belle Hotrum!) So I drive all the way to Lebanon with a screaming child thinking that my redemption is near....get there run in and grab the dog, cut off the scarf and back out to the car. I try to give it to him....he throws it down he knows it is not the original, I try to play the music and that freaks him out more. By this time mostly he is crying out of complete exhaustion. So once we get home I do very quick and major surgery on DD to remove the music box on the off chance that it was the battery acid. And by that night he is happily doing much better!
Another fun time was when DD took over Mommy's camera, he got one of the best pictures of Dylan ever!! Here is his work!
The day he discovered there were 2 DD's was absolutely hilarious, we had done a little switcheroo so that we could wash the one since it had been a little while. So not thinking about what I was doing or the trauma I might cause I load up the laundry basket with everything and bring it into the bedroom to dump on the bed and begin folding. While out flies DD. Dylan's eyes get really big and he looks down to make sure he is still holding his DD, the he exclaims, "Mommy, there are 2 DD's!" Luckily he thought it was cool and it didn't upset him in the least, these days after he is sick or its been awhile he informs me that DD needs a bath and he will bring it to the washing machine and put him in to get clean. My kids amaze me!
As I have browsed through pictures while writing this DD has been a constant companion to my son, It makes him feel secure and happy. I will leave you with a small sampling of pictures of our DD. Pray that he will want to keep him around a while longer at least for bedtime....let him stay small for me a little longer!!
So about a week ago I came up with the idea of making a box to play in. The debate after we decided to make a box was what to put into it. I was thinking something like pea gravel and Darrin was thinking sand... So we did some research, our neighbor has a pea gravel box, so we went to look it over and see what we thought. The discussion continued and finally I saw the light. We decided on sand. All the while we were busy staining and painting the box that Darrin had put together. 
We got the main box stained jointly, 
then Darrin started painting on the lid and I finished the painting over a day and a half period.
After the painting was done and dry Darrin went about attaching the hinges so that it would accordion as we open it. After attaching the hinges to the lid piece Darrin brought the pieces out and attached the pieces to the box.
There ending up being the slightest space where the boards met so we attached a 1x6 to serve as a handle a seal. Darrin went and got the sand this afternoon and filled the sandbox, taking a small break to rest and enjoy what he had built.
After his break he went a got a little more sand we finished filling the box and let the kids loose....they played like crazy for over an hour and a half!!! Come check it out sometime!
then I started a DVD for them to watch for awhile, (thanks Uncle Nate and Aunt Kaydi for the priceless use of your portable DVD player!!!) 
After it ended we decided to stop for lunch at a Rest Area, mmmmmm PB&J's so yummy along with Cheez-Its!
We hit the road one more time and Dylan was doing well, Ally was little cranky...eventually she fell into a little snooze.
Finally we glanced out first look at Seattle in the distance,
then a little bit further down the road we got our first look at Safeco field!!!
About 20 minutes later and weaving our way down some streets we finally found our typical parking spot and loaded up our backpack and headed out. About a 10 minute walk later we got to the Home Plate Entrance of Safeco field. As we made our way up the stairs we hear the cheers of the crowd rooting the M's on! We stopped a little off the 3rd base side to watch a little before making our ways to our seats. As we made our way to our seats we passed the Kids Play area, which was remarkably empty, so Daddy dropped the kids and I off and went up to enjoy the game
while the babes played for a bit. So Ally was not so much interested in playing but Dylan once he figured out where to get up to the slides had a blast! So after playing for a little bit we decided to head up to our seats and have a little snack.
We watched the game for a little while eating and hanging out.
After a bit we decided to get up and walk around and get another little snack, so off we went down to get some Cracker Jacks.....small bag....yet expensive....$3.75 later we went back up to enjoy.
At first Ally wasn't interested so she would just feed it to me but once she got a taste of it there was no going back! After a bit a family got up to leave and asked if we would like to use their play area passes, we said yes that would be great since we hadn't signed up for any times, so they graciously gave us their passes. So about 15 minutes later we went down to play some more. This time Ally figured out where to climb up and how to get going....she was having so much fun! Dylan was running back and forth from one play thing to the other climbing up and sliding down. We got 15 minutes of play time then went back up to watch the end of the game. This was one of the quickest Mariner games I have ever been to lasting only 2 hours and 28 minutes!! Oh well probably for the best with two little ones. As we sat in the stands in the 8th inning and everyone was chanting Ic-I-ro....Ally got into it, Daddy had taken Dylan to use the bathroom and I got the question of the year from the guys sitting next to me...."Are they twins?" Ok so maybe I am just irritable but Dylan is like 6 inches taller!!! OK moving on, JJ Putz came in in the 9th inning to close out the game and it was a 3 up 3 down inning! So after a dismal loss on Friday they came back and rallied for a win for us on Saturday, so THANK YOU MARINERS! The ride home was not so pretty so I will spare you the details.....we made it home in one piece around 9, both kids still awake and went pretty much straight to bed! Lets hope the Mariners at least break 500 this year!?!? 
