Catching up

So I just realized that I neglected to blog about two other fun things we did in the month of August. The Clark County Fair and the Long Beach Kite Festival!

Brian had K9 demos all week long at the fair, so on his last one, I decided to go ahead and take the kids to watch and then enjoy some "fair" time. Now please understand, I AM NOT a fair lover. Fairs are dirty, expensive, crowded, expensive, creepy and expensive. You get the picture! However, I didn't want my aversion to spoil the kids' fun, so I sucked it up.

Our dare devil daughter loved all the rides and wanted to go on the big roller coaster, but, we stuck to the smaller stuff and Brian took her on the ferris wheel, which she absolutely LOVED! She said, "dadda, we're on top of the world!" Blake also did really well, just chillin' in his stroller and running around a little bit. No rides for that boy yet, but he liked the corn dogs & elephant ears!






The Thursday before Brian and I went to Bellevue with our friends, we took the kids to Mom & Dad's beach house in Long Beach for the annual Kite Festival. Avery has gone every year since she was one and loves looking at all the kites. We had great weather and tons of fun with Nani & Popi.

Childless in Seattle

Last year my friends Amy, Shannon & I started what we hope to be an annual trip to Seattle, well, Bellevue actually. This year, we decided to invite our husbands along, sans kids! We had an absolute blast!

We all met up in Bellevue at the Hyatt on Saturday around noon. Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, followed by shopping for the girls and sports bar lounging for the boys. Hotel check-in was at 4 ish and we hung out in the adjoining rooms until dinner. We had a great dinner at Palimino's, right down the street. The best part of this trip was from the moment we got there, until the moment we checked-out, we didn't drive anywhere. There is so much to do that is within walking distance, that you can just park your car in the parking garage and stroll everywhere you need to go.

Anyway, after dinner we hit a few bars that had live music, danced a little and just enjoyed being silly and having no responsibilities (aka: children).

Sunday morning we slept in until almost 10:00am! A rare luxury when you have small children. We hit PF Chang's for lunch, shopped a tiny bit and then hit the road for home. Thanks for the wonderful time my dear friends! Love you all!

Lake Merwin Cabin

This past weekend we had the opportunity to use a friend's cabin up at Lake Merwin (about 45 min from our house). Between Saturday and Monday, we were on the lake for about 13 hours total.

We had one family stay with us Saturday night and all day Sunday, then 2 different families came for Sunday night and most of the day on Monday. On Sunday night, we had three 4 year olds and three 1 year olds. They all did really well together for the most part.

We are so thrilled that both our kids love being on the boat and swimming in the lake. Avery even tried skiing this trip and got up on her first try! We are so proud of her!

Here are some photos & videos of our weekend. Enjoy!

Summer Days

We've been keeping really busy these past few weeks of summer.

Avery took swim lessons every morning for 2 weeks straight and is quite the little swimmer now. She can back float, underwater swim and the "reach & pull".


We had our sprinkler system extended to include our flower beds. It only did the grass before and we had to be out there every night to water our plants. I am LOVING it. All you have to do is push a button and all our flowers, trees and vegetables are taken care of! Yeah, more time to play!

Almost every Friday night of the summer the ice cream truck drives through our neighborhood. Avery has ears like a cat. She can hear that thing a good 5 minutes before anyone else can! We all love the treats it brings.

Mr. Blake, running through the sprinkler.

Last weekend Brian left us for a trip to Dallas to see a couple of his buddies that live there. My mom & I decided to take the opportunity to go down to Medford to visit my Nana. We all had a great time swimming in her pool & going on a couple of fun outings.

Avery, perfecting her back float.

Avery & Nani playing with the "noodles".

Avery & GG (my Nana) at the Mexican restaurant.

Blake doing some shopping at the children's museum.

Fire engine fun at the mall.

This was on an old rail car at an outdoor train museum. The had the most fun little steam train that you sat on & it gave you rides. (Didn't get a picture of it though).

Avery & Signe on the way to Build-A-Bear.

I also ran my very first 10k in July. It was the Go Girl Trail Run in Forest Park, Portland. It was by far the most difficult, physical activity that I've ever done and I am so proud of myself!

A couple videos, just for fun.



Hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as we are.

First boat day of the season!

Yesterday we finally had the time and the warm weather to go out on our boat for the first time this season. We took Brian's parent's and our niece & nephew out to Lacamas with us. Avery absolutely loves the water and asks if she can swim the second that the boat is off the trailer. Blake is a little more cautious and just wanted his "tootsies in da wadder" (toes in the water). He isn't a huge fan of his life jacket or hat, but with some food to distract him, he's always good to go. Brian took a turn wake boarding and even had Avery come out with him like last year. Only this time, she held onto the rope with him, instead of holding onto his legs. Fun times were had by all, and I hope that this was the start of a long summer.

Shot of a Lifetime!

Wow, have I got a story for you!

A good friend of ours, Brian H., won a T-mobile sweepstakes for the "Shot of a Lifetime" by sending a text message during an NBA basketball game. Out of 250,000 entries, he won a trip for himself and his "Fave 5" to go to Orlando, for game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. And a chance to win $50,000 in a game of H-O-R-S-E with D-Wade, who plays for the Miami Heat.

Brian & his wife Jen invited us, and 2 other friends, to go with them. It was totally a once in a lifetime experience. The trip included round trip airfare to Orlando, FL, hotel, most food and tickets to the game.

We arrived on Saturday late afternoon and met with the T-mobile people to get prepped on what was going to happen on Sunday. We were on our own for dinner that night, so we took a taxi to the mall/restaurant area and had a yummy dinner at Mimi's Cafe.

Sunday morning we met the T-mobile people in Brian & Jen's room so they could film us just hanging out and talking about the trip and the upcoming competition with D-Wade. It was crazy, they had a film crew with us all day, videoing and taking pictures left & right. They also interviewed us one by one in a separate room. That afternoon we headed across the street to the Amway Arena (where the Orlando Magic play). We got a quick tour of the place and then we got to go out onto the court. It was amazing! Being down there on the wood floor where all the action happens and looking up into the vast seating. After a few minutes, we picked our jaws up off the floor and started shooting some hoops. Well, mostly the guys, but Jen & I shot a few free throws too. About an hour into it, we look over and here comes Charles Barkley! It was awesome. He practiced around with the guys for awhile and then in comes Kenny Smith & D-Wade and a bunch of other ex-players, announcers, etc. Then, the competition started. Click here to watch.

After the competition and all of the interviews that Brian H. had to do, we headed back to the hotel for a quick dinner and to change for the game. We then got to go back to the arena, before it was open to everyone else, and watch the players warm up from right down on the floor. We then went to find our seats, which were about 15 rows up behind the Magic's bench.

Earlier in the day, right after Brian H. won, Charles Barkley said, "y'all have to come out with me tonight to celebrate at Club 23." We didn't have our hopes up, but, after the game, we went and found him and he told us yes, meet him there in 20 minutes. We ran to find a cab and when we got to the club, Charles was waiting for us! We went in with him, and his security people, to a VIP section that was roped off just for him (and us) and about 6 other people. We just kept looking at each other saying, "is this really happening?" We got back to the hotel around 3:30am, but it was worth it.

What a fantastic time! Thank you Brian H. & Jen for taking us with you, and CONGRATULATIONS! You deserve it!

A perfect day!

So this morning, when I woke up, I just couldn't bare the thought of sitting inside an office all day. So my boss, the wonderful woman she is, said "yes" when I asked her for the day off!

Brian & I packed up the kids and headed to the zoo. It was so much fun. They were both really well behaved and had a great time seeing all the animals. I realized today that Avery is really getting to be a big girl. She was full of excitement and we didn't have to worry about her running off or getting lost. She was really good about staying with us and used really good listening. Blake, on the other hand, loves to run away. He was in his stroller about 95% of the time.

The sun must have really worn him out because he fell asleep in his stroller around 1:30. We left at 2:45 and he stayed asleep all the way home and into his crib. I had to wake him up at 4:40! I think that is a record nap for him! Avery, on the other hand, only slept 25 minutes in the car and then was ready to go outside and run through the sprinkler with Signe.

Well, back to the real world tomorrow!

Feeding the birds. At one point Blake put his hands on his cheeks and said, "oh dear!" He's a little bit timid with things like that.

This is a TOTAL Avery look!

These girls just love eachother!