Father's Day Weekend

The week approaching Father's day was eventful. The Westport Moms group when to the Portland Children's Museum, and what do you know? My girls wore matching outfits :) Shocking... These little chickens are HAMS. Silas is the only one with a normal face here. Why do you think all the ladies love him?

Kyle took Marin on her first ever CAMPING TRIP, in a tent, cooking over a fire and IN THE RAIN nonetheless. The rain part was not planned, but since this trip had been coordinated with two other dads & their toddlers, they decided to go for it even when the forecast said "turn back! turn back!"

The result was a gloriously happy 3 year old girl, who slept good, ate good, caught some fish with a pole, caught some salamanders with her bare hands, and got muddy from head to toe. It wasn't that cold, so she was in heaven. She's been talking about it nonstop since they got back! I think the daddies were more frazzled with the weather than the kids were :) Standing water & downpours? No problem. My little girl is TOUGH! Wowie. I think it even surprised Kyle what she was made of :) Good memories, but not a lot of pictures. Gotta keep those toddlers from falling in the river, ya know?

And for Father's Day, we went to church and then Kyle decided he WANTED to cook all of us some delish crepes, even though it was his official day off! He does enjoy the cooking, but still we are one lucky bunch! Even though in these pics I look like one tired mama (maybe it's because Marin has been up 5 times a night ever since that awesome camping trip?), I am still putting these pictures up here because the meal was so fabulous. I am willing to sacrifice my pride to show you how wonderful my hubby is :)

Here's to a Happy Father's Day to all the daddies!

Spontaneous babymoons, babies and summer fun

Kyle and I have been wanting one last babymoon before #3 arrives (our last night away together was right before Maddie was born two years ago, wow!), and Memorial Day weekend provided JUST the right opportunity. Gorgeous weather at the beach, a wonderful Nana available to watch M & M, and a last minute opening at the Stephanie Inn. Perfection! So nice, we loved every second.









Over a recent weekend in June, we drove over 600 glorious miles to visit the babies in the family. First stop was our precious new baby nephew Owen (proud new parents are my sister Jessica and husband Geoff). He is adorable, therefore I ADORE HIM!! My first experience being a flesh & blood auntie! (Although I must insert a shout-out to all my other ridiculously cute neices & nephews whom I also adore.)



Also that weekend, we attempted to also attend the dedication of our sweet neice Annalise (proud parents Kyle's brother John and wife Stephanie, and big brother Joshua) but alas we ran out of time with too many miles on the road! So we missed the dedication at their church unfortunately, but we were able to celebrate with the family at their house afterwards for a little dessert & baby snuggling.



Now on to other fun summer activities... Kyle took Madeline fishing (yes the younger one) alone for the first time! He figured it was about time he started having some special 1-on-1 time with both girls, they are both old enough now! So off they went to Hornings Hideout in North Plains, and had a hoot.

Whew! It was a hot one there for a couple weeks, in the high 80's which for Portland in May/June is NOT NORMAL. Awesome, but not normal. So the girls soaked up the sun in the backyard kiddie pools.

And last but not least, our youngest playing in the toolbox... Making Daddy proud!

April & May shenanigans

At the beginning of April, my mom and sister went to the family cabin on Camano Island for a little girls getaway before the new babies are born. So relaxing! The weather was beautiful, and I saw the most wonderful sunrise from the deck. One of the fruit trees fell over, from the crazy winter weather!















During my weekend away, my darling husband was on Daddy Duty at home with the girls. One of their fun activities was discovering frogs at Rood Bridge park. These girls are not shy about slimy things!











This year for Easter, we had plans to go to Renton to be with my family. Oh the plans we had... Unfortunately, throat infections took over our family and we were stuck home sick for a week! Marin did get enough energy one day to decorate her eggs... A few weeks later, all the grandparents came to church with us so we could show off their yellow Easter dresses! Such a precious picture with all their favorite people!






Kyle went on a motorcyle trip to Bend with his friend Alex. No broken bones!! Although it was in the 20's at night (they camped outside in tents), so there might have been a little frostbite.








Marin just completed her first set of swimming lessons in the pool without mom. I cried the first day, seeing her in this huge pool with her class and teacher. Welcome to turning 3, there is a whole world out there, people! She thoroughly enjoyed it, and even pulled out the nose bubbles in the end, allowing her to graduate and be able to move on to the next class.













As much as we threaten to send her off to the glue factory, Ivy really is a good dog. She puts up with everything from the girls, and is our expert mole catcher (I think this might be #8 or 9). Even with those grey hairs, she can still hunt with the best of them :)











Check out my new haircut!











Recently when friends Sommer and Jordan were over for a BBQ, Marin asks Jordan "Can you climb that tree?"... Lickety split, Jordan and Kyle are up a tree. I think there might have been a few scrapes (these boys are not teenagers anymore people)... She was in awe.









We planted our garden on Mothers Day, and Kyle surprised the little girls with their very own red shovels. Thrilling! That and the worm (again, slimy things impress them greatly). What didn't impress them was the stinky fertilizer. Pee-ew! Did I mention the darling dog Ivy already ate all the broccoli plants? (Here's where the glue factory threats come in.)














Sisters are funny... I found Marin feeding Madeline like a baby, and they were both enamoured with this exchange. Even after Maddie had a "beard" (their words, not mine) full of yogurt, she just threw up her hands as if to say "what mom, do I have something in my teeth or something?"

Bubbles make the party complete! We had our end of year community group gathering at our house, and we got out the Bazillion Bubble Machine (yes that's what it's actually called)... So fun! Check out the one of Marin blowing them to Ivy, who loves them as much as the people.