Day 428

In an effort to get out and get moving, Mindy and I took an morning walk out on Sauvie's Island. It was about a 6 mile trek (plus about 3/4 mile accidental detour) to the light house and back. We managed to pick up a cache while out at the light house and I found my first benchmark. The birding was fantastic - swans, herons, cranes and several birds of prey I couldn't quite identify (either hawks or falcons). And was I the only one who didn't know there was a light house on Sauvie's?

Day 427

After Saturday dinner, the whole family went to the mall to ramble a bit. Parker had a fun time "flying" the helicopter.

Day 426

While in Sunriver, my brand new Kindle died :( However, I must give kudos to Amazon's customer service because I had a new Kindle in hand the very next day. (Also, kudos to Les for surprising me with such a fantastic Christmas present)

Day 425

The first night after vacation was a bit lazy as we were still trying to get back into the swing on things. In this photo, it looks like Parker was too tired to even get all the way on the couch.

Day 424

Family Vacation in Sunriver:
Goodbye to the Mountain House. It was our first real family vacation with both kids and it went surprisingly well. Hopefully Disneyland in May will go even better.

Day 423

Family Vacation in Sunriver:
Okay, so it's not the best photo. But, nevertheless, here is Kaitlyn's first time ice skating. She was really excited to go, but mostly wanted me to carry her around. I was going to take Parker but he did not want to go. He got to walk out on the ice a little bit, but had no interest in putting on a pair of skates.

Day 422

Family Vacation in Sunriver:
Job, Jennifer and baby Ian were in Sunriver at the same time as us. We met up at the park (Both Ian and Kaitlyn loved the swings) and then all had dinner at the Owl's Nest in the Sunriver Resort.

Day 421

Family Vacation in Sunriver:

The gangs all here. There was a great park near the house we were staying in and we found ourselves there everyday. We were blessed we sunny but cold weather. And we managed to get a nice group shot before everyone headed home.

Day 420

Family Vacation in Sunriver:
We all went sledding at a Sno-Park on Mt. Bachelor. Both Parker and Kaitlyn loved the sledding. By end of our adventure, Parker even started going on sledding runs by himself.

Day 419

Family Vacation in Sunriver:

Parker's first experience in the hot tub. He loved it!

Day 418

Kaitlyn has recently decided that playing with her diapers is just about the coolest thing. She likes to diaper all of her babies and stuffed animals and when all else fails, she just piles them up in Parker's bed.

Day 417

Kaitlyn's taking the babies for a walk. She likes to go the the "park" and when she walks past me she'll grab my hand and say "Come on."

Day 416

Kaitlyn has certainly become a bit of a terror around the house. Her favorite word is "no," which she likes to shout as loudly as possible. She has also learned how to push Parker's buttons. Did I also mention the continued biting and hair pulling? But when you look at her when she is asleep, she is all sweetness and light.

Day 415

The ants go marching 200 by 200 . . . needless to say we had to have pest control out to spray the house again. And so it goes in the never ending battle Man vs Ants.

Day 414

In addition to a getting me a lovely bouquet of flowers, Les took me out to dinner for Valentine's Day. My mother was kind enough to come watch the kids for us and snap our picture before we left.

Day 413

Mindy and I went geocaching in Tigard we found 5 caches and walked about three miles. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see a squirrel crossing the log in the center of the photo.

Day 412

Both of the kids had Valentine's parties at school. It was Kaitlyn's first time exchanging Valentines. They took their cards in little gift bags and neither seemed too please that I made them stop and pose for a picture outside of their school.

Day 411

Les had the kids by himself tonight and he got all their Valentine's cards for their class parties. Parker signed a "P" on each of his cards all by himself - doesn't he look proud of himself?

Day 410

I dread the morning the kids get out of bed before I'm ready. Most of the time that means everything takes twice as long to get done. But some mornings they will sit quietly and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I can finish getting dressed.

Day 1139

It's hard to see in this photo, but that is Lucy's head sticking out of the blinds . . .patiently waiting for us to get home in the evening.

Day 409

It's so hard to resist taking pictures of the kids sleeping every night - they are so peaceful when they are at rest.

Day 408

Recently that time between getting undressed and getting jammies on has turned into "play with the water in the bathroom sink" time. The end result is usually two slightly wet children and one soaked bathroom.

Day 407

Les and Parker went to Grandpa's house for the Super Bowl. They were joined by all the boys - John, Sean, Tobey and Joe. One of Parker's favorite parts about Grandpa's house is the drum set in his garage. It's a hand-me-down from Sean and Tobey and once we have room for it, it will be moving to our house.

Day 406

Sitting on a stool . . . eating grapes . . . in the bathroom . . .???

Day 405

Photo #2 in the series: Dinner at the Counter.

Subtitled: Friday Night Pizza.

Day 403

I took a day off work and attended some scrapbooking workshops at the Creating Keepsakes Convention. I created two albums "Seasonal Bliss" and "Because of You" - now I just need to add pictures. Pictured with me is Juliana who traveled all the way from Brazil to attended the workshops. We ended up sitting next to each other in both classes and went to lunch together too. Now I've got a place to visit if I ever end up in Brazil.

Day 403

Les had a Blazer game to go to, so Grandma came over to hang out with me and the kids. We did water color painting for the first time. To no one's surprise, Kaitlyn spilled her water twice and Parker once.

Day 402

We had quesadillas and oranges for dinner - which, miraculously, both kids actually ate. (We've started eating at the kitchen counter more often, as the ants are threatening to take over the living room - it's that time of year again.)

Day 401

Les was able to get extra tickets for the Blazer game so that all four of them could go and celebrate Tobey's birthday.