Day 854

It was just the four of us plus Grandpa at dinner this Saturday night, so we dined at our old standby Red Lobster. A brief glimpse of the sun afforded Kaitlyn the opportunity to don her sunglasses and look too cool while we waited for out table.

Day 853

Spring still has not come to stay this year, so instead of going to play a the park in the evenings (too soggy), we've taken to playing out on the deck - coats still needed. Tonight Carrie came over and kindly entertained Parker with chalk drawings while I put the finishing touches on our taco dinner.

Day 852

Kaitlyn got her toes painted for the very first time - she was so excited. She chose to have silver big toes and lavender on all the other ones. (Shhh . . . don't tell Les but we painted Parker's toes too - very manly colors of blue and red).

Day 851

As a reward for an outstanding first quarter, the sales team (and their support team - Spencer and I) got an afternoon adventure to the Willamette Valley. We visited three wineries, tasted far too many wines, and had a very nice afternoon in the company of our co-workers.

Day 850

Parker and Les put together this Lego helicopter and then sent this photo over to Aunt Susie and Uncle John as a "thank you" because this was their Easter gift to Parker.

Day 849

Earlier this month I sent a batch of negatives to ScanCafe.com to have them turned into digital files. This photo was one of the surprises that cam back, because I have no memory of seeing the image before. It was taken in the spring on 1997 from our apartment window on the 9th floor of the West Hall. I really like the fact that in the Portland skyline, I can pick out the building where I have been working for the past 11 years.

Day 848

Mom and Andy came over for Easter brunch and after nap time we went over to the Deemer house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt.

However, my favorite part of Easter is the kids' outfits. I have so much fun finding the perfect ones - coordinating not matchy-matchy. As cute as Kaitlyn's dress is, what kills me about this photo is Parker's blazer - he looks so handsome.

Day 847

Thank God it wasn't raining, because if it was I totally would not have gone and would have missed out on a fun morning. Bright and early, I headed out to Tigard to join a group of my co-workers in an Earth Day 5k. Mason ended up placing tenth over all and I met my goal in finishing under an hour - thankfully I had Andrea as my walking buddy. I

Day 846

With Les finally home from his travels (and Carrie over to make sure we were doing it right) it was finally time to dye some Easter eggs. The kids really got a kick out of seeing the eggs change colors and Kaitlyn had to put a sticker on every single egg.

Day 845

Superman and Batgirl were chasing each other around the living room giving each other zerberts. I had to bribe them with candy to sit still long enough to get his picture, but it was so worth it.

Day 844

Les headed straight from Vegas to Utah for a business meeting. Les borrowed a camera from work to set up at home so we could Skype with the kids using his iPad. The kids thought it was pretty cool and really liked it when Les took us on a tour of his hotel room.

Day 843

So in addition to his lunch, Les did also manage to take a photo or two of the Vegas strip. I guess when you are holed up a poker tournaments all day and night, taking pictures of the scenery isn't a priority.

Day 842

Les is in Las Vegas and what does he take photos of? His lunch at In & Out Burger.

Day 841

Today was open house at Camp Westwind, which was conveniently nearby our rental house and just "happens" to be the camp that Carrie runs an Outdoor School at. So Parker, Grandma and I rode the barge over while Carrie and Kaitlyn drove in. After exploring some of the camp, we headed down to adventure on the beach at Cascade Head.

Day 840

After waking up bright and early with the kids, we all (Grandma, Mindy, Carrie, Parker, Kaitlyn and I) headed down to Newport. We spent the morning seeing all the sights at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and then had lunch in Newport. We briefly stopped in at the Historic Bayfront, but with drizzly weather and grumpy children, we headed back to our house for naps.

Day 839

Les and Job flew out to Vegas this morning and since I couldn't let the boys have all the fun, I gathered the Ladies, took a day off work and headed to the beach for the weekend. On the way to our rental, we stopped off in Neskowin and had lunch with Aunt Sara and Uncle Alex. Both kids had a great time showing off their technological savvy to Uncle Alex - and Alex got a kick out of Talking Tom on the iPhone. (Hopefully we brought some sunshine to them because, they'd had their house broken into the day before. Thankfully no one was home at the time, but they had their car, electronics and some jewelery stolen.)

Day 838

Les and Job are the proud owners of a season tickets to the Portland Timbers during their inaugural season in the MLS. And they can proudly say that the Timber won their home opener 4-2.

Day 837

A new trend in Parker's artwork - the American flag. It's also a new thing we spot out our window any time we drive places. I have to say that I didn't realize how many businesses have the American flag flying, until Parker started noticing all of them.

Day 836

My favorite husband not only sent me a photo for the day, but also the journaling . . .

You probably don’t know who this guy is, but his name is “Free Throw Guy.” He sits near court side and waves his arms and taunts the opponents when they shoot free throws at Blazer games. You either love him or hate him, as he is a little obnoxious. The Columbian ran an article about him last week that was full of stats proving that since he started attending games, opponent free throw percentages are significantly off. Also, as you switch sides each half, opponents shoot much worse during the half that he is present.

Anyway, I let him take a picture with me.

Day 835

I can't describe how much I love this photo. If I can pass my love of reading on to my kids then I will count myself as a successful parent. I know she's only three and can't actually read any of the words, but it still warms my heart to see her cuddled up with a books. (And yes that is my book of Langston Hughes poems she is reading . . . she's so advanced for her age.)

Day 834

I switched out the St. Paddy's print with this Easter one - I am loving this new addition to our home decor.

Day 833

There was geocaching event in Lincoln City, so Parker and I piled in the Enclave with Mindy, Jenn and Rachel for a day on the Oregon Coast. We stopped at the Baskett Slough on the way down for a short hike around the sanctuary. We ended the adventure a the D River State Park to play in the sand. Parker particularly enjoyed throwing rocks into the ocean. We were able to steer mostly clear of the rain, but it definitely wasn't the warm spring day we'd been hoping for. Still any chance to go to the coast . . .

Day 832

As part of their season ticket holder benefits, Les and Job got a chance to meet with several former Blazers . . . include Jerome Kersey.

Day 831

So I was trying to get a shot of Kaitlyn's braided pig tails (so cute!) but she wasn't having any of it.

Day 830

So the dishwasher seems to be leaking . . . thankfully I have a husband who isn't afraid to get down and check things out.

Day 829

Les had couple of extra tickets to the Blazer game and was able to bring along Mallory and her new boyfriend - however, it seems, she ditched the boy in favor of Ronald McDonald.

Day 828

Parker has been practicing his letters quite a bit lately - he will sometimes ask us to spell a word for him, or he'll copies letters off a book or some packaging. Other times he just writes out random letters and likes it when I try to pronounce what he has written.

Day 827

Another Blazer game for Les and Job, this time they are sporting their "3 goggles" - which is what the Blazers do every time they hit a three point shot.

Day 826

Spending a lazy Saturday morning in our jammies while working on some puzzles seems like a perfect way to start the weekend.

Day 825

The lunch crew headed once more down to the Red Coach for a birthday extravaganza. This time we were celebrating the Aries birthdays - including 5 consecutive birthdays March 29-April 2. We had 16 people squeeze into the back section - which is almost half of our whole office. For those who couldn't join us, there was plenty of left over Costco cake to share.