Taco Night = Refried Beans

In the quest to get Gwen totally on table food I have found that I must do the best with what I got. So, since we were having tacos and that is not entirely a baby friendly dinner I gave Gwen the portion that she could most easily eat.

Which happened to be the refried beans. It may not be glamorous but it sure seemed to be tasty to her. I promise she enjoyed them more than the photos show. She was having a stoic moment with the camera.

Beach Fun! Part 3

Eric was very thrilled to be in the land of the Goonies!

I was just thrilled to be at the ocean. LOVE the ocean and the beach.

Happy family vacation time!

Can't wait until next year!

Beach Fun! Part 2

This section could also be titled Gwen's trip to the beach! I didn't know how Gwen was going to do at the ocean. This was all the kids first trip but I especially didn't know if Gwen was going to tolerate the wind and the sand and all the slightly irritating things that come with being at the beach. All in all she did great! The conference center that we were at has a wonderful kids program and it provided babysitting for all of the sessions and even some of the in-between time.

We finally got Gwen to the beach toward the end of the week. She seemed to really like the sand which was somewhat of a surprise. She still panics when I put her on the grass half the time.

Nothing like sand on the hands and then trying to suck your thumb!

We also got our Kelty kid carrier backpack back from some friends for the trip. Gwen ADORED being in the pack which made trekking to and from the beach so much easier! She didn't care so much for just being in the pack but when Daddy was walking and she got to see all the sights from up high she was happy as could be.

Napping at the beach was of course necessary. She was not so thrilled with all the sun in her eyes but snuggling with mommy always helps.

Beach Fun! Part 1

I have lots and lots of pictures to share. We spent the last 6 days at wonderful Cannon Beach, OR! The kiddos had a wonderful time and with the exception of Zane being ill, it was a roaring success of a vacation. Since I am not so hot at doing a day by day explanation of my trip you will get snapshots of our adventures!

One of the days the conference was having a sandcastle building contest. My munchkins were not so interested in the contest itself but playing in the sand certainly was high on the things to do list.

Lucy skipped her nap to come and play with us at the water. She did great for about an hour before she hit the wall of tired and fell apart completely.

Apparently wet sand is very upsetting to a little girl! She cried and screamed until she fell asleep on my lap. Then we went back to the room where she finished sleeping. Note to self: Never take sleepy toddler to the beach!

Zane had a fun time playing in the sand but he managed to be ill for almost the entire vacation. He spent a lot of time sleeping in the room. He did manage to play on the beach a bit though.

It was lots of fun to snuggle up with a towel and watch all the others build the castles!

Cannon Beach

Full blog posts will commence when I return but for now we are having a wonderful time!

Tired Much?

After running around to say Happy Father's day to Gene today we got home. It was a lot later than usual and we knew the girls needed naps desperately. Eric told Lucy to get out of the van so she could have lunch. She started to move and so he went in the house. 5 minutes later he went back out to the van to investigate why she wasn't inside.

At first he thought she was messing with him. Then he told her to get inside again and she didn't move at all. He got suspicious.

Upon closer inspection he discovered a very tired little girl who had found a nice headrest. I wonder how long she would have stayed like that?

Andrew's Journal

Since it is the end of the school year Andrew is bringing home a whole bunch of stuff that he has been working on in class. It hurts my heart to just throw it away but I cannot seem to bring myself to save everything. I suppose that is where a blog and a scanner come in nicely. I can save it all this way but not have the permanent paper clutter. I hope you enjoy reading Andrew's journal as much as I did!


















Hope you all enjoyed it as much as Eric and I did!

Couch Potato

Gwen loves to sit on the couch all by herself. I think it must feel like a personal playpen to her. She is happy as can be just sitting up there with the rest of the family. She also has learned that the remote does stuff. Sigh....


She certainly looks proud of herself doesn't she?

Hiking with Daddy

Eric took the boys on a hiking adventure this weekend. The weather was gorgeous and the boys are always in the mood to go and hike. Plus Eric needed to scout out a trip for a youth group camping trip that is happening this summer. The guys decided to go and try the Robe Canyon trail. It is one that Eric has done before but the boys haven't. Eric figured if a four year old could do it then it would be just about perfect for whiny teens. Anyway, off they went on the trip.


The plan was to have lunch during the hike. However Eric has been helping build a dock this week and has been in the sun a lot. He is quite burnt to a crisp. So that meant it was up to the boys to shoulder the burden of food and drink. Years ago we got Andrew and Eric camel-packs and they have room for some food in them. Andrew was able to wear Eric's and Zane was thrilled with Andrew's. I think that the boys peed on every bush during the hike due to all the water they drank. Boys will be boys I suppose.

I think Eric could get used to them carrying the packs though!

Playpen?

Eric was playing with the kiddos in the front yard last night and I was on a run. I guess he didn't want to worry about what Gwen was getting into.


She seems awfully proud of herself doesn't she?

Sidewalk Chalk and Hopscotch

After days and days of nasty rainy weather we finally got a chance to go outside and play. Since our lawn was about a foot long I opted to let the kids play with some sidewalk chalk after the thrill of riding bikes wore off.

Gwen did not know what to make of the chalk. She kept eating it which meant I had to keep taking it away. She was not happy with me.

Zane asked for some hopscotch. I happily obliged him.

Hopscotch kept him busy for quite awhile. By the time he was bored Andrew was home from school. It made my afternoon go much quicker.

Lucy apparently thought that the chalk was makeup. She kept rubbing it all over her face. Goofy little girl.

Letterboxing Hike

Today we took a quick adventure into the world of letterboxing! The kids were very excited to go into the woods on an adventure. Eric and I didn't realize how much of an actual hike this trip would be. So we brought the stroller. We ditched it about 1/8 of the way and just carried Gwen the rest of the way. It was a good call.

Letterbox #1! The kids were very excited to find the first box. Inside is a stamp and a little notepad to sign your name on. It reminded me of "The Book" hike in Ellensburg.

Andrew in particular got very into the clues to find the boxes. Plus he really enjoys hiking. It was a super win-win adventure for him.

Letterbox #2! Andrew was a trooper about climbing into the bushes and on the stumps to look for the boxes. Which was good since Eric was carrying Gwen and I was attempting to not get eaten to death by mosquitoes while taking pictures.

Letterbox #3! Zane was excited to be involved but a little bit concerned about getting dirty. He was happy to carry the last one and put it back though.

My sweet kiddos on a hike. Lucy was quite scared the whole hike. She kept saying "scary, scary" when she would slip. Andrew was very sweet and held her hand on the way back to the car.

I think letterboxing is something we will try again. The little ones just liked being out and about with us but the treasure hunt was a lot of fun too!