Shipwreck Beach

We detoured on our way to Astoria to see a shipwreck on a beach out somewhere.

I have to get out from behind the camera every once in awhile so the kids can remember I went on all these trips with them too!

We were outside very briefly. We just ran down the dune to the wreck, touched it, took pictures and went to the car. We were soaked. But it wasn't even raining. It was just misting. But quite the mist because it brought out all of Carolyn's curls.

Round and round and round we go

So because it rained (and rained), we spend some time inside at the Seaside Carousel. Nothing better than spinning in circles forever. Can you tell I stayed on the sideline while Jeremy rode? I got motion sick just watching them.

Children have fantastic equilibrium, and so Carolyn and Blake loved it, of course. They would have let us stay all day.

Cannon Beach

Apparently I haven't taken pictures since Grandma Horner came for a visit at the beginning of May. That makes it easy to play catch up since there is nothing else for me to blog about.

Jeremy managed to get a few days off work and we headed to Cannon Beach.


As soon as we arrived, we headed down to the beach.
Carolyn loves digging and making stuff. Blake mostly likes destroying it. But he did enjoy watering the sand.


It's a real good thing that we did go right away. It rained the rest of our time out there. We wouldn't have had another opportunity to go dig.

Tulips Tulips Tulips

On Grandpa's last full day we made a trip down to Woodburn for the tulip festival. Of course we stopped for some breakfast dessert for the four grandkids first.

I've found the older my children get, the more uncooperative they are for photos. Carolyn scrunched up her face and protested every thing I asked her to do.

Oh well. I still have Blake and Emilee. They were happy to look cute atop the tractor.

Have you ever tried to get a nice picture with four kids? We would have settled for decent, oh well.

Grandpa helped out at the ducky races.

Carolyn helped protect Blake from the mass of kids wanting to ride the slide. I was nervous letting Blake climb up there, but I knew with Carolyn creating a human shield, he at least wouldn't be pushed off before he could reach the top.

This is where the real magic happened for Carolyn and Chandler. They found these cute horse swings and rode them for close to 45 minutes. Grandpa just went back and forth pushing and twirling them. I think I would have felt queasy after about 5 minutes, but they loved it. I tried to help out and push Carolyn once. I was quickly informed she needed Grandpa!

Blake tried all morning to get Grandpa's hat from him. He was finally successful as we were walking back to the car.
I love the tulip festival. The kids love to go. We had a wonderful day this year. Usually, even if it's a nice day, all the rain we get in the spring makes for very muddy fields. It was mostly dry this year and none of the kids needed the rain boots they wore.

Rose cake

I don't normally take pictures of my food, but I will admit to being particularly proud of this cake. It's so pretty. The best thing was how fast the decorating went. I've spent hours star-tipping my kids' birthday cakes. This was done start to finish in less than 30 minutes.


And this was extra fun to cut into. (Yes, Dad, I know the grammar rule, but I'm leaving it.)

I followed this tutorial from I am baker. It was a lot of fun to surprise my good friend with this for her birthday.

Shooting

The first day my dad was here, we had a small break from the Oregon rain. He wanted to try out his new gun, so we drove out to a shooting range.

Carolyn demonstrates why we are staying in the car to watch. I didn't have ear protection for the children, so we hung out in the front seat listening to music watching Grandpa.

Here's Blake trying to get a good look at what Grandpa is doing. We were able to park directly behind where Grandpa shot. I even had a chance to get out and push the buttons for him to send the clay pigeons flying. I did that a lot as a kid. But maybe not as much as my little sister who would miss school for such adventures, much to her chagrin.

Aquarium

My dad has been in town this week. I snatched up a groupon to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and we went down to Newport on Thursday. The kids did great on the drive.




Carolyn loved the touch tank. She spent a good while poking and prodding all the little animals living inside of it.


This was Blake's favorite feature. There is an exhibit with tunnels through large tanks where you can see the fish swimming all around you. They also had a plexiglass on the ground--perfect for a little guy to press his face to and watch all the action underneath. Once he got up again, he had dirt smudged on his nose from the bottom of everyone else's shoes.

Little climber

This wasn't the picture I hoped to capture. I had gone in Blake's room and found Carolyn snuggling with him in his crib. I grabbed my camera, but by the time I got back I caught Blake climbing out of his crib.

Scouts

Carolyn has tagged along with me to Scouts for the past year or so, and wants to be a cub scout so badly. Today was our last day with the boys, and she was so excited to come. We did a tool project and, by golly, there was one extra block of wood. She was in heaven spending a good 30 minutes concentrating and turning the screws down.



Anyone know anything about Girl Scouts? I am interested in it as a program for Carolyn possibly. She is a bit miffed that she can't be a cub scout, understandably so.

When Blake dresses himself...

My date tonight

While Jeremy took Carolyn to a Winterhawks hockey game, I went on a short date with this cute little man.

Snow day

Blake made his first snow ball a few weeks ago.


Carolyn worked on a snowman.

And I found out how wonderful it is to have good neighbors. We are in a townhome with no yard. I also have children who wish they could play outside all day, especially Carolyn. She begs for it, but there is only so much time I can spend outside before I need to get back to things like dinner and laundry. In this case, poor Blake was frigid. He wanted to play in the snow so much, but once we got outside, he just stood there. I needed to take him in, but Carolyn asked to stay outside. I told her she had to come in with me. Our neighbors were out playing and their pre-teen daughter offered to keep playing with Carolyn until she needed to go home herself. I agreed and took Blake in the house. This shouldn't seem like such a big deal, but Carolyn was able to play outside while I was inside. Without a yard, it is a huge deal. Also, Carolyn ate up the attention of the older girl. The best part was I know her family, and I knew she was a wonderful example for Carolyn to look up to. The only downside to this situation is they hope to move this summer. But until then...Carolyn has a little more freedom. As do I.

Elmo

I found an Elmo costume on clearance after Halloween and swooped it up for Blake's birthday. I figured he loves Elmo and $4 is a fabulous price. My great idea was a bit of a bust. He didn't want to wear the Elmo costume at all. We threw it in the dress up box and moved on with life.

But a few months later...

...and it was hard to get him to take it off again.


Aren't sisters the best? They like to jump in on Mom's picture of you and "hug" you around the neck.

Rosie Souffle

Blake amused himself in the kitchen one night, so I just let him be. After about 15 minutes I went to see what fascinated him so much. He was baking up a culinary treat!


For the video, click here.

Carolyn rebels against my parenting style

I have to admit the first part of this conversation is approximate because I tuned out after the 15th request for TV.

Carolyn: blah blah Barney blah blah Waverly Place blah

Me: no

Carolyn: blah blah pretty please blah blah blah

Me: no

Carolyn: When I have kids, I am going to tell them, "Kids, you watch TV all day!" And I am going to give them treats EVERYDAY, and sometimes for breakfast!


This marks my first foray into blogging for awhile. I apologize to the grandmas. Skype has made uploading pictures less of an immediate need. I love Skype. But there will be pictures again.