Happy Independence Day!

We had high hopes for the day and while not everything went as planned, Carolyn, at least, had the best day ever. She told me so. Blake and Jeremy, not so much. Blake and Jeremy got sick Saturday night. I did too, but it seems my version was much less miserable. So this morning, I packed Carolyn up to go to a breakfast and then ride on an old firetruck for the Hillsboro parade. We were invited by some friends to help throw candy. We hoped the whole family could go, but, this morning, Blake's cough was even worse. Jeremy was supposed to go with Carolyn, but he was feeling lousy, so we switched jobs.

Carolyn had tons of fun throwing candy out to all the kids. The parade right goes right by my sister's in-laws' house, so Carolyn kept asking every five minutes if we could see Aunt Bean yet. We also saw some of her little buddies out in the crowd and that helped her get through the long route. We ran out of candy early and her attention dissipated after that.

We declined a barbecue invitation because the boys were sick. After dinner, we did baths and got the kids in bed. Jeremy and I were relaxing with some Friday Night Lights when Carolyn came downstairs and said she wanted to see the fireworks.

Our kids go to bed at seven. There has never been firework viewing with our kids. So, since sometimes I am a sucker, I called our friends and asked if the offer was still good to watch some fireworks in their backyard. I packed up Carolyn in her too-small pajamas an hour after bedtime and went out.

Here she is throwing those snap things at a piece of plywood. This is how we amused ourselves until it got dark.


This is what happens when you give a box to a two-year-old: all the snaps are unpopped. The older kids were more than happy to help pop them.

This is Carolyn's face when she heard her first big boom!

We watched lots of fireworks go off and even had to make some detours to get home because of all the people in the road lighting up their displays. She did tell me in a quiet moment that "today was the best day ever!"Doesn't this face just explain it all?

Anniversary date

Jeremy and I ditched the kids on Saturday to take an all-day pre-anniversary date. I really wanted to go on a real hike. We went out to Multnomah Falls. Never been there before. It's a zoo!! We started out at Wahkeena Falls and did a 5.5 mile loop. It was so pretty. This is before we got too sweaty.


This is the good stuff though. It was so pretty once you got up quite a bit on the ridge.
This was on our way back down. It's hard to believe we haven't been up here in the five years since we've been to Portland. But really, it isn't once you consider being pregnant and sick or trying to do this with kids.

This is the BIG waterfall where all the people are. So. Many. People. I was glad we started out at the other falls because there wasn't anyone on our hike until the last mile. By then, I was done anyway.
My camera doesn't have a lens where I could get a shot of the whole thing. I couldn't get far enough back.

After our hike, we went and got a milkshake and then drove back home. Later in the afternoon we went out to dinner and a movie. Both enjoyable, except the restaurant we went to dropped the only vegetarian option on the menu. So we left and picked a different restaurant that was so tasty. Jeremy's calzone was as big as his head, so he was happy. That might be the first time he's taken home a doggy bag though.

Thanks to my sister for taking the kids...especially since Blake is potty training. She must love me a lot. Or him. It's probably him. He's pretty darn cute.

Happy birthday, Carolyn!

December started with some of Carolyn's friends turning five. Since then, a steady stream of kids in preschool had their birthdays and Carolyn was content to know hers would be later. And then, Chandler, the favorite cousin, turned five in April. Since then, I have listened to a constant stream of "how long until June 15th?" Ten days ago I gave her the countdown and she's kept track for herself since then.

Today, we had her party. I got a little adventurous with the food when my friend sent me a link on how to make this:


We continued with the watermelon with these:



I didn't banish my daughter to candles in a tub of ice cream like last year. But only because I saw this in a magazine and thought they were super cute. It was much easier last year, but Carolyn actually ate one of these. Probably first birthday cake I've made for her that she has eaten.

Can I just say that those musical cards are perfect for a brand-new five-year-old?!

Now on a sentimental note, Jeremy and I had our 9th wedding anniversary yesterday. We celebrated early because of his work schedule and my party preparations. But yesterday as I was sitting on the carpet next to Carolyn, I thought back to what I was doing for my fourth wedding anniversary. Jeremy and I had Quizno's for lunch as we gathered stuff to go to the hospital for an unscheduled induction eight days past my due date. Then we spent the rest of the evening waiting for Carolyn to make her arrival. I will admit to asking the nurses how quickly they thought she'd come when they started the pitocin around 4:30. I really didn't want her to be born on our anniversary. I wanted that day for me and Jeremy. Little did I know that with her coming on the next day, I would be spending my anniversary decorating cakes and planning parties each year. But yesterday as I sat with her, I realized I really didn't mind.

Preschool Graduation

The last day of preschool has come and gone. Carolyn had a bubble extravaganza at the high school.


I can't believe Carolyn is done with preschool. I know it is so cliche to be all emotional about it. I didn't think I would be. It took me by surprise as I was watched her get her binder with all of her work from the past two years.

But just these two pictures show so much growth for her. Last year, she wouldn't go to the front of the room without her cousin holding her hand. This is the toddler who cried at Costco if the check out person talked to her, or sometimes just looked at her. This program has been wonderful for her. I couldn't be prouder of my little girl.

Rest of trip

This is some freak of a tree named the octopus tree.
It looks like it has a lot of comfy places for reading a book, but you aren't allowed to touch it. It's apparently really old.


Cape Meares lighthouse.


No trip to the coast is complete without hanging around the Tillamook cheese factory, especially when you can drive your very own cheese bus.

Movie time!

Watching Tangled with Grandma.

Astoria Column

This random tower stands over Astoria. I can't quite remember its purpose, or if it ever had one. But it sure gave us something fun to do as tourists for the afternoon.


Here's an up-close view of the engravings on the outside of the tower. Kind of fun, but hard to really appreciate when there's no way to really see it. I guess I could've brought binoculars. Didn't plan for that.
But you don't need binoculars for this. That's the view from the hill the column rests on. Later in the afternoon, by request, we drove over the bridge, turned around, and then drove it again.


There are 164 steps to the top of the column. Here is a shot on the way back down. Very tight space. A little awkward when people are coming up while you are going down.
A shot of all of us at the top. As you can tell from Carolyn holding her hood on tight, it was a bit windy. We didn't stay for up there for long.

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.