Sean's first day of school

First Day of First Grade

Today was Jackson's first day of school. He was very excited and happy to see all his friends. It was crazy at his school...all the parents were catching up while trying to drop of huge bags of school supplies. The kids and siblings were running around, photos were being taken, and the poor teachers looked a bit overwhelmed. Jackson was very calm and confident and was ready for me to leave his classroom. He put up with the incessant photo taking and did his best not to make a funny face.
Tomorrow is Sean's first day.

At The Oregon Coast

We took an end-of-summer day trip to the Oregon coast on Friday. We decided to bring Talus with us and he loved it. He kept running in the water to chase the waves, but as soon as he got his paws wet, he ran right back out. He was exhausted by the time we headed home. The boys loved it, too. In typical Oregon fashion, it was sunny and clear for 15 minutes, then clouds rolled in with a little rain, then the sun came out again.

Sipping on a lava flow

Lava Flow

I was just looking through our Hawaii photos and found this.....we all had to have at least one oversize friuty drink with an umbrella in it. In this case, a non-alcoholic lava flow.

At The Lake

This is what we did almost all day on Friday in an attempt to keep cool when it was 100 degrees outside. Our friends Laura and Andrew joined us.

Summer Fun

It has been very hot here the last few days. The boys have decided it is too hot to wear a shirt so they spend most of the day wearing only shorts.
It is also becoming very apparent that it is time for haircuts. But at this point I'm just going to let their hair be a little messy until we get the official back to school haircuts.

Sean hits the waves

Surf photos

Jackson did really well with surfing. He got up almost every time. The rest of us weren't so lucky...more photos to come.

Too much vacation

Boys playing in ocean at Kapalua

We had a great week in Maui. Did 2 days of snorkeling, a surf lesson, visited the Ocean Museum, ate lots of pineapple and enjoyed a lot of time at the beautiful beach.

Morning at the beach

More Hawaii

The beach in Kapalua

Jamison Fountain

This is one of our favorite spots downtown. Normally the boys would be in swimsuits and playing in the water, but this was just a quick visit on our way to get ice cream. I knew if we stayed much longer, both boys would be in the water. Fortunately, the prospect of ice cream was able to lure them away.

Waiting for candy

As all the floats go by, candy gets tossed out to all the spectators. So, of course, this is the focal point of the parade. After all the floats have passed, the kids (as well as strollers, wagons, scooters and dogs!) get in line and parade down the street.

Decorated bikes

Watching the 4th of July parade

Triathlon Weekend

We had a fun and HOT weekend in Sunriver, OR! The boys participated in the "Splash, Pedal and Dash" on Friday...first the kids go down a water slide/wading pool, then they do a 1 mile bike ride and finally a half mile run. They wear official race numbers and a timing chip on their ankle. They finish with a triumphant run down the finishers chute as the announcer calls out their names and hometown. At the end of the chute, they were awarded a finishers medal, which both boys displayed proudly for the rest of the day. Jackson had so much fun, he asked if he could do the race again!


The last photo is me....I finished my race as well! I felt great on the swim, great on the 58 mile bike and hot on the run...it got up to 96 degrees so I'm guessing it was already over 90 by the time I started the run. Fortunately, there were water stations every mile and I was able to stay well hydrated. I was very happy when I finally saw Jim and the boys at the finish line.

Possible Christmas Card Photo

Summer is finally here

We had an unusually long, wet spring....it's still not balmy but seventy degrees and sunny feels pretty good after weeks of cool, rainy weather.

Night at the museum

One of the year end activities for Jackson's class was a night at The Children's Museum....his class had the museum all to themselves. The museum visit was courtesy of a family from his class...they won it at a charity auction and graciously offered it to the graduating kindergarten class. Siblings were welcome and as Sean likes to say, it was "awesome".

More Ranch Photos

Jackson and Sean had a great time hanging out with all the other kids at the ranch.

Central Oregon

Jim's office had their annual work retreat at a ranch in Central Oregon last weekend. We rode horses, ate smores by a bonfire and played horseshoes. The boys loved the horses...though Sean was a little upset he wasn't allowed to gallop across the field.

Helping in the kitchen

This is how Jackson and Sean helped with dinner preparation this evening....

Morning Mayhem

This is a glimpse of what it was like this morning. You'll note one boy is all dressed and ready for the day. Someone else has a little work to do before he's ready for the walk to the bus stop.

Jackson's party

Here's a photo of Jackson's "friend" birthday party...the one we held at Pump It Up since I'm not brave enough to have twelve 6 year old boys in the house at one time.

Saturday Baseball

We had another nice day for Jackson's weekend b-ball game. Many of the kids are hitting from a pitch now instead of off the tee. (Jackson had 2 great hits). It's amazing how much progress they've all made in the last 2 weeks.

First Smores of the Season

We had such nice weather over the weekend, we decided to try out the fireplace. The patio is not finished yet, but the fireplace is all done and was perfect for making smores.

Six years old

Jackson had a great 6th birthday. Lots of fun presents, birthday wishes from family, cupcakes at school and a homemade Star Wars Lego chocolate cake.
Plus, a brand new bike.

Feels like summer

We had a brief glimpse of summer-like weather on Saturday. It was hot and sunny...so warm that the boys had on their bathing suits and we filled the wading pool with water. Jim took Jackson for a ride in the kayak and then we all had had a popsicle break. SEan decided that pirate rain boots were the perfect footwear to pair with a bathing suit.

Goofing off

One more picture of apres ski goof off time in Park City.

Poor Talus

I bought Sean a balloon last week as a reward for very good behavior at the grocery store. Later he decided Talus should have it. I'm not sure Talus thought that was such a great idea!

Sidewalk message

Jackson called me out front the other day to show me the message he'd written in the driveway with sidewalk chalk. I'm not sure if you can read it...it says "mom I love you mom". Very sweet...

Patio Project

Here is the fireplace...the surrounding area is still a work in progress. The electrician is supposed to be here today to install a few lights in the ceiling of the structure. Then the wood guy will finish the ceiling as well as the new over hang outside the back door. We'll work on replanting and adding landscaping details after all the messy constuction is done.

The lovely view from Sue and Brian's

We had a great dinner with Auntie Sue Bee and Uncle Brian...hopefully their family room has been restored to order after post meal wrestling match started by the boys!

More Fun in the Snow

One of the highlights of the trip was the snow park with tubing and mini snowmobiles.
The skiing was great, too!

Spring Break