Christmas Tree and Santa Train

The holiday season is in full swing. We met up with friends to ride the Santa Train last week....a beautifully restored old train that does a short jaunt to downtown Portland and back with a special appearance by Santa. Six boys under the age of 7= a lot of energy. But there was plenty of room on the train so we made sure to sit in our own little compartment so we wouldn't annoy any other passengers. It was a gorgeous day...which may explain why all the boys are squinting...we aren't used to this much sun in December!
Then we headed out to a local tree farm on Saturday and found a lovely tree...again a sunny day. The whole tree excursion was a lot of fun except for the part where the tree almost slid off the car while we were headed home because the tree farm "helpers" neglected to tie down the back part of the tree. Fortunately, we realized what was happening just in the nick of time...and the tree was secured and made it home in one piece.

Making dinner rolls on Thanksgiving

Playing the Wii

Harvest Party

Sean's class had their Thanksgiving Party today. Here is Sean dressed as an indian, singing "Albuquerque the Turkey".

Up At Mt. Hood

This was outside a store in Government Camp, on the way up to the mountains. The boys were very excited to see small piles of snow around town.

Sunday Dinner

We are finally using our dining room. Not sure why we waited so long to use this room...now it's the designated spot for Sunday dinner.

Halloween

Things we've done lately

Played outside on a day off from school (Jackson), went to high school football game (lasted until halftime), had a doctor's appointment (4 shots....ouch....and up to 46 pounds and 44.5 inches tall).
Side note: Jackson had his check up as well. I was certain he and Sean would be the same weight, but Jackson has crept past the 50 pound mark...he is now 51 pounds and 49 inches tall.

Warming up for swim lessons

Mouthful of Hay

This is from our trip to the pumpkin patch last week. Despite the mouthfuls of hay, the boys wanted to go again and again.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Saturday soccer game

Getting ready for a bike ride

Sean has been coming up with some rather fetching combinations of clothing lately.

Homework

This is one of the biggest differences between kindergarten and 1st grade...homework! We have a few pages of reading and/or math plus we are working on 20 minutes of Jackson reading to us out loud each night. Keeping Sean occupied during designated homework time is sometimes a challenge.

Jet boat ride

On Saturday, I took the boys out for a Willamette Jet Boat ride. It was a "moms and sons" expedition ,organized by our local park and rec department. The boys loved it! The boat goes up and down the Willamette river and offers great views of downtown and the surrounding areas. Of course, the big draw was that the boat goes very fast and as an added bonus, the driver does several high speed spins and quick stops along the way ensuring everyone gets sprayed with water (unless you duck down). Fortunately it was a warm sunny day and we all dried off quickly.

En route to school

Heading upstairs for bath time

Portland Pirate Festival

This is what we did last Saturday. It was a fun event and amazing to see how many adults enjoy dressing up in pirate attire.

10 years today

From the archives

Last of summer

After two weeks of perfect weather, it looks like we are finally headed toward Fall. This may have been our last outside swim for a while.

Three kids, three dogs, one busy weekend

We were in Central Oregon this past weekend to babysit for a close friend I've known for almost 20 years. She went on an overnight hiking trip with her husband, and Jim and stayed at their house to watch their daughter and two dogs. We brought the boys and Talus and had a lot of fun going swimming, playing at the park and enjoying the beautiful views from their house.

Why September is our favorite month

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