Playing in Portland

Oma had a union meeting in Jantzen Beach this weekend so the kids and I went too to relax at a hotel, swim and play around the area.

We had visits from Nanny/Grandpa and the Ruiz family throughout the weekend, all included at least a meal out and the kids swimming at the pool. The kids and I also made it to Great Grandpa Lovely’s for a short visit with a bonus of seeing Annie and Evan along with the famous Snoopy!
We played at the Children’s Museum on Saturday where the kids got to explore in a variety of mediums, water, fairy tale land, face painting, building/plumbing and so much more. Sesame Street was the main attraction at the museum, it was fun for Mom to see the famous green double doors to the apartments of Sesame St., and then watching the kids play dress up to look like Cookie Monster or Big Bird. The kids even sat in front of a green screen and sang or counted with a Muppet on tv. That was neat!
After dinner we stopped by the carousel and let the kids take a ride before hitting the pool for the evening.

Mom sure does enjoy getting time away from housework/yard work and just “normal life” once in a while.

Easter

Family gathered at my brothers this year so the kids could color eggs and play. It was a good time and the kids wore themselves out playing inside and out. Don’t think the highlight of their day was coloring eggs by the looks of the photos but they did have fun.

The eggs the twins colored turned out to be the batch my brother/wife boiled up. I tried to make some egg sandwiches the following week and smashed the egg with my hand on a napkin for pealing and the yolk shot out around my hand and between my fingers! YUCK! I grabbed another and it too had not been cooked. Oh…how they all think that was funny! Turned out the wrong carton was grabbed out of the fridge that day. So know we have no boiled and they have two dozen snack eggs! HA

Went to Myrtle Creek again this year for the egg hunt. I enjoy helping set up the egg hunt for the town, even in the pouring rain this year. Grandma and Grandpa drove down to watch the kids grab eggs in the rain too, got wet twice that day, once watching D race around in Roseburg for her eggs and then again with the twins. Rain and cold it was still a nice weekend and the kids had a good time!
Their Easter baskets came and they got quite a few goodies. Friends Libby & Chris gave them a very nice basket of toys and candy as well. Not spoiled here…no…really…

Balloons/Cows and Family

Oma had to work this weekend so the kids and I headed south for a few days. Started off with a carnival at Connie’s school. The kids bounced in a blowup bouncer, threw beanbags, basketball, rings and peanuts for prizes. At cotton candy and drank soda pop…all before eating any sort of good dinner. What a great time!

The next day we took a walk with Rachelle & Connie to visit some cows, feed them and jump in some puddles. Rachelle and the kids had a good time blowing up balloons and seeing how high they would fly and they shot from their hands.
Headed to my folks mid afternoon, our first visit since they have been home from Thailand. Good to see them and just hang out. Grandpa played tag and hide-n-seek for probably two hours that night with the twins and needed quite the shower before bed. The kids were really worn out as well but I don’t think as much as Grandpa was.

Got to see close to ¾ of the photos they took on their trip along with quite a few stories. Wow, what an adventure and fun they had. I will hope to finish up the rest of the photos next time and more stories. We also received gifts from their trip, which we will get to adorn from time to time. Beautiful.

Mom did a lot of cooking, taking care of us and then we just got to catch up on life.
Just what a weekend should be…hanging out and enjoying family/friendships…laughter.

Thailand Vacation

My folks went to Thailand for a vacation and not only had an eye opening experience but a great time! I heard the temp was around 100 and the humidity the same. Sounds great to me…ok, not really.
There is a little slide show that my Mom put together of the trip. If you have a minute or two check it out. I’m looking forward to reading their vacation book and looking at all the photos when it’s put together.

Biking to Nowhere

Nice spring break this year, low key for the most part and at least I liked that part.

Did some family visiting enjoying Maggie’s Birthday the first part of the week. Kids played hard with their cousins and came home energized.

Tried to help Todd with a fence in the middle of the week but the rain-thunder/lightning showed up and we didn’t really feel up to holding a large roll of metal fencing out in the field. Cole was with me and had a good time running around in the mud and then hanging with his cousin when she got home.

Oma and Jo went for an eight mile bike ride that day and I hear from Jo that she loved it! She say geese and ducks and just had a good time peddling most of the way…only saying her bottom hurt around mile six. Not bad for such a long ride. She is ready to go again.


Then on our rainy or cold days Oma puts her bike on her trainer and rides to nowhere for a little exercise. Jo enjoys the peddling as well…couple pieces of wood under her training wheels and off she goes.

Back to the grind now, school – work and normal life at this time.