Independence Day weekend 2009

What is better that a long weekend? A long weekend spent with your family!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Independence Day with our friends.

On Friday night we got all ready for the next day's celebration and a trip to the beach. At the sunset Jon and Larissa sat out front and blew soap bubbles. It was a little challenging getting the bubbles going, with the wind blowing in our direction, but I think they figured it out.

Larissa set the stage.

and Jon followed.

On Saturday he had a late start, in part because we stayed up too late the night before and in part because our friends' invite didn't specify the time. We played it safe and aimed for lunch-ish. One thing we didn't count on was driving through the tail end of the Hillsboro parade on our way to a highway. All the festivities were over and people were heading back home, sharing the road with us.

Weather by the ocean was in low 70 (about 20 degree difference from home). Actually too chilly for us to get down to our swimsuits. Even though we all had them on, we opted to keep the top layer on.

Wasting no time, kids got to building sand castles and moats. After Larissa wiped out in the waves, I realized that I best take her insulin pump off. Her glucose numbers were good, she didn't feel like eating, and with all the running she managed to keep it off for 5+ hours, while keeping her numbers pretty stable.

At first Larissa worked by herself.

Then, Larissa and Jon worked as a team.

Gabe worked alone for the most part (except for the help from Mom when he was running low on energy).

In my opinion, water was freezing. My ankles lost feeling as soon as I got my feet in the water. But, that didn't seem to bother the kids a bit. They went right in and played in the ocean for a while.

Jon wasn't allowed to go too far, so he chased the waves. I don't really think he mind it too much though.

To warm up kids used hot sand. One downfall to that is that now I have sand in my truck, in the washer, in the dryer, in their bath tub...

BBQ was very nice. Some of the best burgers I ever had. Larissa didn't feel like eating, so I scored two burgers as a result. Probably not the best thing for my diet, but so worth it!

If that wasn't enough, we still had to go home and fire up some fireworks. Typically, we don't buy any, but we made an exception this year. Oregon is pretty strict on the safety, so we figured, if it's legal, it can't be that dangerous... Kids were beyond excited!

Larissa was a little afraid at first, but braved it out for a sparkler.
Gabe went on and on, "more, I want more!"
Jon started off slow, but then we couldn't stop him :-)
Even Dad took some time off from lighting the fireworks to enjoy them.
We finished with the BIG BANG. Made the neighbors proud, I am sure.

Big concert weekend

What a weekend we had! So packed with fun, I am not sure I can recall it all...

On Friday night my friend Mary was offered a few free tickets to Jonas Brothers' concert on a Saturday night and I was more than happy to accept some. I knew that if nothing else, Larissa would be thrilled to go. When I checked their website I found out that they would not allow any "professional" cameras (a.k.a. SLR camera) at the show. So, I decided it was time to invest into something more portable, something that would fit in a pocket, just to have handy in case you need it. Lucky for me, I still had $75 worth of Wellness gift cards (thanks Intel!), so my purchase price was greatly reduced. I went to the store with a full intent to by a Nikon, but walked out with a Canon... I guess I am a Canon gal after all...

We already had plans to attend ADA sponsored Family Connection event at the Bullwinkle's Fun Center and that how we started off our Saturday. This was a great day for any outdoor activity, but especially when it is free and fun. Larissa ended up winning a pair of Box seat tickets for the Jonas Brother's event there! That made up our mind, the whole family will go!

Kids had so much fun playing arcade games

And shooting Mom with a water gun (even though I asked them not to, sigh...)

But we had to leave early to get ready for the concert. We stopped by Mary's house to get the tickets and found out that she will be able to join us (she got an extra ticket)! Things were just getting better and better.

Once home, we got ready for the next fun event, hopped the MAX train and headed downtown.

Larissa made sure she had a proper attire (and a matching Jonas Brothers handbag) and proudly showed off her tickets.

Concert was GREAT! Everything was so well thought out. The lights, the smoke, the props. Honor Society, Jordin Sparks & Wonder Girls as the opening acts.

We all had fun watching the show, but all wished we brought some ear plugs... Let's just say that 10,000 pre-teen girls yelling at the same time can make your ears ring for days.

What was pretty incredible Tim and Larissa's box seat was almost directly behind us, so we basically got to see everything from the same point (with the exception of having to pay for our food and drinks...).

But what was even more incredible is that Jonathan managed to fall asleep a couple of songs into JB's part of the show and sleep all the way through! I didn't think ANYONE can sleep through the noise, but he proved me wrong. Gabe took a catnap too, but he will never admit it...

On Sunday all the alarm clocks were turned off, all the window shades were drawn shut. We needed some sleep! No one was up before 9am and Larissa was the last one to get up at 11:30am!!

It was such a gorgeous day, we HAD to go pick some berries. Strawberries are pretty much gone, and blueberries are just starting. We were able to get a large box filled, then kids lost interest in picking and started playing a jungle game.

Larissa was hunting in tall grasses.

And Jon went shirtless. Because no one wears shirt in a jungle.

Gabe stayed home, too tired to go outside, while catching up on his video games. When I got home, he got a hold of the new camera and "went to town". I KNOW he is my son now. He took a bunch of subject pictures like this one:

To Bee or not to Bee...

I say NO to bees!

As I mentioned earlier we finally plugged the vent hole on our chimney which was used by a colony of bees as an entrance/exit, but the darn bees still found the way to squeeze themselves through the screen material.

So, as Russians say "Necessity is the Mother of invention"... and Tim overlayed the screened hole with the play dough. Blue, of all colors, since that's what Larissa had to spare.

So far, it's working. Here is what it looks like (and yes, those are some bees still trying to get in):

My biggest fear - that bees find another way to get in and out, somewhere through our house...