July 28 - the Ocean

Extremely high temperatures forced us to reconsider not driving long distances this Summer (due to high gas prices), and on Sunday we headed to the coast.

First stop, Astoria. We found many art galleries and pubs, but not a "family" place to have late lunch. No easy access to the ocean and too much traffic. We piled back into our truck and drove to Seaside. Despite temperatures in 100's in Portland area, Seaside's didn't go above 60's. Little too chilly for me to take a swim, but kids didn't care and spent quite a while running in and out of the water, digging for treasures, and looking for crabs and shells.
All in all, a very nice day.

June 21st weekend

This weekend Tim decided that boys needed a "Summer haircut". After some negotiation, we agreed that Gabe will get the buzz he has been asking for and I will take care of Jon's hair later.

There is plenty of time before school starts back up for Gabe's hair to grow out. Plus, this short hair makes his showers even faster (if that is possible).

(Jon's haircut to follow soon...)

Meanwhile, Larissa got tired of being teased for not being able to ride a two-wheel bike, took Gabe's old bike and with a few frustrations out of the way, she was able to learn it all in one evening.

It literally went from "please hold my bike" to "watch me ride with only one hand" in a matter of an hour. It was totally amazing, and now all she wants to do is ride up and down the street!

Fathers Day weekend, 2008

This Friday a group from work had an "off site event". We went to the Jackson Bottom Wetland preserve. Turned out to be a gorgeous day for that too. After, what seems like an endless rain and cold in Oregon, we finally had a nice warm sunny day.
We started off with a delicious boxed lunch from Penera's Bread, then went on a guided walk. Learned new things about local nature and enjoyed the fresh air.

Friday night Tim returned from MI, and his girls flew in the same night, just in time for Fathers Day!

On Saturday I run Helvetia Half-Marathon (http://www.runwithpaula.com/)! That's right, 13.1 miles.
Since I have not trained, I decided to run until I can run no more, then walk the rest. As the adrenaline kicked in, I felt like I can do anything, so I kept pushing myself, repeatedly recalculating (in my head) how many miles I completed vs. how many miles are left...
When I got to the mile mark "7", I thought to my self "I am already more then half way done, might as well keep going..." Then I would count the number of miles left in my race and not how far I am into it. I think that helped. I surpassed all personal expectations. My goal was to finish in 3 hours and I was done in 2 hours and 14 minutes!
Needless to say, I was (and still am) pretty sore...

Sunday we all enjoyed a nice day and all the pretty flowers we have in our garden.

June 7th weekend

This weekend was Mom & Dad's 40th Anniversary!


Tim flew to MI as a surprise, overnight on Friday. He sure surprised his Mom when, while on the phone, he said that he needed to talk to her about something... in person... and then walked into the room!
I hear it's in 90's in MI, while it's barely mid 50's here in OR.

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We went on a Family Walk on Saturday, got rained on, but glad we walked! Beats sitting at home, getting over a nasty cold!

Jon REALLY didn't like wearing the safety vest and the number. He desperately tried wiggling his way out of it, but some distraction with Jelly Belly's took his mind away and he kept it on... at least most of it.

Still trying to clean out our boxes filled with junk. They go from garage into the house, get sorted into "keep" and "donate" piles, then "keepers" get put away.

Somehow, kids are managing to find toys that have not been designated as "keepers" yet... We did find good use for the wardrobe boxes. They make a wonderful "spaceships" and stand up to the abuse normal toys wouldn't stand up to!
Of course, Jon thinks it's a "Lego's Star Wars" and Larissa thinks it's a "Barbie" spaceship...

Home demolition, Part II

This weekend was spent watching "the carpet guy" complete his job, cleaning out the apartment, and moving more boxes out of the storage into garage.
Finally, about 2pm on Saturday (May 31st) the carpets were all done!

Spent the rest of my day vacuuming the carpet' fibers off the floors...
And making sure everyone had their shoes off...

On Friday I went on a field trip to Jackson Bottom Wetlands (Gabe went on another field trip with Dad to the Capitol) . What a cold nasty day for the outdoor activities! We were totally frozen by the end of our three hour hike/lunch/lecture. So glad I brought a blanket!

I think kids had fun, but would've been nicer with some sunshine.

We took a class photo. This is Ms. Nelson's last year at our school. She is moving on...