Happy Birthday Dad!

We have a very special dad with a birthday today! Larson and Cora would like to share all the things they love most about their daddy:

1. Runs in Bob. If we added up all the miles that dad has pushed, hauled, carried and pulled Bob (our jogging stroller), we could probably go across the country and back again. What a great way to start the day: cruising through the 'hood, snacks at the ready, in Bob. Which also leads us to...

2. Street Scrambles. Dad makes the best Street Scramble partner. And he lets Larson eat as many cookies as he wants afterwards!

3. He loves to joke! Dad has taught Larson all number of silly joke lines, such as "Poop! there it is", "D-O-W-N that's the way to get down", "Mom, it's chile con carne outside", and my personal favorite: "Vikings, vikings, vikings are coming, there is no place you can hide!" (this last one is more popular during football season) Now that Larson is older, every one of these comes out spontaneously at random times. With a giggle or two, of course.

4. He makes great scrambled eggs, with lots of shredded cheese on top.

5. He answers our probing questions. Dad can explain just about any science-y type question that Larson can dream up, such as "Dad, why can't we see air?" or "What do jellyfish eat?"

6. Supplies. Dad always makes sure that we are never caught without: a wipe, a lovey, a pacifier, a toy car/truck or a snack when we need one.

7. Wrestling moves! Larson and Cora both love to climb on, around, and over dad, which he happily allows. Larson especially likes the faux "back breaker" move. Cora just loves to get in on the action.

8. Awesome trips! Dad is responsible for organizing the majority of our family's travels. This includes our recent road trip, our trip to Hawaii in 2008 and scoring tickets to the 2010 Winter Olympics! (yes, we have tickets to two events...still no place to stay....). He is the most expert person we know on working the airfare system and finding awesome places to stay on a budget.

9. He's handy. Dad can fix just about broken toy and pretty much anything around the house that's just not working. Every once and a while, something is beyond salvaging, but the majority of the time he can work magic!
10. Matching Turkey shirts! (need I say more?)

We love you, dad and wish you the happiest of birthdays!

(Photos from last weekend's trip to the zoo)

A rare moment of sharing...

Summer Vacation, Part 2

Our first stop near the coast was the Tillamook Cheese Factory! It was actually a really fun place to stop and, not surprisingly, a hit with the kids. They have a cute self-guided tour with views of the factory floors and then you can stop and eat all the dairy you want . For us, this consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and ice cream for dessert. It was a little alarming for this health care worker to see the quantities of ice cream being consumed there...when did our culture decide that a pint of ice cream in a giant waffle cone equaled one "serving?" Scary.Cora gave Tillamook the thumbs up!After our visit with the cows, we turned south on Hwy 101, which is an amazing drive in itself that we highly recommend. Both kids took great naps and missed a lot of the scenery, but it made for a peaceful afternoon! We stayed in a small town just north of the dunes. Our first afternoon, we had just enough time to explore the pools at low tide:

Locally made fish & chips for dinner that night -yum!

We got really lucky and had sun the next day for our beach excursion. Cora was thrilled to dip her toes in the water:

We essentially had the beach to ourselves, which I think Larson regarded as the world's largest sandbox. We dug, poured, dumped, looked for shells, crabs and driftwood, ran waves and got covered in sand. It was great!

Cora making a break for it:

We visited another, more rocky, beach that afternoon. Larson and Brett climbed out on the rocks for a better view. It was a bit foggy, but actually still pretty nice. More local food for dinner: delicious lasagne with blackberry pie for dessert. (can you tell food is important to me? :)

The next morning, we departed for our final destination: Crater Lake National Park. It's a beauty. Not so easy to get there, but the drive was very scenic and worth it. Lots of places to stop along the way, too. The photo below shows a bit of the scale of the lake, which you really can't even see until you are right upon it. It was "discovered" in the late 1880s, I think, by someone going to California on horseback. Can you imagine just happening upon this? We stayed two nights here in the motor lodge (the more family-friendly option of the two available in the park, besides camping) and were pleasantly surprised at the accommodations & adjacent restaurant.

The next morning, we picked out a reasonable trail for a family hike. This was to be Larson's first "big kid" hike where we expected him to do all the walking. We chose the "Annie Creek" trail, which is a 1.6 mile loop down into a canyon, along a stream and up again. Surpassing our expectations of having to carry him back up to the start, Larson was really excited about the whole thing and led the way most of the time. Brett and I were so proud of him! On the flip side, Cora rode on my back and was not exactly happy to be doing so. Our little social butterfly got excited when we saw other hikers and she had people to wave at, but in between she got a little restless. So we made a few stops :)

Larson was trying to "fish for salmon" in the stream with his stick:

"I love road trips!"

Sadly, our camera battery died just at the end, so this was the best family shot we got on the last day. Overall, a great trip with beautiful scenery. And a lot of geology. :)

Summer Vacation, Part 1

Our first real vacation as a family of four consisted of a road trip through some highlights of Oregon last month. Our first stop was actually in Washington: Mt. St. Helen's. I'm not quite old enough to remember much about its eruption back in 1980, but it was interesting to think about this major "disaster" that happened during my lifetime. Fortunately, one of the visitor's centers had a playground, which turned out to be a very timely distraction for our littlest road-trippers. Here are Larson and Cora going down the "volcano" slide:
Cora with Mt. St. Helen's in the background. Gorgeous day and great views!

Here I am, trying to explain to Larson why we couldn't walk right to the top:

Our next stop was Portland, where we spent a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the ability to shop with no sales tax :) Larson was very excited to ride the light rail. They have a big park with a great playground (notice a theme?)...

...and we also visited the beautiful Rose Garden. It's huge! Larson was very interested in this fountain and the concept of making a wish on your penny. This picture is just before his exuberance landed him in the fountain.

Cora and I posing under this great arbor of roses. I wonder how many weddings are held here each year? These gardens are amazing. And the fragrance as you walk up and down the rows is lovely.

We stayed at a hotel with a pool. Not to be dissuaded by the chilly temps and lack of late-afternoon sun, we were determined to go in. Larson loved riding around on dad (I have memories of doing this very same thing with my dad in our backyard pool growing up!).

Cora was a little less sure what she thought about taking a dip. Maybe when it's warmer...

We left Portland the next morning and headed for the coast! Stay tuned...

Another boy baby!

Late in August, we gathered on a beautiful afternoon for Sarah & Greg's baby shower. (Sarah is the one with the adorable baby bump and Greg just to her right.) Their little baby boy is going to join the 17 little boys produced by our residency class. That's right, out of 14 women who have had babies, 13 of us have had a boy for the first child! Crazy, huh? There are a few girls, actually; 7 to be exact. But I think no one is suprised any more when another of us announces that she is expecting her first child, a boy. :)

Cora was practicing her walking in her summer party dress.

Oops! Down she goes...

And up again!

So excited to be independent.
The most popular grown-up with the under-4 set is definitely Matt. They just couldn't get enough of him on the swing. This is standard fare for any of our get-togethers.

We tried to crowd as many kids as possible onto the swing. Here's a rare shot of our two little ones together.

And the whole group! Dalton, Alden (getting a little squished, but not seeming to mind that much - yet), Matilda (hiding), Alex, Malia, Kaleo, Larson & Cora.

Annika & Jess produced some very delicious afternoon tea fare and once again outdid themselves. It was great to get together and celebrate another baby boy - congratulations to Sarah & Greg!

Blackberry picking

August once again brought blackberries to our neighborhood. After we decided the strawberry jam I made back in June was actually edible and, in fact, quite good, the family set out to gather blackberries for more jam-making. Last year when I did this, Cora was only a couple of weeks old and slept in the Moby the entire time. This year she has graduated to the backpack and is twice as heavy!
Larson was a bit put off by the "prickers" and elected to spend the morning using his spray bottle to "get bugs."

He did help out a little, though, and all was going well until I set Cora's backpack down & turned around for a minute. I turned back to find a big, black, buzzing insect in her right eye! The poor thing was trying to rub it away and not having much luck. I rushed at it with the fierceness of a mother bear defending her cub, but she was left with either a sting or fly bite just below her eye....and a lot of tears to accompany it. Note to self: do not leave baby unattended near blackberry bushes laden with fruit!

Good thing she likes fruit! Stuffing herself full of blackberries was a good way to feel better, along with dad's lap.

We picked enough for a full batch of jam, which tastes pretty good. I didn't quite figure out how to strain the seeds out, so maybe that's a project for next year. It feels so retro to have a pantry shelf of mason jars full of jam that I made myself. But certainly a great way to "preserve" summer memories for the rest of the year.

Garbage day

Hmmm....what's all the excitement happening outside our window on this ordinary Wednesday morning?

Garbage and Recycling pick up, of course!

Who knew the big green trucks would be such a delight? :)