Where one goes the other one follows...

We met Jennah, Griffin and Sabine at the park after soccer class today.

The kids ran and climbed all over the playground...

played soccer, had a picnic, tried to climb a few trees and enjoyed the sun!

A couple of random pix...

I haven't been great about taking photos lately but Brian has been snapping a few here and there. The kids camped out in the living room earlier this week and love dragging toys and books into their tent.

This evening they spent 20 minutes giggling in the pantry with the light off. Goofy kids! So glad they have such a good time together.

Trying to catch up...

It has been too long since I have had time to post anything new! We have been crazy busy the last couple of weeks. We have had something almost every night lately which is fun but tiring. Last week Sam had school, swimming lessons, soccer and a few playdates. I was busy shuttling the kids around, volunteering at the Caddies 4 Cure concert, playing softball, hosting friends for dinner, and helping with our end of the year MOPS brunch. I had two Silpada shows which were a lot of fun as well.

Last night we had dinner with friends. The kids had fun running around and playing crispee (frisbee)... not sure where Sam came up with that one! They have a 1st grader so he was excited to play with a BIG boy.

This was going to be a quiet week, but our schedule is filling up with playdates, coffee and dinner out with friends, 3 softball games, and hopefully some time to relax. Brian is headed to the coast on Friday for his annual guy's weekend. The boys and I will be going to cousin Caden's birthday party on Saturday - the party season has begun!

In May we celebrate Sam, Mom, Brian, cousins Kelly, Caden and Zoe, Uncle Lee, Aunt Lisa, and Gail along with a few friends! I can't believe Sam turns 5 next week! I registered him for Kindergarten today!

Another 80 degree day in Portland

The boys and I drove over to our old neighborhood to play at Commonwealth Lake Park. Ben loves to watch the ducks and they have 2 playgrounds that the kids love. We did A LOT of swinging...

sliding...

throwing the ball for Aunt Lisa's dog...
Maddox even got to ride in the big boy swing...
After a picnic we walked around the park checking out the different kinds of ducks, birds and butterflies...All are tired and ready for a LONG nap!

Ben really wants to take swimming lessons with Sam...

he isn't old enough yet so last night he had to settle for this...

More fun in the sun...

Outside Fun

It is going to be a gorgeous, sunny weekend - they are predicting 80 degrees by Monday! We are going to spend as much time outside as possible!

Easter 2009

We had a good Easter morning - the kids woke up way too early and were excited to see if the Easter Bunny had come. Every time Sam found an egg he would yell "Egg!" and run off to look for another one.

Sorting through the goods...

Another egg...

Waiting for everyone to arrive for brunch... We had a great spread! Eggs, blueberry coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, sausage, fruit salad, hashbrowns and mimosas.

I was trying to get them to sit together for a photo but this is the best we could do...

Attempt at a family photo...
Busy boy...

The little boys playing with Papa...

Sam and Lizzie had a great time searching for eggs... We also had a dance party and made cards for Aunt Susie, Papa-Mimi and Grandma Sheila.

So proud of his chocolate bunny!

We had 3 other families over for dinner last night and the kids got to bed late and up early today - they were exhausted when everyone left and are both taking much needed power naps. The Easter Bunny is tired too!

Ben loves to help Brian clean up the yard

Easter Weekend...

We kicked off the start of our weekend with egg coloring Friday afternoon. The kids loved it and broke 5 eggs right way in the excitement! They had all 18 eggs done in the first few minutes but then had fun dunking them in different colors to see what crazy colors they could create.

Here is Sam with his eggs... Ben was still working on the rest of his and trying to dye his hands as green as possible. Almost all of Ben's eggs are some shade of green

Passing the time...

My Boyz

Field Trip

We picked up Papa this morning and headed to the zoo...

Most of the animals were out...polar bears, tigers, elephants, penguins... We love the sealions as they swim right up to the glass.

Ben insisted on walking most of the way. Mr. Independent wants to do whatever the big kids are doing!

The kids wanted to feed the birds in the Lorikeet Exhibit - a bird flew right by Sam's face and he decided maybe he didn't want them that close. We put our nectar on the ground and watched from a few feet away.

They loved riding the train...

Ben always wants to touch everything... Sam is too busy running ahead to the next exhibit.
Huge Salmon!
Driving the tractor...

We left at the perfect time - just as the kids were starting to get tired and cranky and the parking lot was swarming with people looking for spots!