Zoo Brew

Last night we met our friends Laura and Nick at Zoo Brew. There was food, live music and beer from over 20 NW microbreweries. This was an annual fundraiser benefiting the zoo's education programs. We had such a good time and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Gotta love how GREEN it is here in Oregon!

First Annual Adams Camping Extravaganza

Monday we drove down to South Beach (near Newport) for a few days of camping with Brian's family. We met down on the beach and the weather was perfect!

We couldn't check into our yurts until 4pm... and Sam was checking the time. He was so excited to see what the yurts were all about.

We finally checked in... this is a YURT!

The boys wanted to sleep together but that lasted all of about two minutes... then Ben climbed back onto the futon.

Sam found two FUZZY caterpillars and was so excited.

Helping Brian...
Buddies
Our site was right next to the playground. We spent A LOT of time there!
Brian and Char hanging out at the beach...
Heather and Maddox

Caden LOVED the beach!

Sam and Maddox making "soup"...
Ben was quite the little camper... and entertainer.

Lots of bike riding...

Lacey and Craig

Hatfield Marine Science Center
Touch tank at the Science Center... it was also feeding time for the octopus - the kids thought that was pretty cool.

Ben spent most of day on his bike - hence the helmet...

Sam didn't want his picture taken...

The first two days there was NO wind. Brian had to run Sam down the beach to keep his kite in the air!

Ben hanging out.

If you look closely you can see Sam's kite WAY up in the air. It was perfect weather for flying kites today. We had it up about 300 feet... and used a shovel and stick to anchor it in the sand while we built sand castles... the wind got a hold of it and off it went down the beach. I took off after it but wasn't fast enough! Ben talked about it the whole way home... how the wind "broke" the kite.

Brian had to teach today so he headed back to Portland last night around 5pm. The boys and I stayed to play and got home this afternoon - they were wiped out and in bed EARLY. I thought for sure they would sleep on the drive home...NOPE! We had a great time and the boys did really well. Looking forward to next year!

We're taking off...

We are heading out of town today... meeting Brian's side of the family in South Beach, OR for a couple of days of camping. The kids are so excited. The last time we camped Sam was 2 1/2 and we spent a few days at Lost Lake. This time we are staying in yurts - a first for us. South Beach is about 3 hours from Portland - and I am really hoping they sleep in the car as we are leaving right after lunch during their nap time...

Working together...

The kids had big after dinner plans... they started by helping Brian mow the lawn.

Then we collected a few more bugs. Sam is into worms right now and it shocks me that he picks them right up out of the ground. He usually won't touch frogs, bugs etc... apparently worms are ok.

While Brian and Ben finished up some lawn clean-up - Sam took a bike ride around the neighborhood while I tried to keep up on foot...

Refilling the bird feeders...

After everything was done Sam watered the lawn... then bathtime, snack and finally BEDtime... they wore me out too!

Bug Hunt

The boys and I set out on a bug hunt after lunch. It took me 20 minutes to find anything... There seems to be plenty of bugs around when I am not searching for them! Ben was happy with his potato bug... although I am pretty sure it was dead - and Sam helped me catch a very feisty beetle!

Spent a couple of days at the coast last weekend...

with about 15 other women planning for MOPS 2009-10. We had a great time and the weather was perfect!

Feeling groovy

Last weekend Ben came down with a fever and rash that we decided to have checked out on Wednesday. The fever was gone but the rash wasn't going away and turns out was a concern to the doctor as well. They ended up doing blood work which was NOT fun. He actually did really well - just laid on the table and watched - and when they started drawing the blood he cried one sad wail and was done. And then ... "Where's my lollipop?" Turns out he just had a virus and is back to his usual happy self.