We love the pool!

We are loving summer break. It is so nice not to have the morning rush... breakfast, making lunches and getting Sam out the door each morning for the bus at 7:40. We slowly roll out of bed, play, ride bikes, swim, eat popsicles and just enjoy not having a set schedule!

Note from Sam

Sam is very sentimental these days... getting more snugly, leaving me sweet notes and telling me how much he "likes and loves" me. I wonder if he senses life as we all know it about to change!? Only 9 weeks until this baby girl arrives!

Berry Picking

Yesterday the boys and I headed out to Groveland Acres to pick berries. They were great pickers this year! I didn't realize how many we had until we weighed everything and left the farm with 30 lbs of strawberries! They are so sweet and won't last long so we are trying to figure out what to do with them all. We have had lots of cereal with berries, strawberry waffles and tonight I made jam for the first time. It turned out so yummy and hardly has any added sugar. I used Pomona's Pectin from New Seasons - it was super easy and the jam turned out great.

Go Sam Go!

The boys and I had a great day... swimming, lunch at New Seasons, playing at the park, and riding bikes and making jam. I took Sam's training wheels off this afternoon... he was a little hesitant at first but then took off faster than I could keep up!

Happy Father's Day!

Peanut Butter Pie - YUM!

Weekend in Rockaway Beach

We left Portland Thursday afternoon and drove to the beach with friends. It was sunny and warm - perfect since we have had so much rain lately. The house was right on the beach and had a great backyard where the kids could dig and play for hours.

Our kite was missing a piece but the boys found a stick to use and made it work.

Derek and Griffin

Playing in the river...

The kids loved the hot tub! Every time they came in from the ocean they jumped in to get warm.

Beach hair

They loved jumping in and running from the waves... the water was freezing but they didn't care...
How does this thing work?
Sabine and Derek
On Saturday we checked out a local carnival...
Ryan, Lauren, Ben and Griffin
Julie and Lauren
Bonfire!
S'mores!
My kids won't eat s'mores but love chocolate bars!
Chillin'...

Yum!
I look like a house here but we had to have a family photo!
Jennah and her sweet kids.
Boys being silly!
We spent most of the day every day out on the beach loving the sun, sand and water. We ate a ton of great food and were exhausted by the end of each day. Lots of cards, trivial pursuit and good times with great friends. Thanks Jevnings and Murphys for a wonderful weekend away! xoxo

New favorite toy

They're in there somewhere!

Cousins

Yesterday we had our first 80 degree day of the year. Brian ran the Helvetia 10K in the morning while the kids and I explored the farmer's market. The kids picked out berries, played in the fountain and devoured Fetzer sausages - it was perfect. Well except for Sam whining that he was too hot...and tired and not wanting to walk 5 blocks back to the car.
After they both took 3 hour naps we went over to Kelly and Paul's for dinner. The boys ran around with Zoe and Simon until they were exhausted. It was so nice to catch up and enjoy a warm night!

Photos by Ben

I turned my camera on today and found these pictures Ben took last week. Toy box...
Kitchen from a 3 year old's perspective...
Vacuum wand...
Stairs...
Nice side view of my HUGE belly...
Reilly...
Through the window looking outside...
Sam's leapster.... pretty exciting stuff!