Part 3: Boring I

This is the view of Mt. Hood from my window as I was driving down the

road towards Boring. When we went out on Monday to set up the tent,

the mountain was barely visible. On Wednesday afternoon,

it was breathtaking.

Can you imagine the view from that mountain top?

Emma's friend Elise.

Elise is 6 and Emma is4 1/2, but Elise is small for her age

and Emma is tall. I was suprised to see that they

are almost the same height.

Ryan's buddies:

Kaden, Zack and Jake (with the praying mantis)

Goofy boys

Best buddies!
They sure do miss each other.

Part 2: Seaside

We spent Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning at Seaside.

Since Dad and Bob aren't fans of the beach, Mom and I have taken the kids for the

past several years. We missed our trip last year due to the fact that we were moving at

the time. So it had been two years since we've been to the beach.

It was a wonderful 24 hours!

Look at that smile!

Off they go.

Mom and Ryan

Oh, that water's cold!

No matter how cold it is, rarely have ten minutes passed before

Ryan is soaked.

My favorite photo of Emma at the beach.

Look at all of that sun!

Me and the kids.

The aquarium in Seaside is quite amazing.

It's nowhere near the size of the one in Newport, but it's been there

for years. Some of the sealife they have in there is incredible.

This one kinda freaks me out.

Ryan loved the touch tanks.

Emma touched the surface of the water. :)

Feeding the seals.

Emma's favorite beach food...clam chowder at Norma's.

Ryan's favorite food anywhere...corn dogs.

...as we walked back down to the beach in the evening.

My favorite photo of Ryan at the beach.

The sunset wasn't that great, but we sat out

and enjoyed it for a while.

Wednesday morning was gorgeous!

Both kids found whole sand dollars just before we left.

Mom and Emmalee

On the way back to Portland, we stopped at Camp 18 for lunch.

Walking down by the river, we noticed this elephant (can you see him

hiding in there?). I've never noticed him before...strange place to see this.

Next stop...Boring, Oregon.

Part 1: Portland

The week before school started, Mom, the kids and I headed to Portland.

We spent the first couple of days seeing friends and family.

It was so nice to see everyone!

The family we last saw in July, but we haven't seen some of the

friends since we moved away a year ago.

I aplogize for starting with this photo...but this was one reminder of

why we were glad to be out of the wet Pacific Northwest. Look at

the size of this slug compared to Mom's foot.

Disgusting!! :)

I remember going out to get the paper in the morning and having to

shake off the slugs that had gathered on the plastic bag.

Sure don't miss them!

Oh, but here's something we miss!

Mom and I headed out to Boring on Monday morning to set up

our tent and stopped at a berry stand.

These didn't last long!

Emma must have eated 1/2 of her weight in berries that day.

The kids, of course, love to spend time with their cousin.

Ryan and J get in some Wii time, and

Emma's never a foot away from J on our walks.

Monday afternoon, we spent some time with Jenny, Yesmin, Lucas, Diana

and Michael. We haven't seen them for a year, so it was so nice to spend

some time together. It didn't Emma any time at all to get right back into

her playful relationship with Lucas. Ryan, Yemin and Michael jumped

right back in, too.

I love that characteristic in children...the ability to form fast friendships and

renew old ones without any reservations.

Ryan, Michael and Yesmin

Me, Jenny and Diana
Miss these two!!

Mom and Emmalee

Such sweet friends!

I love that their arms are intertwined as they

eat their popcycles.

This is a scene that I remember from

when we lived in Portland.

These two spent so much time

in Jenny's backyard playing with rocks.

Emma, of course, is singing the entire time.

We spent Monday evening at Betty's house. Somehow,

I didn't get any photos of Betty or the boys.

However, I did get one of her spider that's taken up residence up

by the boys' fort and of the morning rain on

her beautiful roses.

Third Grade

(fresh out of the shower)

Dear Ryan:

You started third grade this week. THIRD GRADE! It's so hard for me to believe that you're old enough to be in the third grade. Today was your third day, and you're so excited for this year. Your regular teacher, I'm told, is especially good at teaching boys. You've already made new friends, reconnected with the old ones and established yourself as a soccer and football player at recess. You're also very excited for your GATE classes. Last year, you went once a week for about three hours. This year, you're going all day on Tuesdays. You came home on Tuesday so excited because you get to learn how to make rockets, study mythology, and do lots of science experiments.

~

I love that you love school.

I love that you've grown a bit this summer...physically and otherwise.

I love the choices that you've made recently. I'm sure that you'll be a shining light

to others at school.

I love you...my not-so-little boy.

May it be a wonderful year!

~

Love~Mom

Just a taste of the beach...

Photos to come once I dig out from the pile of laundry, get Ryan from school, get our house back in order!

The Crafty Crow Give-Away

http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2009/08/giveaway-monday-75-gift-certificate-to-cwd-kids.html#comments

Magnetic personalities

we tried our hand at magnetic hair thingy-ma-jigs