Our Summer thus far.........

Wow.....I have been quite the slacker! I have gone a full 3 months without adding anything to this blog. Of course, maybe no one noticed cause no one has complained :-)

Much has occured in the last 3 months, which is why they have completely flown by without me giving a thought to this blog. In May, Matt and I took our first official vacation without the kids EVER. Well, we have taken a night or two here and there to the beach or to Portland but have never boarded a plane and gone somewhere exciting and out of the ordinary realm of our lives. We headed to Las Vegas for four days of sun, margaritas and fun. Along for the trip where my in-laws and Matt's sister and her husband. The six of us ate at some amazing restaurants, had drinks in some beautiful bars, sat by the pool, shopped until our feet wanted to fall off (well at least the ladies did!), wandered the strip, gambled a bit. I enjoyed every minute of the trip, even though I went into it with a list of 4 things I definitely wanted to do and did not check a single one of those things off. But in their place were other experiences that I had......ones that were well worth the lack of check marks.

At the beginning of June, Krista came down to stay for a few days. She and I also had a long list of things to do while she was here and only checked off two of them. But, again, in the place of those things we had many good times and lots of laughs. I let Austin skip a day of school to go to the beach with us. We headed to Cannon Beach for the day and were fortunate to find a near empty beach on a 65 degree day. The extra (and best) perk was that there was no wind. We spent several hours walking the beach, playing in the water and looking at the tide pools. Mom insists that we did this when we were younger, but I have no memory of having paid the slightest amount of attention to the tide pools before. We finished up our day with a trip to the salt water taffy store and dinner at Mo's (a beach tradition!).

While Krista was at her niece's graduation, Matt, the boys and I went to see the Portland Beaver's play with our friends and their kids. The boys loved the game, although for very different reasons. Austin spend all his time trying to catch a foul ball or pouting about not catching a foul ball. Wyatt and Davey just enjoyed yelling "CHARGE" and dancing to the music. All three of them got excited when the batter's bat broke. We had enough fun that we are going to try to make it to another game before the end of the season.



Still no foul ball!

Davey and Wyatt (with his "happiest face EVER!")


Not long after Krista left us, Austin, Matt and I all finished up our school year. I am not sure I have ever been as ready for summer break as I was this year. Every since January, my heart has not quite been in it the same was as it had been. I was greatly looking forward to the break to rejuvenate. On the day that Austin officially finished 2nd grade, we jumped in the car and headed to Montana to Gramma's house. As usual, Austin informed me that Gramma was in charge of them when we were at her house and I was glad to hand over the responsibility for a few days. While they ate junk food, watched Indiana Jones movies and bugged Gramma, I spent time with Krista and my girlfriends from high school. Also, Mom, Krista, the boys and I spent a long and wonderful day up in Glacier National Park. The Going to the Sun Road was open for 28 miles and then we were able to walk one more mile up it. I hadn't been there in years and had forgotten the amazing scenery that awaits you there. The boys enjoyed the big piles of snow that were still on the side of the road, even though it was summer. After we returned for Going to the Sun we had a picnic and then took a 5 mile round trip hike to Avalanche Lake. Krista carried Wyatt most of the way, getting double the work out. Austin complained a lot and had every excuse in the book for what could possibly be wrong with him. But when we arrived at our destination, it was well worth the few little hassles along the way.




Avalanche Lake



Snow in June

Going to the Sun Road

A wonderful way to spend a day!

We returned home looking forward to a few days of relaxation but soon found ourselves busy again. The day after we got home I got a call from one of our good friends. He works for Verizon Wireless, who just happens to be sponsoring the Jonas Brothers current tour. He had gotten his hands on 3 tickets for us (the boys LOVE the Jonai). He told me "sorry they aren't front row." Ha! They were free and FIFTH row. It doesn't get better than that. Of course with only 3 tix the fight was on about who was going to take them. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But Matt and I both really wanted to be the one to experience it with them. In the end, I was the lucky parent that got to go. The boys and Matt came to the conclusion, deciding that since I was going to miss the zoo with them (I was going to Rent instead) I should be the one to go to the concert. Secretly I think Matt just realized that 3 hours of teenage girls screaming wasn't his cup of tea. The concert was fun, although Wyatt was really ticked that there were three opening acts. "Mom, I just want to see the Jonas Brothers." The funniest part was when we walked out and their little ears were ringing. They would talk to each other but neither could hear the other.

Carefully picked out outfits......the clothes were very important!

Patiently awaiting Nick, Joe and Kevin........

Joe Jonas' biggest fan......he even has the Joe Jonas face down!

The Jonai

The next day they went to the zoo with Dad. Of course, being boys, I got very few details out of that other than the regular "it was fun."

Then we were blessed with ANOTHER visit from Krista. We were super stoked to have her here again. She had never been to Silver Creek Falls before so we took her up. Its one of our favorite places to visit. We did the 5 mile loop and this time Wyatt walked the whole way and Austin didn't do much complaining. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed every minute. I think that all of us had the same favorite part of the day: playing in the water under one of the 7 falls we saw.

The next day we headed over to Seaside to spend the night with Bobbe and Rupe, who had a beach house there for the week. This is the one and only time I remember being at the beach with NO wind AND 80 degree weather. People on the Oregon coast were in bikinis and it didn't look silly!! We buried the boys, Kris played with them in the water, and we took naps in the sun. We kept up with tradition and ate at Mo's, following dinner up with a fire, s'mores and fireworks on the beach.

A good place for them to be. It keeps them out of trouble!

Two days after that (yes.....I said it had been non-stop!) we spent the 4th of July with our good friends. 7 adults and 4 kids headed to Enchanted Forest for the day. We played in the Crooked House, rode the bumper cars and the Frog Hopper (even the adults!) and made the biggest splash ever on the Log Ride. I am not sure there is anything funnier than seeing four grown men crammed in a log together, all in the name of making the biggest splash possible. We followed up our exhausting park visit with a BBQ, with entirely too much food and a firework show.

Results of the Log Ride.

Smooth Criminals........

So now I have caught you up. I know this is a VERY long and rambling post but I was feeling guilty for not giving it any attention. I'll try to do better from here on out. Next up is our tradition of the midnight showing of Harry Potter. Tuesday night we will be standing in line with all of the other nerds....err, fans! I'll post pics if the boys decide to dress up. This will be Wyatt's first time to go with us at midnight.....we'll see if he makes it.