Oregon Coast

Last Wednesday Jason and I embarked on a 5 day trip to the Oregon Coast with our 5 1/2 yr old, 4 yr old, 2 yr old and our 2 dogs (8 and 3). Our trip down was beautiful and actually quit fun. The kids watch a movie and slept most of the way (Thank the Lord for portable DVD players).
We took a long way to the coast and ended up in Lincoln City around 5pm. Of course our first stop was MO's for some famous chowder and seafood. The kids had hot dogs as they have yet to acquire the fine taste for seafood.

Then it was off to Beverly Beach (7 miles north of Newport, OR). We love Beverly Beach and our camp site was really nice and private which was great for the dogs. We got all unpacked and the kids wanted to go to the beach immediately.

So the kids and I headed to the beach and enjoyed the Oregon sand (there is no comparison unless of course you are in the Caribbean). They rolled in the sand, covered themselves in the sand, ran in the water, and just had a blast.
Day Two, we enjoyed a day at the beach as it was sunny and warm. Then it was off to camp for some lunch and a drive into Newport for Mommies favorite coffee at Dutch Brothers. The kids had smoothies and I thoroughly enjoyed my favorite drink the "Almond Joy". Jason thinks I am crazy, but I just LOVE that place.


Day Three, another day at the beach and playing. We rode bikes, played football and chalk on the road. We headed into Newport again to Yaquina Light House and to check out the tide pools. This was a lot of fun! We ate lots of yummy food and of course we roasted Smore's. Uncle Mike came down and hung out with us.

Day Four we packed up early and headed to Florence to Haceta Beach where Reilly, Natalie, the dogs and I hung out for the late morning/afternoon and played on the beach and took naps. Uncle Mike, Liam and Jason got to go golfing at Sandpines. It was a fun day and we loved being right on the beach.

Then after golf we headed to Junction City to visit with Jason's Aunt Arlene and Uncle Bill. We also got to visit with his grandmother Betty. The kids had so much fun playing with Michael and Darrin (Rick (Jason's cousin) and Heidi's kids). They rode bikes, played the Wii and just chased each other around.
On our last day Uncle Bill make us a delicious breakfast. I have never had Sweet Potato Pancakes and they were amazing! Jason got to enjoy some hot cocoa and remember the days when he was a kid and had pancakes and hot cocoa with Uncle Bill.

After breakfast it was off to Grandma Betty's. We really enjoyed visiting her and Reilly just loves her. We helped pick up apples for her which was no easy task there are a lot. I left with 2 bags full and there were about 5 buckets full. We finally hit the road around 2:45pm and started our trek home.
We stopped in Tigard at our favorite place - Pizza Caboose for dinner. This is one of our stopping places on our trip to Oregon each year.

Maddie Turns 5!

WOW! The years are just screaming by. Our niece Madeline (Maddie) celebrated her 5Th birthday yesterday. It was so much fun and a birthday I think she will remember.

We drove to the Yak to hang out and swim and just celebrate little Maddie. She made out like a bandit with the presents. Even Uncle Jason liked the pink guitar (LOL). We did a lot of swimming (loved it) and ate a lot of food (loved it). My two favorite things!

Maddie got a little "Groovy Girl" scooter and it was so fun to watch her ride around and all the kids follow her "can we have a turn...please". One girl even used guilt "am I your best friend?" to try and get Maddie to let her have a turn. It was cute! Eventually Maddie did let everyone who was under the 50lb weight limit have a turn.

It was a busy day and it went by way to fast. It was fun to see our youngest niece Maggie (4 months old). One day maybe we will be in the Yak!

Quality Time

(FYI...we do feed Liam, love the ribs hanging out) :O)

I have been doing a bit of reading recently on how to nurture my relationship with each of the kids. It is about children's love languages. Liam was pretty easy to figure out, quality time. He loves it when I take time out to spend with just him. As you know with three that is not always easy, but I try.

This particular day I decided to take some time and show Liam how to play "hang man", a simply but fun game. I remember getting to play this as a kid and loving it. Little did I know this was the highlight of his day. I was smiling inside when I heard him tell his daddy all about it before bed with so much enthusiasm and excitement. Who would of thought 10 minutes playing hang man would be so fun and such a lasting memory.

I know one day I will look back and wish that he would sit and play hang man with me like the good ole days.

Puppies! Puppies! Oh Cute Little Puppies!

Need I say more!

Early Morning Goodbyes...

I woke up at 1:18am this morning about 10 minutes before my alarm was to sound. I went to bed at 9:30pm last night, but did not get much sleep as I was worried sick I would miss the alarm and have to pay to have Yulia fly home. I kept having these horrible dreams we missed the flight or got the time wrong. So needless to say I was not sleeping very hard last night.

I got up and had 2 cups of coffee and my body thought this was very strange. Yulia got up at 2am and got dressed (very slowly). She was very sad to go, but I think it started setting in that she was going to see her family at home. She got to make one last phone call to her mom and that put a big smile on her face.

It was a quiet ride to the airport and most of the morning. I tried to let it all settle in, but it has all gone by so fast. Faster then you can say "chicken scratch" she was off to security check and we were saying our goodbys at 4:30am. We both cried. She really was/is such a sweet little girl! I pray we will be able to bring her back again next year.

Thank you to all who helped us out to make her visit so special. She was sent home with lots of stuff for her family and for her. She got the best medical care while she was here and she felt so loved.

God Bless,
Jess

Our Trip to the Beach

Well...sort of. This is really the closest Yulia will get to the beach. She wanted to go to the ocean, but time is running out on all this fun.

My neighbor Jenni and I took all the kids to Bremerton for the day. We went to the park and played down by the water. Liam and Reilly found sand crabs and everyone loved that. Yulia looked for shells and things to take home. Natalie and Will ran around like two crazy two year olds.

Then we went back to the ferry and played at the Fountain Park. This was Yulia's favorite and the boys.

It was a fun day!

Land of the Naked and Free

Our home has become the land of the naked little girl who freely takes off her clothes and her diaper. She does not like clothes and I can not keep them on her. Our friends son asked "why is baby Natalie always naked?" This is how it will be for our little girl even underwear bug her.

One day...oh one day she will not be so happy about her nakedness when I show her all the photos I took of her naked and eating all the time. That was the other thing someone said "I have never seen a picture where Natalie does not have food in her hands or mouth". Yes, it is true she likes food and being naked.

Natalie while challenging in her over dramatic, feisty, and down right strong willed personality is still one of the funniest little kids I know. She has such a sense of humor. I try and capture the true Natalie in photos and well pictures are worth a thousand words. Some photos I can not show even though they show Natalie at her best...just think about it (naked...poop...me crying and saying "not again")


Enjoy!

Camping @ Lk. Mosquito Hostile Take Over...Seriously!

I am not kidding...we took the kids this past Thursday and headed up to Lake Kachees (other side of Snoqualmie Pass near Hyak Lake) to go camping. I actually drove up with all the kids on Thursday to make sure we got one of the 9 unreserved spots that were left. This is how desperate camping is getting. Yikes!

I thought I was prepared...but I was was not. We got there around 11am and I was amazed at all the open spots since online they showed up reserved. We found the best spot near the water so the dogs could swim and the kids could play. We got out and instantly we were being eaten by Mosquitos.

I of course did not think to bring the bug repelent with me in the car...no it was in the trailer that Jason was bringin up later in the afternoon. So we took a little walk to the Host's camp and bummed some spray.

Nothing seemed to keep those things away...it was really bad! When Jason got there around 3pm we were at the boat launch were the Mosquitos were not with about 20 other people trying to escape the attack of the bugs.



This is about how the next two days went. Gone were the memories of us sitting around the camp fire roasting mellows and singing songs as a family. Thank the Lord we have a trailer because that is where we spent the first night...roasting the mellows over a gas propane stove. Hey...we can still make memories, just not the ones we thought.



We spent a lot of time down at the beach because the wind was blowing and the Mosquitos were no where to be found. Of course, so did all the other people staying at Lk. Kachees. It was nice and the kids had fun.

Yulia has decided that camping is not her thing..."to cold, to many bugs and my shoes are dirty". Those were her words. She loved the Smore's, but kept asking when we were going home.

Natalie loved being with the dogs and had fun throwing a few tantrums. Liam discovered that he likes Frisbees and torturing Yulia. Reilly practiced his poses for the new "young men in training" Fireman's Calendar 2009. Jason enjoyed sleeping in the tent with Reilly were he got to sleep in..whatever! I enjoyed watching the kids get dirty and have fun even when the Mosquito's were eating them alive.













All in all we had a fun family time. We will not be camping by a Mosquito invested lake anytime soon. It is off to the Oregon Coast in August and then to Hood Canal in September.