art lovers

My hubby is taking an art class this semester and he was required to take a free field trip to the Portland Art Museum. Since my kids go to a school where they are home schooled in their art credits, we decided to tag along. Did you know it is free for kids under 18? We had such a great time exploring, studying and laughing at some of the pieces....especially some on the modern floor. Boy....it is amazing what some people call art. We were thinking we could probably paint a canvas solid orange and sell it for a lot of money! They wouldn't allow any photos inside the buildings so we took some out in the courtyard before the sun set at closing.

Emma of course wanted a picture with the horse, since she has wanted her own horse since she was born!

We laughed about how many times we had seen naked bodies.....naked bodies (men & women) everywhere! One could really get an education there! My hubby and I talked about how much we love our kids ages right now. They are so fun to hang out with and spend time doing "grown up" things with.Afterwards we went to happy hour at our favorite....PF Chang's. My kids were goofing off with the camera and this was my favorite one!

time for playing

Yesterday our baby turned one! We started the morning with a bone, peanut butter and a candle while singing to our favorite furry friend! We thank God for this bundle of joy - who loves us unconditionally and is always excited to see us (even if we just walked out of the room for a minute or two!)

I am not sure about this photo! Who the heck are these kids? They did about 6 different shots being very strange. They had gone roller skating the night before and were having a restful Sunday morning. Maybe we need to do a little more of this relaxin thing!
As we headed out to the pumpkin patch Sunday afternoon I found this on the wall. Hello!! Excuse me, but spiders like this are not allowed on the wall of the house. If I find something like this on the inside of the house, I am outta here! Yuck!
When the kids were little we always went to pomeroy house for pumpkins, but then school field trips always took us to Bizi Farms. So this year we returned to one of my favorite spots to hunt for pumpkins. It was a beautiful day!!

Curtis wanted to give the kids a little love squeeze while we waited for the hay ride. Notice there is no line? It was fabulous!!!

The four of us sat at the back for the best view (according to our kids).

After they dropped us off at the pumpkin patch, Emma found one she liked right away! She likes the small cute round ones that are easy to carve and carry!

Cody on the other hand searched the entire field for the big one he wanted. He & Curtis make quite a masterpiece so it has to be just so. We tried to keep up with Cody but he was long gone!

Luckily, we brought along our muscles so we could get it back to the wagon...
We continued the hayride down pumpkin lane which is beautiful. It has several cool old barns and about 80 pumpkin characters along the route.

The ride is about a mile and the pumpkin folks were fun to see.
This is my ideal place for a pumpkin patch - nestled in the hills - I wanted to stay all day!
After the hay ride, we met a very friendly goat and some other animals at the barn.

One of these days when we can finish our outside fence, we want to get a couple goats.
We ended our trip by watching this rooster sleep on one foot on top of a stump. What is he thinking? Doesn't he know how dangerous that is?

Thank you God for fall and your creation. We are so blessed to live in the northwest!!

Sad to see it go....

I don't know what it is about the end of summer every year, but it is such a mixed bag of emotions for me. Fall is wonderful! It brings structure, fresh starts, fun stuff to participate in, soup, chilly mornings with gorgeous days - all things I love! I really do enjoy sending my kids off to a new year of school. But part of me is soooo sad to see it go! My mom and I took the kids to the beach for one last day in the sand last Friday. Time to sit still, enjoy the ocean, build castles and forts, run in the waves - all things we love about the beach!

I am sad to see them go! Sad to have them wake up to alarm clocks and rush out the door all the time. Sad to tell them they cannot lay around in PJ's like when they were little kids. Sad to watch them carry around those heavy textbooks and have all that homework.

I miss them already and it is only the first week!! Here is to a great year of 7th and 5th grade!!

Fun Memories

We have some places our family loves to go where we have a lot of fun memories. One of them is a mountain cabin we have been going to for the last 8 years. Here is a photo of us one of the first times we visited with our friends the Martins. The kids were pretty little.
Now here we were there together this summer - eight years later. The kids have definitely grown up but the adults look better and much wiser?!?!? Maybe a little more tired too.
Thanks Martins for keeping the traditions alive with us! We love you guys!

cave exploring

The kids, my brother and I headed off Friday for the Ape Caves to be nice and cool in the midst of the heat. We stopped at a small attraction near the caves to do the underground tunnel at the Trail of Two Forests. My kids went through it about 4 times and my brother even gave it a shot. As for me, no thanks!

After lunch we all headed down into the big caves. With it being about 40 degrees and slightly windy inside the cave, we quickly put on hoodies. It is about a 30 minute hike in and then you turn around.
We were glad we had good flashlights because it is pitch black inside. It is also good to wear a hat or hooded sweatshirt to avoid the water dripping on your head the whole time.
We were able to get a shot or two of us in the dark.

Thank you God for the mysteries you create and that we are able to enjoy them!

beach fun

My parents rented a house in Salishan for a week. The kids headed down Thursday to have some fun in the sun on Friday. They dug a huge hole in the sand with my brother and had a beautiful day on Friday. We came down with Tucker Friday night for the weekend. We took several walks and sat around a lot.
There was lots of time for good conversation. It was the quietest beach I had ever seen - we rarely saw any other people. There are also no street lights in this gated community so it was very dark and peaceful at night.

My brother, Berk, who moved home for a couple months before heading to Laos in July, spent a lot of time with the kids. They got up early Saturday morning and built us this little shelter. Isn't it great!!

Tucker enjoyed lots of stick chasing. He also went out running with Curtis and did a couple early morning walks with me. He was exhausted by the time we came home!

The sand at the beach was beautiful. I got several fun photos of it. It is amazing to think that God knows each piece of sand.

The kids and Curtis were so relaxed they laid down for a quick rest on the sand. Tucker decided to get in on the act. He even buried his face in the sand while he was laying here with them.

Before heading home we did our best at getting a group shot. It was a nice peaceful trip and was a great chance to get away from the routine and chaos of life. Thanks Dad and Mom for a great time to rest. We hope you enjoy the rest of the week.

ps. they really didn't build that shelter - we found a couple of them at the end of the beach. Cool though!! We thought we would take credit for it.

Do we have to come home?!?!

My parents are treating my family and brother to a time away in Salishan (which if you have never visited, I highly recommend!). We are enjoying great weather, fun in the sand, the quietest beach I have ever visited, good food, time playing and time to contemplate. My hubby even had time to update his blog this weekend.
Now the dilemna begins...they are staying all week and we don't want to come home. In the grand scheme of life, what is a few more days away from school, work, responsibility! When we do ever come home, I will post photos!

laughter is good for the soul!

Curtis and I have been missing laughter. We used to laugh a lot around here but it has been a challenge to find things worth laughing at lately. I love to listen to my kids laugh!! Last night they sat at the computer with me watching a few fun youtube videos on a friend's blog. They were hilarious and my kids were cracking up! Thanks valerie for a good laugh - we needed it.

We have this new favorite picture of our kids that we keep putting everywhere to remind us how good laughter is for the soul. It is from our trip to Disneyworld in October. Our kids were riding the animal safari ride which is their grandfather's (Pop) favorite ride. They were not amused and were just staring at the guy driving the boat with stonecold stares. They were thinking...Where is the thrill - the excitement? You have got to be kidding? These animals aren't real! This is a lame ride!!!

Then suddenly they were sprayed with water and we caught it on camera. It was hilarious for us parents as we watched.

Maybe this ride wasn't so bad! Maybe we didn't need a big roller coaster to have fun - just enjoy the simple things in life - find joy in everything! What a good reminder and lesson for us.

Train Trip

Yesterday Curtis and I joined our daughter's class for a train trip to Seattle. The kids love loading the train and hanging out for the three hour trip. Here is Emma and her good friend Taylor.
The purpose of the trip is to go to the Seattle Aquarium, which is pretty cool. We got to see some great animals and watch them feed them. While we were there Emma's teacher's daughter, who is going to school in the Seattle Area, dropped by for a visit. Now at this point the rest of us parents and teachers became invisible, because none of us is as cool as this girl! She is definitely a favorite among the girls!

After the aquarium visit, we had about three hours of free time. A bunch of us parents and students headed off to the original Starbucks and then toured Pike Street Market. We had fun people watching and looking through the booths. The weather was amazing - no rain the whole trip. Thank you God! On the walk back to the train station, we stopped for some photos at this fun fountain. I love the walk along the waterfront in Seattle. It is such a fun area. Curtis took this shot of us.

Emma and a bunch of her friends wanted some goofy pictures. This was a bittersweet trip for us. We have been at the same school for five years and Emma enjoys her friends a lot. Since she will be going to a new school next year, this was our last field trip with these girls. We were so glad we had such a fun time and that we will have great memories of the day!

Girls Night Out

Last night I got to go overnight to this amazing condo for some fun and relaxation.

These are my dear home group friends I got to go with-
We made a nummy dinner and then had my favorite saint cupcakes for dessert - I tried the fat elvis and it was great!
We also had this scrumptious ice cream dish one of us makes that is awesome!

Then we snuggled in for a great romantic chic flick and then went out on the deck for some fun hot tub time!
This was my bed - the view was amazing and the bed - oh so comfy!

Thank you God for good friends, food, sleep & fun!