OREGON

One of our favorite places to go is the Oregon Coast.  We had been planning a trip to go there over Memorial Day since December.  A few weeks before our trip, we got an awesome call.  Ernie's sister Emily asked if we minded if they joined us in Oregon.  Mind? We were beyond thrilled! We had such a great time. 

The first day we were there happened to be the birthday of these two guys:

We had a blast crabbing.  

After we went crabbing, we cleaned up and grabbed some pizza. 

 The birthday boys.

 (And I'm sure the pizza place didn't mind at all that we brought our own cake and had a little party :). 

Talk about a character.....we love Lincoln. LOVE him! 

 Cutest birthday boys ever. 

Caleb and Ethan are such great little buds.  They have a blast together. 

While we were hanging out that night, Lincoln turned Big E's legs into a slide.  Pretty smart really.  They are definitely long enough!

One of our favorites parts of the coast is the early morning tide pools.  

We had such a great time that morning.  The boys had a blast (and so did we!) exploring and finding crabs, starfish, anemones, etc.   

 Lincoln was really excited to find Patrick the starfish.  

The grounds of the condo at Otter Crest are beautiful.  

Later that day we went to the lighthouse.  I don't have any pictures, but there was a huge bald eagle in a tree right next to the lighthouse.  It was amazing. 

We went on a little hike over to see Devil's Punch Bowl one evening. 

 Just look at these trees....

(I love this picture of E and Jason.  There was a sign that said the number of paces the path was.  So they decided to see if the number was acurate.  They counted until about 450 or so.  It was pretty funny.)

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Oregon?  Well, this sure reminds me why.  Holy cow, it is just awesome! 

Ernie's Grandma recommended a great little place that we became frequent customers of while we were there. 

Here is a picture of some our fabulous boys at our favorite restaurant on of the mornings.  In fact, they were so fabulous, that the owner brought us over two pies and told us how impressed she was with how well behaved they are.  I'm glad we have great boys, but we were mostly glad that day that it got us yummy pie :). 

We also got to go whale watching one afternoon. 

If you look closely, you can see Lincoln's death grip of Emily's arm. I should have taken a picture of his other other arm and his legs.  He was holding onto my arm as well, each foot was wrapped around our legs as well. It was pretty funny. 

Proof that I really was there.... :)

Pretty sure life doesn't get any better than this......

 Ice cream at the Oregon Coast with your cousins. 

We had such a great trip.  

We are SO glad Emily, Greg and their boys come along!  My boys had a wonderful time, and we did too.  

San Diego

In April, we decided to have a quick getaway to San Diego.  My Dad, and some of my sisters and Mark went with us.  We had a wonderful time.  It was alittle overcast.  No, down right freezing cold the day we went to the beach.  That, of course,  did not deter my boys from jumping in the ocean. 

 E thought he would be funny and start a sea weed war with my sister Micah and my Dad.  

 You can tell from the picture both above and below that Ernie was beten :).  (sorry, they aren't uplaided correctly.  Maybe sometime I'll fix it....not today.)

We wpent one day at Sea World.  We hadn't been there since the boys were 2 and 4 (and now they are 7 and 9....crazy!)  We could have spent hours in the shark exhibit (C has quite the fascination with them) and the penguins (my favorite for sure). 

 Caleb and his maps.......

Wonderful weekend.  Wonderful memories.  

The joys of the summer

 It is summer and I LOVE summer! I do. 
I love heading home from swimming and being able to stop and pick up a movie for impromptu family movie night instead of having lessons, practices, and homework. 
I love leaving on a Friday afternoon and whisking away to the beach for a day. 
I love that it is watermelon season.
I love that if they want to wear their swim suit ALL day, they can!
I love the that we light up the grill nearly every night.
I love the different opportunities they have to go to sports camps (and I love that they both have discovered something that they LOVE and want to spend all day every day doing it if I would let them.  For C that is soccer.  For E, basketball.)
I love taking them to a matinee movie, just because. 
I love going on bike rides.
I love how many Popsicles have already been consumed at our home.
I love that the boys can stay in their jammies sometimes if they want.
I love the sunkissed glow of my boy's skin.
I also love the smell of sunscreen.
I love camping.
I love seeing family.
I love going to the library.  For some reason, it's not the same any other time of year.
I love the 4th of July.
I love everything about summer.

One of the things that I have come to love the absolute most, is that even though they CAN be lazy, they usually aren't.  Their first day of summer vacation, we came downstairs to one of them doing a work book and one of them reading a novel.  Nearly every day is like that.  I haven't even had to nag them to make their beds. 
I LOVE my boys.  I love everything that they are.  Big E and I could not be more proud of who they are becoming. Yes, it is bragging a little, but they absolutely deserve it (and I want to remember this time of my life.)
We can not wait to see who they become.  And I love that I get to be a part of it.  Summer reminds me of the times they were at home with me all day and the fun adventures that we had. I loved that time of my life.  I have learned to love every phase.  To be honest, I never thought it would be just the two of them and that my days of being at home with them while they were little would be over so fast. It makes me appreciate every phase so much.
With all of that said, my favorite time of year is now, despite the 110 degree heat, the summer.
And I am the most grateful that we have many more summers of adventure ahead of us.

Just Hangin Out

Nothing like a lazy Sunday Afternoon with Grandpa on his cot that he got for Fathers Day......