Water!

We learned a lesson while we were away in OBX... always have someone watch your house while you are away! Thankfully, my parents were watching our house. On Tuesday late afternoon, they discovered water all over our kitchen floor, leaking from the refrigerator. They cleaned it all up and tried to figure out where the leak was coming from. They checked back again on Wednesday and.. more water! My dad worked and worked on the fridge, and kept checking to make sure the water wasn't all over. After trying all kinds of things, going through the manual, etc, he figured out that it was the replaceable filter leaking. It was an easy fix once he figured it out, but had they not been checking, we would have come home to a very soggy house!

OBX Trip

At the end of August, we took a family vacation to the Outer Banks with our friends who have two boys Evan & Ainsley's age. We had a great time of relaxing and enjoying time with the kids and our friends. The first day (Sunday) we had hot, sunny weather, and went to the beach and the pool (which was at the house we were staying in). Evan was tentative about the ocean, but eventually got in, and Ainsley enjoyed a nap on the beach as well as watching the boys play.


The next few days were cooler (in the 70s), so no more swimming. But, we enjoyed going indoor glow bowling, eating at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, visiting the Kitty Hawk sand dunes...





We also enjoyed the local shopping center and the playground there..
The boys had fun hanging out..
doing arts and crafts (paper bag masks)...
and later in the week, walking the beach to find shells and build a sandcastle...


We couldn't let the boys only swim once, so they enjoyed the "warm tub" the last two days...

And Evan picked up a souvenir too..
At the house there were a few boogie boards that Evan got to play with in the pool the first day. He loved that they had a string attached to them that he could hook up anywhere. So, on the last night, we let him get a mini-boogie board. It was so cute - he waited at the cash register and the cashier handed it to him. He asked, "did you buy it yet?" We said yes and he immediately ripped off the paper and put the strap on. He was so excited that he even asked to keep it in his bed that evening.

All in all, it was a great vacation in the Outer Banks with great friends!

First Day of Preschool

Evan started preschool this week. He went last year, but only for 1 day each week. This year, he's going 3 days a week, so it's a big change for us all. I was preparing myself for a rough time since Evan's not big on new things, but he did great! He has been talking about school every day (happily) and has had the "Days of the Week" song stuck in his head and has been singing it all the time.

Here are some pictures from his first day:

Poppy's 60th

Tent

While I was gone in Portland, Evan and Doug slept out in the living room in a tent! What fun. :)

Portland Trip

In early August, Ainsley and I, along with my parents, went to visit my brother in Portland. We had an amazing time. Ainsley did awesome on the plane ride out (thanks to help from my parents). We got there on Friday night and my brother took us around his town, Lake Oswego.

On Saturday morning, we got up for a day of adventures. We checked out Multnomah Falls (see pic above). We then took a hike on another path up a super steep path. (Chad and my dad carried Ainsley the whole time.) At the top, there was a beautiful "punchbowl" water area where we dipped our feet into the cool glacier water. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. After our 3 hour hike, we took a scenic drive back to Portland. That evening, we were also so tired we just hung out at Chad's house and played cards.

On Sunday, we got up and went downtown. We first visited the Pittock Mansion overlooking the city. We made our way down to the Rose Gardens, which were absolutely beautiful! We then headed down to Saturday market, were we ate lunch and browsed through all the homemade items. It was such fun! We headed out to Cupcake Jane and enjoyed some delicious cupcakes. We came home and rested, and then headed out for dinner at The Farm for a wonderful birthday dinner with my dad.

On Monday and Tuesday, we headed down to Depoe Bay to visit my aunt and uncle. They have a beautiful condo looking over the bay. There were whales in the bay and you could just sit on their porch and watch the whales blow and then come up. We also visited the neighboring town, Newport, had yummy homemade lasagna (thanks Tricia!), watched the sun set over the ocean, visited Cape Fowlweather, and just got to hang out.

We came back on Tuesday and had dinner with Chad at Five Guys. On Wednesday morning, I got to meet up with Karen and her kids and catch up on their life in Oregon. I then headed home with Ainsley to see my guys. (Ainsley was great again on the plane, but we did manage to fly through a storm, which was not so fun.) Evan and Doug were at the airport waiting for us (at 10:30 at night) and it was so good to see them both. I had a wonderful trip and am so thankful to everyone who helped make it possible.








You can check out more pictures here

Labor Day Fireworks

Doug and I got to take Evan to the WEBN Fireworks again this year while Ainsley stayed home with my parents. We had an awesome time once again. (You can read about last year here.) We went down around 7:30 and parked in Broadway Commons. We found a nice place on the grass at the P&G Pavilion and had so much fun watching the fireworks and watching Evan :) (The people watching was very interesting too!!) We got out of there right away and even made it home by 10:30. Here is the only picture we got of the 3 of us:




And a video.. this is what Evan was like the whole time:

5 Months Old

Ainsley's 5 months already. What a fun summer it's been. This past month she has been quite the traveler! Ainsley traveled with me to Portland to visit my brother and then a few weeks later traveled with our whole family to the Outer Banks. We have learned that she's very flexible (great), but she likes the airplane way more than the car. (The road trip was a little rough... more about that later.)

Some other things about Ainsley this month:
- She loves her new Exersaucer (thanks to Evenflo and Uncle Dave)
- We haven't given her a bottle in awhile and when my parents tried while babysitting, she completely refused. (She refused breastmilk, formula, water..) Oh well, only a little longer until she starts food.
- We just started sleeping without her swaddle blanket. She is doing great! She loves to sleep on her belly just like her brother.
- She is still very vocal -her favorite noise is a loud screeching noise, probably to compete with Evan :) She also likes practicing raspberries.
- She has been drooling like crazy.

- She is a great napper, especially when she gets to sleep in her bed. You can just lay her down drowsy and she'll sleep for a good hour or two. She's always on the go with us though, so she doesn't always get to nap in her bed.

Ainsley at the Portland Rose Gardens.

Check out those thighs!!


After a hike

Loving the exersaucer!

Ainsley upgraded to the duck tub!! She loves it.



Hiking in Portland with Chad.

Daddy and his princess!