Scrub a Dub Dub

Sometimes it's just easier to put them in the sink! I love Logan's face when Nate starts to use the scrubby on him.

A day with 7 kids

And just when I thought 2 was plenty.... My brother and his wife are out of town and both sets of grandparents were out of town, so I guess it's our turn :-) As Ken took my brother and Amy to the airport to catch their flight I hear the oldest say to the second oldest... go get a rope and we can tie Aunt Sarah up. sheesh! Thankfully the day went much smoother than that...Once Ken got back from the airport he marched 6 of the 7 down to the grocery store to get breakfast groceries. I didn't really NEED anything, but it seemed like a good idea so I made a small list of things to get.


After cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and strawberries we got everyone into there swimsuits... wait the two oldest boys dont have swimsuits. Ahhh. Off to the store. Once everyone was ready we were off to the Clackamas Aquatic Park. It was a lot of fun, but the littles only lasted about an hour and a half. The lifeguards made everyone get out of the pool so I was able to get a snapshot of Ken with the kids (minus Javen who was at the top of the waterslide line). Fun day for all!

Sea Lion Caves and Aquarium

Day 2 of our down South adventure took us to the Sea Lion Caves. Nathaniel would love to tell you about it. "saw a baby seal swimming, then on the small rock, mommy on the big rock, baby seal wants to snuggle mommy on the big rock." It's really a precious story.

No flash photography down in the cave so this will have to do.




The Oregon Coast Aquarium was less impressive in my opinion...but that may be because we saw the one inside the Mall of America last October which was AMAZING! Nathaniel was more interested in the dirt/pebbles on the ground.





Over all a beautiful day at the coast- no wind, and at least 70 degrees. LOVE IT!

Safari Fun

We took a trip down South this weekend. I don't think I've ever been to Eugene and the Safari was another hour South of Eugene. I've heard great things about the Safari and was not disappointed at all. We had a blast... spent more $$$ than I anticipated but hey, we're on vacation! (The Safari gives Zoo members a 50% discount) We got up at our normal 5am and put the kids in the car thinking they would sleep on the way down. Nope. Oh well, guess we will stop for a nice breakfast :-) We reached the Safari about 10:30am and drove through the park. We saw lots of cool animals.










Afterwards we went into the village and signed up for both an elephant excursion and a giraffe excursion. Nathaniel has been asking me if he can pet the elephant at the Portland Zoo so I was very excited to actually give him an opportunity. Even Logan loved it. Nathaniel loved that the elephant waved to us with one leg.



Logan clapping for "Alice" the Elephant


Giraffe excursion. If I had to pick only one I would do this one again. So much fun. Nathaniel has NOT stopped talking about feeding the carrots, banana, and lettuce to the giraffe.






Petting Zoo. Inside the Safari Village was a "little zoo" with a few exhibits and a petting zoo. Nathaniel loved feeding the goats.

Seattle Trip

We took the night off! This was the first time we've left Logan for the night. Some close friends of ours offered to watch the boys overnight while Ken and I went on a quick trip to Seattle. I had an awesome time! No kids!!! We've been talking about a trip like this for about 8 years now. We took a ride on the monorail. Visited the Pacific Northwest Museum (OMSI reciprocation!) and enjoyed the butterfly exhbit. Although, honestly I was a little nervous with those creatures flying all around my head! Then on to the Space Needle, Pike's market and the Mariner Game.

Space Needle



Mariner's Game

We love brushing our teeth!

Logan fallin asleep

Almost time for bed... Daddy's watching Logan while Mommy puts Nathaniel to bed. Just a few minutes Daddy I'll be right back. Look what I found when I returned!

Fourth of July

We continued our 4th of July tradition of going out to the Hillsboro parade. Logan and I joined the group just as it was starting. Nathaniel, Daddy and Papa Jim parked and rode the train (MAX) out there so they were about 30 minutes late. But look at this precious little face. He was SUPER excited and loved clapping for everyone that went by. He was squealing with delight when they threw candy in his direction. It was so fun to watch!



Waving his hand for candy!

I hadn't been paying close attention to how much candy was being consumed so I asked Nate what he had in his mouth...


After the parade we came back to our house for a BBQ. It was lots of fun to have everyone over.




And the day was not complete without wiffle ball of course.