A Possible Re-Gift

We got Big B a belated birthday present, courtesy of a sale at REI and he HATED it. He wouldn't take a step off the porch until Mama removed it.

Glove Season

CJ was so cold after going for a run with Mama that she had to wear gloves! In August!

Back in the Groove

After a week of traveling, we are trying to fit in a few more of CJ's favorite things before school starts. We're back in swim lessons for the last session. Tuesday we hit the outdoor pool. Today we met friends at the science museum for a visit. And tomorrow we are supposed to meet up with some friends we haven't seen in a long time. Maybe the weather will hold out so we can keep doing summer things for a while, but today's gray skies and cool temperatures don't seem to indicate that.

Sparkly Summer Day

Today we started the day with a trip to CJ's dentist. She got a great report card and they shined up her sparkly teeth and even did x-rays.

Afterwards we went to the downtown farmers market and she made a zucchini race car and raced it down a track on a steep hill. Lots of people commented on it as we walked through the market. We found yummy berries and enjoyed them while watching several dance performances.

Here's a picture of CJ showing off the "green" vehicle:

Before she left for swimming class (did we mention she is in the pre-Seal level now!), she enjoyed some of our homegrown tomatoes, that are finally starting to ripen:

Mystery Photographer

Mama wanted to take a picture of CJ today and when she grabbed the camera CJ asked to see the last few pictures. Hmmm. It appears that someone got the camera out and took a few pictures of baby Shayla and then put the camera away. Interesting....

Quince

Happy 15th, Big B!

Here's CJ showing off the card she made for the Big Guy:

And giving it to him while he eats his special meal in the living room. Well not really a special meal, but special to be eating it in there.

Last night we found out he has a corneal ulcer (sound familiar?), so he's getting an eye cream a few times a day and we hope it cures it.

Happy to be Home

Here's CJ belting one out for the neighbors as we were busy unpacking the car. I think she's happy to be home again, don't you?

Eugene's Park

Eugene's Beer - Ninkasi

Uncle D and Uncle P - Wish you were here...

Eugene's Views

Views from the hotel room (note the rooftop garden in the first one - a bit out of place):

Room Service

We said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle David and began our trek home this morning. Mama had "named her price" on Priceline for a hotel room in Eugene to break up the trip. We thought we'd stop at Ninkasi for dinner, but arrived a little too late. So Daddy picked up some pizzas and CJ and Mama went to the lobby restaurant and ordered a little ice cream that CJ had been promised. Turned out they were out of what we ordered so they substituted a monstrous bowl of multiple scoops, complete with butterscotch and chocolate sauce and sprinkles. Not a bad way to end the day.

Lagunitas

We were able to spend a little time at Uncle D's favorite place, Lagunitas. While there was no show from CJ this year, we did catch a musician for a bit, which CJ really enjoyed. And the beers were good, too.

The Park

When we visit Grandma, one of CJ's favorite places to go is the park across the street. So we brought Grandma and Grandpa there to show off her new bike riding skills.

Later, Daddy showed us his dolphin riding skills, which had us all cracking up.

The Happy Swimmer

Enjoying an afternoon dip in Grandma and Grandpa's pool. She loved jumping in and swimming on Daddy and practicing her swimming skills.

Double Rainbows

We headed on the road to finish our trip down to California. Along the way we hit a rain storm in the mountains and ended up seeing a complete double rainbow. This was the best picture Mama could snap from the car. We'd have preferred dry weather, but it was pretty phenomenal.

Kiwanda Girl

While Daddy took his surfboard for a quick trip in to the ocean and Big B took a nap in the car, the girls hung out on the beach. CJ loves this place!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

No, we didn't get him a bunny, but we did take him to a cabin at the beach, where bunnies run wild.

CJ loved that she was able to pick from 4 bunks in her room. Of course she chose an upper bunk.

Enjoying the porch swing while Daddy unpacked all our loot.

We were very close to the area's playground.

And across the street from the local brewpub, where they were kind enough to give Daddy a special ice cream treat to mark the day.

The Patio Project

For some reason, we love to do home improvement projects during extreme weather periods. It was in the high 90's yesterday and today so what a perfect time to haul 6 yards of gravel up into the back yard from the street. Here's how the project progressed:

Morning:

Afternoon:

Evening (sprayed with water):

Next Morning:

While Mama and Daddy were working, CJ kept busy in the shade by painting the house with water:

A Princess Party

CJ's friend is having a princess tea party today so CJ donned her fancy dress from Grandma W. and allowed Mama to french braid her hair for the occasion.

A Blank Slate

Daddy's got the yard ready for a new patio and, someday, a deck.

Now we just need to get this pile of 6 yards of gravel put into place.

Double Fisting

Nope. Not what you were thinking, but the modern version involves Mama doing her fun, blog updating work on one computer while simultaneously working on finances on the other. Oh, and there's a little email going on behind the scenes as well.

It's a Zoo Out There

Second Tuesday at the zoo brought out the crowds today. The parking lot was almost full when Mama dropped CJ off for camp. Since we had been warned about the situation, Mama decided to leave the car and walk up to the nearest Starbucks and do some paperwork while CJ enjoyed her morning at camp. It turned out to be a pretty productive day and wasn't too hard to walk back in past the cars to pick her up. We grabbed our car and headed out without issue.

Zoo Camp

CJ's off to zoo camp this morning with two of her friends. It's every morning this week. Maybe she'll even look at some animals - who knows?

Bridge Pedal (and Sweet Feast)

We had a really nice morning riding over 5 bridges with no cars. CJ rode her tag-a-long, which worked out really well as the hills might have been too big of a challenge for her little 12-inch bike. We've never seen so many tag-a-longs in one place before. This year it seemed like they spaced out the crowds better than when we had done it 3 years ago (CJ was in a trailer back then). There were some clouds in the sky, but we stayed dry and enjoyed the views, lots of sweet treats and music during and after the ride. We even heard CJ's favorite Soul Sister song from a parked car as we rode up to the Fremont bridge for a special treat.

Missing Posts

Yup, we've been bad at getting pictures and posts up. Mama will try to get to it this week.

The Beach

After breakfast at one of our favorite bakeries, we were able to catch part of a longboarding contest on the beach. CJ was more enamored with all of the treasures she found in the sand and loaded into Mama's pockets. It was warmer than it looks in the pictures. Not a bad way to spend the morning.

Shark Week

We are lucky enough to have friends who decided to go to the aquarium and invited us to join them. We did our best to get out of the house early and drove with them, arriving just in time for lunch in the car before heading in. Since it was Shark Week, we were treated to a shark dissection (?!?), but CJ's favorite parts of the visit were the tunnels (where you walk through while the sharks and fish swim around you) and her new shark snapper toy.

Afterwards we stopped by the science center for a quick visit and had dinner before heading to our friends' beautiful beach house on this wonderful, quiet beach.

Somehow it has been two years since we have gone to the coast, so we really appreciate our friends taking us. We know we won't wait so long before we go again as we are planning on taking Daddy there for his birthday in a couple of weeks.