At Last

This post is way past due, but better late then never. With Brian's new job he lived in Mt. Hood Oregon for the month of July. We decided that we would make our family trip of the year and go visit him for a week. To start the journey we piled into a van with 3 other kids (so in total we had 5 kids under 5) and my good friend Lisa (her husband is the owner of Surface Skis). Yes, we survived a 13 hour drive with all of them and they did much better then we expected. There were 3 stops of about 30 mins each, which I might add we were quite efficient at: potty break, lunch, gas and letting the kids get some energy out. We always knew when we were about 40 mins away from the next stop because the kids started getting riled up. It was actually quite fun, however I must admit that the scenery was not what I was expecting. It was more like driving through the middle of Wyoming. None the less, Oregon was beautiful! I also have to add that I now understand why people get vans. After spending that much time, and that many kids, it was so convenient.

Sorry this one is blurry, it was with my IPhone.

Our first day, Monday, we went into Portland and went to the Zoo and shopping. The Zoo was quite impressive. The kids loved it and it was a great way to wear them out after a day of driving. After which we went to this great little shopping strip. It was a lot of high end stores so of course no purchases made, but we had some great pizza.

Tuesday we ventured down to the Mt. Hood River. It's a cute little town with great little shops on Main Street. The river itself is huge! It was quite windy the day we went but the kids had fun playing on the beach. We had splurged and got them kites but it was so windy that we could get them out. However, the kite and wind surfer's were fun to watch. They hauled across the river and got some sweet air.

Finley and her friend Lohtse playing on the beach.

Even itty bitty had fun in the wind.

Wednesday we made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Cannon Beach. For those of you who don't know, this is part of where 'Goonies' was filmed. We stopped and walked through town, had a bite to eat (they have killer seafood!), then stopped and got some beach toys and streamers for the kids before hitting the beach. This little Kite store is one of the oldest in Oregon.

Surprising the beaches in Oregon are not what you expect. They have very cold water, and it's windy most of the time. Again though, the scenery is so pretty! The kids didn't care how cold it was, they played to their hearts content until we had to go. Finley and her little friends, Lohtse, Este and Tosh are so cute together. In fact, the three little girls look so much alike that from behind you couldn't tell who was who.

Eliza was not sure what to think of the cold water but smiled anyway.

Thursday we went to a lake nearby Mt. Hood (which in the volcano you can see in the background). I must point out also that Mt. Hood is where a lot of ski and snowboarder's go in the summer to coach and train. It's kind of funny to see big ski jumps and chair lifts up on the glacier's. Anyway, this lake was a lot of fun. Mike (owner of Surface) had bought a paddle board and so we took it out on the lake. We put each of the kids on it and the guys paddled them out and around. They loved it!

Finley and Este playing games on the IPod. They were so cute together!

Friday, the trek home. This time it was just Brian, the girls and I. I guess this trip wiped her out. It was so much fun and I'd love to go back! The food, company and time in general couldn't have been better. Thanks to our friends for letting us come and crash on part of their family vacation. Hopefully this living in Oregon for a month happens each year and I have a built in excuse to go on a vaca.

Zoo

Last Friday we went to the zoo with all the girls (me, Fin, Eliza, aunt Micall, aunt Tehmi, cousin Stella, cousin Ruby and grandma Deb). The little girls had so much fun! It was so nice to have aunt Micall there who was just as excited as the little girls so she was the tour guide for the day. I must admit, the animals were about as cool as I've seen them. We made it there just in time for the elephant show, they were doing some tricks, eating and the baby was following her mom around. We could have sat and watched them all day. I'm looking forward to the new addition that's coming to the zoo, it is much needed. The tigers were just released from inside as we were getting to their area. It was cool to watch them walk across the bridge right above us. Then one went back to the door, stood up, scratched the door and started growling. It was so cool to see and hear. It was amazing how active the animals were. We also rode the carosel, and the train. The verdict was that the train ride seemed much longer when we were kids. It was a great day and a fun way to wrap up summer.

Heber Fair Days

Good ol' Heber Fair Days. There are many things I love about a small town parade, being able to back your truck up and sit in it to watch the parade, the herds and herds of cheerleaders (I swear only in Heber), Finley's tumbling class was in the parade (we convinced her that catching candy would be more fun), not only were there a group of old cars but even cooler where the dozen old tractors, and besides candy, the new floral shop gave out flowers. One day the girls went with their grandma and uncle to the carnival and rode the rides, I'm sure had candy, and even each one a fish (poor Fred didn't make it longer then a week). There's also a rodeo that we typically go to but this year had too much going on. Throw in there a pageant, 4-H contests, and Battle of the Bands and you have a typical small town event. Did I mention you could walk or ride your bike to most of these events? Love it!

Yes these are great pictures, no thanks to me and my photography skills, but my awesome sister in law. I've teased her that I'm going to start paying her in Dt. Coke to take pictures of my kids at events (hence the great photos in the zoo post as well).

Running Shoes

No these are not my shoes, they would be Fin's new 'running shoes.'

Like everything else she is growing out of we had to invest in some new shoes. I was so excited when I found these Saucony's. First of all I love mine! They are not only comfy, but I dig the old school look. When we were looking online and I showed Fin her choice of Saucony, Nike or Adidas she wanted these. I was stoked! And of course the color options were pink, purple or blue. I was very glad that she went with the purple (seeing as though everything else in her world is pink right now). Anyway, on top of being independent, she likes being like me lately. So hence the fact that she calls them her running shoes. Her first reaction when they came was, hurry and put them on, run real fast in place, the she had to go test them outside. After a few laps up and down the driveway she said, 'Look mom, I can be fast like you.' Haha, I love it. The second item that she wanted was a a brown braided leather belt. Again the comment at the store, 'Mom, I need a belt to look cute like you.' Ok done (not too mention she is so skinny half of her pants really could use a belt). I guess at least we haven't hit the expensive stuff yet. She is funny in the way that when getting some new 'school / fall' clothes I let her pick out what she wants, and if she tells you she doesn't think it's cute, well she's not going to wear it (of course I give her 2 or 3 options of what I think is cute so it's nothing to out there). Oh the mind of a 3 year old.

6 Months

No I am not a professional photographer and yes half of my pictures are done with my phone camera. Anyways, my baby is now 6 months old. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone and how big she is. It's really quite comical at the word big. In comparison to Finley's 6 months stats:

Height: Eliza 25.5 in. 50% Finley 26 in. 75%

Weight: Eliza 17.5lbs 75% Finley 15.2lbs 30%

Did you see the second category? Finley did not hit 17.5 pounds until she was 15 months old! Yes I have a healthy child as every likes to keep telling me. I absolutely love the rolls on her thighs, the chubby cheeks that I could kiss all day long, and of course the budha belly I love to tickle. Right now she looks nothing like her sister or me for that matter. Eliza's hair is coming in bleach blonde, and her eyes are amazingly blue. However, I went through some pictures and did a little comparison to what Fin looked like at 6 months, and they sort of look like siblings. They for sure have the same mouths, which is their papa's to a tee. Their personalities also seem different. Finley is full of spunk and a little dramatic. Eliza is mellow, never fusses unless she wants food or to sleep. Oh yeah, food, that is another night and day difference. Eliza LOVES to eat, while my darling Fin is still a little picky (she eats like a bird we like to say). I was also so excited to use Finley's hand me downs for Eliza. Nope, hasn't really worked. Eliza is currently 6-12 and more 12-18 month sizes. I do have both of these but the 12-18 clothes are like dead of winter attire. And with Fin growing like a weed, there goes any clothing budget for me. Kids are worth every penny, sleepless nights, emotional roller coasters, and body change we endure. (I do have to remind myself that after 0 sleep, dramatic daughter all day, throwing in house chores and work) I've honestly come to believe that being a mom is one of the hardest jobs you can have, and better understand many things that my mom has done and gone through for me.

I love that my girls are starting to interact with each other, Finley loves giving her kisses and helps give her a binki and a bottle. The change in these two over the next 6 months will be so much fun. I continue to love every stage that they grow through, but I think besides the newborn smell and cuddling, I love the 6 month stage!

Eliza

Finley

Eliza

Finley

All The Road Runnings

Yes I know, this post is really delayed, but seeing as though I didn't have my camera with me I was relying on a friend to get pictures back from her. I first must admit that I did not prepare myself as good as I should've, would've, could've for this race. Granted I had a baby the end of January, however, the fact that there were two girls 7 months pregnant running my same stages, I felt I had no excuses. I survived the three legs that total up to 13 miles. Our poor team had some ups and downs before the race was here. I think we only had 6 of the original members on our team actually run. Injuries, pregnancies, and personal issues caused half the team to drop. Luckily we found replacements (a few jumped in only a day before the race). Despite the randomness of our team I made a few new friends and enjoyed the experience. The scenery of the Wasatch mountains, lakes, and country side made it hard to complain while running not too mention the weather couldn't have been better. Between my shuffle playlist, the support of my teammates, and Brian and the girls cheering me on made pushing through that much easier.

12 runners, 2 vans, lack of sleep, tired legs, stomach problems, a few team hiccups along the way, 189 miles and 30 hours later we finished Ragnar 2010 Wasatch Back. I had a great time and would love to do this again.

Our van of runner's before our first set of runs.

Can you tell who just ran? (hint, flip flops and no numbers) and can you beat this view?

Finding a place to rest our heads before our set of runs #2.

The beginning of the night runs.

Stephanie and I at the finish of my last leg.

Silver Lake

Brian is gone pretty much the month of July for work up in Mt. Hood Oregon, so one evening while he was gone, I went with the girls and my mom to Silver Lake up by Brighton. It was nice to escape the heat and enjoy the beauty of the mountains. This little outing only got us more excited for our trip to see Bri in Oregon.

Eliza loves her tongue right now.