Camping 2013

Last weekend we went on what has become an annual camping trip with the Anderson Family.  We drove almost 4 hours to Lake Hosmer in central Oregon for this last camping adventure.  We left early afternoon to try and get there to have time to set up our tent and get dinner ready without it being too late.  We arrived, set up camp, had dinner and had fun.  The days were warm, but the nights were cool, so Donald had a fire in the evenings and early mornings to keep us warm.  Friday night we had s'mores after our dinner.  That night got pretty chilly, and I was thankful that I had invested in a wool blanket.  The boys kept warm except for the occasional times they seem to end up outside of their sleeping bags.  Saturday morning we woke and enjoyed coffee and a warm fire.  After breakfast and cleaning up, we took Donald's canoe down to the lake.  There wasn't room for all of us, so the first group went out.  Then the second group went.  Pretty soon it was lunch time and we headed back to camp for lunch.  After lunch, Donald, Jeff and the 3 older kids decided to have another go at the canoeing.  Ruth and I stayed behind with the youngers.  They enjoyed more canoeing, and soon it was time for dinner.  Cleaning and cooking takes up so much time, that just when I feel like we are done with a meal, it's almost time to start getting ready for another meal!  After dinner, we enjoyed making s'mores again.  Then it was off to bed.  Sunday morning we woke, and had breakfast, then started taking down camp.  Soon the car was loaded.  With an extra layer of dirt on all of us, we headed towards Bend.  We stopped and had lunch with Donald and Ruth before heading home.  We had a great time.  The boys love playing with Donald and Ruth's kids.  They run around the trees, playing pretend games.  They ride bikes.  It's well worth all the work that goes into planning the trip and then the aftermath of cleaning everything when we get back home.  Here's a look back at the past 3 years of our camping trips. 

2011

2012

2013

Summer Fun

I have been so behind in my blog writing this summer.  I feel like this summer has been a whirlwind of activity for us.  It has been one busy activity after another.  We started off the summer with one week off.  The boys quickly went stir crazy, and I knew that they would need something to keep them occupied this summer.  The following two weeks they had swim lessons.  They enjoyed that a lot, and we got some extra swim time over at Grandma & Grandpa Youker's house.  After that, the two younger boys had a summer science class at OMSI.  Sam took a class called Let's Invent, and Daniel took a class called Urban Farming.  They both enjoyed their classes and learning new things.  The week after that it was Camp Meeting out at the Gladstone Camp Grounds.  We put in some long days going to camp meeting from Wednesday to Saturday.  But again, the boys had so much fun, and they got to hang with some great friends!  Which leads to last week, where we just got back from a week long visit to Cd'A to see my family and friends.  The next 2 1/2 weeks will be a bit quieter around here.  We don't have anything scheduled.  But then we will be taking one last trip to Sun River before gearing up for another school year.  What a busy, crazy summer!  I hope yours has been going well too!

Swim Lessons

OMSI Class

Camp Meeting

Cd'A

Swim Lessons 2013

The past 2 weeks the boys have been in swim lessons.  They go every day for 30 minutes each day for 2 weeks.  We've done this for many summers, and they really enjoy it.  This is the first summer I haven't had to be in the pool with one of them, so it was fun for me to sit and watch all of their activity. 

Daniel has really mastered the act of swimming.  This is the first summer that I feel confident that he can swim on his own.  I'm so proud of his progress.  Also I think his form is really good.  These last 2 weeks, he has learned side breathing with the breaststroke and has started to learn the backstroke. 

Practicing his Breaststroke

Sam is like a fish that is almost an independent swimmer.  He loves the water and enjoys splashing and playing.  He has no problem going under water or getting his face wet, etc.  He prefers to stay in the areas where he can touch though.  He also learned side breathing and the breaststroke this summer.  I'm sure by next summer he'll be swimming on his own.

Learning his Side Breathing

I wasn't sure Simon would be ready for a class by himself, but he proved to do just as well as his brothers.  He was so eager to get in the water each day.  He enjoys being in the water and playing, although he still is getting used to having his face all wet.  He learned to blow bubbles this summer.  He is quite comfortable in the water, and I know he'll be swimming too, along with his brothers.

Blowing Bubbles

Strike a Pose

Waiting for Lessons

#3

I have said many times, Simon is quite different from Daniel and Sam.  I knew from the start that he was different.  For starters, Daniel and Sam were very easy babies.  They played on the floor and entertained themselves for long periods of time as infants.  Or many times they enjoyed hanging out in their swing or exer-saucer.  Simon cried for the first 6 months of his life.  Simon only stopped crying if he was being held.  He didn't enjoy alone time on the floor.  Daniel and Sam never wanted to feed themselves.  In fact, today, they would probably be happy if someone was feeding them.  Simon wanted to feed himself as soon as he knew what a fork or spoon was.  He got frustrated if he missed, but he still wanted to do it himself.  Simon had issues with dairy, and couldn't have any until he was about 1 1/2 years old.  Daniel and Sam never had that problem.  Daniel and Sam never cared what they were wearing.  I always picked out their clothes.  I still pick out their clothes.  Simon has very definite opinions about what he will and will not wear.  And so we come to potty training.  Daniel and Sam ran around the house naked for a couple of days.  Then they transitioned to underwear, and that was that.  They knew the routine.  Simon has not had any interest in being potty trained.  But we convinced him that it was finally time to try.  So last week we started the potty training process.  The first day he DID NOT want to run around the house naked, although after about day 3 I was able to convince him that he would be okay.  We've been at this for about a week now.  He does pretty well if he is naked, but every time we put underwear on him, he has had an accident.  So we still have a ways to go.  I don't mind that he's different, and I embrace his uniqueness.  I just find it rather amusing that I think I know how to raise kids, and then along comes Simon, and everything changes and starts all over again.  I guess he will be the one to keep my on my toes.

3 Events

For many people, this past weekend was filled with exciting events.  Of course there was Father's Day.  And I am sure there were graduations, weddings and many other fun ways to spend the weekend.  Here in our family, we also celebrated the weekend.  It started on Friday night when we went to Jeff's graduation from residency.  They had a dinner and presentation.  It was held at the Multnomah Club.  Jeff's parents, his sister and her husband, my parents and the boys and I were there.  For me, it was wonderful to see him reach this milestone.  He has worked so hard.  In some ways it feels like it can't be 3 years already since we moved here and began the residency journey.  And in other ways, I wasn't sure if it would ever end.  I'm glad it's behind us, and now Jeff is working as Chief Resident for the next year.

The second event for us this weekend was that Jeff and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on Saturday.  My parents were here, so they watched the boys and Jeff and I got away for the day.  We had a wonderful day.  We had a picnic at Washington Park.  We talked about what we had learned in the past year and what our goals were for the next year.  He took me to dinner at Nostrana, a favorite for us.  Again, I can't believe it has been 10 years already.  It doesn't feel like it has been that long. 

The third event this weekend was celebrating Father's Day.  Jeff wanted to go to Sauvie's Island and do some berry picking.  So we went out there.  We picked some berries, then we had a hay ride.  We enjoyed some strawberry shortcake.  Then, we went out to dinner at McMenamins.  They have a nice outdoor area to sit, and it was such a nice day.  It was very enjoyable.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

A Series of Unfortunate Events Followed by One Fortunate Event

For the past several weeks, I've noticed an odd smell coming from our Honda Pilot.  I thought it was related to some foul smelling windshield washer fluid.  There was this one time when "they" topped it off when changing the oil, and it smelled so bad, we never had them top if off again.  So I was just assuming it was the bad smelling fluid again.  But then last Wednesday when I drove home after taking Daniel to school, I turned the car off but noticed the fan was still blowing, as if the car was trying to cool off.  I thought this was strange.  I waited a few minutes to see if it would shut off.  It didn't, so then I went out to check the antifreeze and see if it was low.  When I screwed off the lid, the fan stopped blowing, which again I thought was odd, and quickly figured those two things must be related.  I filled it up with water and it took close to 2 quarts of water.  Again, my radar went off that something wasn't right.  Later that morning, I took the two younger boys to the library.  I watched the heat on the car, but it didn't seem to be abnormal.  The smell was getting stronger though, so I was worried.  And when I got home, I noticed a substantial leak under the car.  I called the mechanic and they said to bring it in right away.  We took the car in on Thursday, hoping that it was fixable and wouldn't cost a lot of money.  This car is old, has quite a few miles, but we were hoping it could last a couple more years.  Then, when we heard how much it was going to cost to fix it, we knew it was time to say good-bye to our car and search for another.  To make a long story short, we ended up buying a new Honda Pilot last weekend.  Things worked out pretty well for us.  I'm happy to have a car that runs again and hopefully won't require any work for a very long time. 

The Beach

Last weekend we went to the beach with Jeff's parents.  We rented a house near the beach in Manzanita, OR.  The weather forecast was sketchy, but as Sam says, it's always nice at the beach.  Jeff and I did some running on the beach.  I always enjoy that.  The first couple of days the sun came out long enough for us to get some bike riding in, a little time on the beach, and a few trips to the park.  On Saturday we drove down to Cape Meares.  We walked to the light house and to the Octopus Tree.  Then we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tasty treat of ice cream.  On Sunday we spent time at the beach.  I did a little street shopping through town.  In the afternoon we tried to fit in a bike ride, but it decided to rain, so we turned around and went back home.  Monday we woke up to lots of rain, so we didn't make any last trips to the beach.  But we had a great time, and it was so nice to get away for the weekend.

Early Morning Run on the Beach

At the Tillamook Cheese Factory

Sam in the Sand

Catching Simon in Action

Daniel Gets Ready to Fly a Kite

All of Us at Octopus Tree