Long Beach

Last Saturday we went to the coast and had the most wonderful time. It was supposed to be horrible weather, but for Oregon 50 degrees and sun is about as good as it comes. We stopped in Seaside and played at the beach before going to Long Beach to meet up with some friends.

Nora and Calvin had a great time playing at Long Beach. Calvin was a dare devil when it came to swimming. Nora wasn't quite as impressed with the water.

We are trying to build the ultimate castle. Ronan loved feeling the sand in between his toes.

I think this might be my all time favorite picture of Jeff and the kids. Aren't they cute?

Happy Little Irish Babies

Typical Ronan. Eating a toy.

Nora watching a show.

Grammy and Grandpapa sent an Irish package to Nora. She loved the beads and headbands.

Ronan eating a phone. So happy.

St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday. I always tell people that I knew I was Irish before I knew anything else about myself. I hope that my kids will grow up as proud of their heritage as Jeff and I did.
Sorry these pictures are out of order!

We had a St. Patrick's Day party for Nora and her friends. The leprechauns left a treasure hunt and the kids found a pot (or basket) of gold (chocolate Hebrew coins).

Even Ronan enjoyed the holiday.

Nora woke up to find that the leprechauns had come to her room and made a mess. She was really excited about it, but she just looks upset in this picture.

Wings!

Nora and Jeff coloring. They also played trivia- and Nora actually won. Amazing.

Jeff and Nora had the time of their lives. I think Jeff was reliving his college days- with a wife and two kids!

I forget the name of this place, Wild Buffalo Wings- or something. Ronan liked the crown.

Washington Park

The weather can be perfect here on some days. We've learned to take advantage of the sun and recently went to Washington Park. Apparently there was no school that day, so we had to compete with about 100 other children. Nora loved it as I watched in horror as 8 year olds ran all around her.

It's a horrible picture, but you get the idea. Both kids on the ride. I'm holding on to Ro with all my might. Nora refuses to open her eyes because Ronan is next to her. Cute.

Someone looks really happy.

Backyard Fun

Time for another haircut?

We had two days of sunshine and we moved the house outside. Now we're going to have a week of rain. Portland weather.

Leprechaun Fun

With some help from the friendly leprechauns, we were trying to turn our white flowers green. Think we can do it? I've already cut the stems down dramatically from these pictures, but no results yet.

Ronan is Teething!

As soon as we recovered from the flu, we started our next great adventure. Teething. As you can see, he is a miserable drooling machine.

Children's Museum

Nora has always been a big fan of the alligator at the entrance of the Children's Museum. She'll usually spend at least five minutes here working on his teeth.

She must be focused on something.

Against better judgement, I took Ronan into the dig pit today. The dig pit has been moved and is twice as big as it used to be. Nora loves it and I'm sure Ronan will soon too.

He almost looks like he is having fun.

The CM has expanded and improved the baby garden. We went for the first time today and were really impressed. It's a great space with tons of new toys. It reminds me of OMSI. The best part about it is that I can take both Nora and Ronan into it now.

Snow Again

Can you believe that it snowed in Portland again? Of course you can, it snows every March. We have had some pretty wild weather today. Sunshine, snow, rain, sleet, hail...we did it all. As much as I love some snow, I'm ready for Spring. Bring on the sunshine.

Nora has been obsessed with playing in the backyard. She's always asking if it's sunny outside because she knows that she can't go out if it's raining. Hopefully we'll be out back by the end of the week.

SKYPE

We recently discovered Skype and have been using to video talk with our parents. We had no idea how easy it would be or that it was FREE!
The best part is that Nora and Ronan are able to see their grandparents every day. Katie May also uses it and the other day she was able to give me a tour of her apartment in Ireland. Cute place!
The one draw back is that everyone can see what a mess my house is. It looks like I'll have to be doing a quick clean up before we make our calls.
Let us know if you have Skype!

Play House

We have no will power. None. It's not even summer yet! What were we thinking?

We now have a play house. Only it's in our living room instead of our backyard. At least for now. Nora is obsessed. She asked for an Irish flag to hang on her house, just like the one we have hanging out front of our house. And then while I was putting Ronan to sleep, I came out to the living room and Jeff was hanging lights around it. We're ready for Christmas!

OMSI

We started this weekend at OMSI. We love going to the Science Museum, but have learned that it's best to get there right when it opens. It's so much nicer to go on the weekend with Jeff because we can both play with the kids independently, rather than doing the normal juggling act of toddler verses infant.

Vancouver Video

The only good thing about our family having the flu is that Jeff was able to make this video today.

The Boat

When Ronan was first born we started calling him Ro. It some how involved to Row Boat and then we dropped the Row and were left with Boat. It doesn't come across as the most loveable or cute nickname, but it has stuck. Last night I found a little hat with boats around it. How fitting. The boat wearing a boat hat.

Taking the MAX to Hillsboro

On Saturday we took the MAX to downtown Hillsboro. Nora has been a big fan of the Max and we hadn't taken it further west than our stop, Sunset Transit Center. There wasn't much open, except for a toy store where Nora found some new marbles (also known as choking hazards) and a chocolate shop.