Race Day

Nora and Jeff: On your marks, get set, GO!

After the race, Jeff holds Nora. She kept telling us that her heart was beating.

Sprinting for the finish.

Nora during warm ups.

Maybe she'll take after her parents and be a runner! We all ran the Bridge to Brews race in Portland over the weekend. Nora ran the kid's half mile race with Jeff. Then we loaded up the kids and ran the 8k. Lucky for me Jeff pushed the double jogger. He didn't leave me until about a mile and a half to go and still beat me by four minutes. He's such a show off.

Easter Video

Jeff is amazing when it comes to making these videos. This one is from Easter this year.

Marker Madness

I swear I was in the room and less than two feet away from him. How did I not notice he was eating a purple marker.

St. Patrick's Day Video

I'm a little late posting this video, but hopefully it has been worth the wait.

Ever since St. Patrick's Day Nora has been calling the color green: Irish. I couldn't have taught her better if I tried.

Easter Pictures

Ronan would do anything to eat the camera.

I will admit that Nora looks a little scared in this picture, but I still like it for some reason. Nora pretty much loved having an Easter dress. She's always asking to wear it.

We never seem to have enough pictures of our whole family together. We are learning to take pictures together more often, especially when we have someone around to take them for us. Easter was a great opportunity for us to do this. As everyone knows I can't stand our alligator and refuse to have him in our pictures, but he somehow manages to jump on Jeff's lap at the last minute every time.

I can't help it, I think I have the cutest kids in the whole world.

Easter at the Olsons

On Easter morning we took a drive to Multnomah Falls. It was raining, but at least it meant there weren't crowds.

Nora took Easter very seriously. She woke up knowing that there would be a basket for her, but had no idea that she would have to search for it. She wasn't really in the mood and finally Jeff had to steer her to her basket, which was hiding under a blanket. Later on we had an egg hunt in our living room because it was raining outside. Nora couldn't believe how many eggs we had hidden. She kept running around the room asking, "Are there more?" I didn't realize how many jelly bellies had I given her until she dumped them all out. Uh oh, can we say sugar high?

I was really excited to give Ronan a basket this year. He was pretty clueless as to what was happening. I found a lego dump truck to give him. It was the first BOY toy I had ever picked out. I think it's easier to shop for girls.

It wouldn't be a holiday at the Olson's if we didn't dress up Marley.

Apparently the same goes for Ronan.

Sheila and Su

As we dropped Grammy off at the airport we picked up Tank and Su. Talk about a revolving door of guests at the Olson house.
Tank and Su were easy guests. We had to convince them to leave the house. Jeff loaded us up in the car and took us to Multnomah Falls on Easter Sunday. It was raining so the views weren't the best, but the water was flowing strong. On our way home we stopped at the Outlets. While I shopped the kids rode all the rides.

Sheila and Su crossing the bridge.

The two Noras.

We even made it to the zoo! Su had never been to a zoo before. Nora showed her around.

Grammy comes to Portland!

Grammy held Nora while she looked at the fish at the zoo. Kathy came home with us to Portland after our trip to Walla Walla. One of the days she was here we went to the zoo. Nora had the time of her life. I left them there and went home so they could explore and Ronan and I could take a nap.

Nora loves the sea lions. Grammy and Nora spent 45 minutes watching them swim.

The little guy isn't looking too impressed with all the animals at the zoo.

Walla Walla

Grammy and Grandpapa with their grandkids at a winery.

Snuggling with grandkids and tasting wine. Does it get any better than this?

On our first morning in Walla Walla we went on a walk around the town. It actually snowed as we left the hotel! The weather the rest of the weekend was great.

Nora and Grandpapa exploring the sights.

Three generations of Olsons walking across the street.
We had a wonderful time in Walla Walla. The four hour drive there went perfectly and we didn't even have to stop. I think we might have been pushing our luck, but it's encouraging to think we might be able to hit the open road again soon. In Walla Walla we stayed at an historic hotel right in the middle of downtown. It was a super cute town that reminded me of Visalia. There were tons of shops and even the smallest Macy's I have ever seen. There was a small playground that we went to a couple of times each day and even a Children's Museum on the outskirts of town. We loved Walla Walla, especially spending time with Jeff's parents.

The Bride and the Moon

We went to the mall (for about ten minutes before Nora's meltdown) and Nora was able to go down the escalator. Big Deal.

Nora hanging out in her favorite Princess Ariel nightgown. She loved all the attention she had while Katie and Jessica were visiting. My friends popped in to town for a few days during their spring break. It was great to have them visit, even though the weather was horrible. We spent most of our time in the house.

Coco Visits

Coco was the first of our visitors this month. We had a great time with her. The highlight of her trip was when we went to Laurelwood Brewery. They have a small play area for kids to play in and Nora loves it. On this particular day Nora was looking extra rough. A little girl showed up wearing a sun dress and a necklace. Nora immediately set out to befriend her. She introduced me to her as her princess. Nora then went and grabbed her milk and asked the little girl if she wanted to "cheers." It was pretty much the funniest thing we had ever seen. Eileen then took her to the toy store next door and got her the prettiest tutu they had. Now Nora was a princess too.

If you're a boat...

You're a boat for life.