Last Art Class

Our really cool Art class at the Children's Museum has come to an end. It was a great class and I'm hoping we can take another one in the future.

There wasn't a single activity that Nora didn't enjoy from this class. She would show such an intense level of concentration while she was exploring all the different ways to paint. What was really amazing though is how little paint she actually ATE!

This was such a cool experiment. The teachers had connected paint brushes to a bicycle wheel. The kids were able to turn the wheel and watch the paint smear across the paper. Nora was obsessed and took about seven turns.

This is Ronan before the art class. I always try to make sure he gets some time to crawl around before class.

Last Indoor Playground

For the past two years, from September until May, we have spent countless hours at the Cedar Hills Indoor Playground. We had our last session on Thursday. It was especially sad for me because Nora will be going to preschool next year so she won't be able to go anymore. I am looking forward to taking Ronan though!

This is a picture of Nora and Lucy riding a bike. Lucy was one of the first friends we made. Nora and Lucy both love meeting at the Indoor Playground.

Gloria is the supervisor of the Indoor Playground. She loves all the kids and is always ready to lend a helping hand. Nora loves to hand her our card when we arrive and fill her in our what has gone on in our lives since our last visit.

Sleeping Babies

There can never be too many pictures of Nora and Ronan alseep.

Alligator Pool

As I have made mention, Nora really loves alligators. So when I was reading through the Sunday paper ads and saw an alligator pool for sale I knew it was only a matter of time until we had one in our backyard.
Ronan loves the pool. Jeff also got him a tiny little pool because he thinks Ronan is neglected. Ronan wasn't nothing to do with it and swims for hours in the alligator pool. Why are my kids such water babies???

This picture shows both slides. One for each kid.

Nora finally went in the pool. She usually loves swimming, but hasn't really wanted to play in the water in our backyard much.

Here's Jeff trying to manage both kids while I take pictures.

Rose Festival

The Rose Festival has arrived in Portland a week early! We took advantage of the free admission on Friday and took Nora on some rides at the Waterfront.

Rides are serious business for Nora. She is really focused during the ride and saves all of her excitement until the ride is over.

This was the only activity that Nora needed some support. The bridges were up pretty high and I had to convince her it was safe. Then a little girl a little older than Nora offered to hold her hand and everything was much better.

We couldn't let Nora leave a carnival without a prize!

This is basically how she acted the entire time. I've never seen her so happy!

This was the first ride that she went on at the carnival. I was amazed how she just knew what to do. She did all of the ride, except for one, by herself. I think this girl is ready for Disneyland!

Art Class

On a whim I decided to check out an Art class being offered at the Children's Museum. It turns out that the price was really reasonable and I could bring Ronan. Winning combination. What I didn't know was how much Nora was going to LOVE this class. We've taken so many classes and have really enjoyed most of them, but Nora seems to love this one above the rest. I can't say enough good things about the class or the teachers!


Nora loves making a huge mess and she's always looking out for what she's going to do next.


The wait outside the room before class begins is the longest three minutes of Nora's life. I have to keep her from banging on the door. She loves getting a sneak peak of what the class will be doing.

Nora is so active and loves to do everything at once. It's amazing when she can actually sit down and focus on an activity like she is doing in this picture. She is painting watering cans!

Ronan at the Children's Museum

Nora is taking an Art class at the Children's Museum. So, before class we try to let Ronan play as much as possible. Now that he's on the move, he loves playing in the new baby garden.
Pure Happiness.

Nora loves alligators because of the one from Peter Pan. She says, "Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock," all day long because of them. She was so excited for Ronan to be on this alligator.

Another Trip to the ZOO!

Our little family is so excited that summer has finally arrived. The other day we went to the Zoo for three hours! We had a great time. We were on the search for San Diego and Marty. We also saw Gloria. But most importantly, we found Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock.

Nora was so excited to see Tick Tock at the Zoo.

We could spend hours in front of the sea lions.

This is such a cheesy picture, but I felt like we needed it.

The CABIN!!!

Jeff's parents have a cabin on Yellow Lake in Wisconsin. They just finished building a new cabin this winter and we were soooo excited to see everything. I wish I had taken some pictures, but of course I didn't think of it at the time. Needless to say, it's beautiful and we can't wait to spend a week out there in July.
We went on a walk along the shore and Grammy found a nest. Nora thought it was pretty neat, meanwhile I was obsessed. I've never found a nest before! We took it back to the cabin and Nora tore it apart. Typical.

Grandpa wanted to make sure his new cabin had "Buba" chairs. Now I know why, so he could snuggle up with both of his grand children at the same time.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip. They look so happy!

Never mind that Nora has her finger in her nose while cooking! Nora and Grammy cooked fish that Grandpa caught! It was an excellent dinner!

This is the fireplace and Nora is sitting on the mantle. A little dangerous? Nah, Grandpa was standing right next to her.

Blnachette Reunion

The Blanchettes are known for spending quality time together, so it was no surprise that everyone came over to Grandma's house to meet the newest member of the clan. Ronan's middle name is LeRoy, after Jeff's Grandpa who passed away last year.

There is a train that runs behind Grandma's house. Jeff's dad took her to see it and placed a quarter on the track. Nora could not believe the quarter was flattened! A week later she is still carrying around that quarter. I really think this was her favorite part of the trip.
A little while later Nora her the train whistle blow and started yelling for Grandpa. He was inside the house and the train was approaching quickly, so Bonnie offered to take Nora to the train. Nora was so excited and I think Bonnie was equally excited to take her!

Nora reading with her Aunt Kris.

Nora playing with Karly's new puppy Roy. Eric and Karly had just gotten their puppy a few days earlier. The kids had a great time playing with the puppy.

Great Grandma snuggling with two of her three great grandchildren. Jeff's cousin, Sara, had her first baby in November. We're looking forward to our next trip to Minnesota this summer when we can get all the kids together.

Grandma with her only great grandson.

Great Grandparents

Jeff's grandparents spent a day with us while we were at the cabin. It was great to be able to spend time with them. I think my kids are so lucky to have three great grandparents.
Nora and Grandpa reading by the windows.

Grandma and Grandpa with two of their five great grandchildren.

The Olson Girls: Nora and Grandma.

The Olson Boys: Grandpa and Ronan.

Flying with the kids!!!

Jeff's parents were in desperate need of a visit from their two favorite grandchildren. What choice did I have? So we boarder a plane. Let me clarify. I boarded a plane with both kids, while Jeff stayed in Portland. Yes, I am a little crazy. But I did survive and would actually do it again. Not tomorrow or anything, but again.
Flying with both kids was better than expected. Jeff was able to help us through security on the way there. The guy next to us moved to the only open seat on the plane so we would have some extra space. Ronan slept for a few minutes and Nora played with all her special toys. I'm sure that there was some screaming, fighting, crying, and chaos, but in the days since the trip I seem to be forgetting all of that.
Our way home went pretty well. Sometime between arriving in Minnesota and leaving Northworst changed their policy from allowing assistance to the gate to forbidding it. I have a feeling the policy wasn't changed and the guy that checked me in was being a jerk. Anyways, I managed through security. Both kids slept on the flight. Does it get any better than that?

He makes it look so easy doesn't he?

I just had to have a picture of her from the flight, even though she refused to look at the camera.

Mother's Day Weekend

Early Friday morning Nora wandered into our bedroom. It was the beginning of a horrible flu. Even when Nora has been sick in the past, her energy level has never really dropped. We knew she was sick when she slept most of the day and wasn't even interested in reading stories or watching TV. I took her to the doctor and was told to expect the bug to last a couple more days and for the rest of the family to get sick. How we managed to escape it, I'll never know, but I'll always be thankful. On Saturday morning Nora was feeling much better, but still recovering. The good side of sick kids is that they pretty much lay around. Jeff and I were able to get a ton of work done. We did some planting and yard work in the morning and then went on a bike ride in the afternoon. That evening we had a wonderful dinner outside. Who knew? I thought we would all be sick by this point!
On Sunday Nora was back to her usual self, but Ronan had developed a cold. He's a little fussy and pretty congested, but at least he doesn't have the flu. Jeff spent the day working outside. He planted grape vines in the back yard for me! Everyone took naps in the afternoon. Even though the kids are sick, it's still my best Mother's Day ever! The alligator is still around?

We set up the paints outside. Nora loves painting!

Our fondue dinner in the backyard!

Nora loves to hang from this bar, except for right now!

It's a challenge to keep him from eating grass in the backyard these days.

Mom's New Bike

This year for Mother's Day and my birthday, Jeff gave me a bike!!! We have so much fun riding around the neighborhood with the kids in the bike trailer!
Jeff does all the work and I just cruise along behind him.

Ronan is adjusting to life with a helmet. We eventually had to take it off because he was screaming. Hopefully we won't have a crash and have to explain why our kids were holding their helmets instead of wearing them.

Here we are, ready to go on our ride!

Nora's Turn with the Marker

I told you pictures of the kids snuggling don't get old!

Nora covered her face in marker on a ride to the store. How embarrassing. At least we knew she was beginning to feel better. She had a horrible flu for about 24 hours, but is already back to herself!

May Day Celebration!

We always have a hard time deciding what to do on Friday nights, but not this Friday! To celebrate May Day, we went to the Kennedy School and had a wonderful time! When we first arrived there were belly dancers. Nora was amazed. The rest of the night she would be star struck any time we would see one of the belly dancers. We had a blast!
Nora and Dada dancing to the gypsy music. Katie May would be so proud!

Nora was more than happy to dance on her own if we needed a break. At one point she found another little girl to dance with, but they eventually hit heads and both girls ran crying from the dance floor. Nora was back out there within minutes!

There was a marching band setting up and Nora went ahead and joined the warm up session.

Nora had an Irish shamrock painted onto her arm. She loved her tattoo artist!