We Miss Baby Ella

It was so nice to have Ella visit us!

Toy Shelf

Over the weekend, Jeff made a great new toy shelf. I love that it has a built in area for puzzles. My favorite part is the hand prints that we let the kids put on the top.

Neighborhood Park Tour

We are so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. We have four parks within walking distance of our house. I took Julie's family on a walking tour of three of the parks.

Julie and Ronan at Foothill Park.

Nora at Commonwealth Lake.

Baby Ella swinging at Commonwealth Lake Park.

Ronan will climb every chance he gets.

Soccer

I was so excited to sign Nora up for soccer. When I first told her about the class, she said she would never go. I debated about dropping the class, but in the end I decided we would try it. I mentioned to Nora that I played soccer when I was a little girl, and suddenly she was interested. She has gone to two classes now and LOVES it! She really has a great coach and is started to actually kick the ball instead of pick it up.

She's holding the ball here, which is what most the of kids do during class. It's so funny that they pick the ball up and then set it down to kick it.

Swim Lessons

Nora and Ronan started swim lessons on Saturday. They both have class at the same time. Ronan is doing a Daddy and Me class and Nora is doing swim lessons all on her own!

I was a little worried that Nora might not want to swim without her parents, but she had no problem jumping in the water with her swim teacher. There are two teachers and six children in her class (all girls!). Nora was very outgoing and swam across the pool with one of the teachers every chance she got. She also loved being able to jump in the pool on her own at the end. I can't wait until she learns how to swim!

On Thursday one of my good friends/college roommates, came to Portland for a visit with her husband, Matt, and their adorable daughter, Ella. Julie's family is from Portland so we didn't have to play tour guide for her family. We had a great time while they were here. On Friday we all went to the zoo for a few hours.

Nora loved Ella. The girls were so cute together. Ella has the sweetest temperament and would say the cutest thing. She called my children her cousins!

Seaside

I don't know what came over me, but last week when we were having such beautiful weather I decided to take the kids to the beach for the day by myself! I knew it would be the last summer day. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't nearly as nice as predicted, but we still had a wonderful time.
I really wasn't worried about the drive or actually being downtown Seaside, but I was worried about being on the beach. Jeff reminded me at least a dozen times that there could be rogue waves and not to let the kids in water. I waited until about an hour before we left to go out to the sand. We had a great time and even let our toes get wet. Nora did a great job being a great listener and helping me out with Ronan. It gives me confidence that we can do more field trips in the future.
Ronan loved the sand. I was amazed that the kids kept the sand out of their mouths. We tried to build a sand castle, but they were only interested in digging a giant hole.

Nora smiled like this the entire time we were on the sand. She kept asking if we could go collect treasures. We found a few sand dollars, but we decided to leave them at the beach.

We found an arcade and rode all the kiddie rides we could find.

We also rode on the carousel. It was a little intimidating to have to watch both kids. Nora did great and I stood between both kids, holding onto Ronan. He was not a big fan of the ride and tried as hard as he could to get off. He eventually managed to climb into my arms and they had to stop to ride. Apparently it's against the law in Oregon to hold a baby on a carousel. I guess you learn something new every day.

We decided to go to the Seaside Aquarium. I have to be honest and say that I wouldn't go again. It was really old and dirty inside and the sea life that they had were scary monster looking things. Half of the tanks were filled with starfish and sea anemone. Nora kept asking to leave and we were probably only there for fifteen minutes.

The kids liked the touch tank and were willing to actually touch the sea anemone, but not the starfish.

When we arrived they asked if we wanted to feed the seas. I of course said yes for both of the kids. I was then given two plates of cut up fish. It was so disgusting- I'll spare everyone the details. I was then told to only give one piece at a time and directed to a giant metal fence that I would be throwing the fish pieces over. The kids couldn't see the seals, and it was probably a good thing because they were pretty aggressive. It was gross. and I ended up throwing the fish away and trying to pretend it didn't happen. Anyone know of a good Animal Rights Group I could join?

Chuck E. Cheese

A couple of weekends ago, we (that being me and the children) finally convinced Jeff to take us to Chuck E. Cheese! We weren't there for very long, but managed to go on all the rides.

Ronan loved throwing the balls.

They had a play area that Nora climbed up. She is usually a little scared to go up all on her own, but not this time.

Ronan was trying to jump ship.

Lucy's Birthday Party

One of Nora's best friends, Lucy, recently celebrated her third birthday. She had a princess party at a park near our house. Nora had such a wonderful time at the party. She wanted to sit by Lucy most of the time. Now when we go to this park, Nora calls it Lucy's Princess Party Park.

Nora's 3rd Birthday Party

Nora was so excited to celebrate her third birthday. Unlike years past, she understood that she would be having a party with friends, cake and presents. We pretended that she might have a Care Bear party, but when it came down to actually going through with it, we caved and gave her the Princess Ariel party she really wanted. We had a family BBQ and about 30 friends over to celebrate. What a great day!

This is Nora at the end of the day. Despite our best efforts, she didn't take a nap and the day really wore her out.

Jeff helped Nora open all her presents. It was overwhelming how generous everyone was. Nora has a ton of princess toys now! I have to admit that her favorite gift was the Princess Ariel dress that her friend Matthew gave her. She was worn this dress every day since her party.

During the first part of the party Nora wore her "fins." It was the only way she would go to her Princess party.

Who thought it would be a good idea to have a pinata with 15 children running around? It was madness, but everyone loved it. Ronan even endured being held by Jeff as he beat the pinata open.

We took a picture of most of the kids. It's actually quite a task to line so many kids up.

We were a little worried about how Ronan might do at the party because he tends to be a little fussy, but as you can tell from the pictures, he had a GREAT time.

Tryon Creek Hike

One of our favorite places to hike on the weekends is Tryon Creek. It's great for a short walk and absolutely beautiful. We love all the bridges. We took Grammy on a short hike here the morning of Nora's birthday.

Ronan looks so much like Jeff. Ronan loved being in the backpack. I think he might be outgrowing the Ergo for longer walks.

Grammy, Jeff and Nora on the High Bridge.

Birthday Morning

I don't think Nora has ever been more excited for anything like she was for her third birthday. Grammy was coming, it was a Princess Ariel Party, and she was finally going to be three. Grammy had promised to make a quilt for her little Princess and when we changed party themes from Care Bears to the Little Mermaid, Grammy came through with a beautiful quilt. Nora loved her quilt and was so excited that it was made by her Grammy.

We decided to let Nora open her presents from her family in the morning. It was a great start to her day.

Jeff and Nora snuck out early in the morning for donuts and Starbucks. Everyone was happy that morning.

Wine Tasting

It's always nice to have Grammy come to visit. She is our favorite excuse to get out to some wineries. I don't think there are many things that make Grammy as happy as her grandchildren and a nice glass of wine. While she was here we went to Ponzi and Copper Mountain. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved being outside.

Nora is beginning to have an appreciation for grapes. We planted some grapes in our backyard this summer and I'm hoping that we have grapes in a year or two.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Grammy and Nora. I think they're going to have fun the older Nora gets.

Jameson Square

Grammy came to visit for Nora's birthday last week. On Friday we took the kids to play in the water at Jameson Square before meeting Jeff for Happy Hour. I'm sad to think that it was probably the last time we'll be in the water this summer. The rainy season will be arriving soon.


When we first arrived at the park, Ronan was asleep in the car. Once he woke up and realized that he was going to be swimming he was soooo excited.


Grammy can't get enough of her little Ronan LeRoy.

While Grammy was babysitting Ronan in the car, Nora and I played in the water. She climbed to the top of the water fountain and sang and danced. She was so cute up there singing, "Under the Sea." She would turn around and shake her butt.