BBQ Pizza

We cooked our pizza on the grill. It was a bit of a messy process, but very tasty.

Winter Yurt Camping

We booked a last minute trip to Fort Stevens to camp in a yurt.  We've been wanting to try out winter yurt camping and the weekend was supposed to be beautiful.  We had a fantastic time and even convinced Carolyn and Bill to join us for the day and Tiffaney and Pete to camp too!

It was our first time at Fort Stevens.  I had no idea how big it was and couldn't believe it had taken us so long to make it out here.  We especially loved the ship wreck.  The kids brought there bikes and rode all through the empty campgrounds. 

The first night it was a little windy as we were sitting down to eat so we had to move inside.  The kids did such a good job!  It's like we've finally figured the whole camping thing out. 

We went on a great morning hike!

And the kids, so much braver than their mother, made it to the top of the Astoria Column!

Ground Hog Day

The winter has been really mild.  We have been able to be outside more than I expected which means more trips to the zoo.  We decided to go to the zoo for Ground Hog Day.  I knew there was some kind of event, but I wasn't sure what/when/where it was. 
We arrived right at 9:00 when the zoo opens, only to find the parking lot full of Comcast trucks.  Literally, there were NO free parking spots, each one fill with a Comcast truck.  It was eerie.  After finding a spot we went to the box office only to find out that the zoo wouldn't be opening until 10:00!  We managed to survive the wait only to fight the crowds and camera crews for a rare chance of a guinne pig! 
Once all the excitment settled down we were able to spend two hours at the zoo, exporing each corner of it.  Clare is really interested in all the animals and Nora and Ronan enjoyed telling her about them.

Beach

The weather was unusually warm and sunny and we decided to take advantage of it by spending the day at the beach.  It can be hard to get days this nice during the summer!

We tried something new and rented a bike.  It was a lot of fun pedalling around town, but a LOT of work.  We last about 45 minutes and Jeff took the kids for their own spin for the last few minutes of the rental.  Although it was a lot of fun, I don't think it's something we will be doing again for awhile.

As usual we took the kids for a ride on the carousel.  Nora was so excited to ride on the sea horse!

Clare had no fear of the beach and loved playing in the sand.  Even better than the sand was chasing the big kids out into the ocean!

Ronan LOVES running from the waves.  He would do this for hours.

Crescents with a Twist

Thank you, Pinterest, for another amazing and simple recipe. We are fans!
I made half nutella and half peanut butter and chocolate chip.

Dining Room

We have a new dining room table! It is large enough for our family- and then some. We also have a bench so we can squeeze in even more kids! I love that it is square too.
Once the table was set up we thought we should update the wall and found this cool wood map at Cost Plus.
I can't wait for dinner!

Freezer Meals

I have really stepped up my freezer meals. Today I made four lasagnas. I also made my first trip to the bakery outlet. I didn't realize what a great deal they would have on so many whole wheat products. Our freezer is full and I am learning how to feed my growing family.

Laundry Organizer

Jeff built this laundry organizer for me last weekend. I found an example on pinterest and Jeff ran to Home Depot. Two hours later I was sorting laundry!

Water Baby

Clare loves sinks, especially when the water is on. She is always eager to wash her hands or my dishes. It can be wonderful when she is so engaged in an activity, but I usually pay the price when it is time to clean up.

Tickle Me Elmo

Clare loves Tickle Me Elmo. 

And more importantly, Jeff figured out how to upload an iphone video onto our blog.  Apparently this was easy and I haven't figured it out for the past year.

Nutella

Think the girl likes Nutella?
We made nutella and banana popsicles today. I am going to tell the kids they are chocolate tonight when I give them one.

Valentines

These are the valentines that the kids gave to their classmates.  It was a super simple idea that we found on Pinterest.  

I Spy Quilts

We still love our I Spy Quilts!