Slip N Slide and Robin Hood Festival

Last week on Tuesday Wesley bought a slip N slide for the kids. He thought it would be something fun they would love to use on hot days. I thought it was a great idea.

The kids were so excited and begged to try it out but it was kind of late and so Wesley promised they could do it the next day and he would even do it with them.

Well that is nice. Wednesday happened to be the coldest day of the week.

When the time came for Wesley to uphold his promise. I laughed out loud. I then promptly refused to get wet and declare them all insane.

But cold weather doesn't stop our kids.

The kids couldn't remember how to slip N slide and Wesley had to show them how it was done. Here is a little clip of it. Try not to focus on Wesley's farmer/fishing tan. :)


Just having fun!




I love this picture of Jared and Novalee!

My handsome husband!



Onto the Robin Hood Festival in none other than Sherwood. Get it? Sherwood forest...Robin Hood? Clever. :)

The forecast was gloomy. Rain and rain showers throughout the day. But we decided to brave it.

Could you possibly think of a better way to start out your fun filled day than meeting up with Ronald McDonald on the way to a parade?
I doubt it will be topped for a while. :)

The fam.

She's pretty happy to be at a parade. Can you tell?


Sadie's first candy. She looks like she enjoyed that. :)



So here is the skinny on the Sherwood Robin Hood Parade. It's mostly businesses trying to promote themselves. Most of them decided that the best way to go about doing this was to hand out a ridiculous amount of candy to their potential customer's children. So if you are hoping to find a place where you can come away with a hoard of candy, this is it. I would like to claim that we got as much candy sitting on our tushes at the parade as we did hiking around neighborhoods in the cold last Halloween. But that would be a slight exaggeration. However, a very slight exaggeration.

Alpacas, Cute!

Jared shooting his FIRST bow and arrow. He complained afterwards that he didn't pop any of the balloons and therefore wasn't any good. Hopefully someday he realizes no one is great at anything the first time. :)

What do you think about Wesley's shirt?

We thought it was pretty funny. :)

No festival would be complete without blow up jumping castles and slides.

They even had a show with "Robing Hood" fighting the sheriff of Nottingham! With real weapons!



Afterwards we completed Novalee's one dearest wish (a picnic, at a park, on a blanket and looking at cloud shapes).

The whole day, only a few light sprinkles of rain during the parade. I'm glad we braved it.

4th of July

So I am just now getting around to posting about the 4th. We went to my dad's house. He lives on a beautiful piece of property that he has turned into his own nature hike through his little forest.

Of course the fun started with good food. My little brother gave me the biggest surprise the day before by showing up unannounced to my parents house. They all knew he was in town but for whatever reason he wanted to see me completely shocked and requested that I be left in the dark.

Needless to say it was a great surprise. I haven't seen him in what seems like ages since he moved to Seattle.

Anyways, besides the really good food at my dad's, my little brother who is a chef (and fairly nicknamed "The Food Snob") requested homemade Root Beer.

Here he is with his dog and the brewing Root Beer.



After dinner we all got ready to go for a hike.


For whatever reason, whenever my brothers and I get together, things get silly pretty fast. Here we are getting in touch with nature. :)

Wes and I with our littlest one. Isn't it pretty and green in the background?


Not that my mother wants me to draw attention to this certain feature on her body but look closely and you might just see a fern "tail" where a tail ought to be. Heehee. My mother bravely displayed it for the camera. I'm pretty confident she didn't imagine the photo would end up here. :)

My brothers trying to strike a manly pose. They should get a little credit for trying.

Scott with Sterling.


It was tons of fun to get everyone together.

Sadly again no photos of any fireworks so you will just have to trust me that we celebrated in style and perhaps had some pretty sweet fireworks brought by my little brother that he acquired in Washington. :) Not that I would say for sure either way since use of those kinds of fireworks in Oregon would be illegal. :)

The siblings....and Sterling.

Letting Go

Today Sadie let go of the wall and stood up by herself long enough for me to find the camera, run back and take this picture.


And this one.

And this one.
She even stayed standing long enough for me to find my cell phone and take a picture with it to send to Wesley.

It's Not Brain Surgery

It's more like T-Shirt Surgery. :)

Here's how it goes:

Step 1
Jared had a t-shirt that he loved and loved.


But somehow it got washed with an all whites load and got bleached.


He refused to let me toss it and really I hate throwing usable things away so it didn't take much to convince me to agree to keep it.

But he couldn't wear it like that.

Step 2
Find a T-Shirt donor.

This one will do.
(Another favorite that I have agreed to preserve the image and use it on another shirt. We'll see if that ever happens).

Step 3
Seam rip the sleeves from the body of the t-shirt on both t-shirts.

Step 4
Sew the good sleeves onto the good body of the shirt.


Step 5 (Final Step) :)
Enjoy your boy being grateful and avoid bleach next time. :)


While I could have just gone out and bought another shirt it's nice to know that I can do this.

Bumpity Bump Bump Bump

Sadie's New Benchmark

While watching this video you will have the task of not only focusing on Sadie but you will also be responsible for paying attention to the background. That is, if you want to see just how "crazEEE" Jared and Novalee can get. What are they doing? Where do they get it from? I have no idea. I claim no responsibility. ;)


Get it? She's climbing a bench...benchmark. Hahahaha. I know, my jokes could use work. :)

Camping, Museum, Music, and Fireworks

Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Jones Creek and camped. They have an overflow section that is great for a number of reasons.
One, it's secluded.
Two, it's free.
Three, it's close to the Tillamook Forestry Vistor Center.

Besides it raining a little AND waking up early Wednesday morning realizing that our old tent is no longer waterproof, we had lots of fun! :)

Sadie can't walk yet and crawling isn't ideal when camping. Especially when
EVERYTHING is a temptation to put in the mouth.

And so she rotated from one cage to another.

First the pack N play while we set up the tent.

Then the tent.

The tote.

And finally the bed of the truck.

Looks like dad even liked that one. :)

Jared "invented" this contraption. Which worked out great!

Until Novalee started pulling him. :)

At the end of the camping trip Jared wore a crown and declared he was KING OF THE JUNGLE! :)



Novalee sported this look the entire first day. Totally camp gear.




We had fun!

Friday we went to the Children's Museum. I kept thinking as we were driving there, that it's like we never left Oregon. As much as I claimed to have loved Bountiful, Utah, Oregon definitely feels like home.

This would have been a great picture of the three kids...
Alas, I will have to try, try and try again. Someday they will all be doing normal things and looking at the camera.


Face Painting



Jared kept asking me VERY LOUDLY (in front of others) if he looked like an Indian. I'm always a little nervous to encourage questions like that. Is that weird? Do I say, yes? Which if yes, am I stereotyping Indians? Should I avoid answering the question directly and say instead, "Some Indians in the past have used face paint." :) I don't know. I'm pretty sure I said, "Yes dear, you look great." To which I think the lady next to me whispered to her friend, "I would of just ignored that question." :) Oh well.

I'm not sure Novalee knew what she was. :)


I just kept thinking while there how much easier the kids have gotten in the last couple of years. They really don't need me to constantly supervise their play anymore or be up near them to make sure they don't dart for the door. I could just sit and watch them play which was so fun and enjoyable.

There's a theater at the museum where the kids can act on a stage. Novalee was very serious about everyone needing a ticket before entering. I heard several people chuckle about needing tickets and how many they received. :)

Just some more photos.




We had such a good time.

Saturday morning we were on to the Blues Festival in Portland. It's something my dad goes to every year faithfully. But it was incredibly hot Saturday so Novalee got to buy a hat to protect her head.

I'm pretty sure she thinks it's the coolest ever!

Then we hopped on the train. Which, in and of itself is an adventure when you have three kids.



It was hot and we were all wishing at some point that we were as smart as Novalee.


Aren't they cute?



Well we found seats and got food. And at that point, this little person declared the music much too loud for his taste and the weather much too warm and demanded to go home.

We spent more time traveling than actually listening to the music. Oh well, now we know. :)

Saturday night, we went to the Fireworks Discount Superstore in Forest Grove.

Don't worry, I don't have pictures so this will be short. :)

I just wanted to say, that every year they do a free BBQ (hot dogs, soda, and chips), give out fireworks, do a raffle for a shopping spree(awesome) and a free fireworks show. All free! And seriously, without exaggeration it was the best (legal) show I've seen. We had so much fun and the kids were just full of excitement! They loved it. So if you're not worried about looking a little ghetto by going to a parking lot to eat dinner and watch fireworks you're in for a good time. :)

Anyways that was our week. We had lots and lots of fun!

Happy 4th of July!