stevensonadventure

Doing Christmasy Stuff!

2008-12-07T21:33:00.001-08:00

Sean's company party last night...
eating lunch inside a fort on a rainy day....
building our biggest train yet (yes, the table broke again)....
hanging ornaments on the tree outside...
...and we made three different Christmas cookies, took a walk in the rain, and started to make a wreath but didn't finish!

School Pictures 2008

2008-11-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

Election Night!

2008-11-03T22:39:00.001-08:00

I am hoping that we will look back on this election not only for the obvious historic reasons but to be reminded of the old days when people had to actually leave their houses to vote. I am so glad that Oregon is so far ahead of the curve with our mail in ballot system. Imagine standing in line for hours with two small children, that would be so ridiculous!

Halloween

2008-11-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of fall and Halloween happenings to catch up on around here! We went to the beach last weekend and it was so nice and warm, it was unbelievable. We rode the carousel in Seaside and then played on the beach. This one of Nora is a keeper for sure. Sean and Ruby are flying the kite in the background. The whole trip was instigated by Ruby asking to fly the kite day after day. Its usually reliably windy at the coast except for this perfectly sunny fall day. But they did get it up in the air for a few minutes so Ruby was satisfied.

On Halloween, we started out going to Sean's work after school and they got a ton of candy with very little effort. Later on when we went trick or treating for real, it was a lot more work to go door to door instead of cube to cube. Nora wore her princess outfit in the afternoon but switched to the jaguar later on.

I decided to do the candy fairy this year since they got so much stuff. We sorted out all the candy and donated everything they don't like to the candy fairy's stash. Then they got really excited about it and started throwing in all sorts of candy so they ended up with only about 10 pieces of candy each. They left their candy out that night and in the morning they got some new art supplies from the candy fairy. Ruby had a hard time getting to sleep, she was very excited to catch a glimpse of a fairy, eventhough I told her it was just me that would leave her a gift, she didn't quite believe me. She was also bummed that Halloween wasn't several nights in a row. I think she was getting mixed up with Hannukah cause she was convinced that there was more than one night of Halloween. The girls are enjoying their candy but its almost gone already (ahh but the candy fairy has plenty of late night treats for self). They ask for their bag a few times a day and like to line up all their stuff and look at it. Then they only pick one, put it all back in the bag, and we put it back in the cupboard. They are doing a good job self regulating and its nice not having to constantly negotiate over how much they are eating.

Ruby and I went on a field trip with her class to the pumpkin patch earlier in the week.

This is her new friend at shool, Miya Kai.

Getting Ready for Halloween

2008-10-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Trip to the Fire Station and Ruby's Birthday Pics

2008-10-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

End of Summer Update: Trillium Lake and the first day of school

2008-09-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

Outsidelands Music Festival 2008

2008-08-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

This weekend we flew to San Francisco for the Outsidelands Music Festival. This was the best festival we have ever been to and we hope it continues year after year! It was the first time live music was performed in Golden Gate Park after dark and included something like 65 bands playing over 3 days. We were so fortunate to have my parent's watch the girls for three days in a row while Sean and I enjoyed our VIP tickets.

I was skeptical of the VIP tickets that Sean decided to buy. But the first night we drove right into the park and parked right outside the gates. There was very limited parking in the park so most people rode bikes, took mass transit, or walked to the concert. While that is all fine and dandy for the environment, I would not have been happy to be standing around waiting for the bus while my kids were back at my parent't house waiting for us. So the VIP parking came in very handy. Luckily the girls went to sleep for my parent's each night.

We went with our friends Paula and Jose to see Radiohead on Friday night. I am not a huge Radiohead fan but it was fun and we also saw Steel Pulse, Manu Chao and Lyrics Born, but we missed Beck, who was on at the same time on another stage. At one point we were coming back from a smaller stage (where we saw Cold War Kids) and there was a massive bottleneck that was a little scary. It cleared out in about 5 minutes but it was wall to wall people. I lost Sean at that point but stayed with Paula and Jose and I thought we could just use our cell phones to meet up once we got out of the crowd. But there was no cell service for the next couple hours so Sean was on his own for awhile. The producers fixed a lot of problems before Saturday so the rest of the time was a lot smoother, although they had sound problems for both Radiohead and Tom Petty.

On Saturday we got to the park in time to see The Coup, then we set up our chairs at the main stage to see Galactic, then we went over to another stage (skipping Steve Winwood) to see Café Tacvba, a latin punk band. Then it was back to the main stage for Ben Harper (missing Regina Spektor, which I was bummed about, especially since Ben didn’t even play my favorite songs, but oh well), then the best show of the whole weekend, Tom Petty. They did a great set, playing almost all my favorite songs, it was very fun, even with a really drunk guy invading my space till Sean switched spots with me.

Sunday was a best day of all, we got there pretty early and had a relaxing time wandering around, we got a concert poster with our picture on it made for free, we brought all our own food and avoided the crazy prices and lines. We saw so many great acts that day too. Toots and Maytals, Sharon Jones and the Dap-kings, Widespread Panic, the absolutely incredible Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Los Amigos Invisibles (a very pleasant surprise, they were a fun Venezulean band), and then, Jack Johnson.

At times I wished I could be sharing the music with the girls but we will have more opportunities for things like that when they are older. It would have been a whole different experience with two active kids in a not so family friendly atmosphere.We were so lucky to have my parents and my brother and sister in law to entertain the girls for three days straight. It was a very nice practice run for eventually leaving them for a night or two. We were able to enjoy the music all day and get home to sleep with the girls, then spend some time together in the morning before going back for more music!
The first day we left the girls with grandpa making cookies so they didn't mind seeing us go at all.
At Radiohead with Paula and Jose.

Saturday at the VIP main stage area.

Cafe Tacvba
Manu Chao
Sean enjoying the scene.
Ben Harper

A visit with Aunty Nae Nae

2008-08-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

Renae was in town for Shana's birth this week so she spent the day with us today. She was very excited to go berry picking and we got a bucketful of marionberries for a crisp. The girls were thrilled to spend some time with their aunty today!

Shana had her baby!

2008-08-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

This last belly shot was taken on Thursday, when Shana met us at the club and we went swimming and then she got a pedicure at the spa. I don't have any pictures of the baby yet (I forgot my camera when I went to visit on Sunday). She went in to be induced on Friday night and waited around all day Saturday to start the pitocin. She got the pitocin Saturday evening, had an epidural late that night, progressed the last 5 cm in two hours, and only pushed for 15 minutes.

Payton Sterling Levi LaMarsh was born at 1:45 am on Saturday, August 3rd and weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

Tahoe Donner 2008

2008-07-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful week with grandma and grand pa, and Andy and Nat, at the cabin in Tahoe in Donner. We went to three different beaches, went to the pool twice, went for pony rides on Monique and Cookie, had a nice evening at a street fair in Truckee (hence the face painting). I had a fun time with my brother and Nat at River Ranch, where we went to see Zepperella (an all female led zepplin cover band), while the girls went to bed with grandma and grandpa. On our last day, Andy and Dad took me and the girls river rafting and they had a fun time, but I didn't want to camera to get wet, so no pics of that. It was a week full of adventures and we can't wait to go again next year!

Summer Days

2008-07-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July

2008-07-10T23:02:00.001-07:00

I want to get a few pics up here before I forget. We went to a fun party at our friend's Sally and Brian's house. Sean brought his DJ set up and played a perfect set, everyone was loving the music. Sally and Brian's son had the wireless mike almost the entire night. He was so funny!

Portland Burning Man

2008-06-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

We made a spontaneous decision to go to a small camp out music festival on Saturday and we are really glad we did. It was hot that day but we didn't get there till 6 pm so it was starting to cool off and was really shady. We didn't take a lot of pictures but here are a few. I got the girls to sleep in the new wagon we got and they were very comfortable and I was able to enjoy the music and crazy costumes (or lack thereof) instead of sitting at the campsite with the girls asleep in the tent. On Sunday we went to the swimming hole and it was a little too deep and too cold but nice and refreshing. It was up a pretty big hill so we got out exercise in. Nora took a nasty fall on the way down and scraped up her nose and forehead, poor thing. Then we headed home to get Xerxes from Shana's house where he had a wonderful time going off leash at the park, which I haven't done with him in years.

Going Crazy like Jackson Pollock

2008-06-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

That was the name of our theme for summer camp at our preschool this week, and it was indeed pretty crazy. And messy. It got more exciting and messier each day that we went. The girls had a ball but man, was it hard to get up early this week. We are getting to bed earlier each night with so much activity so I am going to try to stick with getting up at 8 o'clock. With the hot weather coming, we have to get our outdoor activities in early anyway.

We started out the first day with painting with various implements like potato mashers, sponges, etc.

Rolling water balloons through paint and then rolling them over paper. This final project turned out good enough to frame.

Then we moved onto splatter painting. In this one shot, you can even see the white paint flying through the air.

Whew, all this hard work, I need a break!

Swinging things dipped in paint onto the paper. This was an ongoing project. The same paper was used for splattering, throwing, spraying paint out of water bottles (not pictured), and then a final spraying and splattering again today. It would have turned out better but Nora took some straight brushes and hands to it and mixed up a brownish mess instead.

Day two brought Ruby's favorite activity. They put many different substances right down on the table to explore with their hands. A few different colors of paint, glue, sand, corn syrup, and shaving cream. Then we took an imprint of the mixture on paper and these also turned out very cool, the sand gave it nice texture on the paper. Ruby stood there mixing for about an hour. Nora wandered off and Ruby took over the whole side of the table mixing all the stuff. She used up three cans of shaving cream!

Did a little sculpturing in there too. They stabbed and poked their clay and then a plater imprint was taken of it. On the last day, we painted the plaster sculpture.

Day Three was the best day yet. The girls got to do body painting and painting-dancing. Also a few water balloons filled with paint to throw on the canvas. This is their all-time favorite thing to do at home when we get the paints out. After I finished with pictures, Nora ended up getting her shirt off and painting her belly and back and rolling around on the canvas. They later cut up the canvas and each child added some marbles rolled in paint rolling exercise to their own piece.

What a fun-filled week!

Nora's Second Birthday

2008-06-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here are pics from Nora's birthday party playgroup. We had a nice group of kids turn out and everyone had fun. After the party Ruby made some mud under the guise of "watering the plants" and proceeded to cover herself in it. Shana and Steve came over for dinner too, and we got some new belly shots. I also stuck in the father's day concert at the zoo, which was also a lot of fun.

Fun Weekend

2008-06-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

First a pic of Shana at her shower yesterday.

We went to the waterfront village today and had a really nice time. I am enjoying the not hot weather while I can. Nora was really pissed that she wasn't big enough for the kiddy rides. Ruby had a great time on several of the rides. And they were both mesmorized by some irish dancers. It seems way less crappy than in years past. I had an excellent ice cream bar handdipped in chocolate and rolled in fresh roasted hazelnuts. Below are videos of one of those bouncy trampoline things.

Ruby's graduation from play pals

2008-05-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

This is Ruby's best friend in class, Hayden.

Shaking Teacher Casey's hand. Each child said what they wanted to be when they grow up. Ruby said a Bulldozer Driver.

Election day fun

2008-05-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time when we went to see Obama speak on Sunday at the Waterfront in Portland. It was a little hot but the girls did great, and were so patient while we waited to see him. It was very exciting and was the biggest turn out for a political event in Oregon ever, with 75,000 attendees. We are lucky we got in, many people didn't. I will post more pics when I get them from mom.

Pics from our trip

2008-05-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Lake Quinault

Sol Duc Hot Springs

Sol Duc Falls

Olympic Peninsula Rainforest Adventure

2008-05-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

I want to get some thoughts down before I let too much time pass which is why I have gotten out of the habit of bloggin lately. If I let too much time pass, I can't remember the details and just blow off the whole thing. But I am too tired to do a whole lot of writing so here are a few random memories from our weekend and I hope to add pics later:

1. Everytime we saw the lake at Lake Quinault (which was a lot cause it was right outside our room), Nora would say "look mama! ocean!" and then I would say "no, its a lake" And she says "oh right. Lake." So cute!

2. We took a short nature walk at Lake Quinault, Sean and Ruby did some exploring while Nora napped, and Sean brought his kayak and went out on the lake alone really early in the morning while we were still sleeping.

3. Note to self: do not go back to Lake Quinault Lodge, it was underwhelming. But the area is nice, cabins next time

4. Ruby ran off an average of 4 times a day. At Lake Quinault, she grabbed a lollipop from the gift shop and ran and hid under a table in the lobby and ignored us calling her for over 5 minutes. I had two workers plus Sean looking all over for her. We had only been there for a few minutes and were just checking into the hotel. It was bad.

5. On Saturday we drove up to Sol Duc Hot Springs and the ride was kinda depressing, lots of clear cuts. We did stop at Ruby Beach but Nora was napping so I waited in the car while Sean and Ruby explored.

6. We got a large vacation rental at the Sol Duc Resort and its hard to believe how ghetto it was. It was okay inside, nice furnishings but there was an old fridge parked on the porch, random junk lying around in view of our nice big deck, that had no bbq. And everything in the kitchen was broken. Every single utensil. How hard is it to go spend a few hundred bucks at target and stock up a kitchen adequetly? I need to send them a letter....

7. Also of note on vacation rentals: next time bring my own child proofing door knobs. We couldn't leave Ruby out of site inside the house or she would take off out the door. It helped that cousin Willow was there to distract.

8. We took a nice hike to Sol Duc Falls. Nora on my back, Ruby on Sean's. It was tough but totally worth it.

9. Hot Springs rock. The girls loved the warm minerally water and we went on Friday night, twice on Saturday, and on Sunday before we left. So nice. Made up for the shoddy kitchen situation.

10. Oh, back to that shitty rental! There was a mouse in the kitchen on Friday night but we chased it out the front door with a broom and put all our food in the fridge. Yuck!

random happenings around the house

2008-01-21T22:21:00.001-08:00

Fun with ponytails

Oatmeal painting. Nora always tries to eat her paint brush so I thought I would do a messy craft they could eat. But of course, they wouldn't eat any it.

I found a recipe for body paint that is made with cold cream, food coloring, and corn starch. Ruby loves to put her paints on her face so I thought we would try this. The blue didn't really come off though.

2008-01-10T21:11:00.001-08:00

Family pics at Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary party.

We went to a new playground in Golden Gate Park and it was really fun. There was a merry go round right next to it. Nora was so excited about riding on the lion and talked about it all day. That is the first time she has talked about something that we had done earlier.

Then we spent some time at the beach too.

Finally Christmas Eve arrived. Twas the Night Before Christmas with grandpa and putting cookies out for Santa. Ruby got costumes, among other things.

Hanukah

2007-12-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from our first Hanukkah celebration. This is our second night doing the candles on the mennorah. I hope I can get the video to come through.
They got a train set tonight and they both really loved it.

The girls are really turning a corner the last few days. They are playing together a lot more and getting along better than ever. I was able to take a shower by myself without using the TV! I usually have Ruby watch TV while Nora is in the exersaucer, or else Ruby sits on the bed and reads while Nora comes in the shower with me, or they both get in with me. Well today Ruby wanted Nora to sit with her on the bed and they say there for five minutes without Nora getting pushed off the bed. Phenomenal!

This was also a special day because I got Ruby to wear The Cutest Dress Ever. Grandma got it for her a few weeks ago but she has not been into it, especially not the leg warmers. Today she did the whole outfit, plus hairclips. This is unheard of.

We also went to zoo lights the other night. Last year we went on a freezing cold night and it was packed and we had to park light years away from the zoo (pun intended, ha ha). Well this year, we went the day after a big storm so it was nice and balmy, not raining, and totally empty. It was even light traffic right at 5 pm, I think because the road to the coast was still closed so nobody was coming from there. Anyway, we had a really nice time and the girls loved the lit up train.

So we are just having a jolly holiday season so far.

I must post a couple other pics of Nora in her reading corner.

Our day at the park

2007-11-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween!

2007-11-01T14:07:00.001-07:00

We had a fun time trick or treating in our neighborhood last night!

Pics from Ruby's birthday

2007-10-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

Pass It On Sale

2007-10-10T22:10:00.001-07:00

Here is Ruby's snow outfit for this year. I got the boots, pants, and glove/hat set at the sale today. The coat I got a long time ago on sale. I shouldn't have gotten the gloves/hat, it was a good deal and really cute but too small. Nora got new rainboots and Ruby was coveting them. Her rainboots still fit her though. Nora gets Ruby's snowsuit and boots from last year so we are all set! Nora has to practice walking in the boots, its pretty tricky! I also got some pj's, socks, play clothes for preschool. Oh, also scored some REI slippers that said they retailed for $20 or so and I got them for $4, new in box. woo hoo!

Catching up!

2007-10-10T22:01:00.001-07:00

A bit late but we went to the pumpkin patch with our friends and took a million pics and this is about the only one that turned out. This is Max, Marek, and Ruby.

Then we had our friend Orion over and we got out the party hats and favors cause he missed Ruby's birthday. We had fun baking muffins and playing toys all afternoon too. Four hours with two 3 year olds plus Nora and I didn't put on the TV at all! Go me!

Ruby's Third Birthday

2007-10-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

I am going to do another entry when we get the photos back from Amy, our professional, but I need to get a few up since this was already a couple weeks ago.

Then there are a couple good ones from Grandma and Grandpa's visit

I am so damn CUTE!

Can someone help me out here?

A Day of Firsts

2007-09-20T23:05:00.001-07:00

Nora did a bit of drawing tonight after dinner. She has done some here and there but this was her first time for an extended period and she only got a little bit in her mouth.

Also the first time I gave the girls snack at the little table. This has not been used since Nora started pulling up and attacking Ruby's snacks or activities. But now she doesn't grab quite as much. I am hoping she will learn not to climb on top of the table if I keep showing her that we sit at the table over an over for a few days.

SOLV beach clean up day in Seaside

2007-09-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

We picked up some garbage, really we did. All around the swings. And some on the way to the swings too. Its not very easy with two kids to keep track of. But Ruby did have fun finding garbage for us. Now next time we go to the beach she'll be so confused when we tell her NOT to pick up the garbage...

Okay, Nora, you look cute now while I close my eyes....

Now I'll look adorable and you close your eyes!!

Ruby's first day of preschool!!!

2007-09-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm all ready for school!

Okay, now I am really ready for school, but my boots and backpack were way cooler.

This is from yesterday, but it just had to be posted!

New stuff on Nora - 14 months old as of yesterday

2007-08-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

So Nora is picking up new words every few days. Here is a list of words she says (usually if prompted by someone but occasionally on her own):

mama
dada
sister
zerk
bye bye
night night
choo choo
backpack

and today she said her first spanish word! Abre! (open). Because Ruby told her to say it if she wanted to pass through the door to the backyard.

And signs:
all done
milk
eat/food
more
swing (well sorta, at least I knew what she wanted anyway cause she was grunting in front of the swing but she also put her hands together like she was trying to sign)

Fun Times in Tahoe Donner!

2007-08-19T21:57:00.001-07:00

We got home over a week ago but I have yet to get these pics on here till now. We had a really great visit with grandma and grandpa, Uncle Andy and Aunt Nat, Dominick and Karen, and Jeri and Skid. Spent a ton of time in the sun at the lake (Nora looooved the sand and water), the pool, and the creek behind the cabin. Ruby took her first pony ride on Black Beauty too!

String Cheese Incident at Horning's Hideout 2007

2007-07-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

We had been looking forward to this Incident for weeks and prepared for it all week long. We got there on Thursday afternoon and timed the afternoon nap for Nora just right cause we had to wait in line in our car for an hour or so. Good thing we only had to drive 20 minutes! Some people drove for days to get here.

We picked two camp spots before we saw our friend Barry and he already had a spot so we joined his. We ended up camping with Barry and Gina, Bill and Anne, and Jeff and Melissa. I would have preferred family camp but it was crowded. We ended up down a pretty steep hill that Ruby insisted on running down. She slipped a few times but by the end of the weekend, she mastered the controlled stumble without falling. Here is Nora getting into trouble at the campsite. She was a handful when we were trying to relax at the camp. Not at all interested in the big bag of toys I brought.
On Friday we headed over to the arts and craft area where they had tons of supplies for making crowns, wands, wings, etc. I got Sean started on a crown for Ruby and he worked on it for over an hour while Ruby played on the tire swing with the big kids. Nora was cranky off and on that day. She had yet to find her groove, while Ruby got into the spirit and had fun right from the start. I think Nora may have been dehydrated and tired that day too. She had some juice the following days and was in a better mood after that.

We went to see Banana Slug String Band after arts and crafts and they were very fun. Ruby recognized some of their songs as we have a CD at home. And they do fun sing alongs and at one point the lead singer dresses like a tree. Ruby noticed other people discussing live music and she brought up Banana Slug String Band to several adults after we saw them.

On Friday afternoon Nora slept for a few hours and we were late getting to see the music. We only stayed for one set of String Cheese and then got the girls to bed. We were really tired of walking all over and decided to not try to be anywhere on time the rest of the weekend. Which was fine cause I could never figure out what time it was anyway.
On Saturday we wandered around a bit and caught a puppet show and looked at some of the artwork that was out. Here was a big dome with art hanging inside (also where they had morning yoga sessions that I never made it to), a huge construction thing made of all recycled stuff, and an art car.
Then we found an area with all natural substances that anyone could make art with. Here is a cool thing made of moss, rocks, flower petals, etc. We also got our faces painted for free and got free temporary tattoos.

Here is Ruby on the tire swing with one of her new friends. We met up with many of the same children at family camp when we stopped by to play. It was amazing how nice many of them were. There were normal sharing issues but overall, very friendly and open children. There was a group of older kids that were maybe 12 or 13 that wandered around without their parents and one bigger boy was the ringleader. At one point, he saw a little kid waiting for the swings and ordered his smaller sidekick buddy "You! Share your swing with that little kid!"

Saturday night we saw String Cheese for one set and then they did the huge performance art show with fire dancers and the big flaming pyramid. We only caught glimpses over people's heads, we couldn't get a good view at all. Then Ruby fell asleep in the bike trailer and Nora fell asleep on my back and we got to hang out and see another set (when I heard one of my two SCI faves, Best Feeling. I never got to hear Smile unfortunately. That was the song I believe was playing when Nora was born) Anywho, it was fun to be out late like the other grown ups and we just wheeled the sleeping Ruby all over. It was also a full moon and was beautiful out in the forest.
On Sunday we hung out at the campsite all morning and took a nap. Then we got ready for the fairy parade. Ruby put her costume on for about five minutes and then didn't want it on, eventhough all the other kids were dressed up. She also got her face painted again. Here she is trying another kid's kazoo. There were many cool costumes and a contingency of stilt walkers.

And here comes the big goofy fish thing!

Here we come with our new friends! We got up this morning and packed all our stuff up the hill in the bike trailer. Sean was a total trooper with that job since we are notorious over packers. It took all day to catch up on laundry and get everyone cleaned up. I hope we get to see SCI at Hornings again but the rumor is that this is the last one so I am very glad we went!

Ruby The Photogragher

2007-07-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

Ruby took lots and lots of pictures with my camera one day. I just uploaded about 150. But these are the ones that turned out the best.

This one is called still life with bowl and gravel.

Ruby's bike.

The rest were of Nora and were too blurry.

Ruby walks around saying "Ruby the photographer"!

Sean's company picnic at the zoo!

2007-07-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

All about Nora

2007-07-13T20:07:00.001-07:00

Nora sure has changed in the last few weeks, she is walking full time now. She is 23 pounds, 13 ounces and 30.5 inches tall.
Wanted to show off Nora's new big girl shoes. She doesn't like them much but her feet need the better protection outside cause she is all over the place.

Nora ate a fair amount of spaghetti recently. Later that evening she sneezed and a big piece of spaghetti came out!

We are loving our new carrier.

Our friends Jack and Josie came to visit and we had a fun time.

The Fourth of July ( and the third and the fifth too)

2007-07-05T21:38:00.001-07:00

Lots to catch up on here, and its only for the last three days! We had a playgroup at our house the other day and we all had fun. This is Orion, Naia, and Ruby having snacks. Yes, Ruby insisted on putting her halloween costume on and it was pretty hot that day!

Ruby and Marek doing playdough. Ruby is quite attached to Marek these days. When she names off all her family, she adds Marek on the end. She even said she wanted to show Bill, Marek's daddy, some artwork she did!

Here is Ruby on Marek's scooter at the Fourth of July BBQ we went to with his family and some other very nice familes, all with 3 year olds. There were some other cute pics but they were all bleary cause the kids were running around the entire time.

Here is Ruby at the Fourth of July parade in downtown Hillsboro.

Here is Ruby waiting for Nora to finish lunch at OMSI today. Nora is quite the leisurely eater so its a good thing she didn't like solids back when Ruby was in her bolting phase. Funny how things like this work out. Anyway, Ruby played happily with the salt and pepper shakers for a good 10 minutes, declaring them "best friends"

Nora played at OMSI for the first time today, outside the infant area at least. She wanted to be down on the floor and only let me put her in the (new! fabulous!) carrier when Ruby did some art time. Here they are dressed as chipmunks. I will get pics of the new carrier soon, it is very comfy.

Catching up a bit

2007-07-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

The other night we had Sofia and her dad meet us for the Tuesday Night Marketplace in Hillsboro and they hit it off great!

Today we went raspberry picking and had a great time. I had my new carrier but couldn't get a picture of it but it was very comfy! Ruby did great. She was very intent on picking and picked quite a few but also played in the dirt a bit. Then we had lunch at some picnic tables. Nora napped on the way home and then we read some books and did some art.

Ruby insisted on doing glitter and we had fun. Here are Ruby's creations.

And mine!

Nora had a nice long snack while we did our art.

Then we went to Target and got a new kiddy pool but no pics yet. I have to stay right there with Nora so its a little limiting but she loves it.

MDC Camping Trip

2007-06-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

The Camp out was a success! We had a few families drop out so it turned out to be 6 families total. It was a little chilly but we slept pretty good the first night. Ruby had fun playing with Marek, they were right in the next campsite so they could run back and forth between the two. Saturday we went to the beach and it was beautiful (it rained in the morning but we had naptime and a little portable DVD action under the rain shade). Sean brought a shovel and started to dig a hole and girls loved it. Then we ran into our friends Jeff and Melissa and their two boys, who are a bit older (12 and 9). Totally random that we ran into them! They will be camping with us in a few weeks at String Cheese too. So Ben and Sam dug and dug and dug and made a huge whole with a slide on one side and steps to climb out on the other. Then we played in the water a bit and Ruby was very cooperative about staying close and letting the water come to her instead of running right into the ocean. Not so much with throwing sand but you can't have it all.

Saturday night we all had smores together (and Friday night had potluck dinner all together too). Then I thought Ruby would crash cause it had been such a long day but neither her or Nora would go to bed till after dark (that's pretty late this time of year). Then it rained and rained, really hard. We got a bit of water in the tent but not so bad. Only casualty was "Thomas", my little alarm clock and white noise machine that I take anywhere we go for overnight use. So its drying out tonight and we have no white noise on, so far so good. Maybe we are not as reliant on white noise as I thought. And the "Black Shirt" is still missing. Ruby loves this nursing top of mine but she stopped asking about it so I might be in the clear.

Sean loved the new campstove and made some yummy meals. His warmed up ragu and spaghetti for the potluck, breakfast burritos, and salmon and corn for dinner. Even eggs and potatoes in the rain this morning!

We are pooped today! Bit of a tough ride home. Ruby napped but Nora was upset and finally farted a lot and pooped when she got home. Neither of them pooped the entire camping trip. Zerk did fine at Kathy and Clem's but was glad to see us.

Nora in the little hole that Sean started. She was really good about not eating the sand. She had a great time.

By the end of the day, we had a really big hole!

We didn't take too many pics, busy having lots of fun!

Happy Birthday Nora!

2007-06-18T21:59:00.001-07:00

Nora one year ago. You have grown so much this year my baby girl! Happy First Birthday!

On her first birthday, Nora got to play at the playground. She was so excited!

Father's Day and catching up

2007-06-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

The other day we had a playdate at a park in portland for 4 babies that are all turning one next week. This is Ruby and her friend Marek.

Here are the one year olds. Talula, Ruby (baby Ruby, that is), Nora, and Madden. Campbell and Jake couldn't make it so there are actually 6 friends all born the same week!

Saturday our friend Tonancin came over and we had a tea party.

Happy Father's Day!

Daddy took some awesome pics of Ruby with her new fairy wings out on the climbing dome.

Then we picked a strawberry that we grew in our own garden.

So one year ago, my water had broken and I was gearing up with crampiness and my parents were on their way over to get Ruby. Its amazing to think of those last few hours before I became a mom of two. The last year has been quite the adventure.

Lots of summer fun

2007-06-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the Beaverton fountains and playground cause I had to go all the way down there to take Sean's check to the bank again. I think they will finally get his direct deposit figured out one of these days.

Its hard to see here but I caught this pic of Ruby when the water spouts change their pressure and she was quite startled.

This isn't a great pic but you can see Nora's four teeth.

She had fun swinging.

Then snacks on the lawn.

Then we came home and made smoothies. This is Ruby's new favorite thing. She helps me put all the stuff in the blender and turns it on. I tried smoothies about a year ago and she did not like them. I am glad I found this recipe that is delicious and she is getting some yogurt, which she has not eaten in about 6 months. So this smoothie is yogurt, coconut milk, berries, banana, pineapple juice, cod liver or flax oil, kale, and parsley. It sounds weird but is very good. Ruby insists on drinking it right from the blender pitcher with a straw for each of us, like lovers sharing a milkshake.

So then we found a learning tower on craigslist. I have been checking craigslist for a train table but haven't found one close by. Well these learning towers hardly ever get posted, and are never close by, so this one was $70 off retail and right down by Orenco Station so we ran over there and got it. I will need something that both girls will be able to stand on the help in the kitchen so I have been eyeing the learning tower. Plus Nora pulled Ruby's usual stool down yesterday (she was fine) so that has got to go. www.mylearningtower.com

Then we hit the Tuesday night market in downtown Hillsboro. It was very fun. There was a blues band and the usual farmers market, plus resturants with food vending. There was a dance demonstration and Ruby was following along but I couldn't get my camera out fast enough, it was so funny. Here she is on the rocks near the Hillsboro Fountain.

Then there was pony rides but I ran out of cash so luckily Ruby didn't notice them. We did check out the baby miniature horse though.

Good thing Ruby had that healthy smoothie, she had corn on the cob and cookies for dinner. Nora on the other hand, loves falafel. Now she is up late cause she slept in the car.

Grand Floral Parade

2007-06-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the parade but didn't get many pics. It was rainy so we didn't stay long. But we were all cozy in the double stroller with the rain cover and us in our raincoats. We went out to lunch and got pics of Ruby in Sean's hat and sunglasses. Then we went down to the waterfront to see the tall ships, including a pirate ship. Wish we had gotten pics but it was raining pretty hard by then.

Nora standing up on her own

2007-06-10T19:55:00.001-07:00

Not quite walking but she gets to standing on her own.

Ruby's red sunglasses

2007-06-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago Ruby found her red sunglasses in the van. They had been MIA for awhile. She was very excited to wear them again and wore them almost all the time for 3 days or so. Here she is napping on the way to the MDC picnic last weekend. She held onto her ball the whole nap.

Here she is making flubber in the sunglasses.

And riding around with bear, in the sunglasses.