Cannon Beach Trip

The past couple of years my sisters and I have taken my Mom to the beach for her birthday or Mother's Day. It is such a great weekend to relax and enjoy each other's company. The kids play at the beach, we go for long walks, check out the tide pools, and shops in the cute little town of Cannon Beach.

Last weekend Stephanie heard that there was going to be a ridiculously low tide and she wanted to take the kids to see the tide pools. Being a teacher and off on summer break, I was all over this idea. Mom was free, brother Bryan just happened to be home so we all got in the car for a last minute trip to the beach. We found this perfect house on the internet that happened to have availability. The owners agreed to let us rent it for two nights if we made a donation to an agreed upon charity. Since Leslie and Caroline could not join us we decided to make our donation to Seattle Children's Hospital in honor of Caroline. Long story short, we had a great time at the beach. It was so amazing to see the tide out past Haystack Rock, so many starfish, sea enemies, crab, and sea creatures.

Addy loved running on the beach.Ellie and Jake checking out the tide pools.
Meg and Uncle BryanSo many starfish
Nana and Ellie

It was a fun trip but we missed you Les and Caroline!

The Girls Are Out to Mingle...

for Katie's Last Night Single!

(Quote from our matching tank tops we wore out later in the night.)

The batchelorette enjoying her weekend.

Katie B. and I sipping wine at our first winery Cherry Hill.
Second stop: Left Coast Cellars

The last stop on the tour Namaste.

Charity and Megan did a fabulous job organizing Katie's Batchlorette weekend! I highly recommend wine tasting in The Willamette Valley of Oregon. The views are gorgeous and the Pinots are delicious. Crystal and Theresa B. flew up from San Francisco for the celebration. It was so fun to reconnect with old friends and celebrate Miss Katie B.
We are can't wait for the wedding in July!

Betty Mae and Addy Mae

Thanks for coming to dinner Grandma Betty!
It is always fun to spend time together.

Visit from Montana

Addy and I got to play with Andrea and Owen today. It was so fun to watch the two kids interact. They are not really old enough to "play" together but they were definitely interested in each other...
but I am pretty sure Owen liked the dog best of all.
We wished you lived closer Andrea and Owen. It was so fun to spend the afternoon with you.

Schools out...

for summer!
It's time to relax and enjoy the sun.
I love being a teacher :)

Addy Mae

Parker

All the cousins in the pool.

Who else wants to play this summer?

Back from Indonesia

Matt is home from from his trip...tired from all the traveling but happy to eat regular food again.

While he was gone he had the lucky opportunity to eat curried cow brains. He decided not to try the cow intestines, cow hooves, or the cow stomach jerky he was offered...I am not sure why:)

He did try a native fruit called durian.
Picture courtesy of Wikapedia

This fruit is not allowed on public transportation or in hotels because of it's strong pungent smell.
It has been described as smelling like sweaty socks and tasting like rotten onions. It was one of the few foods that Andrew Zimern was not able to eat on his show "Bizarre Foods." Matt said the taste was indescribably disgusting.

Home Alone

Addy and I have the house to ourselves this week. Matt had a last minute business trip to Indonesia.

Of course I hate it when Matt is gone, but I am secretly looking forward to not having to cook dinner and catching up on all the shows that Matt can't stand on the DVR... AKA (Batchelorette and Hills). I also rented "He's Not That Into You!" Let me know if you have any other must see girly movies for me to watch this week. Oh, by the way Addy and I had Safeway Organic macaroni/cheese out of the box for dinner and it was actually just as good as Kraft.

Hopefully the week goes by fast... we will miss you Matty!

Coach Matt

Tonight was our last women's soccer game of the season. For those of you who don't know, Matt is the coach of our team. He does a great job putting up with all the ladies. Of course, he likes to tease us and give us a hard time for socializing too much but I think he secretly enjoys being our coach.

So tonight was a little different, both teams showed up ready to play but we did not have a referee. Once again, good old Matt offered up his skills. The only problem was it was 80 degrees outside and he was wearing jeans. One of the girls had an extra pair of shorts in their bag, so after some quick changing behind a tree Matt was ready to ref! It was quite hilarious seeing Matt run up and down the field in women's shorts, white legs, and gray work socks.

We love you Coach Matt! Thanks for another great season.

Caroline's Baptism

Caroline was baptized on Sunday and it was such a special day. They had a very small intimate service with Leslie & Mike's close friends and family. We sang this song as the service ended and it was such a perfect song for Caroline.

"Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep! A new day is dawning for all those who weep. The people in darkness have seen a great light.The Lord of our longing has conquered the night. Let us build the city of God. May our tears be turned into dancing. For the Lord our light and our love has turned the night into day."

We are all praying that Caroline gets stronger and healthier so we can turn our tears into dancing.

Caroline wore the dress that my great grandmother handmade for my Dad and his siblings to be baptized in over 60 years ago. We love you Caroline!

Sunny Days

Here are a few pics from our weekend.
We are sure loving this weather!

Addy playing in her new water table.

A little love for Gabby Girl.

Swimming at Grandma and Papa's house!

Two more weeks of school and then we are ready to play outside all summer long!

Best Auntie Ever

Yep, that's me :) I sat through my nieces' THREE hour dance recital on a gorgeous Friday night. It was really cute but really long! When they got to the three and four year olds in tutus it seemed to make it all worth it... nothing is cuter than a little bottom in a pink tutu. Can't wait to sign Addy up in a couple years...hopefully the recital won't be quite so long.