HOORAY!!!!!!.....Ughhhhh!!!!!!!

Our house that we made an offer on back in January was finally approved (it was a short sale, hence the 8 month wait). We are thrilled and excited to FINALLY be able to move in. That's the HOORAY part. The UGHHH part is this:

The dreaded packing. I am so sick of packing. This is our 5th move in the 8 years we've been married and I am tired of it. It's a good thing this is the last time because I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to do it. At least this time I'm not recovering from a C-Section with a newborn baby in tow, so that's a plus. As you can see, the kids are "helping" by decorating the boxes and if you look closely you may be able to spy a T-Rex!!!

Preschool

Today was Jordan's first day of preschool. To say that he was excited would be an understatement, especially when you consider the fact that I woke up at 1 am to him calling out, "Mommy, time to wake up! Let's get ready for preschool!" We snapped this picture before we headed out the door. As you can see, Megan was caught up in the excitement and wanted to wear her backpack too.

Swimming

We are enjoying the last days of summer around here. We took the kids to a park yesterday that had a little kid pool and fountain. This is Megan's version of swimming....

...just getting the little tips of her toes in is enough for her. Whenever I tried to coax her in and get her a little more wet she would squeal, "No thank you Mommy," in a very high pitched, frantic voice. The water was pretty cold so I really don't blame her for just wanting to chill and be our little sun bathing beauty!

Cabin Adventures

We just got home today from a little trip to the cabin. We were only there for 2 nights and it just wasn't long enough. By the time we were all settled in it felt like it was already time to come home. I was telling my mom the other day that the cabin is finally fun again. I went through a period when the kids were just little, where it seemed like all I was doing was keeping them from eating the dirt and they never slept well which meant they were tired and cranky...and so was I. Now Jordan is getting to the age where he can do more things and it is so fun to watch him playing and doing all the things I remember doing as a kid at the cabin.

We went on a hike to Boulder Cave. I wasn't sure how the kids would react to being in a cave, but they loved it. When we got to the end Jordan wanted to walk back through it to the entrance and then we turned around and went back out again. The whole time he was shining his flashlight all around and said he was looking for dinosaurs.

He found a "not so comfortable" rock recliner for a little rest.

Collecting baby frogs at the lake

Megan was actually adventuresome and went on a ride in the kayak. She usually doesn't like trying new things so we were pleasantly surprised. Whenever we ask her if she wants to ride a horse her reply is always, "No, I ride stroller.

Even Baron is smiling in this picture!

Other activities that we didn't get pictures of included: Andrew took Jordan shooting for the first time, our nightly hikes to the river to wear the kids out before bed and seeing 30 head of elk peacefully grazing in the meadow...that is until Jordan started doing his elk call, which scared them all away.

CHEESE!!!!!

This picture is from a few months ago, (you can tell by the blue easter egg dye on her face) but it just makes me smile every time I see it. This is what Megan's smile looks like when she says, "CHEESE!"

Lincoln City

Andrew and I spent this past weekend in Lincoln City, OR for our 8th Anniversary. The weather was beautiful and we had a nice, relaxing weekend spending time together. We realized when we got home that we didn't take as many pictures as we had hoped to, but here is a sampling of our adventures.

We toured a historic lighthouse in Newport built in the 1870s.

We went to Shipwreck beach in Fort Stevens State Park where rough seas and wind grounded the "Peter Iredale" in 1906.

We went on a hike through a forest on top of a ridge that opened up onto this large meadow overlooking the coast. It was so beautiful!

Owen Beach

We took advantage of the nice weather the other day and went on a picnic to Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park. Jordan was in heaven throwing rocks in the water and climbing on all the logs and Megan enjoyed her favorite spot in the backpack. It was a fun little outing!