Birthday Party Continued - Presents, Cake, & Ice Cream

After dinner Tony dropped us all off at home and he went to pick up some ice cream.  The boys finished their homework while we waited for Tony to get back.
Tony came back with ice cream and even a small cake.  Allie was so excited to open her presents.  It was super adorable.  We did have to keep Megan from opening them for Allie, silly girl.
Allie loved her presents.  She loves dolls and especially her Moana doll.  Watching her open them was adorable.
After we watched Allie open her presents we sang Happy Birthday to her and then had her blow out her candles.  She got the first 2 out fast but then struggled with the last one.  Megan helped her out.  So nice.  Then it was cake and ice cream time.  Our baby girl is now 3 years old.  Can't believe it.  We all love her so much!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Allie - Doctor's & Dinner

We started out Allie's birthday with a trip to the doctors.  Her 3 year old well child visit.  She did great.  Dr. Eyre says she is looking great.  She did recommend I have her speech tested to get her help sooner rather then later.  I guess all my kids but Tyler have speech issues.  Could be worse.
Here are her stats: Weight: 34 lbs (80%)
Height: 38 3/8 inches (81%)
BMI: 65%
After the doctor's appointment Tony and I took her out to breakfast.  Then we stopped at the store for a few things (a few birthday gifts may have gotten in the cart) before heading home.
Later that day we all went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse with grandma Margie.  Allie was so excited when we pulled into the parking lot.  She said she liked that place and then she asked if Margie was coming.  It was so adorable.
We asked her if she wanted them to say "Yee haw" to her and she said yes.  So they got out the saddle for her to sit on.  She seemed to like it until the waitress yelled really loud about her birthday and that made her cry.  She really didn't calm down until we left.  Besides that it was a nice birthday dinner for our Allie.
Allie is becoming such a big girl.  She loves singing and if often found singing a song out proudly.  She loves to play doctor to her dolls and stuffed animals.  She also likes to take all the clothes off her barbies and toys with clothes.  It drives me crazy.  She is super smart and super cute.  We are so lucky to have her in our family!

Graham Cracker Cookies with Grandma Margie

Grandma Margie made a cake for Brennen's birthday and had extra frosting.  She had all the kids sit and the bar and make graham cracker cookies with the frosting.  It was so cute to see them all making their cookies, even Cortnie and Landon got it on the fun.

We Have a Kindergartener!!!

It is official, she is now in Kindergarten.  She was so excited (and a little nervous) to go to kindergarten.
When we got to school she was the first to line up for her class.
She didn't even look back at me when her teacher came and got them and took them into school.  She is so brave and I am so proud of her.

She told me she didn't want me to come and pick her up, she only wanted her brothers to do it.  I told her okay, but I wanted to come the first day.  It is a mama's right.  So Allie and I hung back by the tree to watch the boys come pick her up.  I watched Josh run from his door to Megan's door and I was so proud of him for doing what he was asked.  Megan was happy to see him, but not happy to see me.  She cried that I showed up saying she just wanted the boys to pick her up.  She said that she had a great time at school but she was sad I picked her up.  Lesson learned.  Megan is a big girl...happened too fast. 

Solar Eclipse

We were able to experience the solar eclipse right in our front yard.  At first I wasn't really interested in the eclipse but then once it started and I looked at the sun with someone else's glasses I realized how cool it really was.  

So I made a box so I could see through that but then Kim was outside with some glasses that she let us all take turns looking through.  We got about a 93% eclipse.  It didn't get very dark but it did have a noticeable cool down while it was happening.  Tony and I helped the girls with the glasses to keep their eyes safe.  It was super fun.

First Day of School - Tyler & Josh

It is time again for school to start.  I can't believe it.  Summer went by so fast.  The boys are both very excited to start school and I think that they looked super duper cute!
They said that they both had a great day and love their teachers.  This is going to be a great year for them and I am sure they are going to do great things!

Oregon 2017: Day 10 & 11 - Boise & Home

We woke up Sunday morning to a yummy breakfast that Nate and Amy made for us.  Allie and Megan actually slept in a little bit, so that was nice.  After we all ate breakfast we got changed for the day.  We then packed up our stuff, put it in the car, and said our good-bye's.  We really love Nate and his family and enjoy spending time with them.
So it was back to the car for us all.  The drive went pretty smoothy.  We stopped in Burns for lunch and let the kids play at the McDonald's play place.  After lunch it was straight to Boise to check into our hotel.
We got checked in and situated before going over to my cousins Mandy's house.  It was so nice to see her and her family.  My other cousin Rachel and her family came over too.  We had an impromptu barbecue dinner.  I always enjoy spending time with my extended family, as it doesn't happen very often.
After dinner and letting the kids run off their energy playing on their trampoline, we headed back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.  We were all tired and ready to get back on our normal schedule...which didn't really happen.  We were all so tired we slepted in until 8:30 am (which was like 7:30 Oregon time) and by the time we got all ready we missed the breakfast by 2 minutes.  Breakfast only went until 9:00 am and they locked the doors right at 9:00.  We were all pretty disappointed but figured this would get us on the road faster.
We checked out of our hotel and got all loaded in the car before going through the McDonald's drive thru for some breakfast.  After getting our food it was back on the road.  We were all ready to be going back home and luckily the drive went by pretty quickly.  We did have to stop on Ogden to pick up Tony's car.  We grabbed some lunch on the way to pick up his car and then it was only less than an hour to home.
Once home it was the usual unpack and unpack some more, then do some laundry and then some more.  Always good to be back home from vacation.  Max brought Koda over to us and we were all very glad to have him back with us.  We all had such a great time.  Another great trip to Oregon on the books!!!

Oregon 2017: Day 9 - Back to Bend

We were not in a huge hurry to get up and get going Saturday morning.  Our goal was to be out by 9:00 am.  We got the car and kids all packed up and we were on the road on time.  We wanted to make it to Bend by 2:45 pm because we were meeting Nate at his work so he could give the kids eye exams.
The drive went by nicely.  We decided to go up the coast a little longer then we did on the way there.  Their was a lot of smoke in the mountains of our drive from near by fires.
We stopped and had lunch in Sisters.  It was a nice break from the car.  After lunch we drove right to Shopko in Bend where Nate was waiting for us.
Nate did such a good job with the kids.  The older three kids all got a full eye exam and Allie got a shortened version.  Nate said that they all have really good eyes and don't have any problems.  What a relief!
After he finished with the kids we all left to go to Nate and Amy's house.  The kids were so excited to see their cousins again, especially Megan.  She LOVES Lydia so much it is adorable.
We let the kids play for a while and then we took their family out to dinner.  We wanted to show our appreciation for them hosting us both Saturday's and for the eye exams.  We went to pizza, pasta, etc place.  It was super kid friendly and the food was decent.  I mainly wanted kid friendly so I was happy with that.
After dinner we went back to their house and hung out some more.  They all had a great time.  Amy made a yummy dessert for everyone and then we put the kids to bed.  Allie, who had napped in the car, was not ready to go to sleep and so she stayed up with us adults.  We played the Monopoly card game again.  It was fun.  Allie was being so silly the whole time, it was pretty funny.  But as it got later the silliness turned to fussiness and that's when we all went to bed.  What a fun day with family.

Oregon 2017: Day 8 - Candy Store & Good-bye's

After being back at the cabin's for a while Julie called me and let us know that they were all at my grandpa's house saying their good-byes and to come over.
We went over their right away.  All the kids had already gone down the street to get a treat at the candy store so Tony took our kids to join in the fun.

I stayed back to spend time with my grandpa.  We chatted and had a good time visiting.  The kids all came back super happy with their candy and had a good time playing made up games around grandpa's property.  That was probably the best part of the whole trip, just letting the kids play with each other and have fun being kids (without electronics).
We got some pictures with grandpa and said our good-byes until next time.  Then we all went to the DQ to eat dinner and get some ice cream one last time.  We took up more than half the restaurant and it was great.
After eating we went back to our cottages to start getting packed up.   While we were packing the kids were having a great time playing.  Some went to the beach and got all dirty and wet and others stayed back to help with the fire.
Tyler talked with Uncle Gabe about first aid and first responder stuff to pass off for scouts.  It was neat to hear Gabe's first hand answers to the questions.  He is so cool.
After that Tyler helped with making a fire and tending it.  I got out our blow up beach balls that lite up and the kids had a ton of fun playing with them all over the place, even the little ones got into it with Papa G and Aunt Wendy.  It was the perfect way to end our time on the coast.  Playing until dark with cousins.  Hugs and good-byes were given that night for everyone was leaving early the next morning.  So much fun.  We loved our time on the Oregon coast and the much cooler weather.

Oregon 2017: Day 8: Bandon

Not long after we all woke up and ate breakfast the kids all asked to go to the beach, well everyone but Allie.  Allie just wanted to hang out at the cottage and play on the tablet.  So Tony took the three older kids to the beach while I stayed back and started packing up the cabin.

After the kids and Tony all came back and got washed up we decided to got to Bandon for an outing.  We started off by eating lunch at the same restaurant that we ate at last year.  It is pretty kid friendly so that is why I liked it.  The food was okay, but I don't think we will go their again next year.  I think that we will try some place new.

After eating we went and parked the car to walk around Bandon.  They had a little Farmer's Market that we went to first.  It wasn't a very good market and we didn't buy anything.   After we walked to the docks and let the kids play on the animal statues.  They think it's pretty fun and beg for me to take their picture on every one.
After the dock Tony and I wanted to walk around the shops.  The kids were being fussy and just wanted ice cream so we only went into like three shops before we gave up and went for ice cream.
We love the ice cream place in Bandon.  Can't get enough so we weren't too sad to stop shopping to eat ice cream.  We all got what we wanted and enjoyed it upstairs of the cheese factory.  It was so nice and chill...until the kids started driving us crazy.  So we decided to take our ice cream on the road and head back to the cottages and see what everyone else was doing. 

Oregon 2017: Day 7 - Bruce's Cabin

We were all to meet at the lake at noon to go up to Bruce's cabin.  Bruce is a childhood friend of my dad and they have always stayed close.  We often refer to him as Uncle Bruce.
Bruce was waiting for us all to come.  Since his cabin is on the lake we have to take his boat to get to it.  Since the boat isn't super big it only fit about one family each trip.  So between Bruce and my dad they drove each family to the cabin.

Our family was the first family to be taken to the cabin so we decided to get out the paddle boat and take for a spin before the other's came.  Their were a lot of spiders on the boat and it made the kids jumpy.  After a quick spin around the dock they came back to get ready to eat.
We decided to have our kids eat their lunch before they got on their swimsuits to get in the water.  They ate quickly and got changed into their swimsuits.  They were so excited.

They all got changed and got on their life jackets to go play in the water.  The other cousins were already playing when we got out there.  It took them a little while to get all the way in the water but then they all got in and had a wonderful time.
Allie wasn't interested in playing in the water and really just wanted to play around the dock and in the boat.  She looked super cute in her little Minnie Mouse swimsuit.

Tyler was the first to get all the way in the water.  He loved every minute of being on the lake.  He swam around, played in the paddle boat, played on the floatie toys, and then started running off the dock and jumping into the water.  He even went out in the water and was swimming around with Averee.  I was very proud of him for being so brave to swim out so far.  He was like a little fish that day.  He was the last kid to get out of the water when it was time to go.  He can't wait to go back.

Josh loved the water too.  But he mostly loved playing with the cousins on the dock and in the paddle boat.  He did go out on the floatie for a while, it was super fun.  He loved playing with everyone and hanging out on the paddle boat with Uncle Gabe.

Megan was being very brave.  She started going down one step at a time and then she'd come back up and then try again.  It took her a little while but she finally got all the way in the water.  She floated around for a little bit but wanted to be in the tube instead.  After she got in the tube the other kids would push it around.  She had a wonderful time.

After she was done in the water she got changed and played in the cabin for a while.  Her and Allie were singing primary songs to the adults in the cabin.  I wasn't there because I was watching the boys in the water, but Tony said it was adorable.  After hanging in the cabin she then came back down to play in the boat.  She loved pretending like she was driving and being all big.  She is so cute and had a good time playing in the water at the lake. 

At one point all the boys got on the paddle boat and paddled around.  It totally looked like it was going to sink.  One side was heavier then the other and it was pretty funny to watch.  They had a great time.

After we all had our fill of the lake we packed up our things and started the boat rides back to the cars.  We went in the same order that we came in, so our family got to go first.  The kids all loved riding in the boat.  Megan and Josh even got to help Papa G drive the boat.  Tyler didn't want to.  Josh totally pulled on the steering wheel and made the boat swerve pretty good.  He didn't realize it would do that, silly guy.  Megan did much better when she tried, or my dad just didn't let her do what Josh did.  It was fun for them.  Megan got to sit in the co-captain's chair and that made her feel so big.  Tyler and Hayden sat in the back of the boat and enjoyed the fresh air and splash from the water.  I can't believe how big they are getting.
We all had such a good time at the lake and look forward to when we can go back.  On our way back to the cottages we stopped at the Mexican restaurant to make a reservation for all of us to eat dinner there that night.

We went back to the cottages for a little break before heading back to the Mexican restaurant.  They have a huge room in the back of the restaurant that fit all of us crazies.  It was so fun eating with our whole group.  The owner even sang us a song after we ate.  He did a really good job and a bunch of the kids danced around while he sang.  It was super fun and we all had a good time. 

By the time we were done at the restaurant it was pretty late and we were all ready to call it a night.  It was another super fun day at the Oregon Coast.