Happiest Baby on the Beach!

Pacific Coast Vacation Part 2

As we continued to explore Ft. Stevens State park, we visited the historic concrete coast gun batteries. Stanley loved all the military artifacts. 

Driving a military truck

Stan loved all the big guns.

Making a flat penny

Back at the cabin, we ate some good meals. We also made a fire and ate s'mores, of course!

Lisa is ready to eat!

Sitting by the fire

Roasting marshmallows

 We visited the beach one more time! Lisa really got into it this time!

Playing frisbee

Happy beach baby

I got so many good pictures of Lisa!

Getting messy!

Messy baby--but super-happy!

 The last thing we explored was the Columbia River Maritime Museum. There were a lot of hands-on exhibits that the kids really liked. Stanley is still talking about this museum and wanting to go back!

Tired baby!
We had to wake her up to go to the museum.

Driving a ship

Brother-sister team manning the controls.

Matt and Stan exploring the ship.

This was a very fun first vacation to the coast for us as a family of four! We're looking forward to more trips to the ocean soon.

Pacific Coast Vacation Part 1

We took a really fun vacation to the Oregon coast at the beginning of June.

We stayed in a cabin at a state park near Astoria. The state park, Ft. Stevens, has a lot to do and see. From the website: "Fort Stevens was once the primary military defense installation in the three-fort, Harbor Defense System at the mouth of the Columbia River (Forts Canby and Columbia in Washington were the other two). The fort was in service for 84 years, beginning during the Civil War and closing at the end of World War II." The park also has a ship wreck. The ship, the Iredale, ran aground in 1906, and all that's left is a skeleton of rusty bars.

Playing in the cabin

Exploring the ship wreck

Iredale Ship Wreck

Jumping a puddle

Finding shells

Happy Baby: Stick and Sand!

We ate at Rogue Brewery, which was out on a pier in an old fish cannery building.

Eating

Rogue Pub

Looking at sea lions off the pier

Fernhill Fun Run

Stanley and I signed up for a fun run at a near-by park, Fernhill. I was running the 5k, and Stanley was running the kids' quarter mile. We were both excited and ready to run our race. I left Stan and Matt to start the race, so I could get a picture of Stan running across the start line on the other side. The buzzer sounded to start the race and I looked for Stanley. No sign of him. I thought I missed him. After a few seconds, I see him walked up to me with his head low. He got scared and started crying at the start line! After he watched the other kids race around most the the track, he joined in for the last stretch. Hopefully, he'll be more prepared for the next one he's signed up for in August!

My 5k went well! I was surprised I was able to run the whole thing, since I had been recovering for a calf muscle injury. I was happy with what I was able to accomplish!

Before the race

With his finisher's ribbon
(even though he didn't run the whole thing)

Last Days of Preschool

Stanley had a great year at preschool. His teacher, Teacher Laurie, was amazing. She helped Stanley learn so many things. She focused a lot on having students solve problems and deal with emotions, which has really helped Stanley a lot. I love when his block tower falls down, and he says, "It's ok, Mommy. That's a 'little deal.'" Or when a friend is doing something he doesn't like, and he says, "Please stop." He has been given so many tools to move on to the next step.

So, Stanley's next step is Pre-K. Since the cut-off to start kindergarten is September 1 (and Stan's birthday is September 5), he will have one more year before he starts full-day kindergarten. The pre-k program Stan will start in the fall will be 5 days per week. He will go half-days. It will be hard to move on from our great experience this year, but hopefully Stanley will have another wonderful teacher who helps him grow.

Flying Day

Stanley's class celebrated the end of school with "flying day." They had a baby dragon who became a very important part of their class this year. They each got a turn taking him home and having adventures with him. (Baby dragon was a stuffed animal.) They each designed their own wings to wear to teach baby dragon how to fly.

Stan's wings

Getting ready to fly

Flying!

Teacher Laurie talking with the class

Lisa at the park for Flying Day

Celebrating Flying Day with a Popsicle!

Last Week of School
Here are some pictures of Stanley during his last week of school. This was my last day being parent-helper in the classroom.

Playing with friends at the water table

Mixing colors

Sitting outside with friends

Last Day Potluck

On the last day of school families brought food and celebrated with a picnic! It had to be inside because of rain, but it was fun!

Stan couldn't stop eating ice cream for a picture.
(Notice him holding Baby Dragon. He didn't want
to say good bye.)

Stanley's 2-Year-Old Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Happy 1st Birthday, Lisa!

Lisa turned ONE! 

On her birthday, we went to the park with her brother. Then we visited our favorite doughnut shop: Pip's Doughnuts. She got 12 free doughnuts since it was her birthday. Luckily, she shared them with Stanley and me. She didn't know what to do with it at first. But once she got one taste of it, she shoved the whole doughnut in her mouth! 

In the evening, she opened family presents.

Stanley made her the nicest present: A smash tower.
(He thought of that all on his own!)

We had a small birthday party for Lisa on Saturday. The theme of the party was centered around the book, The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

It's been an amazing first year with two kids...crazy, but fun! Lisa's little personality is starting to show how sweet she is. She is super-goofy and also very persistent and focused. It will be great to see how she grows in her second year. We have so many more fun adventures ahead...