Trip to Enchanted Forest

Matthew, Caleb, Jack, Will and Annemarie at Enchanted Forest.

As Will kept saying "Enchanted Forest is so enchanting!" and for the kids it really was. We had lots of fun today. Chris, Sara, Doug, myself and the kids all spent the day enjoying "the Forest" and for us "older kids" we talked about what we remembered from when we went there as kids and what was new.

The Gingerbread House from Hansel and Gretel
Jack and Will in front of the "Jack "N" Jill sign Aunt Sara and the boys in Western Town

Doug and the boys after the Log Ride, they were soaked!

Time for a treat, the popsicles were almost as big as the boys!

Caleb, Will and Jack on the Frog Hopper

The boys enjoying the Bumper Boats

Annemarie was such a good sport. She watched all the excitement from the comfort of her stroller. Once we were back in the car she fell asleep within a minute or two.

Jack in the car on the way home, showing off the souvenir Aunt Sara bought for him. Thanks Aunt Sara!

Children's Museum

Today was all about the Children's Museum. The kids had so much fun exploring and enjoying the exhibits. It's really a great place with activities for their age. Though I don't have a picture posted they probably enjoyed the hospital exhibit the most since there was a small ambulance they could pretend to drive. Here are pictures from our visit.

Will trying to brush the crocodile's teeth and Jack trying to start a toothbrush sword fight.
Jack and Will enjoying Water World. Lots of fun and lots of water. Will managed to get a couple of adults wet - so I decided it was time to move on.

Will in the Story Tree.
Will playing the xylophone
Annemarie relaxing while the boys ran around crazy...

Will and my friend's son Brayden building with oversized Lincoln Logs.

Jack going for a horseback ride.

Little Firefighters

The activities continue...Yesterday we spent some time at the local library enjoying storytime and doing a craft project. The boys are Corey went swimming in the afternoon and I went grocery shopping at Trader Joes (how I miss Trader Joes!). Later the kids stayed with Mom and Corey and I went out to dinner and made a trip to Ikea. I'm happy to say I only purchased items on my list so I feel the trip was a success. This morning we took a walk and Corey took the kids to the park so I could go have a pedicure. Nothing beats the no-appointment-twenty-dollar pedicure! I thoroughly enjoyed my 45 minutes of quiet time. On the way to the park Corey and the kids walked by the fire station and one of the firefighters came out and gave the kids hats and stickers. They were thrilled! This afternoon we're going to see a puppet show at the library and then the kids and I are meeting Mom at the Spagetti Factory for dinner. Yum!

Vacation Activities

Great start to our vacation...This morning the boys picked apples in the backyard and made applesauce with Tutu while Corey, Annemarie and I did some quick window shopping and coffee drinking. Later I took the boys to Ibach Park in Tualatin. Then Will and Corey went to visit Papa this afternoon and we had a very nice visit with my aunt this evening. After dinner we went for a walk and the boys played in the fountain downtown. What a full day!

Prepping apples for applesauce.
Jack demonstrating his apple cutting skills.
MJ, Annemarie and Mom visiting. Playing in the fountain at Millennium Plaza in LO.

Enjoying a lovely evening in Lake Oswego.

Pictures From the Road

Annemarie testing out her new shades.

The kids and I drove to Oregon on Saturday. It was a great trip and one we're very used to. It took 12 hours (11 hours of driving) and the kids were very good. I had activites planned for them and they watched a few movies. Overall it was a pretty quick trip. We're staying with my mom and Corey in LO this week, Doug gets into town on Friday, we head over to Prineville for the weekend and then will be staying in Sherwood at Doug's parents house. It's good to be on vacation!

Jack sleeping for 45 minutes of the trip
Cozy Annemarie taking a snooze.

Walking!

I took this video yesterday. Annemarie is definitely making progress. We knew she'd start walking eventually!

Crafts Courtesy of Sarah Spindle

Sarah Spindle was in Whitefish this past week. It's always so much fun when she's here. This time she even has an "Egyptian Mummy Craft" for the boys. As you can see toilet paper was used and the boys had a great time.

By request the mummies morphed into Batman mummies with masks, capes and even belts. The boys then played superheroes with their projects for a good twenty minutes straight. Good job Sarah Spindle!!

Jack with his Batman Mummy

Will with his completed project.

Tyler Larkin's Baptism

What a great day for a baptism! Our friends the Larkins had their son Tyler baptized in their backyard on Sunday. It was such a perfect event and we had so much fun. Those Larkins really know how to throw a party! We left the boys at home with a sitter but took Annemarie with us. As always she was a big hit. I think her favorite part of the party was sitting with Fafa (Stefanie's mom) and being fed ice cream. Annemarie really liked the ice cream and gave Fafa lots of kisses in return.

Stef, Kelly and Sarah posing for the camera.
Annemarie in her pretty party dress from Aunt Sara and Uncle Jason. She received many compliments.

The Saga of the Purple Cast

So we've been to Urgent Care one more time and the doctor twice since the last time I wrote about Annemarie's broken arm. It is near impossible to keep her cast on. I was somewhat prepared for this going through a broken arm with Jack when he was two. Originally Annemarie had a splint put on. Then two days later we went back in to have a cast put on. She pulled the cast off the next day. So we went in again and had another cast put on. This time we were on to our third doctor and he was adamant that the cast he put on would stay put. She pulled it off later that night. So when we went in the next time I explained to the doctor how with Jack his cast was cut on both sides (kind of like a clam shell) so when he pulled it off I could put it back on. The cast was then wrapped with an ace bandage and lots of tape. Unfortunately when the doctor put the cut cast on Annemarie it pinched part of her skin and I didn't know because she didn't seem to be in any pain. So now she has this terrible welt/cut on the inside of her arm (if it's not one thing it's something else!) Anyhow...she needs to keep her cast on until next Wednesday and as you may imagine I'm counting down the days. As of right now Annemarie pulls her cast off and I put it on usually four times a day.

Here's a recent video of our little escape artist.

Visit from Opah

This week my dad was here for a quick visit. This was his first trip to Whitefish. From what I can tell I think he's a big fan. Recently his company has added Montana as part of his sales territory so we're looking forward to seeing more of him. The kids really enjoyed seeing him and had lots to show him and tell him. We look forward to seeing you in August Opah!

Another Broken Bone

Annemarie is now part of the broken bone club. She fell yesterday afternoon and has a small fracture in her left arm. I didn't see her fall but from what I can gather I think she did a belly flop on the wood floor and landed on her arm. After a quick trip to urgent care she's doing much better. A hard cast will be put on tomorrow (right now she has a splint and ace bandage on). As you can tell from the pictures she's broken up (pun intended) over the whole ordeal. I told Doug we're going to need to pad the house and everyone has to wear helmets on a full-time basis. Good news is recovery time is short, about three weeks.

Lovely Ladies

Erin stayed with Annemarie the other day when we took the boys to see the Disney train. When we got home the girls where sitting on the front porch enjoying the beautiful weather. They looked so cute!

Annemarie's First Trip on Whitefish Lake

Look at our little boating baby! This picture was taken before the fussing began. Annemarie HATED her life jacket but liked the wind in her face. Thank you Peschels for taking us out. We really enjoyed it!

Disney's A Christmas Carol Train

Disney is currently promoting their upcoming movie A Christmas Carol by driving a train across the country. It's making many stops and luckily Whitefish happened to be one of them. Doug and I took the boys to the attraction and really enjoyed ourselves. Thankfully we received a tip that if you show up before they open the gates you won't have to wait as long (the day before people were waiting up to 2 hours to get on the train). The train itself was four cars long and as you walked through it you learned about the making of the movie. It was very interesting, but maybe a little advanced for the boys. After walking through the train we went over to the inflatable movie theater where we watched a 10 minute preview of the 3D digital film. It was pretty cool.

The four car train parked in Whitefish.

As we walked along the side of the train there were Christmas carols playing and even fake snow.

A model of Big Ben inside the train.

At the end of the train in the room decorated for Christmas.

Slip n Slide

The yard is in, the house has been painted and the boys have been fairly patient. Will and Jack were promised a slip n slide when everything was done. Here they are trying the slide out this week.

Jack was done after five minutes. He said it was too cold.

As you can see Will needs to work on his sliding technique. Overall I think the slip n slide is a success!

4th of July 2009

We had the greatest 4th of July weekend, but you wouldn't know it because I didn't take any pictures except this one of the kids at the Arts Festival. We had a big group of friends in town and we spent the weekend playing, taking in what Whitefish has to offer, eating and even going out without the kids. The adults spent 4th of July evening at the Northern and we were able to watch fireworks from the roof of the bar. It was definitely a highlight of the weekend. Thank you to everyone who traveled out here to visit. Please come back soon, it was such a pleasure to host you!!

Surprise!

I was cleaning out the storage room the other day and Annemarie was in there playing with the boxes. After moving something and coming back into the room I caught Annemarie doing this...

She seemed pretty proud of herself and in this picture looks like she's had a few.

The Big Reveal

From "pink stucco house" with light blue windows and a scrappy front yard...
to "grey stucco house with the darling white picket fence"
the beautiful new front yard

a REAL front door

Most of you have been so patient waiting for us to post these pictures. Doug hung the last outdoor light last night and we finally got the flower baskets in place. I tried to take a picture from every possible angle - I hope you can get a feel for what the place looks like now. We're very happy with the results and are planning to rest and admire Doug's hard work for the rest of the summer.

flower baskets at the end of the carport

new railing on the back deck

the view from the back of the house

Standing

If you have the time to sit through this lengthy clip you'll see Annemarie's latest trick. Not only is she standing without holding on to anything, she stands up without any assistance. This clip is especially for my mom since when I explained what Annemarie's been doing (going from sitting to standing) she said that sounded unusual. This way Mom (and everyone else) can see what I'm talking about. What do you think??

English or French?

Yesterday I took the kids to the library and they were so good! They each picked out a couple of books and waited patiently to check them out. Will was adamant about checking out a picture dictionary. I asked him if he'd like a story book instead, but he insisted on the dictionary. Then much to my surprise when we got home he asked for a blank piece of paper and pen. Then he started coping words out of the dictionary. I was so surprised to see him doing this - and he was so content. Then when I started looking over the words he had written down I discovered it was an English/French dictionary! And he was writing the English AND French words. Will is at such a fun stage. He's so eager to learn. We have lots of conversations about how things work, how to spell words and he's even doing addition and subtraction. It's such a wonder to watch children grow and learn - and even more so when they are your own children.