Summer Lovin....

This last week has been one of those weeks where you just love summer. We have been out late, outside, every night and just soaking it all in. Weds night we had Janis drop the kids off at the pool and it was the PERFECT way to hang out after work. Thursday night we got to meet Ellie Watson (SO CUTE!!!!) and hang out with our friends Dan and Emily (we gave them a nice "forseshadow" of what their life will be in like in a year when Ellie is a year old by having Francie with us....who was trying to climb off their deck....go pistol go....). Friday night we went to a BBQ at Friends and stayed until 10:00....bedtime...what is that? Saturday we went out for dinner with Great Grandma, Uncle Mike and Aunt Barbara in the Pearl District. Despite starting the evening off with Francie spiking her water bottle on the table...it actually was a pretty good evening complete with Henry making a line up of cars the length of the table. Afterwards we took the kids to meet Mike and Barbara's dog "Quennie" and they were in heaven. We ended the week with dinner at my parents club on the river with my Aunt, Uncle and Grandma again. Quintessential summer....BBQ by the pool, strawberry shortcake....I cannot believe it is almost the end of the summer. I got home to a big, blatant reminder of the fact.....homework from Henry's school......due on Friday.

Crazy Eight Cousins - Peck Grandkids Reunite

My sisters came home for a week and so all eight of the grandkids were together. Yes...eight kids, seven years old and younger. It was a blast. It was the little things that were great --going for a run with both of my sisters, having an "adult only" dinner with my sisters AND my parents, and just watching the kids hang out together. It was incredibly comical too. The next time we will all be together will probably be in Hawaii in Feb. - Yahoo!

Hood River Dancing

Jenny and the kids are here and out in Hood River, so we decided to drive out and spend the day with them. We had such a great time. We went to lunch, walked around Hood River, went swimming in the pool, crossed the river for dinner and then ended the night at a concert of a band that Jenny and I remember my mom rockin out to when we were kids.....SURREAL. Francie LOVES to dance and has developed this "Flashdance" impersonation that I have yet to capture on camera but promise to try and get video this weekend as it is HILARIOUS. I did manage to get some video of the Henry and Francie dancing. As you will see, the concept if being gentle is a bit lost on Henry....and Francie for that matter. On the way home Henry said "Mom, I really loved our day". Nothing better.

Tomorrow Katie, Brian and the kids come so all eight grandchildren will be together. BRING IT.

Seven Year Itch.......NO WAY

Mark and I went away for the weekend to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary (it will be 15 years together in September....ack - we are getting old!). Joanie babysat the kids. Friday night we went to a concert at Edgefield in the Columbia River Gorge and that is just heaven -- good beer, good views, and it was a great concert. We saw Sugarland and they were actually really good -- there was whole lot of cowboy hats. My favorite part was when they sang "Betterman" by Pearl Jam and Mark and I were SO EXCITED and sang along.....only to notice we were the only ones who knew the words. After the concert we went on to Skamania Lodge. Skamania is this magical lodge in the heart of the Gorge that sits up on a hill and has an INCEDRIDIBLE view of the gorge and has a very lodge-like feel. Saturday we went for an awesome hike up Hamilton Mountain and saw waterfalls and really great views of the Gorge, Hood, Helens and Adams. On Saturday night we spent most of it on the deck watching two weddings, drinking nummy beer and doing the play by play commentary of the wedding and wedding guests. Oh...if only we could have "rewatched" ours, there would have been some funny scenes. All in all it was a great weekend alone in the pacific northwest. When we got back to Portland I swear that Henry was a bit bummed...he wanted more Grandma time. Apparently they came to an agreement that he could wear his PJS all day and could watch cartoons/movies while Francie napped. Party on. Attached are the pictures we could get on our cell phone. I brought our camera....only to realize that it did not have a memory stick in it. Nice. Guess what happens in Skamania stays in Skamania.