Its Your Thang

My friend Ann got me a card with music inside.

This is the kids this morning with the card.

Totally Famous

Vaux swifts 2009

Manzanita with the Watsons

We are holding on to the warms days of September. We had a great weekend in Manzanita. Our friends Dan, Emily and there PRECIOUS 9-week old Ellie came down to play. Henry and Francie were in HEAVEN as Emily and Dan are up for anything and I think that Henry made Emily play EVERY single board game in the house...even though she is sleep deprived with a newborn. This morning Dan and Mark went golfing and I was trying to play football with Henry and halfway through he asked me when Dan and Dad would be back...because, and he tried to say it nicely.... I wasn't so good. Ouch. Emily brought cupcakes...and as you can see the kids LOVED them. Check out Francie in her vest...when she puts it on Mark sings "Francie from the Block" (Instead of Jenny from the Block) because she definitely looks a bit like JLo.

One more note - the picture of Henry holding Francie's hand was a priceless moment. Francie REFUSES to crawl down stairs and loves the challenge of walking (or running) stairs. So, the minute you turn your eye, she books for the stairs to take them on. I turned to get Riley's leash and Francie had ran for the stairs and Henry went over and held her hand and told "nice and slow Francie, you can do it". My heart melted. So cute.

Hike to Lilly

Henry's class had their first hike to Lilly today. Lilly is a beautiful tree on a trail near the school that they visit often to see how she is doing and to see how she is the same/different with the change in the seasons. Francie and I got to go too and we decided to wear hats...multiple moms teased that we were matching. So fun.

Chapman Swifts

Every September we go to Chapman school to see the swifts fly into the chimney (where they sleep at night). Yes -- birds. We are not alone. It is classic Portland...tons of people sitting outside. watching birds (often with wine & beer and maybe food) and kids running around everywhere. We went before kids, during pregancies and each year it gets more fun as the kids get older. We are not just talking about "some" birds, but thousands. Past years have seen a high of as many as 35,000 swifts. More recently high estimates have been around 15,000 swifts. Sorry for the somewhat blurry pictures... I got dinner on the lens....nice....

First Day of School

Henry has his first day of school today. As you can see, he has grown just a bit from last year. He was thrilled to be back at school and I was thrilled to not be called by the principal - like last year - because "he was having a tough time adjusting". My little boy is growing up! As I was leaving he reminded me that he was the "big kid now and he was going to tell the younger kids where the bathroom was if they got confused". Nice.

Oregon! Oregon!

My mom got us tickets to Oregon! Oregon! A musical followed by a concert featuring one of our favorite local bands - Pink Martini. It was a celebration of Oregon's 150 years and it was at the Zoo. It was one of those things that is made SO MUCH sweeter by having kids. Henry and I snuck into the front row to watch the musical play and he was in awe. Above is a picture that I got without him seeing -- no joke his mouth was wide open or in a full smile the ENTIRE time. His favorite part was when a HUGE Beaver (the state animal) came on stage -- he shrieked. I am not sure what I watched more...the show or his face. Check out Francie sweet sweat suit. Our neighbors work at Nike and got us into the Nike Employee Store and we couldn't resist. Of course it was covered in mud and pesto tortellini by the end of the night.

Henry's Homework - The Difference a Year Makes

We are having a rainy Labor day so Henry and I spent some time doing his homework. It is amazing to see the difference in what he can draw and write from last year. It is surreal to think that last year Francie was just a couple months old and just starting to stay awake longer.....this year.... she was standing on top of the table that we were trying to work on. Last year, Henry did simple stick figures and this year his self portrait had a rounded face with a number shirt.

Hood to Coast

Thanks to Grandma Joan, Mark and I were able to to run Hood to Coast. We had a blast. Despite the rain.......which caused us to sleep in sleeping bags...in the rain...and therefore to get less than 2 hours of sleep in 29 hours of running, we had a WONDERFUL time. We are both still able to walk without too much of a limp and we made sure to enjoy the beer garden afterwards....to rehydrate of course. My BFF Brookie and her boyfriend drove down from Seattle, my sister Katie flew out from NYC, and Uncle Zach came from San Diego. We may not be fast, but we were diverse and most importantly had fun.

Beach Babes

This weekend we got to spend in Manzanita recovering from Hood to Coast. Henry spent MOST of it on his "racing car". He cracked me up - everyone he passed he would turn around to see if they took a 2nd glance at his cool car. Just like his dad....

Water Slide at WIlson Pool

We have been going to Wilson Pool every Weds night after work.

The kids LOVE the twisty slide. Yes -- kids plural.

Francie insists on going -- I guess she hasn't received the memo that she is only one.

Zoo Date Day

I am catching up on some old posts, but wanted to make sure Grammy Kris saw these pictures. Two weeks ago we had our "Friday Date Day" at the Zoo. Henry wanted to show his sister all the sites he had learned about at Zoo Camp. It was really cute -- big man on campus.