First Day in Oregon Schools '09

The kids transitioned into the Oregon schools AMAZINGLY! I was a little worried about each of them for different reasons but they both got on the bus that first day thrilled to be going to a new school and came home just as happy. They both love their teachers and have fallen into their routines with ease! Soccer has started for both of them. Swimming starts tomorrow as does our new life group. Chris is in a karate program after school and Acacia stays at the school in a great program that she seems to really be enjoying. It is a big learning curve for all of us but so far ... so good!

NC '09

Acacia and I left the boys behind and jet set our way to NC to spent some quiet time with Emme, Nono and Auntie Valerie before the insanity started! We spent some peaceful time on the beach and at the pool, did a little shopping and pampered ourselves to a mani/pedi! I even got little flowers painted on my toe nails!



The Berg's arrived and I was no longer needed to "do stuff" with.





Randy and Chris arrived a couple days after the Berg's. Randy was well liked by all the kids in the pool!



Auntie Valerie was in Hawaii for a month and brought super cute flower dresses for all the girls and a shark shirt for Chris! They made the kids act very silly!!



Nono was very happy to hear that his grandson enjoys a good round of chess!!



Nono was also very excited to be able to do some real golfing with Chris.

A couple birthdays were celebrated .... Val did not get birthday cake this year, but she did get something MUCH better!! I don't even know what it was and I don't even like coffee ... but this was REALLY yummy!

Great Nani and Auntie Linda arrived right after Valerie left for her cross country journey back to CA. It was so great to see them and be able to spend time with them before we had to head home! Nani did not waste any time getting her first booboo but nothing a really good bandage won't cure. And Auntie Linda is just amazing! What an inspiration!





Click the link to see the slide show of all NC '09. The slide show has a few photos that the Berg's took as well as ours.

Slide show of NC '09

Summer Concerts '09

This year may have been the kids last year with Woods Hollow Children's Center. Acacia has been there for 8 years and Chris was there for 6 years! It truly is an amazing place for kids and I am forever grateful for the folks that did most of the "dirty" work in potty training my kids! Moving on ... the school put on two concerts this summer. One was outside at Kid Fest (see prior posting) and the other was inside towards the end of the summer. They did a lot of the same songs but they really sang and kazooed their little hearts out!






Click the link to see the slide show of all the summer concert photos '09.

Slide show of summer concerts '09

Martin's & Goetz visit

Friends of ours from wayyyyy back got together at our house. The Goetz's live in the St Louis area and were in town visiting their family. The Martin's don't live that far away but we hardly ever get to see them. Kyle, Randy and Brian all worked together about 12 years ago in a lab on campus. Since then, we've all married and had kids and here are the results!

Last of the T-ball for '09

Well, t-ball is coming to an end. I got to watch my last game. They have one more next week but Acacia and I will miss it as we will be in NC. But, here are some photos from the last game. They've really come a long way .... OK - the games look pretty much the way they did in the beginning ... Lots of looking into the outfield, playing in the dirt, running the ball to the base in stead of throwing it and if they did throw it they would toss it under hand as if bowling with it. Whatever. It seems like they had fun.







Click the link to see the slide show of all the t-ball photos '09.

Slide show of more t-ball '09

Key Largo and Florida '09

For whatever reason the airlines gave us a break and we were able get flights to FL for way cheap! Acacia, Chris and I got to go visit Uncle Chris, Aunt Yoli and Newman for a week of fun! Dad had to stay home and work but he will be able to come with us on our next trip ... to NC!!

We did TONS of cool stuff!



We drove to Key Largo and went on a catamaran out to a reef and snorkeled!!


We stayed in an AMAZING hotel that had super cool pools with water falls in them. The water in the ocean was at least 95 degrees! We went fishing, played ping pong and corn hole and had umbrella drinks on the beach. We even got fancy cool towels and watermelon served to us as we lounged around the pool!


We took Newman on a canoe ride and we even got to paddle the canoe. Then we got to go for a walk on the berm.


We spent a lot of time in Uncle Chris' pool and learned how to do egg rolls and dives!


Uncle Chris took us to the Everglades and we went on an air boat out to see the American alligator! We saw quite a few of them! They were right next to our boat!! We also saw vultures and got to hold an alligator!











If you look at all the photos in the slide show you'll see everything we did ... almost! We got to go see a movie called Ice Age - something about a dinosaur that was super cool in 3D!. We went to a shark feeding frenzy, got our nails done, went to a butterfly exhibit, spent about $3,745 in this cool game land place and came out with a few cool toys, went to the beach, took an air boat ride in the Everglades to see alligators, played with Newmie!! Uncle Chris got this cool ball with a kite like tail that we learned how to throw and catch. We took a canoe ride with Newman over to the berm for a walk. We saw iguana's and heron right in their back yard! They have a banana tree and a mango tree too!

Click the link to see the slide show of Florida '09.

Slide show of Florida '09

WHCC Kid Fest - '09

The kids summer day care puts on a little concert at the local farmers market! This was the best one yet! They even had a little surprise for us at the end ... KAZOOOOOS!! ... that they get to keep! How cool is that for us??







Click the link to see the slide show of Kid Fest '09.

Slide show of Kid Fest '09

Got the coconut!

Acacia asked Auntie Valerie to send her a coconut in the mail from Hawaii .. and she did!! THANKS Auntie Valerie!!

More Tee Ball '09

Six Flags!!

The kids participated in a reading program during the school year and having completed it they each recieved a free pass to Six Flags. I managed to get buy one get one free tickets for Randy and I so for the price of one, all 4 of us got in. It was a PERFECT day weather wise! No humidity, breezy and warm ... but there were lines. We got in the first line and waited about 20 minutes when I decided to leave Randy and the kids there and go buy the fast pass. The line for the fast pass was at least another 25 minutes but I still got back to Randy and the kids before they got on their first ride.

Click the link to see the slide show of Six Flags '09.

Slide show of Six Flags '09