Full Of Hot Air

Albany Art and Air Festival... We woke up at the crack of dawn again this morning and happy to find that the balloons were going to take off today!
There were atleast 40+ balloons dotting the sky. It was beautiful but I have a bit of a kink in my neck from admiring them all lifting up.

Fieldin was over the moon happy. He is obsessed with anything that flies. Those sunglasses he is wearing around his neck are actually his "bomber goggles" He squealed" mama there goes another one!" each time one took off.

The panda was the kids favorite.

sunrise

as the air balloons start to be inflated. This was pretty cool. We missed the night light up this year since it is a bit late for the kids to be out but next year we will try. It was a gorgeous morning and so awesome to look up and have beautiful air balloons right over head. Now it's time to take a nap....

Friday

Afternoon nap.. a rare moment when he isn't being bothered
6 a.m. : Pulled the kiddos out

of bed in their jammies and supplemented them with a donut. Waiting to see the hot air balloons take off at art and air festival... one storm cloud cancelled take off ... :(

but we did get to see the sunrise.

buddies

making blackberry(there is a patch near us) and peach pie.. I caught Fieldy in this moment. He kept sticking his finger in the fruity goodness and sucking his finger...

Drive Less For The Ocean

So I am going to go off on one of my tangents today.

I don't surf or swim, I don't own a beach shack and I am not a fisherwoman..but, anyone that knows me, knows I love our oceans and beaches. In the whole grand scheme of things, without our oceans we cannot survive. Luckily for me, the Pacific ocean is my favorite and it is close enough that I can enjoy it frequently.. sadly my frequent trips are contributing to our polluted oceans.

I just read a quick article in sunset mag. interviewing Amber Mace who is the director of California's ocean Protection council. And here is a blip from the article:

"Drive less. A lot of pollution gets into the sea from cars, and it's not just CO2 emmisions. Copper from brake pads is toxic. Oil collects on the streets, then washes into the ocean. Every eight months in the U.S., an amount equal to the Exxon Valdez spill washes in..."

of course I knew cars pollute but it was a little hard to read how much. The problem with Oregon beaches is it is very hard not to drive. The roads aren't made for bikers and safety is a factor. I would not bike those rodes, let alone allow my children. After thinking about it though I think my family can cut down on driving the coastline quite a bit. We are guilty of moving beaches..alot instead of staying put. Or heading across Newport back and forth to either hit the aquarium, lunch or coffee... Our last trip we stayed in one place, ate our meals there, and spent the day and truly enjoyed it. I guess it's not much but driving less can maybe help a little.

Summer Is Wrapping Up....

Summer may be on it's way out, but let's be honest...anyone who knows us an inkling knows that we migrate to the beach all year around. We headed out to the beach today for one last end of summer trip since the coming weeks will keep us busy as swim lessons wrap up, school starts(gasp) and soccer lessons begin.

He has a special talent for hovering and snagging all the toasted marshmallows.
This girl is just too cute. Only she can make eating sticky marshmallows while in misty weather look cool. The rest of us had marshmallow smeared all over our faces and crazy hair.

lunch time. . beach grub

beach girl.. she is in her element here

Playing the game of graces with me. It's a game from the 1800's using sticks and rings. We love it. She and I have been playing it for about a year but I don't recommend it for the little ones.

What is life without a beach fort to hang in

I hope you all are enjoying the summer and ready to say your summer good-byes... Autumn is sneaking up quickly on us..

Future Surfers

Miss Belle has been turning into a fish. It was hard to get her out of the water. She found a big piece of bark and wanted to surf. She has wanted to surf for awhile now..we will see how long we can keep her out of the ocean :)
Looks like little bro has similar ideas brewing too...

Around Here

I have been a horrible slacker at about everything lately but trying to remember to take more pictures.

Spoiled cat
These two love Dress up

mommy cam... biking to the park

afternoon nap

Them

I took some new pictures of the kids downtown last week. Can't believe how much they are a changin'....

Miss You

We miss you mom.

A special thank you to my friend Natalie and family, for throwing a rose into the ocean in honor of my mom today. It was so thoughtful.:)

Middle Name

Greta reminded me today that we forgot to give our kitty a middle name.. may I introduce to you,

Chompers Woodchucker Pirate Babbitt...good thing Chompers doesn't have to fill out applications with a long name like that.

Our hunter.. we have been giving him short visits to the backyard.. what do you think he is hunting here? a praying mantis? bee? bird?..nope just Fieldin.

Imelda May

Last night we rocked away with thousands of other zoo lovin, music lovin Portlander's to hear Imelda May.
We also met up with our friend and fellow Pullman transplant Mark. He had Fieldin stealing people's noses throughout the night..:) Luckily I got mine back and not someone elses.

The kids loved dancing to the music, especially Greta, she wanted to stay til midnight...

Though the music wasn't really for break dancing, Fieldin thought he needed to show off his moves, none the less.

Can't beat summer concerts.

Bowling & Beiber

Today we took the kiddos to cheap bowling morning at the local lanes. It was alot of fun watching the kids get so excited. All I have to say is thank heavens for gutter rails or it would have been a very looong couple of games. I am not sure if it was $1 morning at the lanes for lack of traffic that time of day or because of all the Justin Beiber videos one must endure on the big t.v. screens mounted above..hmmm...

Fieldy's turn.. I am sorry but it was like waiting for paint to dry while we sat and waited and waited for his ball to just barely make it to the pin. You did great little man!
so this girl knows how to pose and can make anything look glamorous. All I remember is I was snapping a picture of her ready to hurl the ball and this is what I got.. amazing.

me and little man

"I do it myself... I did it!" He looks so big here! he is 2.8 years old and 3 ' 2 1/2 " tall.... Greta is now 4' 3 " tall.. at age 6....

A Summer Goal Accomplished...

So she has been showing signs for awhile that it was time to say "eat my dust training wheels" so we took them off. It was like a Fieldin flashback when he rode his big boy bike for the first time. Jeff and I went out prepared for many days of practice and probably a few crashes.. but both our kiddos shocked us. Gret got her bike to the end of the drive way. Jeff steadied it for her and then all of a sudden she was gone. Off the curb headed down the street... us with our jaws dropped open once again.. life must be easier when you are fearless, hey kiddos....
speeding around the 'hood.. she can take curbs like nobodies business.

So proud of you Greta. You just discovered a whole world of freedom before you... well freedom as in as long as I can see you, and you have a helmet on.. and you take your brother... ahem.

Chomper Report: 3 mths old

Barely in the door from visiting the library and Gret has all her books out and he is already curled up for a story.
Fieldy loves having a chase partner. They do this at least a couple times a day... Chompers tires out first.

He loves climbing Jeff, especially after he hasn't seen him all day. He also likes to sit on his shoulder like a parrot....

The kids sing him songs like "kitty, kitty, meow, meow" and Grets new hit "If you jump over a rainbow, you find a cat".. ok. if that doesn't make you smile.. you gotta be stone..

his favorite room to hide when.. he hears the garage door open or when he hears vacuum.

You were three months old on August 1 Chomps!

You have doubled in length... and we've only had you a month.

We love you cat, cat.

What's Been Up, With Us??

So we aren't having the stellar summer we were hoping for this year...so I haven't been up much to blogging. I hope we are on the upswing and can finish out the end of August strong!

Fieldin has grown obsessed with planes. He always has one in his hand and takes them everywhere. He loves imaginex planes and dvds.. we here him flying through the house hollaring " Slice em' and dice em'...whoooo hooo" His other obsession his bike. First thing every morning... "where my running shoes, I want to ride my bike" and that kid is faaaassst...
Singing and dancing around the "palace teepee" they built

This little man is GROWING! In every sense of the word. it is hard to keep up with him and his constantly outgrown shoes.

Watching Phineas and Ferb, waiting for breakfast before daily swim classes.. I am surprised she isn't reading a book here because she usually has one somewhere on her person.