Hmph

The first thing my husband says to me when he gets home is "Why did you choose the one group photo that was out of focus?" WELL! I was CHOOSING a picture where everyone was actually LOOKING at the camera and no one's EYES were closed or no one was making a funny face!!! Hmph. So. Here is another photo. I think it is the only other one where none of the above happened.

A Weekend Away

Last weekend, we were blessed with a few days without kids to be adults! Okay, well, we didn't necessarily always ACT like adults, but the point is, our kids weren't there to see us! Thanks to Jim's parents (and all the other grandparents!!), we headed to the beach to enjoy a weekend that included no dirty diapers, naptime woes or early wake-up calls. So much fun! Though we talked about the kids a lot, and most of us didn't actually sleep in, it was so nice to be able to enjoy one another's company without interruption all weekend long.

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We did a lot of sitting and magazine catch-up

Had staring contests...

Took pictures!

My best friends!


Who says girls don't have more fun?

Laughed...

a LOT.

Aren't they so adorable in their glee?

Listened and enjoyed.

(Seriously, that's a big one!)

Played games

Told stories

Enjoyed Steph's stories. Hee.

Sarah rescued a birthday present that fell behind built-in cabinets!

Ate, drank and relaxed

Still talking...
(I love the look on Sarah's face here. Do you think she is thinking, "She's so funny" or "I wish I could have a chance to say something.")

***please notice gigantic belly!

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend away with our best friends. To echo what Jen said, we have been so blessed with this group of people. Words can't even come close to describe the relationships we share, except for to say they are a gift from our precious Lord! I love you all!!

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Beach Getaway 2009

There are a few more pics to share, but either I'm going to have to convince Jim to get to work on his semi-annual blog or I'll do it later. :)

I needed a cleaner look...

...and so here is picture to go with my not-really-a-post.
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CHEESE!!!

By the way, I can barely stand...

If you were wondering where every mother with toddlers in the Portland Metro area was today, I can tell you. They were all at the zoo. And half of them were pregnant...like me! So every time I thought to grunt in discomfort, I had to man-up and pretend to be A-OK. I can be tough. Sometimes. :)

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Since the sun was out and very WARM today, Jen had the great idea to go to the zoo. Get the kids out! Christy and Bella came, too, and we had a great time maneuvering around all the other 500,000 strollers in the park. It was a perfect day, and Henry and Carson had lots of fun telling each other where to run and which way to look and laughing at...wait...we still have no idea what they kept laughing at. I didn't take too many pictures, and the ones I took aren't awesome, but here's a sample of our day!

Carson and his buds

The real deal

Goats!

The long awaited (seriously) turn on the tractor.

Keeping hydrated!

Lunchtime on the lawn. Cheese!

(Don't they look so happy?)

They were having a very serious discussion about the bats. Something about how they are scary and stinky.

And here's me - oh wait. I mean, here are the hippos. What I meant to say was, here is what I felt like by the end. Did I mention all the hills we climbed? Oh, and that the hills were where Henry wanted to ride in the stroller?

Jen found a nice shady spot on the lawn for our picnic lunch. Here is a video of our lunchtime conversation:

Henry and Carson decided it was not time to eat, but time to play. So here is what they did while the mommies ate:

No really, it's all they did:

And to end the day, we went to see the sea lions, which were a huge hit with the boys. As you can see, they were so excited and had to keep telling Jen when to look so she wouldn't miss them as they swam by. I mean, they were easy to miss. Hee!

It was seriously the perfect day for the zoo and the boys had so much fun. Totally worth it. Sydney was, of course, an absolute doll the whole time. Now I am hitting myself for not having a picture of her! It was also fun to spend some time with Christy and Bella, who is so stinkin' cute!!! Yay for sunny days!

Bright, sunshiny day!

Finally! The past few days have brought us the

most awesome weather! They've been the perfect Oregon days - 70, warm, with a nice breeze. Henry and I took full advantage of being outside yesterday, doing everything from chalk and bubbles, to playing in the sprinkler and playing with friends in the culdesac. We even concluded the day by ordering pizza and eating outside with our neighbors. I mean, when you get a day like this here, you'd better do all you can to enjoy it to the last minute!

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Here are some pics from our afternoon:

Playing in the sprinkler fully clothed...why not?

I love when he yells at me, "Mom! My shorts are getting wet!"

One must also refresh the feet by getting socks and shoes completely drenched.

This next pic just reminds me of what a big boy he is becoming! He's not a baby anymore!

Cheese, mom.

Playing golf (or hockey) with our neighbor, Andrew. He's got good form, no?

Yay! Another nice day today! Supposedly rain tomorrow! We're outta here to enjoy some more sunshine!

I couldn't do it

Well, I thought I could be patient. Really, I think I did a pretty good job. It got pretty long. Sometimes it was cute. Sometimes it stuck straight out in a million different directions. I tried to ignore the constant impulse to constanly lick my hand and smooth it down. The literal last "straw" was Wednesday, when I picked Henry up from the playroom after Bible Study and they had been playing in the ball pit. He was all sweaty. And he resembled a majorly disheveled scare crow.
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So.
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We have gone from this:



To this:

Henry seems to like it. He even posed special!

The only major letdown is that he looks so much older!

What's a mother to do?