Beach Day

So, as you may or may not know we had a heat wave here in Portland over the weekend - 99 degrees on Saturday and probably just a tad cooler than that today - with a thunder storm tonight! We escaped the heat on Saturday afternoon (after about dying in it having a little yard sale while Mark about died while playing outdoor soccer), Mark took Jakob to his first movie (Wall-E - Jakob really liked it) and I went to Target (one of my favorite air conditioned spots). It was still about 80 degrees in our house last night, even with our little air conditioner on. So, today we escaped completely from Portland and drove (about 2 hours) to the super small, beach town of Manzanita and spent a few hours at the beach, with a picnic lunch and some sand toys. It was sunny the whole drive and then was foggy at the beach, but still pretty warm. Although, I did put a sweater on over my dress - Mark braved it with shorts and a t-shirt. The sun did make a quick appearance, enough to keep us warm

Jakob and Daddy playing soccer


Sarah sitting in the beach tent (amused by the zippers on our camera bag).


Having fun spinning Sarah (working on my Portland tan - look at those white legs - well lets just say I am working on not getting any form of skin cancer - I am a SPF freak!)


Buddha baby


"What, you want us to smile - yeah right". (We so kindly refer to Sarah's expression as the "bulldog")


Digging for sand crabs


Jakob having some serious fun!


Making sand castles


The view from Manzanita

Munchkin Basketball

Saturday was Munchkin Sports day again, and it was basketball this time. Jakob and Ian did really well again. They listen so well to Coach Matt and are the top performers in the class (also are the oldest). Ian's Daddy played college basketball and is over 6 ft. tall. So, I'm thinking Ian has some genetics working for him! Ian walked into the gym and thru the basketball right into an adult size hoop!

Jakob listening to every word Coach Matt has to say.



The Two Goofballs


Ian making a basket from far away - of course it was a piece of cake for him!

Munchkin Sports

Last weekend, Jakob and Ian started a "Munchkin Sports" league thru parks and rec. They do a different sport every weekend, last weekend it was soccer (one of Jakob's favorites) and this coming weekend it will be basketball. This all happened while I was in CA, so I heard a lot about it over the phone, Jakob was so excited, "It was soccer...only for kids, not for grownups....I listened to the teacher, Matt (coach Matt)...it was just for kids!"

Overheard Jakob say...

"Sarah, I missedded you so much...you are the prettiest girl in the whole world."

We just got back from our trip to CA - it was a quick, super fun, busy and crazy trip. Jakob went camping with Daddy (and Ian and his Daddy Peter) and Sarah and I had our time in Ventura. Jakob said this to Sarah tonight in the car - so adorable!

Jakob told me about his camping trip with Daddy, some of my favorite things he has said so far:

"I ate snores...yeah Mommy, I said snores...graham cracker with ummm, not peanut butter, oh yeah, chocolate and a toasted marshmallow...it was really yummy...My Daddy said I could have 3 of them."

"I found a stick for my marshmallow and Daddy made it clean and sharp with his knife..actually it was Peter's knife."

"When we went hiking, we saw horse poop...it was tall like this (arms in the air), actually it was stacked high with some on the side."

"I slept in the tent with Daddy, I snuggled up close to him to keep him company, I didn't want him to be lonely and I kept him warm."

"I got this splinter from the fire wood...I need you to take it out with a noodle...yeah a noodle...it will hurt but it will get it out."

Happy Father's Day!

Dedicated to our Daddy who:

We met just minutes after being born and instantly fell in love with!



Changed our first dirty diaper at ummm....3am, after being awake for days and days of labor with Mommy!


Who constantly teaches us all the important things in life:

Like how fun it can be to camp (even if it's in the backyard)



How fun it is to fish


How to swim


How to have a ton of fun in the snow:




How to have fun like a kid when you're really a grownup, (look closely at this picture - you'll see some scared kids gripping onto Daddy who told us we should go on the Super Slide - which we ended up riding over and over and over)!


And most importantly, that sometimes it helps to sit and read for awhile when you're on the potty!


Your are the best Daddy.
Thanks for being such a great example of strength, determination, patience, humor and sensitivity all in one!
Love
Jakob and Sarah

Remember These?

Yeah, we got a slip and slide for a whole $8.00 at Target. I have such fond memories of playing with one in our front yard, but mine didn't have the pool at the end, nor the sprinklers on the side (basically it was like a long, yellow plastic bag- nice). Instead, we got to slide our bellies from the slick plastic onto the grass - if we got going fast enough - and we did - then put more water on it with the hose.
Well, Jakob is a bit young for it, he didn't like the idea of running and sliding on his belly, but did like sliding on his knees or trying to run on it - which ended up with falling on his butt - didn't really like that. Mark, decided he would take a turn or two to be the example of how to "slip and slide" properly. He was in for an awakening - the hose water was freezing and the landing on the stomach at age 31 vs. age 7 or 8 - not quite the same! Plus, the thing is a lot shorter than I remember (Mark thinks it's because we used it when we were a lot smaller - but I think it is smaller), the picture on the box of course makes it look so long and grand - not so much!
Needless to say it was a short lived slip and slide night, but I'm sure it will make another appearance this summer, when the weather gets warmer and Mark and any other men who have a few beers in them will want to have some sort of childish contest on who can slide the farthest. No way in hell am I going to slide in my swimsuit on that thing - seriously imagine a pasty white, flabby woman sliding on it - oh man that would be a sight! Thank God for Dads!!

Some Recent Firsts

Jakob's first time bowling - of course we went with his good buddy Ian!






Sarah starting to figure out her jumper.


Sarah wearing her ladybug shoes for the 1st time.


Sarah eating avocado w/rice cereal - not really sure about it!


Sarah sitting up? Well kind of - she just has to have her legs out very wide to balance her big belly and noggin!
(Naomi that's the bib you sent us - loving the waterproof bibs- as Sarah drools some serious pools - as you might notice in the pics).

5 Years

It's been five years since our big day in Maui! What an amazing wedding we had, Mark and I still look back on it as one of the best times in our life. Being in Maui with all our closest friends and family, what an experience! And to top it off - we got married - 11 years and 1 day to the date of our first date in high school. So really it's our 16 year anniversary - crazy!

We woke up this morning and both said "Happy Anniversary...this is just like being in Maui right?" Meanwhile we've got two kids screaming, the house is a disaster, we're sucking down coffee to stay alert and it's raining outside! Not quite like Maui.
But, I wouldn't change it for the world. We didn't have a clue of where we would be in 5 years and look at what we've done, 3 moves, bought/sold houses, lots of career changes, made 2 kids and are loving every minute of it! We may not be in the mansion overlooking a beach in Maui, like we dreamed of but, as cheesy as this may sound, I am in paradise wherever we are, as long as we're together - aah! It's true, I can't imagine my life without Mark and now without our crazy kiddos! I think one of the best moments we've shared, besides our wedding day, and the days our kids were born has to be the day we woke up about a month ago, in bed together with both our kids snuggled up to us - priceless! I can't wait to see what the next 10,15,20, 50 year anniversarys hold for us. I'm sure our lives will change in ways we never ever could imagine - I look so forward to experiencing those changes together! And,hopefully experiencing many more trips to Maui!


Some of my favorite photos from our wedding and honeymoon in Maui!