Beach Day

To finish up our Independence Day weekend, we headed for the coast.  We don't get there nearly as often as we want.  After having a super yummy lunch at a new-to-us restaurant in Newport, we spent the afternoon at Agate Beach.  Once again we lucked out with amazing weather and warm water.  The kids were in it all day!

 Brian teaching Jake how to body surf.  He quickly became obsessed with it.

 Cue the Baywatch music...

 I kept going back and forth between being worried to death that he was going to get sucked under, and feeling teary that my first born has gotten so big.  

When we got there, this was our view of the lighthouse.  By late afternoon a fog quickly rolled in and...

this was the view we said goodbye to.

Independence Day

 Our Independence Day tradition seems to be that we have no hard and fast tradition, other than that we never seem to get our fireworks bought til about 4 hours before we light them, and we always do something with family, whether that be the 5 of us or parts of our extended family.  This year we started our day off with a family breakfast out, followed by a movie, and finishing up with fireworks at G&G's.

This year marked a rite of passage for my eldest, who lit off every firework by himself with no direct adult supervision.  He took the responsibility very seriously.

 Leah immediately became friends with the neighbors granddaughter.

 We were all so pooped from the rest of the days activity that we unanimously agreed to start fireworks at 8:15, and by 9:00 we were on the road for home.  It was still light out...

These people are my tribe.  It never gets old being able to just pop up the road to hang with Grandma and Grandpa. Someday Grandpa will smile for a picture.

Spring 2014

This spring I got the chance to go on several of Austin's field trips, first up to a Knights baseball game on the OSU campus.  Luckily there were also several activity booths outside the stadium, because this kid and his homey lasted about 15 minutes watching the game.

 Austin and one of his school besties, Robbie

Next up, a field trip to the fire station.  This time Austin and I spent the day with our good friends the Stearns.  Lori was one of the first friends I made after moving to Albany, and she just happens to have 2 boys my boys ages, and they  have all become good friends.  Austin and Luke were pretty much inseparable all day. 

This face!

 The end of spring also wrapped up Jake's first season of flag football.  He made so much progress, by the end of the season he had become the go-to quarterback, in one game throwing a pass his coach called "the best youth pass he'd ever seen".   The kids got football fever!

Football

This kid started playing flag football this spring and is fully enjoying himself.  I think he looks pretty cool in his gear.  He may not be RG3, but he is working hard and experiencing teamwork and the ups and downs of athletics.  

Pretty sure I will always be able to pick him out of a crowd, even from a distance on a crowded football field.  He's easily a head taller than almost everyone on his team.

And these two.... They can entertain themselves almost anywhere, even if it's a pile of rocks at football practice.

Tidbits

The warm weather this spring has brought out my kids inner Picasso's.  Any day without rain I find new artwork adorning our driveway.  This one was my favorite.

Also any day without rain brings with it a whole lot of biking.  Now that Leah's a seasoned biker, she rides the neighborhood with the rest of the crew, which is my kids plus 2-6 other kids, depending on the day.  We love our neighborhood!

These fluffy creatures moved into the field across the street from Austin's school.  Leah adores them and is just sure she can speak sheep.  If you were to drive by our car in the carpool line on any given day you can usually hear her bleating out the window at them.  Austin told me the other day, "Mom, I love being a country boy!"

Speaking of Austin's (and soon to be Leah's) school, isn't it adorable??  This is the original building, which has been added onto over the years.  It's still small enough it only houses K-2, and this original structure is 100 years old this year.

While we may not be fully rural, we have enjoyed spring in our little almost country neck of the woods.  We're just a stones throw from fields and animals and beautiful scenery, and the quiet is wonderful.